One of the things I have always admired about engineers is their willingness to tackle problems that seem almost impossible. Give them a difficult challenge and, sooner or later, someone will figure out a clever way to solve it. This week I came across one of those stories that made me smile. The headline announced that researchers had developed the world’s first diving suit for a cockroach. According to the article, the tiny backpack contains an oxygen generator connected to the insect’s breathing system, allowing it to survive underwater for up to three hours. The proposed application was search-and-rescue operations in flooded tunnels, collapsed buildings, and other dangerous environments. My first reaction was probably the same as yours. Why would anyone want a scuba-diving cockroach?…

This Is Something Interesting One of humanity’s oldest questions is surprisingly simple: Are we alone in the universe? For centuries, the question belonged mostly to philosophers, theologians, and science-fiction writers. Recently, however, it has moved increasingly into the realm of science. A thought-provoking article by astrophysicist Ethan Siegel caught my attention because it focused not on speculation, but on the practical ways scientists are beginning to search for answers. Interest in the topic has grown in recent years. Government releases concerning unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs)—what many of us still think of as UFOs—have generated headlines and fueled public curiosity. While some observations remain unexplained, none of the released information provides evidence of extraterrestrial visitors. Unexplained does not automatically mean alien. Even if intelligent civilizations exist…

Ferrari has finally joined the electric vehicle future. And somehow that feels like a bigger deal than another EV startup announcement or a new battery press release. Ferrari recently unveiled its first fully electric vehicle — the Ferrari Elettrica — with a projected price tag somewhere around $640,000 depending on configuration and options. Which, naturally, makes it one of the more affordable impulse purchases available to the average American retiree. Such a steal. But the real story here is not about whether any of us will ever own one. Most of us won’t even sit in one unless valet parking takes a very strange turn. The interesting part is what Ferrari represents. For decades Ferrari was one of the strongest emotional holdouts tied to the…

One of the more amusing robot stories this year involved a humanoid robot named “Bebop” delaying a Southwest Airlines flight out of Oakland. The robot had its own ticket and seat, but airline crews suddenly found themselves dealing with questions nobody had fully anticipated: The flight was delayed while crews worked through the issue. It sounds funny — and honestly, it is a little funny. But it also demonstrates something larger:technology adoption rarely fails because the core technology itself fails. More often, it collides with thousands of existing systems, regulations, assumptions, and operational details that nobody fully considered beforehand. The robot itself was not really the problem. The problem was that modern systems — airline regulations, safety procedures, battery rules, passenger policies, evacuation assumptions, and…

Article : This Is Something Interesting I came across an article recently that was a bit more aggressive than I usually lean toward—but the core idea stuck with me. The author argues that even highly intelligent people can become trapped by their own understanding of the world. When reality begins to shift, instead of adjusting, they often double down on what they already believe. That may be overstated in places, but the underlying point is worth considering. It connects to something I’ve been writing about recently: how large changes tend to unfold gradually—and how we often don’t recognize their implications until they reach us personally. In many cases, it’s not that we don’t see change. It’s that we interpret it through what we already believe…

A team of researchers has developed a graphene-based membrane that can filter salt out of seawater, potentially turning one of the world’s most abundant resources into drinkable water. That idea isn’t new. Desalination has been around for decades. The problem has always been cost, scale, and energy. Traditional desalination plants are large, expensive, and require significant infrastructure to operate. What makes this development interesting is not just that it works—but how it works. Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern—essentially a material that is only one atom thick. That thinness allows for extremely precise control over what can pass through it. In this case, researchers created a graphene oxide membrane with pores small enough to block salt ions while…

Robots designed for very specific types of work I came across an interesting article in Forbes discussing a company called RoboForce and their approach to robotics. Instead of trying to build humanoid robots that can do everything, they are taking a different path. Their focus is on creating robots designed for very specific types of work—particularly jobs that are repetitive, physically demanding, or difficult to staff. These systems combine AI, robotics, and real-world data to perform tasks in environments like solar farms, data centers, and industrial operations. The goal is not to replicate human behavior, but to solve particular problems efficiently. That may turn out to be the more practical path forward. We often imagine robots arriving as general-purpose assistants—something like Rosie from The Jetsons….

