Off late a lot of folks have been asking why we started Alter Magazine. Here’s the answer!

Judging by my tl there is a growing gap in understanding of AI capability. The first issue I think is around recency and tier of use. I think a lot of people tried the free tier of ChatGPT somewhere last year and allowed it to inform their views on AI a little too much. This is

"Dear Aliens" is an old-school essay writing contest where all submissions must be delivered via mail. They're looking for writing (under 1,000 words) that aliens should read before visiting Earth. $2500 in prizes. Some good judges etc. etc. etc. Visit dearaliens[dot]net.

After he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957, Albert Camus wrote a letter of thanks to his favorite childhood teacher, whom he'd never forgotten. It's beautiful.

my obsidian knowledge base, based on my book summaries on vp. i am 90% the books i have read, so this feels like 1st step to building a second brain - one more robust than my fallible biological brain. the nodes represent books, key concepts, people and interconnects across books

Bertrand Russell on walking: “Man is an animal, and his happiness depends upon his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am convinced, would increase their happiness more by walking six

Many congratulations Professor Córdova - I am a fan of your lectures, they are among the best I've attended at UChicago!

We're launching the Anthropic STEM Fellows Program. AI will accelerate progress in science and engineering. We're looking for experts across these fields to work alongside our research teams on specific projects over a few months. Learn more and apply: job-boards.greenhouse.io/anthropic/jobs…

When Google Gemini outputs math symbols, I can copy-paste them into a LaTeX software like Overleaf and it formats perfectly with math inside $$ signs etc. Why haven't ChatGPT and Claude done this?! (Sure, I can ask them to explicitly output LaTeX code but it's much easier to

In 1963, a quiet mathematician from New Zealand - Roy Kerr cracked a cosmic riddle. He found an exact solution to Einstein’s equations that describes a rotating, uncharged black hole. Today we call it the Kerr metric, and it’s not just theory, it matches the real black holes

Reading about the semiconductor manufacturing process is a mind-bending experience. It’s a miracle that we figured this out.

infinite talent, quantum mechanics

list of things that only happen at cog: 1) getting pulled into an interview w my favourite youtuber Grant Sanderson (!!) youtube.com/watch?v=BNx4Cl…

Last call — Astera's Essay Competition deadline is May 1. Scientists see the bottlenecks in their fields better than anyone — we want to hear from you. astera.org/essay-competit…

the last 2 years have been the crazier than i could've ever imagined. _you can just do things_

Stripe Press cafe at Stripe Sessions 😇

We are investing in foundational technologies across the board: recently in quantum sensing, advanced materials, and soon metallurgy. I am a big proponent of metallurgy R&D in particular. Without it, we cannot build nail cutters or precision machinery or jet engines. These are

incredible content. this is the sort of stuff I have been trying to develop the intuition for playing around with models locally. he simplifies it so well with the math youtu.be/xmkSf5IS-zw?si…

Excellent video for intro to complexity theory youtube.com/watch?v=YX40hb…

I may be biased but I think this is a pretty good piece!