The hottest Research Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Health Politics Topics

This Is How to Stop Ruminating

The Dose • 825 implied HN points • 22 Feb 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Rumination is a persistent and repetitive pattern of self-focused thinking.
  2. Strategies to interrupt negative rumination include taking a walk in the park and scheduling time to worry.
  3. Imagining what your future self might think about a current stressor can help reduce emotional distress.

GraphRAG Analysis, Part 1: How Indexing Elevates Knowledge Graph Performance in RAG

AI Encoder: Parsing Signal from Hype • 70 HN points • 09 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Knowledge graphs do not significantly impact context retrieval in RAG, as all methods showed similar context relevancy scores.
  2. Neo4j with its own index improved answer relevancy and faithfulness compared to Neo4j without indexing and FAISS, showcasing the importance of effective indexing for precise content retrieval in RAG applications.
  3. Developers need to consider the trade-offs between ROI constraints and performance improvements when deciding to use GraphRAG, especially in high-precision applications that require accurate answers.

Cyc: history's forgotten AI project

Outsider Art • 220 HN points • 17 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. The Cyc project has been working on building a massive knowledge base since 1984 for human-like reasoning, spanning millions of entries and rules.
  2. Cyc's approach of using common-sense knowledge and a vast database contrasts with the trend of machine-learning-driven AI solutions dominating the field today.
  3. Despite being overshadowed by newer AI technologies, there is potential for Cyc to complement modern systems like large language models, showcasing a possible synergy between different AI approaches.

The Alternative to “Obesity Medicine”

Weight and Healthcare • 818 implied HN points • 06 Sep 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. A healthcare system should provide equal care to individuals of all sizes, moving towards truly weight-inclusive healthcare.
  2. Research and practices in medicine should include fat patients to improve outcomes for higher-weight individuals.
  3. Weight-inclusive healthcare could reduce weight cycling and improve the health of fat individuals, challenging the ineffective weight-centric care system that has been in place for decades.
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Why High-Dose Biotin Could be the Answer for Your Blood Sugar, Neurological Health, and Skin Health

Harnessing the Power of Nutrients • 1557 implied HN points • 19 Jan 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. High-dose biotin can help with issues like diabetes and smell/taste disorders, but may not be suitable for everyone - consulting a healthcare professional is important.
  2. Some studies suggest high-dose biotin can worsen conditions like multiple sclerosis and even cause adverse effects on blood sugar levels.
  3. Finding the right biotin dosage is crucial, as too much can lead to errors in lab tests and potential serious health consequences, while most people may need more biotin than they currently get.

Import AI 353: AI bootstrapping; LLMs as inventors; Facebook releases a free moderation tool

Import AI • 559 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI bootstrapping is advancing, with techniques like ReST^EM by Google DeepMind showing ways to make models smarter iteratively.
  2. Language models like LLMs are being used for groundbreaking tasks, such as extending human knowledge through techniques like FunSearch by DeepMind.
  3. Facebook has released a free moderation LLM, Llama Guard, highlighting the use of powerful models to control and monitor outputs of other AI systems.

Erythritol and Blood Clotting

Harnessing the Power of Nutrients • 1258 implied HN points • 14 Mar 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Erythritol may contribute to cardiovascular disease by increasing blood clotting propensity, especially in individuals with high erythritol levels.
  2. Understanding the polyol pathway and pentose phosphate pathway is crucial for comprehending how erythritol metabolism affects thiamin deficiency and oxidative stress.
  3. Plasma erythritol likely serves as a marker of pentose phosphate pathway activation, indicating NADPH depletion and suboptimal thiamin status.

A Beneficial AGI Manifesto

Eurykosmotron • 628 implied HN points • 25 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Research
  1. The time to create beneficial Artificial General Intelligence is now, with a clear idea of what needs to be solved.
  2. The development of AGI could lead to Artificial Superintelligence and a potential 'intelligence explosion'.
  3. Decentralized AGI development is crucial to ensure alignment with human values and to avoid monopolization by a few elites.

This week in the science of learning, August 25, 2024

The Bell Ringer • 19 implied HN points • 25 Aug 24
🚌 Education Research
  1. Teaching reading is a mix of art and science. Teachers need to use research but also rely on their own experience to help students learn.
  2. Meaningful knowledge helps students connect what they learn to related ideas. This makes learning more useful and encourages deeper understanding.
  3. Building strong relationships between teachers and parents can help support students. Parents should talk to their kids about learning and current events to strengthen this connection.