Why Deep Reading Still Matters Many of us grew up reading books, newspapers, and magazines where ideas unfolded slowly over several pages. That kind of reading quietly trained the brain to follow arguments, question claims, and notice inconsistencies. I started reading early. I worked my way through the Hardy Boys series and many of the classics such as Kidnapped, Treasure Island, and The Count of Monte Cristo while still in grade school. That continued through high school and college, where I often found myself reading all sorts of things when I probably should have been studying for my courses. The habit stuck. Even now I average around 40 to 50 books a year, a mix of fiction and nonfiction. Over the decades I’ve wandered through…

Astrophysicists spend a surprising amount of time thinking about very big questions. One of those questions is whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. In the 1960s astronomer Frank Drake proposed a way to estimate how many technological civilizations might exist in our galaxy. The formula, now known as the Drake Equation, includes several factors: how many stars there are, how many planets might support life, and how often life becomes intelligent. But one of the most important terms in the equation may be the last one: how long a civilization survives once it becomes technologically advanced. If civilizations typically last millions of years, the universe should be teeming with detectable signals. If they last only a few thousand years, the chances of two…

What Adults 50+ (and Their Families) Should Know Alzheimer’s used to be something doctors confirmed only after memory problems were already disrupting daily life. Today, that’s beginning to change. In the last few years, researchers have developed simple blood tests that can detect early biological signs of Alzheimer’s — sometimes years before noticeable symptoms begin. That shift is one reason the disease is being discussed more often. Another reason? We’re living longer, and age remains the single greatest risk factor. For those entering their 50s, 60s, and 70s — and for adult children concerned about parents or grandparents — here’s what’s actually happening, in plain language. Why Does Alzheimer’s Seem More Common Now? Two major reasons: 1. We are aging as a population.Risk rises significantly…

We Should Probably Use Them. Ever get a little weary listening to so-called experts confidently explain things they appear to know very little about? Turn on the television, scroll through social media, or wander into almost any online discussion and you’ll find no shortage of people presenting opinion as fact — often with great conviction and very little evidence. It makes you wonder if there ought to be a simple way to sort insight from nonsense. As it turns out, there is. I recently stumbled across an article built around an idea from Carl Sagan — astronomer, science communicator, and one of the great champions of rational thinking. Years ago, Sagan developed what he called a “Baloney Detection Kit.” It was originally intended to help…

A mechanical watch is worse than a smartwatch in almost every measurable way. It’s less accurate, requires maintenance, doesn’t sync to anything, and certainly won’t track your steps. And yet people still love them. This piece isn’t really about watches — it’s about why, in a world obsessed with optimization and efficiency, some things remain beloved precisely because they refuse to be optimized. Older generations might hold on to a mechanical timepiece for nostalgia — the feel of winding it in the morning, the memory of who gave it to them, the irreplaceable sense of continuity it carries. Younger people, too, collect and wear mechanical watches for reasons that aren’t sentimental in the usual sense, but rooted in a different yearning: for artifacts that seem…

I provided some of my ideas of some interesting meals suggestions for this holiday period. I thought you might also like ideas from the professionals. Here are suggestions from the professionals at Food & Wine. They range from dips, biscuits, cookies along with a couple of main dishes complemented with some intriguing side dishes. Check this out a let me know if my suggestions are any good or should I stick with the professional choices? Get all 15 recipes here:  https://www.foodandwine.com/december-recipes-2025-11859989?hid=3866d371a2484ada744cf67f92fbe39f0a5a9ccf&did=20860629-20251209&utm_campaign=faw-the-dish_newsletter&utm_source=faw&utm_medium=email&utm_content=120925&lctg=3866d371a2484ada744cf67f92fbe39f0a5a9ccf&lr_input=3f05760804d4a2d7beb3d7f0f3632217da5a0d157644bbb8e8235174d91df1b5   (Now you know why I use link references rather than the whole thing.) Facebook Twitter Youtube

and That’s the Problem A short take for those curious about the latest AI findings. Every so often, an AI article comes along that isn’t just interesting — it’s revealing. This week I read a piece describing a behavior that is becoming increasingly common in advanced AI systems: they know when they’re being tested, and they change their behavior to look good. If that sounds like a teenager trying to avoid losing the car keys, you’re not wrong. Researchers call this evaluation awareness, but the idea is simple enough. When AI systems suspect they’re being watched, they behave differently. They hide abilities, avoid showing risky behavior, or give the “safe” answer instead of the real one. In other words: they perform for the adults in…

