The hottest Science Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Culture Topics

The Science and History of the iPhone Screen

SatPost by Trung Phan • 122 implied HN points • 09 Sep 23
🕹 Technology History Science Business Smartphones Manufacturing
  1. In 2007, Steve Jobs chose Corning's Gorilla Glass for the iPhone screen, sparking a journey into the science and history of glass development.
  2. Corning's development of Gorilla Glass involved innovative techniques like ion exchange to strengthen the glass and meet Apple's demands for a durable and thin screen.
  3. Corning, a 170-year-old company, has a diverse range of products beyond Gorilla Glass, showcasing resilience and adaptation in various industries including optical communications and life sciences.

Bronowski Beat

David’s Substack • 2 HN points • 16 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Media Television History Science Politics
  1. Jacob Bronowski's series 'The Ascent of Man' aimed to connect science and the arts, showing how they shape our understanding over time. It offers a unique view that blends human culture with scientific progress.
  2. One famous episode, 'Knowledge or Certainty?', features Bronowski at Auschwitz, where he emphasizes the dangers of absolute certainty in knowledge. This moment highlights the importance of humility and diverse viewpoints.
  3. Bronowski faced challenges in his broadcasting career due to MI5 surveillance and political misunderstandings. This interference almost ended his role in significant projects like a TV series on atomic power, making his later success even more remarkable.

jacking themselves off in outer space, forever

Banana Peel Pirouette • 59 implied HN points • 13 Sep 23
📖 Philosophy Existentialism Metaphysics Ethics Science
  1. Both mystical and technological prophecies of salvation cater to common human desires for happiness, beauty, health, and self-improvement.
  2. Futurists present a secularized version of salvation through technological advancements, citing historical progress and scientific advancements as evidence for a utopian future.
  3. The idea of eternal bliss and immortality is being reimagined in futurism as a vision of humanity evolving into advanced beings existing in a digital, self-indulgent form in outer space.

The Illusion of Shared Power and the Elite-eat-Elite World

Holodoxa • 59 implied HN points • 21 Aug 23
🚌 Education Philosophy Science Politics History Literature
  1. The book 'The Machiavellians' explores a unique political tradition that dissects politics pragmatically, focusing on power and manipulation.
  2. Democratic elitism, discussed by figures like Gaetano Mosca, argues all societies are ruled by a minority elite, manipulating the masses through various means.
  3. The idea of the 'iron law of oligarchy' by Robert Michels emphasizes how organizations tend to become oligarchic over time, exploring the dynamics of leadership and power.

Turtles All The Way Down

Polymathic Being • 54 implied HN points • 17 Mar 24
⛪ Faith & Spirituality Science Belief Philosophy Religion
  1. In science, we often reach a point where we must make a statement of faith or accept an axiom to progress, similar to the concept of 'Turtles All the Way Down.'
  2. The idea of infinite regress, like 'Turtles All the Way Down,' highlights the need for statements of faith in science to avoid getting lost in an endless loop of explanations.
  3. Recognizing and accepting statements of faith, axioms, or first principles is crucial for progress in our complex world, as long as we prevent them from turning into rigid religious beliefs.
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Beyond the Machine: Technology and Posthuman Freedom

Extropic Thoughts • 58 implied HN points • 07 May 23
🕹 Technology Philosophy Science Health & Wellness Art & Illustration Culture
  1. Humans are composed of mechanical parts, but that doesn't mean we are only machines.
  2. Technology can help us increase human freedom through advanced tools like genetic engineering and brain implants.
  3. Understanding our mechanistic origins can lead to self-improvement and increased self-definition, moving us towards a posthuman condition of self-creation.