Announcing the "No BS Political Science Newsletter"

Never Met a Science • 66 implied HN points • 21 Dec 25
🚌 Education Research
  1. A new monthly newsletter will gather political science announcements, calls, publications, and job openings from microblog platforms so scholars can spot opportunities they might otherwise miss.
  2. Microblogging concentrates attention and creates networked inequality and parasocial weirdness, so scholars should use more transportable, resilient communication channels like email lists, newsletters, and self‑hosted tools.
  3. Open, scrapeable platforms made this digest possible but relying on for‑profit closed platforms is risky; the academic community should build and maintain its own infrastructure and language models for long‑term independence.

AI Roundup 148: GPT-5.2

Artificial Ignorance • 79 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. OpenAI released GPT-5.2 (Instant, Thinking, Pro), which significantly improves performance on professional workflows like spreadsheets, coding, and multi-step projects while reducing hallucinations to make agents more enterprise-ready.
  2. The U.S. federal government is centralizing AI policy by threatening to override state rules and by allowing controlled chip exports to China for a revenue share, mixing regulatory power, national security concerns, and commercial incentives.
  3. Hollywood is adapting to generative AI: Disney struck a $1 billion deal letting users create short character videos under strict guardrails. This shows legacy studios will both license and tightly control AI-generated content while pursuing legal action over unauthorized model training.

Bio links, Fall 2025

De Novo • 99 implied HN points • 16 Nov 25
🔬 Science Research
  1. A new method can estimate an embryo's genetic makeup using a tiny amount of data, potentially helping more people choose traits for their babies.
  2. Research on modified cows and sheep shows we can create new stem cells that might also work in humans, leading to exciting possibilities in breeding and genetics.
  3. Recent studies highlight the harmful effects of herpesviruses, showing they can lead to serious diseases like lupus, making vaccine development even more crucial.

UX Roundup: Year of the Horse | Creative Workflow | AI Coding | Usability Scaling | Was I Right or Wrong? | 30,000 Citations | Winning AI Video

Jakob Nielsen on UX • 13 implied HN points • 16 Feb 26
🪑 Design Research
  1. AI is creating a new interaction paradigm where users express intentions and the system handles the rest, making interfaces faster and more transformative than old command-driven models.
  2. AI is reversing creative workflows and dominating coding: creators can start from polished final outputs and iterate, while AI now writes the bulk of code and massively amplifies developer productivity.
  3. AI’s usability skills are scaling quickly and already cover a growing portion of evaluation tasks, so UX work will shift to higher-level oversight and new roles as AI soon outperforms manual methods.

What We're Looking At Now

DeFi Education • 599 implied HN points • 18 Nov 23
🔮 Crypto Research
  1. Fidelity has applied for an Ethereum ETF, indicating a renewed interest in cryptocurrency. This could attract more investors and boost the market.
  2. The post includes strategies for upcoming investment moves and highlights specific cryptocurrencies to watch. This information is valuable for those looking to make informed decisions.
  3. The concept of 'crypto rotations' is introduced, highlighting how different cryptocurrencies can gain and lose popularity over time. Understanding this can help investors navigate the volatile market.

Thursday Links

Niko McCarty • 119 implied HN points • 30 May 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. A company has set a new record by placing over 4,000 electrodes on a living human brain. This is a big step in brain-computer interface technology.
  2. There are some significant papers about CRISPR technology that are worth checking out. These studies could impact how we use gene editing in the future.
  3. A certain microbe can significantly reduce harmful gas emissions in soil. This is important because it's a natural solution that doesn't involve genetic engineering.

Which Arm Should You Get Your COVID-19 Booster In?

LIL Science • 727 implied HN points • 21 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. The arm in which you receive your COVID-19 booster might make a difference in your immune response.
  2. Getting the booster in the same arm as the previous dose could lead to higher neutralizing antibodies and specific T cells.
  3. Memory B cells may persist in the draining lymph node, potentially aiding quicker immune response upon re-exposure to the antigen.

