Recent Readings, 3
Chasing a tornado with a drone is a brilliant move. There will be more attempts like this amazing 4-min video footage. Link.
“The ear is like a biological equivalent of a USB port. It is unparalleled not only as a point for “writing” to the brain, but also for “reading” from the brain,” says Crum. Link.
Return of the nearly extinct mighty American Chestnut, once the major bulk of eastern forests. Link.
Twistronics: superconducting sheets of graphene twisted out of phase. Link.
Drowning doesn’t look like drowning. “When someone is drowning there is very little splashing, and no waving or yelling or calling for help of any kind.” Know the real signs: Link.
There is a need for an anti-Crispr technology, to turn off, or deflect, or to brake the gene drive in Crispr. This article summaries recent work on anti-Crispr. Link.
I wrote a blurb for Trey Ratcliff’s self-published book about fake influencers, Under the Influence. Here is what I wrote: You can often learn how something works by how it breaks. The thing I really like about your book is way you shine x-ray beams into a broken system and thereby illuminates how it works. Once one understands how the system works, the reader can then optimize it for good. While you educate us on how to fake influence, your book is really about how to create genuine positive influence — and why it is more powerful and sustainable. I hope anyone who has a following online, or hopes to have a following, reads this and take the lessons to heart. Sure, you can use this very explicit information to hack the system and try to fake influence, but the point is, fake influence is not influential! At best shortcuts have superficial short-term reward, and most times, they yield no rewards. This is also a tremendous resource for those who employ influencers because it gives you different smell tests to discern the genuine from the imposters, protecting your own reputation and money. I’d go so far to say the discernment and media skills entailed in this book should be a required literacy in every high schooler’s education. You’ve heard of critical media skills? This is critical influencing skills.
