I actually think the reasons looksmaxxers do what they do are pretty straightforward. It's about developing a form of social capital that is intrinsic and can't be taken away

The children yearn for the mines.

I think the current weird state of the world makes more sense when you remember that we are quite literally living in the post apocalypse. It's been like 4 years since people were suddenly dropping dead on the street, of course things are weird.

I think one thing that's missing from the AI art discourse is the acknowledgement that some creative pursuits have always been about prompting and tuning. Like film/stage directors, screenwriters, composers, fashion designers...

Projections like this make me think we have actually reached a technological singularity (as Kurzweil defines it, a point at which the accelerating pace of change that makes predicting the future essentially impossible)

I feel like most people don't realize that if you have a Bluetooth or WiFi enabled device on you (earbuds, smartwatch, fitness thing) it is more or less constantly broadcasting a locator beacon. www.kold.com/2026/02/17/f...

Come by Wed-Sun. We’re also matching up to $150.

The Senate has to approve a budget next week which means that NOW is a great time to tell your senators to strip funding from ICE. This site has a script and contact info! 5calls.org/issue/dhs-bu...

FOX: Where’s the protest against the regime that's killing people in the street right now? Trent: They are doing those today. It’s called the ICE protests FOX: Are they talking about Iran at the ICE protests? Trent: No, I think they are talking about the regime that is shooting people in the face

How likely is ‘likely’? Does ‘likely’ have a higher probability than ‘probable’? I put together a quick quiz so you can see how you interpret probability phrases, then see how you compare with others: probability.kucharski.io

Probably unpopular take but I think monetizing apps/websites with crypto mining was a good idea we gave up on too soon. It gets around the problems of ad funding, it's a natural solution for spam/bot control and the downside of extra compute is not that bad especially if managed well.

And now someone has uploaded a version that wasn't filmed off a TV. There's also the torrent link there, which is probably the fastest way to download the 60 Minutes segment on CECOT if you want to save the file locally to your computer.

Adopt ‘air hygiene’ ratings—like food hygiene—for indoor spaces. Independent SAGE designed such a ‘scores on the doors’ system, yet progress is minimal. Make clean air as normal as clean water: visible standards, accountability, and incentives to improve. 9/10

Flu is surging. What can we do about it? Layered protections—vaccination, isolation with liveable sick pay, and clean air—enabled by government and institutions. BMJ Opinion by Stephen Reicher, @martinmckee.bsky.social & @profstevegriffin.bsky.social www.bmj.com/content/391/...

I think one of the best things about AI search engines is how they foster curiosity by lowering the bar to asking questions, which is where creativity comes from.

Well that's a bit ominous...

Come say hi if you're going to #sfn25 and want to chat about cognitive enhancement, sleep, or memory! I'm around starting this evening and will be postering on Tuesday morning !

One odd implication of the AI doom argument is that (super)intelligence is a sort of fungible power that can shape most things to your will. Eg do you believe that had Kamala been sufficiently smart, she would have won the election? Could she win the election in Russia? In China?

Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.

The cool thing about prediction markets is that they are basically a way to monetize special interests.

Tonight at 6 eastern time: Come talk about the craziest solutions to cool the planet (and whether we should do them) www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

Tonight: It's almost Halloween, so it's time for the creepiest animals! 6:30 eastern time at www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

Communism in the US is a lot like quicksand in that we all grew up thinking it was gonna be a much bigger issue than it is.

This Consumer Reports lead story shows a lot about what we get wrong in talking about chemicals in food. The main claim is that protein powders often contain "unsafe" levels of lead. Which is bizarre because there's no safe level of lead other than 0 lead. www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Everyone loves evidence-based practices until the evidence says to eat a clove of raw garlic. (By everyone I mean me)

Highly recommend tracking your mood and activities because if you have a terrible day you can be like oh well at least I collected some data to improve my life

It's darkly ironic how many people will tell you that AI damages critical thinking skills solely on the basis of "it seems like it"

Is BPA really bad for you? Did getting rid of lead make us better people? Tonight we're talking about poisons, toxins, and how we study them! 7 PM eastern time at www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.

What is the ideal amount of Teflon in your food? If you said zero Teflon, you're *wrong*--according to the winner of this year's Ig-Nobel Prize in Chemistry! Join us at 9 eastern time to chat about the year's weirdest science at the Ig-Nobels! www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

Finally read the ai-2027.com scenario and my main impression is that this is real heavy on geopolitics for a team that knows nothing about geopolitics. Like if your thesis is that the fate of the world will be decided by a US-China arms race, shouldn't you involve some people who...study that?

Our next stream is tonight at 6:45 Eastern time! Come chat about the fake (and real) science that's been viral on social media recently! www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

Tonight at 6:30: Monsanto, sketchy pesticide science, and how safe is our food? Come chat at 6:30 www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

Chicago is doing what works without Trump’s invasion of our city. We reject occupation. We welcome investments in public education, youth employment, and affordable housing.

Opposition to RFKJr is ramping up. Joint statement from Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and 21 other organizations 👇

Everyone in public health, healthcare and biomedical research has been screaming this for months. It’s time for RFK Jr to go. Everyone, please, please get on the phone to your members of Congress. Call them every day. This man is that dangerous.

Tonight: Should we tell everyone to get vaccinated? We're talking about the science of science communication! 6:30 Eastern time! www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

If this was a political drama we would be laughing at how terroble the writing was

Spotify now automatically generates chapters for news podcasts, but the hilarious part is that it uses the same algorithm and tone for horror podcasts.

Streaming now!

Recently a lot of media has been talking about how AI is bad for your brain. Is this true, and what can the science of learning and brain exercise tell us about it? Chatting tonight at 6:30 eastern time! www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

I understand why they do it, but the idea that AGI is AI that can do useful work seems kinda stupid. Children clearly have general intelligence, get they do rather poorly at SWE-Verified (or running a business in general)

We are back tonight to talk about space! Interstellar comets, nuke plants on the moon, and whatever if going on in this graph! 6 PM eastern time at www.twitch.tv/philososcien...

New ArsTechnica story about the new steaming pile of Executive Order... arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Funding for this groundbreaking research on Alzheimer's was terminated by the Trump Administration www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/06/m...

Oh no it's back

Russell Vought wanted to shut down all extramural grants from NIH in this current fiscal year, putting stop to ALL research across the US. Someone in the White House had better sense. But Vought is a dangerous man, who will stop at nothing to destroy science in America. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Two years ago I started working on this crazy idea that we could use a smartwatch to increase slow wave activity during sleep and improve sleep quality. Now I’m excited to share a first look at some of the results from the project! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... A few cool things we found:

This stopped me cold. I just keep reading the headline. It seems literally impossible to me, that this thing that cut through an entire generation has an answer now. It's impossible to convey how terrifying those years were, how much loss there was, how much pain. My heart. It feels like a miracle.

What's really striking about this study is how small the effect size is. If this study is well conducted, the takeaway is that social media use has no effect on your personal mental health that is significant in a practical sense.