Help a journalist out? I'm looking to talk to researchers, engineers, students or entrepreneurs who are considering leaving the U.S. because they lost funding or are worried about visas or anything like that. I'm at mimsical.94 on Signal

What if there were a way to eliminate China's rare earths leverage over the rest of the world -- which allows it to handicap everything from EV to defense production -- by making a new kind of cheap motor that simply doesn't need those elements?

It's happening.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/these-electric-motors-could-help-break-the-worlds-dependence-on-china-3fa07b0b

We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All

Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"

But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-ai-thinks-356969f8?st=yow5Ga&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

12 years after after Amazon promised it was just around the corner, widespread commercial drone delivery is finally coming to the U.S.

The technological enablers here are fascinating -- it turns out it was a design problem as much as anything.

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/tech/the-drone-delivery-service-beating-amazon-to-your-front-door-1ad898b4?st=4mWfzC&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Challenge: name a song that more perfectly embodies the way a track can feel like total cringe a decade after it comes out but subsequently proves to be a near-perfect piece of pop perfection (impossible)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah5gAkna3jI

Thanks to Steve Jobs and Gorilla Glass, factories in America are now ramping up to make affordable windows, made from panes thinner than a credit card, that can:

* save Americans $25 billion / year

* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/business/corning-window-gorilla-glass-4f443b07?st=UPDbcE&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

hey y'all I'm back

after realizing that algorithmic feeds are just totally incompatible with my particular brain, gonna make a go again of being more deliberate about using Mastodon

Twitter / X is being flooded with clips from video games being passed off as footage from Gaza.

With the gutting of its trust and safety team, and payouts to accounts based on engagement, Twitter / X now rewarding trolls, clout-chasers and their clueless enablers -- with what looks like less oversight than ever from anyone inside the company.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/arma-3-video-game-clips-israel-hamas-conflict-1234849405/

This is bonkers:

Only 4 in 10 Americans know that "filling up" an EV is cheaper than filling up a gas-powered vehicle.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2023/09/15/ev-tipping-point-electric-poll/

10,000 steps a day is made-up b.s.

It turns out that ANY amount of additional walking per day is good.

And also that if you want to max out the benefits, 7,500 is where it actually tops out

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/10000-steps-rule/590785/

"Is it covid or is it modernity?" feels like the most popular game in America right now

https://mastodon.social/@lzg/111070943184472731