So many amazing stories in the world. Here’s a beaut from astrophysicist Katie Mack (aka @AstroKatie on Twitter): As a meteorologist, my grandfather’s job for Apollo 11 was to check for weather problems around the capsule’s splashdown site at the conclusion of the return trip. When the time came, he consulted all the data NASA…
I’ve a story at Slate today about how genetics stands in a bizarre but lovely state of confusion—taken aback, but eager to advance; balanced tenuously between wild ambition and a deep but troubling humility. It includes some discomfiting tweets from last week’s big human genetics conference in Boston; a walk around the campus of Cambridge University…
Best of the lot Two devastating dissections of Malcolm Gladwell from psychologist Christopher Chabris (of hidden gorilla fame): ‘ David and Goliath’ by Malcolm Gladwell – WSJ.com and — just when you thought Chabris couldn’t have been more thorough — Why Malcolm Gladwell Matters (And Why That’s Unfortunate) I’ll likely write on this more later, as…
I keep stashing links to publish link roundups I never have time to publish. So, here’s the speed version, mostly without annotation. Unifying theme: Either I liked these or they’re high on my to-read list. Funnest thing I’ve read this week. David Quigg asks the FBI if he can see those Hemingway files with less blocked…
Clive Thompson, who’s now trying to juggle his book tour with presumably actually doing newer work, steered me toward this gem from programmer Paul Graham. Feel free to substitute “writer” for maker throughout. I feel the maker’s pain. One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they’re on a different type of schedule from other people.…