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I stopped working on black hole information loss
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 399 posts.
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IBM open sources fully-functional Lego microscope design (2020)
By Katia Moskvitch
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Controlling the nuclear fusion plasma in a tokamak with reinforcement learning
Successfully controlling the nuclear fusion plasma in a tokamak with deep reinforcement learning
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You need to know what right-half-plane zeros are
Why some systems -- as a consequence of their intrinsic dynamics -- require a control action that first pushes them the wrong way and makes things worse before it gets better.
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The 'Batman Effect': How having an alter ego empowers you (2020)
Thinking of yourself as a separate entity can reduce anxiety, while also kicking up some major benefits for your confidence and determination.
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No amount of alcohol is good for the heart, says World Heart Federation
GENEVA (20 January 2022) – In a new policy brief, the World Heart Federation (WHF) challenges the widespread notion that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol can decrease the risk of heart disease, and calls for urgent and decisive action to tackle the unprecedented rise in alcohol-related death and disability…
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MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts (2018)
MIT engineers have flown the first silent, fuel-free “ion plane.” The light aircraft is the first plane to fly with no propellers, turbine blades, or other moving parts.
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Students break acceleration world record for electric vehicles
Self-built electric vehicle sets new best time
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Another scientific body has debunked bitemark analysis
Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, the criminal legal system is incapable of admitting its mistakes
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How many radioactive bananas would you need to power a house?
I heard that bananas are radioactive. If they are radioactive, then they radiate energy. How many bananas would you need to power a house?
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MIT researchers develop a paper thin loudspeaker
MIT researchers created an ultrathin loudspeaker that can turn any rigid surface into a high-quality, active audio source. The fabrication process can enable the thin-film devices to be produced at scale.
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Consider working on genomics
Genomics needs more talented software engineers—here's why you should consider joining the field.
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Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste
AUSTIN, Texas — An enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin can break down environment-throttling plastics
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Why are D-sharp and E-flat considered to be two different notes?
Why do the black keys on the piano each have two different names? If the posts on r/musictheory are any indication, this is a persistent point of confusion, especially when music theory teachers ge…
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Around one-in-three children globally suffer from lead poisoning
Estimates suggest that around every third child in the world suffers from lead poisoning. What can we do to reduce this?
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Vogtle Unit 3 starts nuclear fuel load
Vogtle Unit 3's fuel load process is underway marking a historic milestone toward ommercial operation of the first new nuclear units in the United States in more than three decades
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Book Review: “Viral” by Alina Chan and Matt Ridley
Happy New Year, everyone! It was exactly two years ago that it first became publicly knowable—though most of us wouldn’t know for at least two more months—just how freakishly horr…
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I’m not convinced by the new lab leak debunking
It’s still an open question
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CT scan shows there's still lots of toner left in an “empty” cartridge
CT scans of a new and "empty" toner cartridge reveal a 5% operating window, an 80% air hopper, and the real reason shaking the cartridge always works.
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You're Not Losing Fat Because You're Eating Too Damn Much (2016)
The environmental and cognitive factors at play that have people eating more without realising.
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Thoughts on the potato diet
Nine observations about what happens when you eat only potatoes
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First images of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain during sleep (2019)
A new study from Boston University is the first to illustrate that the brain’s cerebrospinal fluid pulses during sleep, and that these motions are closely tied with brain wave activity and blood flow. It may confirm the hypothesis that CSF flow and slow-wave activity both help flush toxic, memory-impairing proteins…
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Planes are still decades away from displacing most bird jobs
Note: Parts of this essay were written by GPT-3, so it might contain untrue facts. Introduction Many of my friends are extremely excited by planes, rockets, and helicopters. They keep showing me videos of planes flying at enormous speed, rockets taking off from the ground while creating fiery infernos around them, and…
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OneWeb will resume satellite launches with SpaceX as the launch provider
31 GEO satellites and Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation of +600 satellites deliver resilient, secure connectivity across land, sea and air.
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The Color of Infinite Temperature
This is the color of something infinitely hot. Of course you’d instantly be fried by gamma rays of arbitrarily high frequency, but this would be its spectrum in the visible range. This…
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