The hottest Science Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Culture Topics

Links for 2024-01-28

Axis of Ordinary • 58 implied HN points • 28 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Science
  1. Improving transformers with irrelevant data from other modalities showed significant performance enhancements.
  2. New revolutionary work in genome engineering can lead to innovative DNA manipulations.
  3. Higher intelligence levels were linked to negative attitudes towards cryptocurrencies.

The Nose Knows

Weekly Wisdom • 159 implied HN points • 08 Dec 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Science
  1. Breathwork is essential since the breath is a constant companion, affecting both body and mind.
  2. Various breathing techniques can be used for specific effects like calming the nervous system, increasing alertness, or improving oxygen absorption.
  3. Understanding the different elements of breathing, such as nostrils, lungs, and techniques like Breath of Fire, can lead to improved well-being and mind-body connection.

New column: Headlines of Interest

Random Minds by Katherine Brodsky • 121 implied HN points • 22 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Science
  1. Scientists are tracking a fast radio burst from a dead galaxy. This challenges what we thought we knew about how these signals can happen.
  2. A new blood test called PAC-MANN could help find pancreatic cancer earlier. Early detection can really improve treatment outcomes for patients.
  3. Chocolate prices are going up because of bad weather and disease affecting cocoa production in West Africa. This means chocolate bars may get smaller or more expensive.

Stanford Group Helped US Government Censor Covid Dissidents and Then Lied About It, New Documents Show

Public • 473 implied HN points • 10 Nov 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Science
  1. Newly released documents show Stanford group assisted US government in censoring Covid dissenters and then lied about it.
  2. The Virality Project, a joint initiative, collaborated with government agencies to combat 'anti-vaccine misinformation.'
  3. Evidence reveals the Virality Project successfully censored content on social media platforms with the assistance of DHS and CISA.
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The RCT Agenda

Bet On It • 352 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🚌 Education Science
  1. The book highlights how the randomistas in economics might have a political agenda of serving government rather than challenging it, focusing on randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
  2. Many economists focus on RCTs to measure causal effects of variables, emphasizing laboratory, field, and natural experiments in research, with randomization as the core of experimentation.
  3. Randomistas often avoid engaging in the debate of free markets vs. government, favoring government-centered policies in their research strategies, leading to limited exploration of free-market economics.

The Bittersweetness Of Deep Times

From The Future • 98 implied HN points • 05 Aug 23
⚔ Fiction Science
  1. Working on something you love can make you forget negative feelings and distractions.
  2. Loneliness can resurface when faced with challenging situations outside your comfort zone.
  3. Unexpected encounters and teamwork can provide support and relief in difficult circumstances.

Why real environmental action is so hard

Technology, Environment, and Art • 39 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
🌞 Climate & Environment Science
  1. The global capitalistic-consumerist system is fundamentally destructive and promotes unsustainable practices, causing cognitive dissonance in individuals.
  2. Efforts to address environmental issues are often evaluated based on their ability to further global consumerism rather than their actual impact.
  3. To truly make a difference, we need to challenge the current industrial and capitalistic systems, reassess our reliance on technology, and make significant lifestyle changes to prioritize sustainability over convenience.

What comes after?

Secretum Secretorum • 580 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Science
  1. The future might hold a biosphere of minds interconnected like a rainforest.
  2. Imagining what comes after minds can challenge our current understanding.
  3. Exploring 'What comes after...' questions can push the limits of our imagination.

Is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Choosing Weight Stigma Over Science?

Weight and Healthcare • 359 implied HN points • 23 Feb 22
🏥 Health & Wellness Science
  1. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is being criticized for favoring weight stigma over scientific evidence in their guidelines for higher weight individuals.
  2. The guidelines recommend weight loss interventions for higher weight people, emphasizing body size over actual health outcomes.
  3. The guidelines are accused of ignoring research showing the failure of traditional weight loss methods and promoting weight stigma, raising questions about the motives behind these recommendations.

