Favorites November 30th 2023
Worth noting that the chocolate chips are definitely not edible: they're made of hot glue. Here's the article.
One person commented that this could be the beginning of a "golden age of creativity". It's pretty insane how far generative AI for video has come in just a couple of years. Here's a Google demo of a similar technology from a year ago.
I really like the comparison one person made to the restaurant smoking bans. It's an absolutely horrible negative externality that we've been stewing in so long that we don't even realize it's there.
Here's the paper with dozens and dozens of examples. Some commenters were surprised that an AI is capable of this, but it seems to me that this would be something I'd expect an AI would be actually quite good at.
Also cool, using a robotic lab rig, they managed to sythesize 41 novel compounds over 17 days out of the 58 of these that they tried.
Longer Reads
• Thread of highlights from an article about the leading edge iPhone being manufactured in India for the first time. (src)
• Thread about why Aluminum production is so carbon intensive. TL;DR: (1) ridiculous amounts of electricity needed, (2) no one has figured out an anode to use other than pure carbon, which turns into CO2 in the process. We need materials scientists to find something! (src)
• You know how big dogs don't live as long? The FDA is getting close to approving a drug to extend their lifespan. What's notable is that this is the first time the FDA will approve any drug that simply has the purpose of 'extending lifespan'. Also somehow I didn't realize that the FDA regulated drugs for pets. (src)
• Fun history of steam engines as a series of interactive animations (src)
Flotsam and Jetsam
– BYD is very close to passing Tesla for total worldwide EV sales (src)
– Emily Oster has a line of clothing? (src)
– Salmon in the creeks that flow through San Jose (src)
– Nuclear power regulations around radiation exposure are 100 times stricter than the EPA's standard for air toxins or air pollution exposure. (src)
– Protests work in situations where polling shows a clear majority supports your side, but the other side cares more and so the status quo continues. If your position is unpopular, protesting doesn't help. Yglesias wrote an article about Bayard Rustin's ideas and why they matter today. (src)
– Looks like US life expectancy has rebounded since the pandemic (src)
– AI looks like it could be good for labor outcomes, as it helps lower-skilled workers the most (src)