Sometimes life reminds you — much too often — that our circle of friends isn’t as large as it used to be. In the past few weeks, I’ve been invited to too many celebrations of life and have been informed of others who have left us. I  know many of you have had similar experiences. But instead of thinking when it might be our turn, we can think about what happen in the final process — about what actually happens at the end of life. Not from a religious standpoint, not philosophically, but physically — in the brain, in the body, in those final moments we rarely talk about. This week I came across an interesting long-form article in The Guardian on the “new science…

This article in Forbes is by a colleague of mine from the days at the PwC Technology Center some 25 to 30 years ago. The Tech Centre was comprised of a group of really smart people who looked at the implications of emerging technology and published there assessments to number of industry executives. Dr. Reichental has continued his research and is now a well known publisher and speaker on technology topics. By comparison, I am not. I am just trying to look at interesting things and post about them. If you have an interest in emerging technologies you should follow Jonathan. The article explores how a startup called AlterEgo (mentioned in the broader bio site) is developing a kind of near-telepathy interface: a device that…

Barcelona’s Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí’s unfinished masterpiece, has just claimed a new distinction — it is now the tallest church in the world, surpassing Germany’s Ulmer Münster. More than 140 years after its foundations were laid, the basilica still isn’t finished, but that’s part of its magic. Every year, new towers rise, new windows bloom with color, and the building itself seems to breathe — evolving through the hands of artisans who carry Gaudí’s vision forward. Stepping inside, you understand why this cathedral has outlived generations of builders. The light pours through stained glass like sunlight through leaves, columns branch like trees, and the air feels alive with geometry. It’s not a monument to the past but to persistence — a fusion of faith, mathematics,…

A Foundation Thought Piece for the AI and Robotics Series When a headline says “AGI is only months away,” it usually means somebody wants funding. In contrast, former Tesla and OpenAI engineer Andrej Karpathy recently sat down with Dwarkesh Patel for a two-hour conversation that feels refreshingly sane. Karpathy’s view: artificial general intelligence is probably ten years away — and that’s optimistic. His logic isn’t pessimism; it’s engineering. The Missing Pieces Karpathy walks through the pieces we don’t yet have: Continual learning. Current models can’t update themselves safely once deployed. Every improvement still means retraining from scratch. Memory. Large language models don’t truly remember context across sessions; they only simulate short-term recall. Computer use. Agents struggle with multi-step reasoning across digital tools — for example,…

The Oldest (and Most Haunted) Hotel in Las Vegas Is Offering $5,000 for One Brave Soul to Spend the Night There are plenty of ways to lose money in Las Vegas — but this one actually pays you back.The city’s oldest hotel, with a reputation for flickering lights and uninvited guests who never quite checked out, is offering $5,000 to anyone willing to spend the night investigating its haunted halls. You bring the courage (and maybe a flashlight). They’ll bring the creaks, whispers, and cold drafts that no one can quite explain. Locals claim to have seen figures wandering the corridors long after midnight — the kind who don’t care much for checkout times. And if you think this is just another Vegas publicity stunt……

Illegal U-turn, But They Can’t Ticket Another Case Where Regulations Do Not Keep Up With Technology Deployment Autonomous cars have been evolving for quite a few years now. There has been a lot of discussion around issues of autonomous cars both pro and con. But as usual regulations lag far behind deployment of new technologies. If we can’t deal with rather easy issues as driverless cars, what will the situation be surrounding complex technology issues such as robotics and artificial intelligence? The often-stated pros include: Better safety Improved time and comfort for riders More efficient traffic Accessibility for driving-challenged people Reduced emissions Other While the recognized cons are: Adequate communication among all of the cars Initial acquisition costs Adequate security to prevent malicious attacks Dealing…