The Uncertain Origins of Aspirin

Asimov Press • 373 implied HN points • 14 Jul 25
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. The origins of aspirin are complicated and often mixed up with myths and folklore. Many believe it comes from ancient uses of willow bark, but the evidence is not clear.
  2. While willow bark contains salicin, which can turn into salicylic acid in the body, it takes an impractical amount to achieve effects similar to modern aspirin. Real studies on its effectiveness in pain relief are limited.
  3. Aspirin's actual history can be traced back to the late 18th century, with significant contributions from figures like Reverend Stone and chemists at Bayer, showcasing how important accurate references and evidence are in understanding scientific developments.

Reducing Stigma by Ending the Pathologizing of Fatness - Part 1

Weight and Healthcare • 718 implied HN points • 12 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Pathologizing fatness contributes to weight stigma and can dehumanize fat individuals, perpetuating discrimination and exclusion.
  2. Traditional weight stigma reduction methods that shift blame or rely on empathy fail to address the root cause of pathologizing fatness and are ineffective in dismantling weight stigma.
  3. Efforts to eradicate weight stigma should focus on depathologizing fatness, creating interventions that challenge stigma's underlying foundations and embracing collaboration with stigmatized communities.

What I've been reading (#2): More on Kimi K2, how to build a bad research center, Pretraining with RL, and sporks of AGI

Democratizing Automation • 285 implied HN points • 10 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI companies have different ways of operating, especially in China. One company, Moonshot, focuses on individual users and has a unique culture compared to others.
  2. People mostly use AI for coding today, but many are still figuring out how to use these tools effectively. It's important to provide enough information to the AI to get better help.
  3. There are various tools and techniques being developed to improve AI. Researchers are sharing their findings on topics like long-context training and troubleshooting to help others learn and grow.

The Sequence Radar #787: Rubin, Raises, and Returns: 2026 Starts Fast

TheSequence • 42 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI hardware is moving to rack-scale "AI factories," with companies like NVIDIA and AMD designing integrated systems where chips and CPUs work as a single supercomputing unit. This shifts the unit of compute from individual GPUs to whole racks optimized for large-scale inference and training.
  2. Massive capital rounds are reshaping who can compete in frontier models, as multibillion-dollar raises make training and infrastructure effectively affordable only to hyper-scalers and well-funded entities. That level of spending is turning top labs into utility-like, enterprise infrastructure players.
  3. China’s AI firms proved public markets can reward consumer-facing model strategies, with IPOs like MiniMax and z.AI showing rapid monetization and liquidity. This underscores a growing bifurcation: the West doubling down on heavy infrastructure for AGI, while the East pushes fast consumer exits and application-led growth.

The Sequence Radar #783: Softbank, DeepSeek, MiniMax and The Sequence 2026

TheSequence • 49 implied HN points • 04 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Research
  1. SoftBank is using massive capital to buy both leading AI model stakes and the physical data center and edge infrastructure that runs them. This vertical integration is blurring the line between model providers and infrastructure owners.
  2. DeepSeek’s new model and the GRPO technique match top-tier reasoning performance while needing far fewer GPU hours. This shows smarter algorithms can close the gap against big-budget competitors.
  3. MiniMax’s planned Hong Kong IPO (~$539M) signals public-market interest in application-layer AI and gives the company capital to compete amid hardware export controls and intense domestic rivalry.

Further Trouble in Hinton City

Marcus on AI • 2687 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Recent evidence challenges claims of Generative AI systems not storing things or understanding them deeply
  2. Trivial perturbations affect GenAI systems significantly, indicating a lack of deep understanding
  3. GenAI systems effectively store things but struggle with novel designs and understanding simple concepts

Study Tests the Validity of Weight Loss Research Claims

Weight and Healthcare • 758 implied HN points • 29 Apr 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. Weight loss research often relies on the energy deficit approach despite a high failure rate, leading to misrepresentation of evidence.
  2. Claims suggesting 5-10% weight loss offers significant health benefits lack substantial evidence and may not be accurate.
  3. Weight loss studies tend to overlook adverse effects of dieting, neglect other clinical outcomes beyond weight loss, and maintain an overly optimistic tone despite high failure rates observed in long-term interventions.

