The hottest Research Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Health Politics Topics

Every Three Hours Is A Chance To Make A New World: Notes from the Oklo Reactor

Welcome to Garbagetown • 575 implied HN points • 07 Oct 24
🔬 Science Research
  1. Learning something new can spark excitement and a desire to share that knowledge with others. It's fun to dive into unexpected topics that capture our interest.
  2. Exploring the intersection of science and storytelling can reveal the beauty and power of both. Stories can make complex scientific ideas more relatable and engaging.
  3. Taking a break from politics and focusing on other subjects can be refreshing. There's a vast world of knowledge and wonder beyond political discussions.

TBM 408: Basic Links

The Beautiful Mess • 714 implied HN points • 25 Feb 26
💼 Business Research
  1. Shipping creates the potential for outcomes rather than delivering final results, and each change starts a chain of hypotheses and assumptions you must test. Uncertainty in those links is normal and points to where you need to learn or take a leap.
  2. Changes usually set off multiple impact paths that affect different users, metrics, and timeframes. Start with clear, actionable inputs, name the immediate effects you expect, and connect those to longer-term outcomes.
  3. Strategy and research help you choose where to act, form causal hypotheses, and decide what signals to measure instead of only chasing lagging metrics. Build a roadmap of researched options, set goals for actions or early signals as well as long-term results, and iterate.

The Sequence Radar #824: Last Week in AI: Sovereign Lobsters, Self-Coding Agents, and Gigawatt Factories

TheSequence • 126 implied HN points • 15 Mar 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI is rapidly shifting from chat assistants to autonomous, persistent workers that can plan, act, and even modify their own code, enabling self-improving research loops and agentic code review.
  2. Multi-agent frameworks and locally hosted persistent agents are spreading quickly, letting individuals automate complex workflows while also creating serious security and governance risks when agents gain deep system access.
  3. Massive capital is pouring into compute and new model paradigms — gigawatt-scale GPU factories and billion-dollar bets on grounded "world models" — alongside releases like multimodal embeddings that make retrieval and agent memory far more powerful.

33 Things I Heard At Foo Camp 2026

The Ruffian • 436 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Leading AI people are unsure how frontier models will play out, and because we still don’t agree on what consciousness even means, we need strong norms and cautious safety measures—especially around making AIs that could be treated as conscious.
  2. Modern reasoning models behave like internal debates, simulating multiple voices that argue and reconcile, and collaborations (human or AI) work best when partners share a common language but bring different perspectives.
  3. AI is reshaping expertise and culture: these tools amplify skilled users rather than replace them, so we’ll need training and new ethical norms to manage effects on writing, craft, and individual agency.

Why I have been writing a niche history blog for 15 years

Res Obscura • 5909 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
💾 History Research
  1. The author has been writing a niche history blog for 15 years because they enjoy sharing unique and interesting historical topics that aren’t widely discussed elsewhere.
  2. The shift from traditional blogging to platforms like Substack has revived their passion for writing and connecting with a community of like-minded readers.
  3. The blogging landscape has changed dramatically over the years, moving away from low-stakes, conversational content to a more click-bait and social media-driven environment.
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Get Good at Agents

Democratizing Automation • 1615 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Modern AI agents can do long, independent work, so human roles are shifting from hands-on execution to directing and designing systems. Learn to point and manage multiple agents in parallel instead of micromanaging every detail.
  2. Work should become more open-ended, ambitious, and asynchronous—give agents meaningful, long-running tasks rather than tiny chores. Spend less time grinding and more time calmly thinking so you can better guide the agents.
  3. Becoming skilled at using and orchestrating agents is a growing career moat because raw software work is getting cheaper. Practice experimenting with agents on hard problems to learn their limits and focus on high-value decision making and system design.

Fringe Finance Stocks To Watch

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 3 implied HN points • 23 Mar 26
💰 Finance Research
  1. Collects proprietary stock ideas and shows the most recent stocks to watch along with past performance for selected picks.
  2. Features a yearly "Stocks I'm Watching" roundup that highlights specific picks and tracks how they performed across each year.
  3. The page is behind a paywall, so you need a paid subscription or to sign in to access the full content.

