Robert Kemp Adair (1924–2020)—Notes on a Friendship
Reflections on the life and work of a superb scientist, for whom integrity and rigor were paramount.
Geoffrey C. Kabat
· 19 min read
Science / Tech
A collection of 314 posts
Stupidity as Moral Negligence
Those guilty of political stupidity do not necessarily suffer from a lack of reasoning skills.
J.P. de Ruiter
· 9 min read
Mortuary Archaeology
Death, DNA, and the culture wars.
Jon Entine, Patrick Whittle
· 14 min read
To Accelerate or Decelerate AI: That is the Question
Explaining the “accel/decel” split at the heart of the OpenAI power struggle.
Sean Welsh, Michael Timothy Bennett
· 13 min read
Introducing Justapedia
A new alternative to Wikipedia has arrived. Can it succeed where others have failed?
Shuichi Tezuka
· 24 min read
Why We Should Settle Mars
Space exploration will bring us inventions that benefit humanity. And it will help us avoid war.
Robert Zubrin
· 13 min read
Forget About Overpopulation, Soon There Will Be Too Few Humans
The more people there are, the more solutions to problems will be found.
Maarten Boudry
· 8 min read
Robert Sapolsky is Wrong
A new book about free will fails to offer an original argument or make a convincing case.
Stuart Doyle
· 13 min read
Who Should Fund Science?
The notion that governments should fund science is built on falsehoods.
Zachary Robert Caverley
· 17 min read
Destiny of Earth
Muthukrishna’s new book presents a fundamentally optimistic narrative, brimming with ideas and concepts.
Razib Khan
· 6 min read
Towards a Brave New World
Huxley’s dystopian novel was a warning, but we are systematically moving in the direction he indicated.
Tomasz Witkowski
· 10 min read
Clearing Out My Father’s Office
Reflections on a vibrant scientific career cut short.
Geoffrey C. Kabat
· 15 min read
Old Model, New Tricks
On the 85th anniversary of his death, a look back at the legacy of Nikolai Kondratiev and its implications for the coming age of GenAI.
Elliot Leavy
· 6 min read
Dogmatism, Data, and Public Health
A look back on the 2003 BMJ controversy over passive smoking and mortality.
Geoffrey C. Kabat
· 20 min read
Unconscious Bias in Medicine: A Canard
Evidence that clinical decisions are driven by unconscious bias remains conspicuously lacking.
Stewart Justman
· 8 min read