The Napoleon Technique: Postponing Things to Increase Productivity – Effectiviology
The Napoleon technique is a productivity technique that involves postponing dealing with something if it’s likely to get resolved without your immediate input. For example, based on the Napoleon technique, you could decide to wait a day before replying to emails that ask for your advice on non-urgent issues, if you believe that by then the people who send the emails will likely figure out how to resolve those issues.
18,000-Year-Old Circular Dwellings Made of Mammoth Bones Unearthed in Ukraine | Sci.News
The Upper Paleolithic site of Mezhyrich, located in Cherkasy oblast, central Ukraine, is home to four remarkable mammoth bone structures. Ranging from 12 to 24 m2, they were intricately constructed using hundreds of mammoth bones and tusks. A new analysis of small mammal remains recovered directly from the archaeological layers indicates that at least one of these structures was used for up to 429 years, supporting the interpretation that it functioned as a dwelling.
Slime mould – a hidden wonderland brought to life in photos
These images, captured by photographer Barry Webb, provide a close-up view of single-celled slime mould organisms. A view that would not be possible with the naked eye. Using a high-powered macro lens, and a composite of stills, Barry is able to reveal the tiny structures, which can grow anywhere from forests to deserts.
Iran leader vows regime will "not back down" and says vandals trying to please Trump as web blackout continues – CBS News
Thousands of Iranians flooded the streets of Tehran and other cities Thursday night, heeding a call by the country's exiled crown prince to make their voices heard in the most serious challenge to the Islamic Republic's hardline rulers in many years.
Ushikuvirus: A Newly Discovered Giant Virus May Offer Clues to the Origin of Life | Tokyo University of Science
Giant viruses are ubiquitously present in the environment. However, their isolation remains a challenge. These viruses are highly diverse and the discovery of ushikuvirus is extremely valuable. The newly discovered ushikuvirus infects vermamoeba, like clandestinovirus, and is morphologically similar to members of the Mamonoviridae family, particularly Medusavirus, a genus characterized by its icosahedral shape and numerous short spikes on the capsid surface. However, ushikuvirus also shows distinct features: it induces a specific cytopathic effect that causes its vermamoeba hosts to grow into unusually large cells, and it possesses multiple spike structures with unique caps on the capsid surface, some with filamentous extensions, not seen in medusaviruses.
Hundreds of Mysterious Victorian-Era Shoes Are Washing Up on a Beach in Wales. Nobody Knows Where They Came From
Hundreds of black leather boots that appear to be from the 19th century have washed up on a beach, mystifying residents of a seaside village in southern Wales. Volunteers have been finding the shoes while cleaning up litter from rock pools on a beach in Ogmore-by-Sea, a coastal town along the Bristol Channel. During one week in late December alone, they found 200 boots in one small area, reports BBC Wales’ Angela Ferguson. In total, they’ve discovered more than 400 shoes since September.
Terence Tao: "Recently, the application of A…" – Mathstodon
Recently, the application of AI tools to Erdos problems passed a milestone: an Erdos problem (#728 https://www.erdosproblems.com/728) was solved more or less autonomously by AI (after some feedback from an initial attempt), in the spirit of the problem (as reconstructed by the Erdos problem website community), with the result (to the best of our knowledge) not replicated in existing literature (although similar results proven by similar methods were located).
Scientists Discover Oldest Poison, on 60,000-Year-Old Arrows – The New York Times
Researchers led by Sven Isaksson, a professor of archaeological science at Stockholm University, have discovered poison residues on 60,000-year-old arrow tips unearthed in South Africa. With the next-oldest trace of poison use dated to 35,000 years ago, these tips preserve the earliest evidence of poisoned weapons by a wide margin.
How Markdown took over the world – Anil Dash
Nearly every bit of the high-tech world, from the most cutting-edge AI systems at the biggest companies, to the casual scraps of code cobbled together by college students, is annotated and described by the same, simple plain text format. Whether you’re trying to give complex instructions to ChatGPT, or you want to be able to exchange a grocery list in Apple Notes or copy someone’s homework in Google Docs, that same format will do the trick. The wild part is, the format wasn’t created by a conglomerate of tech tycoons, it was created by a curmudgeonly guy with a kind heart who right this minute is probably rewatching a Kubrick film while cheering for an absolutely indefensible sports team.
Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call
Since 2016, humanity added 2.7 billion people to the internet. Nearly three billion new potential readers, learners, contributors. In that same period, our page views declined. Not stagnated. Declined. The world has never been more online, and yet less and less people are using our projects. But readership is only part of the crisis. The pipeline that feeds our entire ecosystem (new contributors) is collapsing even faster.
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