The Black Spatula Project: Day Five

Am I Stronger Yet? • 125 implied HN points • 24 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Science
  1. A new community project is using AI to find errors in scientific papers. It's already made great progress in just a few days.
  2. Identifying and fixing errors in scientific research could help improve the quality of published papers. There are discussions on how best to implement this technology.
  3. The project faces challenges, like figuring out who will use the error-checking tool and how to manage costs associated with scanning many papers.

Guns, Germs, Steel, Coal, Slavery, Seaborne Empires, Peninsulas, Mountain Ranges, Rainfall, & Chance: Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, & Steel" After Twenty-Five Years

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 522 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23
🚌 Education Science
  1. Critics of Jared Diamond often lack basic discourse ethics, skip reading, or misinterpret his work.
  2. Diamond's book 'Guns, Germs, & Steel' excels in explaining historical advantages of Eurasian powers over others.
  3. The roots of Western-Eurasian exceptionalism might lie in cultural unity and political fragmentation, but there are gaps in Diamond's explanations.

2E - 1517's Teen Fall Camp

1517 Fund • 484 implied HN points • 25 Jul 23
🚌 Education Science
  1. 2E - 1517's Teen Fall Camp is a unique opportunity for exceptional teenagers to gather in the Bay Area for a weekend of camping, tech, and mischief.
  2. The camp aims to bring together socially geeky teens who are passionate about science, technology, and collaborating with like-minded peers and mentors.
  3. Teens can attend for free but need to cover their own travel costs, and applications should be submitted by August 1st.

A New National Purpose: AI

James W. Phillips' Newsletter • 78 implied HN points • 13 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Science
  1. The UK needs a new national purpose centered on AI, with increased scale, ambition, and speed.
  2. Reforms to the state are necessary, like reprioritizing capital expenditure and empowering technical experts in government.
  3. Establishing an AI lab named Sentinel, focusing on safety, regulation, and promoting research collaboration, is crucial.

Links for 2023-05-09

Axis of Ordinary • 78 implied HN points • 09 May 23
🕹 Technology Science
  1. A call for a Manhattan Project for AI safety and alignment
  2. New AI method called AdaSubS that adapts the planning horizon based on subgoals
  3. Various research papers on AI, language models, and mathematics discussed

Links for 2024-02-04

Axis of Ordinary • 39 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Science
  1. Neural Networks are advancing towards universal prediction with innovative approaches.
  2. Technology is progressing with 3D-printed human brain tissue, new universal memory candidate, and quantum computing in graphene layers.
  3. Research shows interesting findings in science, like the arms race between bats and moths, the impact of recreational drugs on parasites, and the correlation of brain size with intelligence.

The Burden of Proof

Investing 101 • 46 implied HN points • 14 Jun 25
💼 Business Science
  1. People often believe in ideas that match their group or social circle instead of thinking for themselves. This can lead to poor judgment and decision-making.
  2. Critical thinking is really important when evaluating claims, especially unusual ones like telepathy. It's essential to look for evidence and consider other viewpoints.
  3. Trust in sources of information is crucial. If a source is biased or lacks credibility, it can lead to believing things that aren't true, impacting investments and personal beliefs.

Are All Vacations Evil?

Litverse • 179 implied HN points • 08 Aug 22
🎭️ Culture Science
  1. A vacation allows us to break from our routine and explore different aspects of ourselves.
  2. Escapism through vacations is healthy and necessary to prevent losing touch with our multitudes.
  3. In a modern age dominated by technology, it's essential to disconnect, go on vacation, and pay attention to our present self to avoid the 'Great Smushing' of our identities.

How STEM is Sleepwalking into Wokery

Heterodox STEM • 270 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🚌 Education Science
  1. STEM education is facing challenges with the introduction of ideologies like 'Indigenous science', leading to a shift in traditional approaches.
  2. University environments are becoming increasingly focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion, which can sometimes lead to conflict with academic freedom and rational discourse.
  3. There is a concern among some STEM professors about the impact of ideological pressures on teaching quality, mental health, and innovation within academic environments.