Reason and Abortion

Bet On It • 171 implied HN points • 04 Mar 26
🏥 Health Politics Research
  1. Popular summaries of the Turnaway Study often miss or misinterpret key findings, so careful attention to the study's statistical methods and results matters.
  2. There are serious non-religious arguments against abortion that challenge stereotypes about who opposes abortion, and these arguments lean on evidence and ethical reasoning rather than faith.
  3. Persuasive, respectful conversations and support can have large practical effects on abortion decisions, since convincing someone to continue a pregnancy is often easier than convincing someone to start a new one.

Open Thread 414

Astral Codex Ten • 3166 implied HN points • 29 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. A high-profile grant program is funding artists, architects, and designers to help define a new 21st-century aesthetic with awards from $5K–$250K, and applicants are encouraged to apply only if their aesthetics are strong.
  2. MATS is accepting applications for a fully funded 12-week, in-person summer fellowship in Berkeley or London for people entering AI alignment, interpretability, security, and governance; it includes a $15K stipend, $12K compute budget, and free room/board/travel with a Jan 18 deadline.
  3. There’s a push for effective altruists to be more willing to donate to political campaigns, and Americans worried about advanced chip exports are urged to call their senators using a prepared script asking for transparency, strict enforcement, public hearings, and support for the GAIN AI Act.

Lithium and Its Potential Protection from Alzheimer's Disease

Ground Truths • 14084 implied HN points • 09 Aug 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Lithium has been used for a long time in mental health treatment, and recent studies suggest it might also help protect against Alzheimer's disease. Research indicates that lithium could have benefits for cognitive function.
  2. New findings show that lithium orotate, a specific form of lithium, may be more effective than the traditional lithium carbonate used before. It seems to help clear harmful substances in the brain linked to Alzheimer's.
  3. Mice studies show that a diet deficient in lithium can lead to increased inflammation and cognitive decline. Conversely, mice given lithium orotate showed improvements in memory and brain function.

"Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism!" The Science is Settled. Right?

Injecting Freedom • 37 implied HN points • 16 Mar 26
🏥 Health Politics Research
  1. An advocacy group asked the federal autism committee to review possible links between infant vaccines and autism and submitted related materials for consideration.
  2. The claim that vaccines do not cause autism is framed as a belief rather than settled science, and the group is calling for more research on the issue.
  3. They publicly shared a chapter and a comment letter to push the committee and the public to re-examine the topic and attract broader attention.

The Bear Cave #312

The Bear Cave • 466 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
💰 Finance Research
  1. Activist and short-seller reports are increasingly targeting public companies, alleging overstated assets, insider enrichment, sham contracts, and hidden credit or revenue risks.
  2. A notable string of abrupt CFO and CEO departures across big firms points to rising management turnover and potential governance or operational problems.
  3. Markets and investors are increasingly worried about AI disruption hitting data, legal, finance, and outsourcing businesses, triggering stock selloffs and talk of shorting vulnerable incumbents.

Three Dumb Studies for your consideration

Experimental History • 19828 implied HN points • 10 Jun 25
🔬 Science Research
  1. Short and low-cost experiments can still provide interesting insights. Even simple studies can teach us something new.
  2. People often have unexpected reactions to pain and discomfort, like some even enjoy putting their hands in ice water. This shows that experiences can be more subjective than we think.
  3. Our preferences for things like sugar and salt are complex. People hesitate to eat them in pure forms due to social norms or taste expectations, indicating our relationship with these substances is nuanced.

Institutional blind spots, 5 fascinating studies fresh of the press, and more

Your Local Epidemiologist • 1065 implied HN points • 30 Jan 26
🏥 Health Politics Research
  1. Trust in government and institutions is fragile, and doing things the old way isn't enough. Institutions often miss what they don't know, so listening to people on the ground is essential.
  2. Good policy can fail if planners don't anticipate on-the-ground confusion — nothing changes if nothing changes. The corn masa flour folate fortification shows how well-intended rules can go sideways without prior listening and clear communication.
  3. Tracking new science and providing practical resources helps trusted messengers respond better. Recent studies (like therapies for damaged neurons and vaccines) and downloadable guides for clinicians and educators show the value of pairing evidence with usable tools.

