[Great overview](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/what-was-this-article-about-again/551603/) of the “[forgetting curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve)”, the way that we immediately forget almost all the information we take in: > For many, the experience of consuming culture is like filling up a bathtub, soaking in it, and then watching the water run down the drain. It might leave a film in the tub, but the…more
[A fun exploration of a future world where bicycles reign supreme](https://streets.mn/?s=Bicyclopolis)
A few years back I was talking with a friend about how much more frequent and easier air travel had gotten even since I was a kid. I mentioned that our kids would probably travel constantly and never settle down, and he responded “or maybe we’ll run out of resources and they won’t be able…more
[Dan Ariely on why we love our kids so much](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/03/interview-nyt-bestselling-author-dan-ariely-talks/) (and more than others): > Kids really come with no instructions. Very tough to deal with, difficult, complex, but incredibly involving and time consuming and I think the love that comes out of it is an example of the effect of a tremendous investment.
[Conor Dunne](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conor_Dunne), patron saint of tall cyclists, [shows what it would take for me to ride in the WorldTour](https://www.aquabluesport.com/blog/conor-dunne-tdy-power.html): > “The average rider would do well to be able to hold 390w for five minutes,” he adds. “For Conor to be able to sustain that for over four and a half hours in this bike…more
A fascinating article (and set of demos) about [how generative and improvisational AI techniques could help us invent better interfaces](https://distill.pub/2017/aia/), and better ways of thinking for humans: > At its deepest, interface design means developing the fundamental primitives human beings think and create with… > We’ve described a third view, in which AIs actually change…more
For all that we humans worry about saving the world, it was [mushrooms that rescued an Earth that had drowned in wood for 40 million years](http://feedthedatamonster.com/home/2014/7/11/how-fungi-saved-the-world), and even gave us the coal to jumpstart modern civilization: > Here is the crux of our problem: lignin made the lycopod trees a little too successful. Because their…more