Joe Hanson

They couldn't handle it

How do we retrain the TikTok brain to sit with an idea for more than 60 seconds? Tie them to a chair like A Clockwork Orange?

TikTok has absolutely cratered people’s narrative attention spans. I make educational YouTube videos with deliberate acts to build story, and I purposely loop back to ideas to reinforce then, but if it takes longer than 3 minutes to watch then inevitably someone comments “get to the point”

sounds like a great way to make sure we don't lead in AI or high-tech innovation

Discovery Institute detected!

Smithsonian exhibit monkeys around with the scientific evidence on human origins The National Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Human Origins vastly distorts the scientific evidence on human evolution, seeking to convince visitors there’s nothing special about us as human bei…

The New York Post invited someone to complain that an exhibit built by the only species in Earth's history to ever explore its own origins and build public shrines to share its knowledge does not sufficiently celebrate the "exceptional place of humans in nature" nypost.com/2025/07/26/o...

I simply refuse to believe that this man and I are the same age

Tired: #FloridaMan

Wired: #FloridaFauna

Parents should be free to teach their kids if the local school system isn't setting those kids up for success, but if "evolution is real" and "guys who owned slaves weren't 100% great" are the ideas you have a problem with then you're not doing your kids any favors

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/s...

(my hot take) Meanwhile YouTube's most celebrated creators have basically reinvented 90s reality TV and Japanese game shows while figuring out new ways to sell candy bars to kids (not you)

a man going full send on a rake to the face, an analogy for republican policy on renewable energy

Great job everyone

Opinion | Is Decarbonization Dead?

This interview is very good and underscores just how boldly the US leapt onto the rake with both feet when Republicans crippled renewable energy, EV adoption, and battery investment in their latest tax bill, ceding even more of tomorrow's energy dominance to China

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/o...

We obviously are super bad at screwing around with the atmosphere, but we can't get better without research. And while I sincerely hope we don't need to use "break glass in case of emergency" tools like this, I'm not sure I want to bet the flourishing of my species on it!

Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public. Hundreds of documents show how researchers failed to notify officials in California about a test of technology to block the sun’s rays — while they planned a much huger sequel.

If shit ever really hits the climate fan and we someday need to turn down the warming dial in a hurry, cloud seeding/albedo enhancement is one of the few options at our disposal

But distrust in institutions & rise of paranoid politics make studying this impossible
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

I highly recommend that you ask Google about being a baby animal in various scenarios and inquire about the location of your mother before they update their AI

Quite wholesome and reassuring!

Lauren cameo ftw!!

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Welp, the Senate was just given the opportunity to save public media funding from the rescissions package.

And they didn't.

Cuts to children's educational programming, local journalism that communities depend on, emergency alerts for rural areas… those cuts remain in the bill.

I've been giving this a lot of thought, and I've come to the conclusion that experts are, in fact, good

I'm bringing back "Ahoy!"

I don’t personally know the scale of those effects. But it’s certainly true that AC units move heat from inside to out, so it’s plausible. Might be overshadowed by other urban heat effects like lack of green cover, pavement etc

There are ~2 billion A/Cs today. Due to climate change and economic development, the IEA predicts 5.6 billion A/Cs by 2050. Emissions from A/C could 3x by 2050 if we don’t lower their impact

Cooling is increasingly a human rights issue. It’s also a massive climate issue. Neither should be dismissed

Air conditioning might be our toughest environmental justice conundrum.

Billions experience extreme heat each year. A/C unquestionably saves lives

But A/C uses 7-10% of our electricity, emits 7% of global greenhouse gases emissions, and leaked coolants are >100x more potent GHGs than CO2

Holy crap. Listen to these comments from Kerr County residents demanding leaders send back ARPA funds that could have been used for flood warning upgrades.

Did politics and division contribute to this death toll?

Is there any hope of deprogramming these people?

Are we cooked?

More local comments here. These people are fully cooked by misinformation and conspiracy

Did this lead to county officials rejecting life-saving federal funds?

Weaponized misinformation has real consequences. Journalists must continue to dig and investigate what local officials did and did not do.

Read more from @texastribune.org

They are doing great work covering the tragedy and the apparent local failures that amplified it

www.texastribune.org/2025/07/10/t...

Holy crap. Listen to these comments from Kerr County residents demanding leaders send back ARPA funds that could have been used for flood warning upgrades.

Did politics and division contribute to this death toll?

Is there any hope of deprogramming these people?

Are we cooked?

Is this how Rev. Graham felt when we put chocolate and shmallows in between his chastity crackers?

I fully expect to see the US Capitol dome wrapped in tin foil by next week

I don't know who needs to hear this, but there is no such thing as a "good faith" question about contrails, unless you are in a science class learning about upper atmospheric condensation nuclei (and spoiler: Zeldin ain't talking about that here)