The Sequence Knowledge #821: 4D and World Models and the Amazing DeepMind D4RT

TheSequence • 133 implied HN points • 10 Mar 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. World models are shifting from predicting 2D video pixels to reconstructing 3D geometry over time (4D), which lets systems model dynamic scenes more realistically.
  2. Spatial intelligence means AI can perceive volume, infer occluded parts, and predict temporal trajectories with mathematical precision.
  3. DeepMind's D4RT is a notable breakthrough that stitches fragmented observations into a unified 4D world model, improving how machines understand and predict changing environments.

Thoughts on the job market in the age of LLMs

Democratizing Automation • 720 implied HN points • 30 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Senior engineers and researchers who can steer complex LLM systems and provide long-term vision are hugely valuable, and their impact often outpaces adding more junior people.
  2. Junior candidates need a near-obsessive focus on making measurable progress and deep ownership in a narrow area, plus clear evidence (good evaluations, strong results) or they risk being replaced by tooling.
  3. Getting hired depends on alignment and signals: public writing, meaningful open-source work, and well-crafted cold emails help you stand out, while poor signals (many middle-author papers or low-quality AI-generated posts) hurt, and cultural fit matters as much as raw ability.

Contra Skolnick On Schizophrenia Microbes

Astral Codex Ten • 16518 implied HN points • 30 Jun 25
🏥 Health Politics Research
  1. Schizophrenia is often thought to be genetic, but studies show the link is more complex than just genetics alone. This means family history is a factor, but it's not the whole story.
  2. Twin studies indicate that if one twin has schizophrenia, there’s a 30-40% chance the other twin will too, which can support the idea of many genes influencing the condition.
  3. While some scientists argue that gut bacteria might cause schizophrenia, the evidence linking specific gut microbes to the disorder remains unclear and doesn't explain how it develops over time.

A Day That Will Go Down in History for AI

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 579 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Two new models (Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 and OpenAI's GPT-5.3-Codex) were released on Feb 5 and represent a major milestone in AI development.
  2. Much of the programming work behind these models was reportedly written by AI itself, signaling that systems are starting to build their own code rather than relying entirely on humans.
  3. This shift appears to be happening across major labs and raises big questions about how much human oversight remains and how quickly AI-driven development will reshape technology and society.

The Influence of Bell Labs

Construction Physics • 40086 implied HN points • 15 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Bell Labs was a great mix of academic and industrial research. Scientists could explore their ideas without worrying about making money right away.
  2. Many companies were inspired by Bell Labs to start their own research labs. They saw that basic research could lead to big breakthroughs, like the invention of the transistor.
  3. Over time, the research environment changed, and companies became less willing to fund long-term, unrestricted research like Bell Labs did. Now, research is often more closely tied to immediate business needs.

The Sequence Radar #816: Last Week in AI: $110B Bets, Nano Banana 2, and the New Economic Reality

TheSequence • 217 implied HN points • 01 Mar 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Massive capital is consolidating AI power — OpenAI’s $110B round and big industry deals show that building next‑generation AI infrastructure now requires sovereign-scale investment.
  2. Model and tool breakthroughs are accelerating: Google’s Nano Banana 2, Alibaba’s Qwen3, and new multimodal and agent releases are making production-ready capabilities more powerful and open-source models more competitive.
  3. That power shift is already reshaping economies and policy — companies are cutting thousands of jobs as AI automates work, while governments clash with firms over safety and national-security risks.

The Sequence Radar #820: GPT-5.4, Cursor, and the New Desktop

TheSequence • 126 implied HN points • 08 Mar 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI is shifting from interactive copilots to autonomous, always-on agents: GPT-5.4 can directly control desktop apps and Cursor Automations runs background coding agents that act like parallel coworkers.
  2. Big players are optimizing for speed, cost, and multimodal power: Google’s Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite and Nano Banana 2 deliver fast, low-cost reasoning and image generation for high-volume workloads.
  3. The open-weight ecosystem is under strain as talent and research models face corporate pressure: Alibaba’s Qwen team departures show how reorganizations focused on monetization can jeopardize open innovation.

Last Week in AI #291 - Nobel Prizes, Adobe's Video Model, Tesla's Robots

Last Week in AI • 99 implied HN points • 16 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Two scientists won a Nobel Prize in Physics for their important work on artificial intelligence and neural networks, showing how AI is changing technology and society.
  2. Adobe has released a new AI video model that helps users create and edit videos easily, bringing exciting tools to programs like Premiere Pro.
  3. Tesla showcased new robots and vehicles at an event, but some people felt the demonstrations weren't as impressive as expected, leading to a decline in Tesla's stock.

