Favorites October 16th 2023
This looks really cool, Alex Tabarrok thought it was AI, but it's deterministic, essentially headphone noise cancellation but for wings. They think it might make planes lighter in the future.
I think it's pretty clear that inclusionary zoning reduces the total number of units built, but as long as the upzoning is more than the cost from the IZ, it's plausible that more cheap units might be created. But the danger of trying to handle this balance is that you miss, like this example and get nothing. In theory IZ should help win arguments with NIMBYs who oppose homes, but it never seems to change minds, arguably this was the wrong way to fund subsidized housing.
Biden publicly stated that it would be a "big mistake" for Israel to occupy Gaza. Hopefully they continue making progress on avoiding the worst possible outcomes. The Palestinian president is calling for Hamas to release the hostages, although a week late.
Longer Reads
• Article with gorgeous graphics illustrating changes in romance novel covers over the decades. (src)
Flotsam and Jetsam
– Check out California's batteries kicking in during the eclipse (src)
– Lethal autonomous drones and energy weapons have become a reality terrifyingly fast (src)
– A quarter billion malaria cases and half a million deaths each year, the malaria vaccine will make a huge difference. (src)
– Short thread arguing that not only is banning AirBnB not going to do anything for housing shortages, it's dangerous to let that kind of nonsense go unchallenged. (src)
– Like 85% of US Orbital launches are SpaceX, it's a great company, even if the CEO is a bit crazy. Falcon 9 has achived cost per kg goals of the old X-33 Venture Star program. (src)
– Israel responded to peaceful protests in 2018 by killing a bunch of people, ruining the credibility of non-violent protest in Gaza. (src)
– Call for HUD to use a simple checklist for the 'pro-housing' designation (src)
– Murder is down significantly after surging under the Trump admin (src)
