I think Guillermo del Toro is onto something here--he's capturing what I hear from writers, artists, composers, etc. What they worry about is 1) AI use impeding young people from developing Fingerspitzengefühl--the subtle, instinctual "knowledge" you gain from working on something with your hands...

Fine piece that explores the Navier-Stokes proof, as well as the messy details of the non-collaborative collaboration that led to the sorta-kinda "AI proof" from OpenAI.

AI Has Solved One of Math’s $1 Million Millennium Prize Problems | Quanta Magazine

Mathematicians at OpenAI showed that the Navier-Stokes equations, which describe how fluids flow, can sometimes “blow up.” But the massive result is not without controversy.

quantamagazine.org

For the record, it turns out that you *can* take the pits from supermarket mangoes, stick them in a pot, and nine years later get a dozen or so mini-mangoes, even if you live in New England.

Lovely story in the NY Times today about a 92-year-old mathematician and a high-school kid working together to produce a major result in topology. This kind of working together is the best part of science, and frankly of being human.

The 92-Year-Old Mathematician and the Teenage Apprentice (Gift Article)

Joan Birman thought her major discoveries were behind her. Then came an email from a young neighbor — a girl who knew little but wanted to learn.

nytimes.com

The impact of removing wolf protections is much less than either supporters or opponents would have you think. Protections were removed a long time ago in WA, ID, MT, WY, and half of OR and UT. In the West, where the fight is, they're only listed in CA, the upper Midwest, and parts of OR and UT...

Very good ground-level piece from @citizencohn.bsky.social on the battle about measles in Pennsylvania, and why all this stuff matters. www.thebulwark.com/p/rfk-jr-sic...

RFK Jr.’s Sickening Measles Victory Lap

While Pennsylvania struggles to contain an outbreak, the anti-vax health secretary keeps trying to score political points.

thebulwark.com

That sound you hear is of economists banging their heads on their desks. /v @rajakorman.bsky.social

Yes, RFKJr., measles killed that poor kid. lancasteronline.com/news/local/6...

6-week-old Amish child died from measles, Lancaster County coroner confirms

A 6-week-old Amish girl with a neurological genetic disorder, Amish lethal microcephaly, died from measles at home in Lancaster County, Lancaster County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said today.

lancasteronline.com

Like almost all journos, I don't like it when Washington attacks us for what we write, tries to get us to reveal souces, etc., all of which has steadily worsened over the years. But this stuff--targeting ordinary people for writing angry letters or posts--is much, much more pernicious. (gift link)

He wrote a scathing message to ICE. Federal agents showed up at his door.

David Streever of Rochester, New York, sued Department of Homeland Security officials on Monday, saying the agency’s actions violated his First Amendment rights.

wapo.st

After years of testing, USDA has just approved releasing GMO American chestnut trees, potentially giving us the chance to bring back an iconic species destroyed in the early 20th century by an imported disease. (Chauvinistic note: I've had American chestnuts, and they are better than European ones.)

AI is creeping into the the op-ed columns: "Pangram also identified an Aug. 9 guest column in The Washington Post, 'Universities are Fighting AI Cheating,' by Dartmouth provost Santiago Schnell, as 100% AI-written."

Exclusive: AI writing has already begun to appear on the opinion pages

About 10 — of 310 — contributions to The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times over the past month appear to have been written by AI models.

semafor.com

Nice piece about the demise of Hampshire College. I'd be tougher on the former school administrations than the author--they never addressed the school's obvious financial issues until about 2010, though they were obvious 15 yrs before -- but the gist of the piece is spot on.

hannah gais@hannahgais.bsky.social · last wk.

Hampshire College started with a grand promise: to serve as "a vehicle for the realization of self in society." This fall, the school will close its doors. I talked to some of its founders, faculty, students, administrators, and board members about what its loss means thebaffler.com/latest/class...

Hampshire College started with a grand promise: to serve as "a vehicle for the realization of self in society." This fall, the school will close its doors. I talked to some of its founders, faculty, students, administrators, and board members about what its loss means thebaffler.com/latest/class...