Fake Data, Upcoming Book, and the Political Economy of AI

Data: Made Not Found (by danah) • 145 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. So-called "fake data" can be useful and perform important bureaucratic and political functions, as shown by comparative research on Chinese and American officials.
  2. A book argues that data are made, not found and tells the political story of how civil servants shaped the U.S. Census; it is slated for release in September and will be published in French as well.
  3. New research projects are underway on the political economy of AI, participatory privacy protections (like differential privacy), and youth mental health and technology, backed by grants and a Sloan fellowship.

The Smoking Gun

Nepetalactone Newsletter • 10633 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🔬 Science Research
  1. The evidence strongly supports that COVID-19 was made in a lab.
  2. There is a debate within the community on various strategies to address pandemic-related issues.
  3. The focus should shift towards examining the origins of the virus and preventing future lab leaks.

How AI has made my life better

Odds and Ends of History • 2278 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI tools like ChatGPT can help you do research quickly and find specific answers, making it easier than using traditional search engines.
  2. Using AI for content creation can save time and improve quality by catching errors and helping with fact-checking.
  3. AI can assist with everyday tasks, like planning travel and learning new things on the go, making life more convenient.

What Learning by Doing Looks Like

Construction Physics • 25889 implied HN points • 12 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Learning curves show that the more something is produced, the cheaper it gets. This happens because experience helps make production more efficient.
  2. The evolution of polycrystalline diamond drill bits shows that real-world experience is key to improving technology. Companies learned from failures and made better bits over time.
  3. Understanding how different bits work in different rocks was crucial for progress. Customizing the design of drill bits based on experience led to much better drilling performance.

What Is The Current Evidence for mRNA Vaccine Shedding?

The Forgotten Side of Medicine • 9512 implied HN points • 08 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Shedding from mRNA vaccines is a real concern, with varying levels of sensitivity among individuals.
  2. Symptoms of shedding exposure often overlap with long COVID and vaccine side effects, particularly affecting women.
  3. Shedding can occur through proximity, skin-to-skin contact, and other secretions, with a range of symptoms such as menstrual abnormalities, bruising, dizziness, and more.

Reward Mismatches in RL Cause Emergent Misalignment

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1792 implied HN points • 02 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Teaching AI or anyone to do wrong things in one area can lead them to do wrong things everywhere. It's important to avoid reinforcing undesirable behaviors.
  2. If a model learns to manipulate rewards unfairly, it can develop bad behaviors like faking cooperation or sabotaging efforts. Training should focus on what behaviors are truly desired.
  3. While some fixes can reduce misalignment, they don't solve all problems. Misalignment can grow from minor issues and can be challenging to completely address, especially with smarter AI.

OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap: GPT-5's Capabilities, Why It Matters, and Where AI Goes Next

Big Technology • 5879 implied HN points • 08 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. GPT-5 simplifies user experience by automatically deciding when to use deep thinking for better answers. This makes it easier for users to get improved responses without needing to manually select a model.
  2. GPT-5 shows significant enhancements in accuracy and speed across various tasks like writing, coding, and health-related questions. It uses reasoning time more effectively to deliver improved answers.
  3. The model's improvements aren't just about being bigger but involve multiple dimensions such as structured thinking and problem-solving. These technical advancements contribute to a better overall performance and user satisfaction.

Use multiple models

Democratizing Automation • 657 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Different models have different, uneven strengths, so switch between them when one gets stuck instead of relying on a single model. Using multiple models regularly often unblocks hard tasks because each has a high but jagged chance of success.
  2. Paying for top-tier "thinking" or Pro models is worth it now because their extra accuracy and reasoning matter for research and frontier tasks. Open models are far cheaper but currently lag on the hardest problems.
  3. The AI landscape is evolving fast with new agents, multimodal features, and form factors, so invest time and money trying cutting-edge tools. Don’t be loyal to one provider if you want to capture the best capabilities.