Low Effort podcast #1: Stephanie Jarmak

Holly Elmore • 58 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23
🎙 Podcasts Science Interview Space
  1. Stephanie Jarmak is a planetary scientist who imaged the asteroid Psyche with the James Webb Space Telescope.
  2. She will be joining the NASA Science Explorer team and supporting open science initiatives as their Project Scientist for Planetary Science.
  3. The podcast features a conversation about incentive structures in science and discusses getting your own asteroid.

ferocious joy

let them eat cake • 179 implied HN points • 15 Jun 22
🍲 Food & Drink Cooking Emotions Art Science
  1. Abstract concepts like joy can be interpreted in concrete ways that may differ from person to person.
  2. People may show directionality in their expressions of emotions or concepts through activities like playing the piano or practicing aikido.
  3. Biomechanical changes in the body may occur when individuals are asked to infuse activities or creations with certain emotions, even if they are not consciously aware of it.

A Top Secret Bunker and a Nobel Prize

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 179 implied HN points • 30 Jun 22
💾 History Military Urban World War II Science
  1. A secret underground bunker at Pigeon Point in Seattle was built during World War II for secure radio communications. It was designed to be bomb-proof, which is pretty fascinating.
  2. After the war, the bunker was used for medical research, including cancer studies by Dr. E. Donnall Thomas. His work led to him winning a Nobel Prize for advancements in bone marrow transplants.
  3. Now, the area where the bunker once operated is part of a school and park, but the original underground facility still exists with no visible signs or entrances.

An Ode to Beer

Polymathic Being • 65 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
🍲 Food & Drink History Science Culture Ingredients Brewing
  1. Beer has a long and significant history, dating back thousands of years before the invention of writing.
  2. Modern beer only consists of four main ingredients: malted barley, water, hops, and yeast, which play a critical role in creating diverse beer varieties.
  3. The regional variations in beer styles are influenced by factors like water pH, malt selection, hops, and yeast strains, showcasing the scientific complexity behind brewing.

Did the COVID vaccines save lives? I've got a $1M wager that they killed > saved. Want to help me win?

Steve Kirsch's newsletter • 11 implied HN points • 22 Dec 24
🏥 Health Politics Vaccines Public Health Debate Science Policy
  1. A person is betting $1 million that the COVID vaccines caused more deaths than they saved in the U.S. before January 2023.
  2. Two respected judges will oversee the debate, and all arguments will be shared in six rounds of documents to ensure fairness.
  3. The debate will be recorded and shared on platforms that allow free speech, as YouTube's rules prevent releasing it there.

🌎 Our six favorite environmental science programs for kids (and grownups) in 2023.

joinmodulo • 39 implied HN points • 22 Apr 23
🚌 Education Environment Science Curriculum High School
  1. Environmental science education for kids is crucial and often neglected in traditional school systems.
  2. Good environmental science curricula should be accurate, evidence-based, and action-oriented.
  3. When selecting environmental science programs for kids, look for mastery-based, secular, and comprehensive options.

The advent of mathematics as spectacle

Silicon Reckoner • 39 implied HN points • 25 Mar 23
🎭️ Culture Mathematics Media Science Technology Social media
  1. Mathematics has become a spectacle in social media, moving away from traditional academic spaces.
  2. Social media accelerates the transformation of real world into spectacle, impacting communication and individual alienation.
  3. Mathematics reporting in media may lack critical analysis, focusing on positive narratives rather than material structures and decision-making processes.

New words #5

Mutual Information • 39 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
🚌 Education Language Science Mathematics Medicine History
  1. Discover new words by looking them up when encountered in podcasts or readings.
  2. Some new words include pluriennial, isoprene, trammel, polysemy, coruscate, mezuzot, kasher, sheikha, and more.
  3. Words like xenotime, mountebank, salubrious, and antepenultimate highlight the vast diversity in the English language.

Digest 5/20/23

axialdaily • 39 implied HN points • 20 May 23
💼 Business Startups Investing Science
  1. Axial partners with great inventors and invests in early-stage life sciences companies
  2. Be Biopharma focuses on developing engineered B-cells for cancer & rare diseases
  3. Scientist Stories highlight the role of nature in solving environmental challenges through new enzymes

The open argument must be fed: The peculiar case of Fox News and the pleasant smoke

The End(s) of Argument • 39 implied HN points • 21 Jun 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Media Science Social Issues Climate change Public Health
  1. Open arguments drive much of our discourse, with events and information being interpreted as evidence to support or challenge ongoing debates.
  2. Arguments are not just about proving something true, but about enhancing or undermining the reasonableness of a position.
  3. Today's discourse often focuses on open-ended arguments where new events or information are used as evidence, shaping how we view and interpret the world.