Cable Bacteria are Living Batteries

Asimov Press • 335 implied HN points • 23 Jul 25
🔬 Science Research
  1. Cable bacteria are unique microbes that act like living batteries by transferring electrons over long distances in mud. They help oxidize sulfide deep in sediment and transport energy to places where it can access oxygen.
  2. The discovery of cable bacteria challenges traditional views in biology, showing that organisms can work together like circuits and coordinate their energy processes over large spaces, which was not thought possible before.
  3. These bacteria have potential environmental benefits, like reducing methane emissions in rice paddies, but growing them for practical use is difficult, as they can't be cultured alone or genetically modified yet.

Are teachers biased against boys?

ideassleepfuriously • 373 implied HN points • 22 Jan 24
🚌 Education Research
  1. The Wason selection task is easier when framed as cheater detection.
  2. The attractiveness halo effect can be changed with new information.
  3. General cognitive ability has a lower correlation with job performance in the 21st century compared to the 20th century.

Huawei Founder on US v China and Basic Research

ChinaTalk • 415 implied HN points • 11 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Basic research is crucial for long-term success. Without it, countries can't make significant advancements and keep up with other leading nations.
  2. There are many challenges in the tech industry, but rather than focusing on the negative, it's important to keep moving forward and adapt. China is making progress through collaboration among its numerous chip companies.
  3. Support for theoretical scientists and researchers is essential. Their work, though often misunderstood and slow to show results, is key to the future development and innovation of the country.

Deep Research, information vs. insight, and the nature of science

Democratizing Automation • 775 implied HN points • 12 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Research
  1. AI will change how scientists work by speeding up research and helping with complex math and coding. This means scientists will need to ask the right questions to get the most out of these tools.
  2. While AI can process a lot of information quickly, it can't create real insights or make new discoveries on its own. It works best when used to make existing scientific progress faster.
  3. The rise of AI in science may change traditional practices and institutions. We need to rethink how research is done, especially how quickly new knowledge is produced compared to how long it takes to review that knowledge.

The Sparks of AGI? Or the End of Science?

Marcus on AI • 4663 implied HN points • 24 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Research
  1. Microsoft and OpenAI are rolling out powerful yet unreliable AI systems with undisclosed mechanisms and data.
  2. The lack of transparency in AI development poses risks to society and calls for public oversight.
  3. Scientists and researchers demand more openness in the development of AI technologies.

Telescopes: Discoveries, Places to Visit, Key Facts

Space Ambition • 359 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🔬 Science Research
  1. Telescopes help us discover amazing things in space, like black holes and new planets. They've changed our understanding of the universe since Galileo's time.
  2. There are many types of telescopes, both in space and on Earth. Each one has its own strengths, like observing different wavelengths of light to see invisible objects.
  3. People are really getting into astronomy, and funding for telescopes is growing. It's easier than ever to rent telescopes or visit observatories to explore the night sky.

You Can’t Write Vague And Censorship-Friendly Editorial Guidelines And Then Pretend They Won’t Apply In The Real World

Singal-Minded • 856 implied HN points • 11 Jan 25
🔬 Science Research
  1. Vague editorial guidelines can lead to serious issues in real-life situations. It's important to have clear and specific rules to avoid confusion and misapplication.
  2. Censorship in the sciences is a topic that many people are discussing. There are different viewpoints on how to balance respect for human dignity with academic freedom.
  3. It's essential to protect published research from being altered or withdrawn unjustly. Making changes for social justice reasons can lead to more harm than good in the scientific community.

Study Questions Supposed Link Between Being Higher-Weight and Cognitive Ability

Weight and Healthcare • 639 implied HN points • 26 Aug 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Research
  1. The concept of 'cognitive ability' has been historically used to promote discrimination against various groups.
  2. BMI and definitions of 'obesity' are shaky concepts without clear health implications.
  3. Research questioning the link between higher weight and cognitive ability often still operates under the assumption that weight is a preventable health issue.

Numlock News: November 2, 2023 • Panda, Theia, Discogs

Numlock News • 569 implied HN points • 02 Nov 23
🔬 Science Research
  1. Downtown business districts in smaller cities may face significant financial impact from drops in office space rent compared to larger cities.
  2. China's panda bear diplomatic program involves significant costs for zoos worldwide but may not always be financially lucrative for the hosting facilities.
  3. The World Series experienced record low ratings, attributed in part to regional issues and the matchup between Dallas and Phoenix.