Saturday, September 07, 2024

Is it Eugenics to Breed for Intelligence?

Screening embryos for diseases and other traits is becoming increasingly common. Some companies even claim that they can calculate your intelligence score from a genetic analysis. But how much do we really know about the genetic root of intelligence?

Thursday, September 05, 2024

Nuclear Fusion Predictions are Nonsense

Nuclear fusion is one of the most important up-and-coming technologies, and contrary to jokes, it is indeed coming closer. But how long will it take to get a nuclear fusion reactor to put power in to the grid? According to two recent reports, the technology won’t be ready until 2050, too late to contribute to our net zero goals. If you look at national strategy plans, the situation looks different. What are we to make of such wildly different perspectives?

Wednesday, September 04, 2024

Coal Better Than Gas? Headline-Making Report Full Of Mistakes

Last year, a group of about 170 climate scientists signed an open letter to US President Joe Biden to cancel plans for a gas export terminal. One of the major reason was a new paper claiming that the climate impact of natural gas is even higher than that of coal, especially when exported to other countries. It turns out that this paper was riddled with mistakes.

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

The Nightmare Scenario for Dark Matter is Inching Closer

The idea of “dark matter” -- transparent stuff that supposedly makes up the bulk of matter in the universe -- has been around for a century, but researchers have thus far failed to detect even a single particle of if. What if dark matter exists but it interacts so rarely with our detectors that we will never be able to measure it?

Sunday, September 01, 2024

I Said Hybrids Were The Future. Was I Right?

A few months ago, I said that hybrid cars would become the kings of the automotive industry as we slowly transition to electric vehicles. Let’s take a look at how that prediction has turned out so far and what others have said.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Oh No! Quantum Trading Is Back

On the stock market, being just a few milliseconds faster than your competitors can make you lots of money. Can quantum physics help thrifty traders make more money? Well, some of them think so.

This video comes with a quiz which you can take here:


Btw, you can now create your own quizzes on my website. Just set up an account and a creator profile. It's free!

Friday, August 30, 2024

Core Meltdown Emergency Test At Chinese Nuclear Reactor

Chinese engineers at a nuclear reactor site reported that a safety feature emergency test was successful and they were able to prevent a core meltdown. They then published a paper with data gathered from the test. In this video I explain what they did and what happened.

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Climate Tipping Points are Real, Stop Denying It

The New York Times recently published an article about various climate change tipping points. Anthony Watts, a climate change denier, then published a blogpost calling the article “nothing more than speculation.” In this video I want to put these claims into perspective.

Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Frozen Bees on the Moon

It never hurts to be prepared. That’s why humans have created multiple projects to store away seeds, DNA, and other biological samples in freezers and bunkers around the world. Now, researchers are considering building a vault on the Moon. Let’s take a look.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Whistleblower Report Reveals Fermilab's Troubles

One of the United States' most famous national labs, Fermilab in Chicago, has been in trouble for several years. Now a group of whistleblowers has written a report that details their misgivings. Ive had a look and picked out the most interesting bits for you.

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Goodbye Meat, Hello Crickets: The Future of Food

The food industry is one of the biggest polluters on Earth, and as our planet’s population grows, we’ll need to find new ways to keep people fed while also protecting the climate. Today, I’m taking a look at some delicious (or not) food sources which might become common visitors to your dinner table in the future.

Saturday, August 24, 2024

German Techno-Realist vs American Techno-Optimist

Billionaire and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Marc Andreessen released a 5000 word essay coined the “Techno-Optimist Manifesto”, which covers his views of the world from the perspective of a “techno-optimist”. I read it so you don't have to.

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Can Quantum Physics Explain Consciousness After All?

Nobel Prize winner Roger Penrose famously believes that the collapse of the wave-function in quantum mechanics causes consciousness. A group of physicists now tries to improve on Penroses idea in a new paper. I have some comments...

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Will This Crazy Idea Make Mars Habitable?

If we ever want to populate other planets, Mars is the obvious test case. But how will we make the red planet habitable for humans? Today, I’ll be taking a look at a recent crazy idea to warm up Mars sufficiently to melt the water.

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

This Could Solve the Nuclear Waste Problem

Nuclear power is one of the most promising ways to create a clean, cheap, and consistent flow of electricity. Unfortunately, it also produces radioactive waste, which can stick around for…a very long time. However, that waste issue might just be changing thanks to a process called transmutation. Let’s take a look.

Sunday, August 18, 2024

Fermi Paradox Explained by Quantum Communication

The Fermi Paradox is an estimate that says: Given all we currently know about the universe, we should have found extraterrestrial life already. So why haven’t we? In a paper that just appeared two weeks ago, a physicist has now put forward the idea that aliens use quantum communication. How does that solve the Fermi Paradox? I've had a look.

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Are childless people a problem?

United States Vice President candidate JD Vance and Tesla founder Elon Musk have publicly voiced their fears that people just aren’t having enough babies nowadays. They aren't the only ones who worry. The US fertility rate is at a historic low and well below replacement level -- like that of all other industrialized countries, a trend that has given rise to the pro-natalist movement. In this video I have collected all facts and numbers that you need to understand what's happening.

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Is the AI Bubble Popping?

AI stocks have been dropping, leading many to believe the AI bubble has finally burst. But in this video I want to make a case that this bubble which is currently bursting is not that of AI per se, it’s that of the specific type of AI called Large Language Models.

Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Crazy New Physics Anomaly: Anti-Matter Helium Detected

A small experiment aboard the International Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, found a crazy new physics anomaly: They have now detected 10 nuclei of anti-matter helium -- way more than expected. What could explain that? Most of the explanations that physicists have come up so far say it might be a relic of dark matter.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Is the AI Left-Bias Real?

ChatGPT has frequently been accused to lean toward the political left. A new study tested the political orientation of other popular large language models including GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok. The results were... somewhat surprising. Let’s have a look.