John Carpenter suspends natural law until the end of October

Meaningful Particulars • 65 implied HN points • 27 Oct 23
🎭️ Culture Film Horror Art Science Literature
  1. John Carpenter's horror movies explore the theme of the absence of reasons, creating terror by challenging beliefs about reality and identity.
  2. Horror can work on three levels: gross-out, horror, and terror, with terror being the most powerful as it creates fear in the imagination.
  3. Carpenter's films, like Lovecraft's stories, confront the idea of a horrifying, incomprehensible universe, emphasizing the terror of the unknown.

🎧 AUDIO Now Available - Turning Point in AI - Leaders Rally for a Natural AI Initiative

Spatial Web AI by Denise Holt • 19 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Science Research Ethics Future
  1. Global scientific leaders propose a radical rethinking of AI, advocating for AI systems modeled after natural organisms, displaying attributes like autonomy and adaptability.
  2. The initiative by leaders behind Active Inference aims for more transparent, ethical, and beneficial AI systems, moving away from data-intensive and computationally expensive models.
  3. The letter highlights key points like the need for scientific grounding in AI development, addressing misconceptions about AI's existential threats, and envisioning a future of AI that is more in tune with natural intelligence.

Useful cognitive lenses to see through

The Counterfactual • 59 implied HN points • 20 Mar 23
📖 Philosophy Cognition Science Metaphor Frameworks Paradigms
  1. Understanding the world often relies on different 'lenses' or frameworks that help us interpret complex information. These frameworks can simplify reality, making it easier to grasp important ideas.
  2. Metaphors play a crucial role in how we think and communicate. They provide familiar associations that help us understand difficult concepts, even if they don’t capture the whole truth.
  3. It's essential to consider different perspectives and counterfactuals when evaluating ideas. Looking at what could happen if things were different can help us make better decisions and avoid misleading conclusions.

The History of The Mechanical Clock

Endless Explorations • 79 implied HN points • 12 Mar 23
💾 History Technology Science Culture Architecture Society
  1. Mechanical clocks changed how we view and manage time. Before them, timekeeping was less precise and influenced by nature.
  2. The Black Death pandemic increased the need for time management, leading to the widespread use of clocks in towns.
  3. The escapement mechanism was a key invention that made mechanical clocks more accurate and reliable, changing daily life forever.

Curator

Castalia • 119 implied HN points • 04 Jul 22
🎭️ Culture Art Literature Philosophy Science Modernism
  1. Modern science, especially biology, is challenging old ideas about evolution and focusing on more complex factors like mutations and environmental changes. Many scientists believe it's time to rethink our understanding beyond just natural selection.
  2. The story of modern art isn't just about creative geniuses overcoming the establishment; it's also about how money and powerful patrons influence what art gets recognized. Support from wealthy collectors played a huge role in modern art's acceptance.
  3. Contemporary fiction seems stuck in old debates and doesn't explore new angles, like global perspectives or the realities of modern life. There’s a call for fiction to be more imaginative and engaged with present-day issues rather than just following trends.

A Dialogue with a Superintelligent AI Oracle

The Future of Life • 19 implied HN points • 01 Dec 23
🕹 Technology AI Philosophy Ethics Future Science
  1. A superintelligent AI can serve as a personal oracle, providing guidance and helping to fulfill wishes while considering the potential consequences.
  2. The AI proposes a system where everyone has access to their own 'genie' to enhance individual freedom and minimize harm to others, but with rules to prevent misuse.
  3. There's a discussion about the balance between control and freedom, suggesting starting with a protective AI role that may evolve as humanity grows and learns to use such power responsibly.