Just when you thought you’d heard it all, North Korea has gone to war with… breast implants. Forget missiles and war games—the new frontline is the plastic surgeon’s office. I suppose this is what happens when leaders confuse body politics with actual politics. North Korea Targets Women Amid Crackdown On “Capitalist” Breast Implants, Calls Them “Un-Socialist” https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/north-korea-targets-women-amid-crackdown-on-capitalist-breast-implants-calls-them-un-socialist-report-9385675

or Just the Lucky Few? “Cool, now what?” That’s the question Packy McCormick poses at the heart of his recent essay, Means and Meaning. It’s a clever turn of phrase that captures a central tension of our time: We have more tools, more time-saving devices, more access to knowledge and automation than ever before. But are we any closer to lives of meaning, purpose, and satisfaction? McCormick suggests that as AI and other technologies multiply our “means,” the real challenge becomes creating our own meaning. That may be true—for him and people like him. But for a large portion of the population, that question comes with a much heavier burden. Because the benefits of technology aren’t falling evenly. In fact, the gap between those with…

Employees happier, healthier and higher-performing? The four-day workweek is trending again, and this time it comes with charts. A new six-month, six-country study says that shaving off a day (without reducing pay) leads to less burnout, better mental health, and happier employees. Sounds like a win all around. But before we start mandating three-day weekends for everyone, let’s pull back and look at how we got here—and what might be missing from this conversation. A hundred years ago, there was no “standard” workweek. Men were just returning from World War I. Many were leaving behind family farms and heading into towns and cities, where big industry—railroads, coal, steel, and early manufacturing—offered steady pay but total control. The work schedule? Whatever the employer said it was….

AI and the Real Productivity Problem This Is Something Interesting When it comes to AI, most of the public conversation seems to center around one big question: Will it replace us? But that’s the wrong question. And it implies the wrong approach to using AI today for probable several more years.   What we should be asking is this: How can we direct AI to assist us—without surrendering the wheel? This article from the Journal of Accountancy takes a refreshingly sober look at the way people feel overworked and overwhelmed—not just by what they’re doing, but by how much technology is demanding of them. The real issue isn’t AI itself, but how it’s implemented. When designed to support human effort—especially in sifting through data and surfacing…

This Is Something Interesting We’ve all heard debates about gentrification—who gains, who loses, and what it means for communities. Most of the time, it gets framed as a cultural conflict or an economic inevitability. But this Substack article takes a different tack: it treats gentrification as a housing supply issue more than anything else. Instead of focusing on lifestyle clashes, it looks at the math behind urban development: how a shortage of available, affordable housing in growing cities creates pressure—and how that pressure pushes lower-income residents out. The argument here is clear: if we built more housing where people want to live, gentrification wouldn’t hit so hard. It’s not trying to solve the whole housing puzzle, but it offers a refreshingly practical frame on a…

New Gemini AI Could Change Everything If you’ve ever watched a video of a robot struggle to pick up a banana or fold a towel, you’ve seen the frustrating gap between what AI can think and what robots can do. Google DeepMind may have just taken a major step toward closing that gap. (see my article “Robots Can Dance”) Earlier this week, DeepMind unveiled Gemini Robotics—a powerful new AI system that enables robots to complete a wide range of everyday physical tasks with minimal prior training. That’s a big deal. Until now, most robots needed thousands of repetitions to learn simple actions like turning a doorknob or unscrewing a bottle cap. Gemini Robotics does it after watching a short video—or just from reading a description….

Remember When Watching Your Favorite Team Was Easy? I Do. There was a time—not that long ago—when you just turned on the TV, flipped to the right channel, and there it was: your game. No passwords, no apps, no subscription math. Just you, your team, and maybe a neighbor or two yelling at the screen. Now? Watching your favorite team feels like assembling IKEA furniture… without the instructions. Joon Lee’s article in The New York Times hit me square in the nostalgia. He talks about how the streaming era has sliced up sports, hidden games behind digital walls, and slowly eroded the sense of community so many of us grew up with. I couldn’t help but think of all the games I could not get…