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Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 2,038 posts.
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Busy Beaver Updates: Now Even Busier
Way back in the covid-filled summer of 2020, I wrote a survey article about the ridiculously-rapidly-growing Busy Beaver function. My survey then expanded to nearly twice its original length, with …
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How to Study Physics (1949)
physics, history of science, pseudoscience, hoaxes, writing, education, skepticisism, humor, quotes, illusions, 3d stereo photography.
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Is mathematics about to enter the conservatory?
Math as cultural institution.
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Who is the greatest knife steel metallurgist of all time?
There have been many metallurgists over the decades who have developed steels used in knives. Who has made the greatest contribution?
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Starlink is a big deal
Part of my series countering misconceptions in space journalism. Now available in audio form. Starlink, SpaceX’s plan to serve internet via tens of thousands of satellites, is a staple in the…
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When Kitty Litter Caused a Nuclear Catastrophe
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Late in the night of Valentine’s Day 2014, air monitors at an underground nuclear waste repository outside Carlsbad, New Mexico, detected the release of radioactive elements, including americium and plutonium, into the environme
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Sanitation conquered disease long before vaccines or antibiotics
Of all the technologies against infectious disease, which mattered most? A data-driven approach
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A doctor who treated Bach and Handel with disastrous results
Dr. John Taylor treated Bach and Handel with disastrous results, perhaps causing the death of both composers. Did it impact the course of Western music?
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The Disappearing Universe
Even at the speed of light, you’ll never reach these galaxies.
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Derivative at a Discontinuity
Alok Singh's Blog
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How do palm trees survive hurricanes? (2017)
The destructive force of typhoons and hurricanes are no joking matter. Human structures are torn to shreds and flooded in the blink of an eye. It is devastating to say the least. With all of this destruction, one must wonder how native flora and fauna have coped with such forces over millions of years. The true…
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Mindblowing dissertations
We don’t generally see PhD dissertations as an exciting genre to read, and that is wholly our loss. As the…
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A Random Walk in 10 Dimensions (2021)
The geometry of random walks in high dimensions provides the power behind deep learning and may be the secret to intelligence.
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Naturally Occurring Quasicrystals
I love quasicrystals—like crystals, but with patterns that never repeat, like Penrose tiles. But they’ve very rare in nature. They’re created only by the most exotic and violent e…
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Why we don’t understand heavier-than-air flight
If you've been reading popular science websites or magazines lately, then you may have heard the news: we don't understand how airplanes work. For example:…
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Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist (2012)
[ An updated treatment of some of this material appears in Chapter 2 of the Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet (free) textbook, also mirrors a 2022 article in Nature Physics . . ]
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Don't Become a Scientist (1999)
Don't Become a Scientist!
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Delta-V: Designing the Asteroid Mining Ship 'Konstantin'
Chronicling the design of the spacecraft and systems depicted in the book, Delta-v, by Daniel Suarez:
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How thick is a three-sided coin?
Matt Parker, employing the enviably pithy prose typical of a content creator forged on the unforgiving fires of social media, asked the simple question back in 2018: > How thick is a three-sided coin? Translated into mathematician-ese, this means > What aspect ratio of a flipped coin leads to the chance of landing on…
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The Art of Fugue – Contrapunctus I (2021)
JS Bach’s last set of works, collectively titled The Art of Fugue, was published shortly after his death. It was not a big hit. Dense counterpoint was deeply unfashionable at that time, as We…
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A brief history of oral peptides
Semaglutide is a peptide. Your stomach’s entire job is to destroy peptides.
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Why airplane windows have round corners (2016)
It's to prevent them from killing you