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Teaching meditation in two minutes or less (while walking through a jail).
With a repeated phrase to focus on, any of us might calm our wandering minds.
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Wavelike cats calculate faster than you can.
Hypothetical calculator-wielding cats can help us understand the workings of a quantum computer.
calculating cats, cat, chemistry, computation, computer science, computers, factoring prime numbers, flow of information, information-proof box, laser trap, many worlds, physics, quantum, quantum bits, quantum computers, quantum computing, quantum computing made easy, quantum decoherence, quantum mechanics, quantum mechanics for children, quantum physics, Sam Avery Norrell, Schrodinger’s Cat, science, understanding quantum computers, understanding quantum computing, wave function, wave function collapse
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On the toothy origins of our inner fire.
With one weird trick, morganucodon kept our kind from being killed by saprophytic fungi.
ancestor worship, ancient fossils, biology, blight, chewing, Chicago, climate change, cooking, decline of reptiles, dinosaur, dinosaurs, Emily Monosson, evolution, fall of dinosaurs, Fire, fire myths, first mammal, fossils, fungal epidemics, fungal infections, fungal pandemics, fungi, global warming, inner fire, mass extinction, mastication, metabolism, morganucodon, nature, proto-mammal, protomammal, rise of mammals, saprophytic fungi, science, Steve Brussate, teeth, The Field Museum, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, tooth, warm blood, warm bloodedness, wildlife
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On bias in (and against!) romance novels.
Romance novels espouse a radical philosophy, that our joy matters as much as power, progress, or fame.
aesthetics of care, AI, AI algorithm, AI algorithms, algorithm, ancestry, artificial neural networks, beach reads, bias, book review, books, Christina Lauren, Ciara Smyth, data training, dating algorithms, dating apps, dating service, DNA, genetic ancestry, genetics, guilty pleasure, happiness, Maggie Nelson, matchmaking, On Freedom, online dating, pleasure, predictive algorithm, prejudice, prejudice against romance novels, reading, romance, romance novel, romance novels, romantic compatability, silent mutations, soulmate, The Falling in Love Montage, the pursuit of happiness, The Soulmate Equation, The True Love Experiment, writing
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On skin color and sexual selection in humans.
Somehow, many male biologists failed to notice that whichever sex does more caretaking typically has more control over mate choice …
aesthetic preferences, agrarian, agrarian cultures, agriculturalists, agriculture, ancient human diets, ancient human evolution, ancient human skin color, animals, birds, bowerbird, caretaking and mate access, caretaking and mate choice, caretaking and sexual choice, childhood mortality, club winged manakin, club-winged manakins, cultural differences, Dawn of Everything, depigmentation, dietary influence on the evolution of skin color, epidermal melanin, evolution, evolution of beauty, evolution of cuteness, evolution of depigmentation, evolution of epidermal melanin, evolution of skin color, evolutionary theory, evolutionary trade-offs, female mate choice, fitness costs, folate, gamete size, human attraction, human caretaking, human culture, human evolution, hunter-gatherer cultures, hunter-gatherers, inequality, male control over reproductive success, male mate choice, mate choice, melanin, nature, peacock mating, peacocks, reproductive success, resource control, resource distribution, science, sexual attraction, sexual dimorphism, sexual dimorphism in human skin color, sexual selection, sexual selection of skin color, skin color dimorphism, skin color hypothesis, skin tone, smooth guardian frog, tamarins, Vitamin D, why are babies cute
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On the aesthetics of time.
What if we celebrated the accumulation of wisdom and experience in the people around us?
age, aging, art, beauty, beauty industry, Cara Jo O’Connell, Cara O’Connell, caretaking, elective brain surgery, elective lobotomy, experience, feminism, feminist, Free Falling into the Cosmos, horror novel, Jenn Shapland, knowledge, lobotomy, Luke Dittrich, Maui, memory loss, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Moana, Mona Awad, neurosurgery, personal growth, relationships, Rogue, skincare, staff art exhibition, Thin Skin, William Scoville, wisdom, wrinkles
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On hubris, politics, and so much collective dread about this coming November.
Each of us is special, but we shouldn’t give in to the hubris of imagining that no one else could do our work.
45, Biden, congress, Democratic presidential candidate, Donald Trump, election, Joe Biden, Joseph Biden, Kamala Harris, opposition party, politics, presidency, President, presidential candidate, presidential election, RBG, Republican party, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senate, Supreme Court, Supreme Court justice, Trump
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On the timescales of apocalypse.
The world is not at risk. The world has been through this before. But human civilization has never experienced such change.
10 million years of climate, 10 million years of climate change, 20 thousand years of climate, 20 thousand years of climate change, 500 million years of climate, 500 million years of climate change, assessing past climate, average global temperatures, climate, climate apocalypse, climate change, climate change and evolution, climate change during history of civilization, climate change in human evolution, climate science, environment, environmentalism, evolutionary pressure, feedback loop, global temperatures, global warming, human evolution, ice cores, isotope analysis, Kristin Bergmann, mass extinction, paleoclimatology, past climate, past climate change, science, the history of civilization, timescales of climate change, when has climate change happened before
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On learning about polyamory from Elephant & Piggie.
Despite the recent surge of art & literature about polyamory, the best depiction is still in a book for elementary schoolers …
Alex Dimitrov, American Poly, babysitting cooperative, Bill de Blasio, Bonnie Garmus, Brian Watson, capitalism, capitalist critique, Charlotte Cowles, childcare, Chirlane McCray, Choosing the Right Pond, Christopher Gleason, consensual nonmonogamy, consumerism, cooperation, cooperative childcare, Cunning Minx, Elephant & Piggie, Elephant and Piggie, Elizabeth Doerr, free love, Geraldo Rivera, group marriage, human sexuality, I’ll Be Lovin’ You, Jennifer Wilson, joy, Kamauu, Lessons in Chemistry, love, Maitland Ward, Mango, Miranda Lambert, Mo Willems, multiple marriage, My New Friend Is So Fun, nontraditional marriage, Notes for My Funeral, Olivia Goldhill, open marriage, open relationship, parenting, partible paternity, poly, poly music, poly songs, polyamorists, polyamorous, polyamorous music, polyamorous parenting, Polyamorous Sex as Political Weapon, polyamorous songs, polyamory, polygamy, raising children, Rated X, relationships, Robert Frank, romance, Ryam Nearing, Sarah Stein Lubrano, sex-positive, social justice, Storming then Performing, wealth inequality, work spouse, work wife
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On Nobel laureate Linus Pauling’s contribution to the climate crisis.
When scientists behave unethically, more people distrust science.
academic research, academic science, Art Robinson, Arthur Robinson, book, book review, cancer, capitalism, carbon emissions, climate change, climate crisis, climate denial, climate deniers, climate science, conspiracy theories, David Lipsky, education, environmentalism, fossil fuel apologists, fossil fuels, global warming, harmful incentives, history, incentive structure, junk science, Linus Pauling, negative externalities, Parrot and Igloo, Parrot and Igloo book, pollution, research fraud, research scientists, science, science denial, science deniers, scientific fraud, statistical analysis, statistical fraud, statistical manipulation, statistics, taxing negative externalities, The Parrot and the Igloo, vitamin C
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Frank Brown Cloud 