Curious Loop

We here analyse the question of developing artificial consciousness from an evolutionary perspective, taking the evolution of the human brain and its relation with consciousness as a reference...

Inventing new materials is only the first step. Getting them into mass production and use is just as hard.

Why are buildings today drab and simple, while buildings of the past were ornate and elaborately ornamented? The answer is not the cost of labor.

Nature - Geological survey reveals the remains of a major waterway that ancient Egyptian builders could have used to transport materials.

Fireside this week! Next week, with luck, I’ll have my ‘On the Reign of Alexander III of Macedon’ up as an addendum to our discussion of Hellenistic armies. But in the meantime, i…

What follows is a broad overview of historic styles, by Henry R. Birks, who was an instructor in cabinet work t Regent Street Polytechnic in London. He earned City and Guilds first-class honors in …

Here's what causes the gorgeous northern lights and where you can see the glowing sky show.

Why we shouldn’t try to stick solar plants where the sun always shines

At the height of the US War on Drugs a trio of remarkable women led the greatest anti-money laundering operation in American history against the Medellín Cartel — and won

The fad for abbreviations like LOL is nothing new. In fact, this trend in the 1840s spawned the greatest abbreviation of all, "OK." Let's look at the history behind "America's greatest word."

Sidney Lumet brought his vivid sense of the messiness of human experience to this stark nuclear thriller, which centers on a series of earth-shattering decisions made in quiet rooms.

The decline of the news industry is sapping journalism of a crucial tool.

We love complex, deep discussions. We've seen or been part of many discussions — strategic discussions at work, discussions on AI alignment, on technical design documents, etc. For us, the most frustrating issues with complex discussions are (1) impulsive responses and (2) lack of structure.

Originally named ceverit, Superfest was an extremely durable glass patented and developed in 1979 in East Germany to combat excessive glass waste.

For the last several decades, one avenue of technological progress has towered over nearly everything else: semiconductors. Semiconductors are materials that can have their conductivity varied by many orders of magnitude, which makes it possible to selectively block and allow the flow of electrons. This property makes it possible to manufacture all sorts of electronic devices, not least of which is the digital computer.

Focus on economic and military growth, and on China. The rest will take care of itself. Like Arjuna's steadfast focus on the eye of the bird, eyes on the prize, of becoming G1.

Professors are shifting away from syntax and emphasizing higher-level skills

What we can do to make nuclear cheaper

We either expect people to be super self-sufficient, or complex things to be super easy.

A human hand has the power to split wooden planks and demolish concrete blocks. A trio of physicists investigated why this feat doesn't shatter our bones.

Cicero will have his tongue cut out, Copernicus will have his eyes put out, Shakespeare will be stoned...

Why gene banks aren’t enough to save the world’s food

In medieval England, land was conventionally held in return for either rent (in the form of money or other items) or service (acts performed by one party to the other). These items could range from token gifts like a rose or an arrowhead to valuable crops or produce. A typical...

A near-forgotten murder of an Indian prince in 1933 involved stealing lethal bacteria from a laboratory.

A couple of years ago, I looked into whether erotic thrillers were indeed dying out or if it was just availability bias due to the fact that the main examples which come to mind are mostly from the...

New figures show nearly 14% of all houses in Japan are empty but the glut is attracting growing interest from foreigners

Where did the IMEI number come from, why is it so freaking long, and why does your phone need it? If you’ve ever wondered, we’ve got you covered.

The outer layers of the sun’s atmosphere are a blistering million degrees hotter than its surface. The hidden culprit? Magnetic activity.

The importance of India’s current rise can only be properly understood on a civilisational timescale.