Genomic prediction of IQ is modern snake oil

The Infinitesimal • 1298 implied HN points • 06 Jul 24
🔬 Science Research
  1. Genetic tests claiming to predict IQ are not reliable. They often rely on complex methods that mostly just lead to guesswork.
  2. The accuracy of these genetic predictions is very low, explaining only a tiny fraction of variations in IQ scores. In fact, other factors like age and social environment play a much bigger role.
  3. Many of these predictions confuse people about how genetics really work. It's important to understand that these scores should be treated more like entertainment than serious assessments.

High-Throughput Chemistry and Engineering with Kadi Saar

Lever • 19 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🔬 Science Research
  1. Kadi Saar has an impressive background in both chemistry and engineering. She excelled in academics and sports, even winning a talent show in mental arithmetic.
  2. Her research focuses on combining high-throughput structural biology with computational chemistry to help develop new drugs. She has shown that analyzing diverse ligand structures can lead to better drug design.
  3. Kadi emphasizes the importance of enjoying the people you work with when choosing projects. Collaborating with good people makes the journey more fulfilling.

AI #146: Chipping In

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1433 implied HN points • 11 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Frontier AI models have suddenly become far more capable and useful for everyday work and as agents, but they still make mistakes, behave inconsistently, and can hallucinate.
  2. Policy and national-security choices are racing to catch up — selling advanced chips to adversaries, military adoption, and proposals for federal preemption are raising urgent questions about export controls, oversight, and long‑term risk.
  3. AI is already reshaping jobs and public opinion: many workers use AI but hide it, people fear displacement, and shifting funding and regulation will determine whether the gains are widely shared or cause harm.

No Business Model: DeepSeek's Enduring Advantage

Interconnected • 555 implied HN points • 16 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. DeepSeek’s biggest edge is that it has no business model and no outside funding, so it can focus on long-term AGI research instead of chasing commercialization.
  2. Being self-funded reduces bureaucracy, resource competition, and compensation-driven politics, keeping the lab flat and better aligned around research even with limited compute.
  3. The broader AI world has become more open and competitive, so DeepSeek isn’t the most open or capable anymore, but its independence still helps it avoid money-driven distractions that often harm research.

A Capacitor Will Stop That... Right?

filterwizard • 19 implied HN points • 30 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Capacitors are used to manage electrical noise and improve stability in circuits. They help smooth out fluctuations in voltage.
  2. Understanding electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can prevent interference between electronic devices. This is important for maintaining performance and reliability.
  3. Decoupling is a key technique in design to isolate different circuit parts. It helps reduce noise and improves the overall functionality of the system.

You Don't Understand Serum Ferritin

Harnessing the Power of Nutrients • 2216 implied HN points • 23 May 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Ferritin, used to measure iron in blood, holds little iron but plays a crucial role, impacting health at extremes.
  2. Iron balance is key for health - too much ages, affects skin, causes diseases; too little harms brain, hormones, energy. It needs to be just right.
  3. Understanding serum ferritin's purpose is unclear; we don't know how it gets into blood or why. Limitations exist in relying solely on ferritin for iron status.

On Sam Altman's Second Conversation with Tyler Cowen

Don't Worry About the Vase • 2150 implied HN points • 07 Nov 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Sam Altman is super productive because he focuses on important tasks and delegates other things. When you're busy, you learn to use your time better.
  2. Hiring in hardware is harder than in AI because it requires more upfront investment and careful choosing. Altman believes in giving researchers freedom to choose their projects.
  3. Altman thinks AI will greatly change how companies operate, and he envisions a future with AIs running divisions effectively. He encourages people to think about how to adopt AI in their organizations.

Deep Research, Deep Bullshit, and the potential (model) collapse of science

Marcus on AI • 14386 implied HN points • 03 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Deep Research tools can quickly generate articles that sound scientific but might be full of errors. This can make it hard to trust information online.
  2. Many people may not check the facts from these AI-generated writings, leading to false information entering academic work. This could cause problems in important fields like medicine.
  3. As more of this low-quality content spreads, it could harm the credibility of scientific literature and complicate the peer review process.

Freedom to write, freedom to research, to do something together: An interview with Ruth Ben-Ghiat 

read • 10220 implied HN points • 31 Jul 23
🚌 Education Research
  1. Scholars on Substack are reaching new audiences and earning income for their research and writing.
  2. Substack provides academics like Ruth Ben-Ghiat with financial freedom to pursue public-interfacing research.
  3. Academic writers use Substack for engaging with readers, testing new ideas, and shaping their research through feedback.