Who Birds Are: How Ornithologist J. Drew Lanham Unites Poetry and Science

Meaning || Matter • 19 implied HN points • 16 Apr 24
📚 Literature Science
  1. J. Drew Lanham combines poetry and science to deepen our understanding of nature. He believes that science and poetry both come from the same curiosity about the world.
  2. Lanham's poems invite us to feel connected to the animals he studies, showing that there's more to nature than just facts and observations. He encourages us to empathize with nature and see ourselves in it.
  3. He promotes a view of nature as a spiritual experience, where understanding life, death, and renewal can bring comfort and insight. His approach challenges us to engage with the natural world fully.

Science Reveals the Secret to Long Lasting Happiness

Psych • 39 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Science
  1. Researchers from the Harvard Study of Adult Development found that relationships and happiness greatly impact health.
  2. The study followed men over 80 years and found that taking care of relationships is a form of self-care.
  3. Early experiences do not determine health outcomes; paths can change based on various factors.

And now Holden's Substack

Science Forever • 99 implied HN points • 10 Dec 22
🕹 Technology Science
  1. Holden Thorp is building up accounts on alternative platforms to Twitter like Mastodon and Post
  2. He is the Editor-in-Chief of _Science_ and will use his Substack for various interests beyond science like jazz, theater, and sports
  3. Subscribe to Holden's Substack if you enjoy his Tweets for more amusing musings and personal anecdotes

65 Years “Two Cultures” – Time for a Celebration?

Heterodox STEM • 92 implied HN points • 29 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Science
  1. There's a divide between the humanities and STEM fields, which can lead to a lack of understanding and cooperation. This split has been growing over the years and is sometimes seen as a 'culture war.'
  2. Non-knowledgeable behaviors, like group think and over-emphasizing feelings, are affecting how knowledge is developed and shared. It's important to stick to processes that encourage truth and understanding.
  3. In academia, different cognitive traits can be found in STEM compared to the humanities. Recognizing these differences might help us understand the ongoing issues in knowledge creation and communication.

Choisis un thème de la semaine

L'Atelier Galita • 39 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
🚌 Education Science
  1. Choose themes through voting to drive direction easily.
  2. Working in advance helps to handle unforeseen challenges better.
  3. Consider exploring themes like investment reflections, scientific proverbs, and debunked science myths about women.

Sunday West 48

Wrong Side of History • 227 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Science
  1. Video of Canon Club event on Richard Wagner by Paul Lay is now available.
  2. Ed West shares insights on various topics - from culture war politics to historical figures surviving difficult times.
  3. Citizens' assemblies and AI advancements are discussed in relation to societal impact and accountability.

Announcing "Food Intelligence"!

Julia Belluz • 31 implied HN points • 21 Jul 25
🍲 Food & Drink Science
  1. The book 'Food Intelligence' explores how food affects our bodies and health. It aims to provide knowledge to help people understand nutrition better.
  2. A key focus of the book is the food environment, which includes social and economic factors that influence what we eat. This environment plays a big role in diet-related diseases.
  3. The authors hope to change how people think about nutrition, diet, and health policies. Understanding food systems can help improve public health and tackle issues like obesity and diabetes.

Curator

Castalia • 139 implied HN points • 22 Jan 23
🎭️ Culture Science
  1. Literary prizes can distract from an artist's true growth and craft. They often create a focus on external validation rather than personal development in art.
  2. Critics have strayed from their true role, becoming more about filtering works for the public than truly engaging with and interpreting art. Real criticism should be a creative dialogue alongside artists.
  3. Science is not as objective as people think. Its methods and findings can change with cultural beliefs, and it's important to recognize that it operates within a social context just like any other belief system.

Bronowski Beat

David’s Substack • 2 HN points • 16 Aug 24
🎭️ Culture Science
  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 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.