Peter Bart Reiner

Renewables have taken the lead in Dutch electricity production For the first time, in 2024, more than half of the electricity produced in the Netherlands came from renewable sources, and almost all of it (45%) from solar and wind.

It’s important to note that there is good news too.

ourworldindata.org/data-insight...

Spectacular timelapse capturing an entire night from sunset to sunrise over the ALMA Observatory on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Atacama Desert.

Video Credit: ESO/C. Malin (christophmalin.com)

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End America’s run as the premiere techno-superpower may be over.

@rosspanderson.bsky.social captures the essence of the current crisis (tragedy?) of scientific research in the (dis)United States. A shocking example of self harm for essentially no gain.

www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Daily steps and health outcomes in adults: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis Although 10 000 steps per day can still be a viable target for those who are more active, 7000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes and might be a mor...

What's the optimal number of steps of physical activity this is associated with multiple (9) favorable outcomes?
The largest, systematic review of 57 studies, 35 cohorts.
7,000 steps is clinically meaningful, benefit also seen for 4,000 steps cf 2,000 steps
thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results In a March 2025 analysis, Google users who encountered an AI summary were less likely to click on links to other websites than users who did not see one.

Googles AI appears to be eating itself up from the inside.

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Leaked Memo: Anthropic CEO Says the Company Will Pursue Gulf State Investments After All “Unfortunately, I think ‘No bad person should ever benefit from our success’ is a pretty difficult principle to run a business on,” wrote Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in a note to staff obtained by WIRE...

www.wired.com/story/anthro...

US science, by Hilary Price

Are LLMs truly intelligent? New study questions the ’emergence’ of AI abilities - TechTalks A new paper argues that "emergent abilities" in LLMs aren't true intelligence. The difference is crucial and has implications for real-world applications.

Very nice summary of our recent paper on emergence and LLMs:

bdtechtalks.com/2025/07/14/l...

An 80-year-old is the oldest person to finish the 135 mile Ultramarathon from the lowest point in North America (Death Valley) to the shoulders of its highest peak (Whitney Portal, 8300 feet)!

Is the State of the World Causing You Pain? There’s a German word for that feeling

it’s perhaps time we get more acquainted with Weltschmerz, a word which literally translates to “world pain.”

nautil.us/is-the-state...

Overtourism in Japan, and How it Hurts Small Businesses Why being popular is not the goal of most small businesses

craigmod.com/ridgeline/210/

Oh, ha ha ha

Microsoft and OpenAI's AGI Fight Is Bigger Than a Contract A key clause in Microsoft and OpenAI's deal embodies the raging divide between AGI true believers and those who think it's still a long ways off.

www.wired.com/story/micros...

The Thinker vs The Machine A reflection on the life of the mind in the era of artificial intelligence.

www.persuasion.community/p/the-thinke...

Why medically assisted dying should be legalised | Aeon Essays Death is a certainty. But choosing how and when we depart is a modest opportunity for freedom – and dignity

“If assisted suicide represents a hubristic attempt to usurp nature and replace it with human judgment, then why is it not equally hubristic to try to delay death through medical means, or to hasten it by choosing hospice care?”

‪@thatwhichischolbi.bsky.social‬

aeon.co/essays/why-m...

Southern Ocean current reverses for first time, signalling risk of climate system collapse A major ocean current in the Southern Hemisphere has reversed direction for the first time in recorded history, in what climatologists are calling a ...

Do you know how crazy the weather has been? It is about to get crazier.
www.intellinews.com/southern-oce...

Big Food’s snack binge unravels as Americans ditch sweet treats Companies spent billions buying snack brands to boost growth — but now sales are falling

It's interesting to contemplate (speculate?) that the GLP-1 drugs might be affecting the bottom line of snack food companies. Sorry, not sorry.

"While sales are struggling across the packaged food sector, the decline in snack sales has been particularly severe."

www.ft.com/content/d44f...

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history Over the first half of 2025, the USA has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science is a gift to the rest of the world.

The massive amount of funding of US science is not easily replicated anywhere else. Interruption of funding is hugely disruptive to research programs. It's more accurate to think of what's going on as a loss to us all rather than a gift to the rest of the world.

bigthink.com/starts-with-...

The Grand Encyclopedia of Eponymous Laws. A compendium of 193 "laws" named for their originators. An interesting diversion from your daily scroll.

www.secretorum.life/p/the-grand-...

A large face-on galaxy in a cosmic tapestry of glittering galaxy jewels. The galaxy nearly looks like a ring surrounding a bright core. A few bright stars pepper the scene, and the background is filled with the smudges of distant galaxies of various colors against the black of space.

Holyyyyyy....I am a tired exhausted puddle on the floor. What a day for @vrubinobs.bsky.social! This observatory is incredible.

Highly, HIGHLY recommend joyscolling around Rubin's Skyviewer. I quite like this galaxy - which is your favorite? 🔭🧪

skyviewer.app

The Lies of Big Bug Insect farming was built on a set of foundational premises. They were all wrong.

Super interesting piece on insect farming and how it has become an environmental scourge.

The Lies of Big Bug open.substack.com/pub/benthams...

I suspect you may be correct, but you are also comparing apples and oranges. Updating the weights is the mechanism that underlies the training of an LLM. Transforming words into concepts is not the mechanism that our brains use to update worldviews; it's probably alteration of synapses or the like.