Class Dismissed | Hannah Gais

Private liberal arts schools were never going to kickstart the revolution. But the closure of Hampshire College further narrows the political imaginary.

thebaffler.com

Feeling very honored and grateful today. Some of the journalists whose work I admire most have received this prize in the past and at a time when journalism is under threat in so many ways it’s just really heartening to be recognized by people who care deeply about journalism.

CASW@sciencewriting.bsky.social · last wk.

Congratulations to @kakape.bsky.social for winning the 2026 Victor Cohn Prize! Judges called his reporting on infectious diseases and misinformation bold, urgent and groundbreaking. And big thanks to Michelson Philanthropies for underwriting the award. casw.org/news/kai-kup...

I'm in southern British Columbia and out of curiosity I searched for "Lake Ontario" on Google Maps and got this result. Call Mark Carney!

Osoyoos, BC.

This particular policy shift seems to have been working out well. (My thanks to the pal who sent me this, chortling.)

A great pleasure of my current trip was reconnecting with Duane Mistaken Chief, a great linguist who is the only reason I might not make a fool of myself in my discussion of the ancient and beautiful Blackfoot language in my current project. Thanks, Duane! (L-R, my wife, Duane, me, Duane's partner)

*Okay, maybe the AIs *did* have a Stalinist Crime Boss, and he liquidated a large fraction of his underlings and simply hasn't been identified

Whoops! Forgot to say that all those are Banff. Turns out Banff is super beautiful! Who knew? Except everyone!

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗@charlescmann.bsky.social · 2w ago

This NY Times article documents a very real problem--hotter, "stand replacing" wildfires--but inexplicably focuses on climate change (a long-term problem that for forests is poorly documented) and doesn't say Word One about 100 yrs of misguided fire suppression that boosts fuel load...

Wildfires Are Turning Forests in the American West Into Shrubland

Towering woodlands in the West are being permanently replaced by tracts of spiky shrubs. Conditions “just aren’t normal anymore,” one researcher said.

nytimes.com

I really like buffalo. This is the Shoshone herd, about 320 animals, in the Wind River reservation yesterday afternoon. It's sobering to consider that the entire world 's supply of free-ranging bison in 1885 was one-fourth the size of this group. We almost lost these guys.

When the mind behind Plants vs Zombies says you are hot beans, well, what can I say? Day. Made.

Paul Tobin@paultobin.bsky.social · 3w ago

A "certified cool beans" podcast co-hosted by "certified hot beans" @charlescmann.bsky.social, one of THE best historical researchers / writers out there, this time focused on... the "small" world of everyday objects / actions. abundance.institute/EverydayAbun...

Colorado Springs, CO. (Is it OK to post clouds on Bluesky?)

Just saw this. I wonder if in the future this will mark the beginning of private vengeance playing a key role in conflicts on scales previously limited to struggles between states. Supposedly Russia tried to assassinate the rapper, so maybe this all really happened. ( /v @bruces.bsky.social )

Some teachers pointed me the other day to this as showing a possible way for dealing with the negative effects in the classroom of AI. The idea is that students listen to lectures at home as before-class homework, then answer questions about the material, Socratic-style, in the actual class.

Flipped Learning: Innovative Teaching Explained

Discover the benefits and effectiveness of flipped learning as an innovative teaching method.

brookings.edu

Every artist I know who's worked for Disney detests the company. My own experiences w/ Disney contracts were less than pleasant. But I gotta say this legal filing about the Administration punishing them for speech has done the job of making me sympathetic to the Mouse. deadline.com/wp-content/u...

Of all the responses to the awful Arday mess, this must be the goofiest--a change.org petition to limit the number of "news articles" published about a person in a given time frame. How would you even do that? "Sorry, blogger, you're the 201st piece! The Internet cops say you can't hit 'publish'!"

Here's a chart of US measles cases per year since 2000. Note that 2026 is already a record, and we're barely halfway thru the year. And here's state vaccination rates. Basically, every state that's not green does not have rates high enough for herd immunity. www.cdc.gov/measles/data...