tech columnist @ wsj, here to make friends & chew bubblegum (& I'm all out of gum)
What if there were a way to eliminate China's rare earths leverage over the rest of the world -- which allows it to handicap everything from EV to defense production -- by making a new kind of cheap motor that simply doesn't need those elements?
It's happening.
The Internet of Things ended up being the internet of unsupported products.
Google is ending support for 1st & 2nd generation Nests and completely pulling out of Europe.
Imagine having to replace the thermostats in your home because a reorg at some big tech meant it was no longer a priority.
https://www.theverge.com/news/656332/google-ending-support-nest-thermostats
We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All
Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"
But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways
(gift link)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-ai-thinks-356969f8?st=yow5Ga&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
When the physicists need burner phones,
that’s when you know America’s changed
At international academic conferences recently, one sees an interesting trend.
Some American participants are travelling with “burner” phones
or have minimalist laptops running browsers and not much else.
In other words, they are equipped with the same kind of kit that security-conscious people used to bring 15 years ago when travelling to China
Many teachers and researchers in US universities are now fearful of what lies ahead.
No line of inquiry is safe from the raging firestorm of Maga intolerance.
The looming crisis in the US is beginning to remind people in Europe of the 1930s,
when the UK and the US began to realise that Jewish scientists needed to be rescued from the Nazis.
About 2,000 scientists and academics fled the fascist countries between 1933 and 1941,
fearing for themselves or Jewish family members.
Then, universities in the US and the UK made space for and welcomed a whole generation of geniuses
Now, in a different age, there are stirrings in Europe to provide safe places for American researchers.
In France, Aix-Marseille University is welcoming American scientists whose work has become untenable after the Trump administration’s cuts in certain academic sectors.
This is the beginning of something hopeful.
But it also raises the question of what UK institutions are doing to meet the coming challenge.
The answer, at the moment, seems to be nothing much.
Perhaps that’s because most of British academia still can’t get its head around the idea that
the US is now an enemy, not an ally,
and that the “special relationship” is yesterday’s story.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/when-the-physicists-need-burner-phones-thats-when-you-know-americas-changed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
12 years after after Amazon promised it was just around the corner, widespread commercial drone delivery is finally coming to the U.S.
The technological enablers here are fascinating -- it turns out it was a design problem as much as anything.
(gift link)
We live in interesting times. Friend of mine is a scientist in France. He just got briefing on what to do when traveling to the US. He was told to use an empty, freshly installed laptop with nothing but his presentation on it. Uninstall all messengers and social media. If he has to surrender any of his devices even for a minute, he shall get it checked by the French secret service for back-doors and Trojans.
I guess I rather stay home than going to a conference in the US.
#science #usa
Challenge: name a song that more perfectly embodies the way a track can feel like total cringe a decade after it comes out but subsequently proves to be a near-perfect piece of pop perfection (impossible)
Thanks to Steve Jobs and Gorilla Glass, factories in America are now ramping up to make affordable windows, made from panes thinner than a credit card, that can:
* save Americans $25 billion / year
* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon
(gift link)
hey y'all I'm back
after realizing that algorithmic feeds are just totally incompatible with my particular brain, gonna make a go again of being more deliberate about using Mastodon
turns out OpenAI funded the math benchmark that its "reasoning" model subsequently did really well on
via @acookiecrumbles
"Up to 70% of residents between North Carolina and Florida, and a trillion dollars in property, could be impacted by the end of the century with just over three feet of sea rise," thanks to the "hidden threat" of climate change -- rising *groundwater*
via @dogzilla
https://www.wlrn.org/environment/2024-11-27/climate-change-rising-groundwater-study
In the long run, the energy transition to fully electrified everything is happening, no matter who is in charge.
But we can't endlessly rip metals out of the earth forever. This ex-Tesla battery guy is betting we will eventually recycle 100% of them.
Here's episode 3 of my new podcast with co-host Tim Higgins:
This week on my new podcast Bold Names, we interviewed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who came out swinging on the subject of Microsoft's AI strategy:
📎 Copilot is "the new Clippy"
😈 "Microsoft has deceived our customers"
@chrisggarrod you should!
Tesla has the highest rate of fatal accidents among all car brands, report shows
* Fatal accidents per billion miles driven by all vehicles was 2.8 -- Teslas had a rate of 5.6
* Unclear why the disconnect with high vehicle safety ratings, but issue could be autopilot
Today something launched I've worked long and hard on -- a new podcast series for the WSJ.
It's free!
We're asking hard questions of the people who aren't just making the news - they *are* the news.
First up, the Tesla refugee trying to beat Musk at his own game.
I guess hiring human security guards is what you do when you can’t afford real security.
