P.S. You Should Know... | Issue #399
Sunshine is healthcare
my story 🚀
fun facts 🙌
That one time the Nobel prize committee really screwed up. Marie Curie had already one a Nobel prize, and was on the verge of receiving her second. The committee asked her not to come because she was involved in an affair with a married man. “The Swedish Academy need not have fretted; not only did dinner go smoothly, but before King Gustaf's reign was over, he, too, would be accused of a love affair, also with a married man.” ~ learn more
Were iron nails so valuable that arsonists burned houses to recover them? I read this “fact” in a book and tried to validate it. “Here’s a good illustration of how a myth gets started. Ken Schwarz, Colonial Williamsburg’s blacksmith since 1982 and the master blacksmith since 2003, says he hears this one every time they make handwrought nails at the Anderson Forge. It’s not true, yet there is a nugget of fact if you dig deep enough…” ~ learn more
People are having less sex. I didn’t want to believe it, but it may be true. About the study: “We used data from 14- to 49-year-old participants in the 2009 and 2018 waves of the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), a confidential U.S. nationally representative survey that is conducted online.” ~ learn more
oh, chicago 🏆
Navy Pier marina is coming to Chicago. “Eight years ago, Randy Podolsky thought it would be smooth sailing for his plan for a 150-boat transient marina next to Navy Pier. Then Chicago politics got in the way.” This is a great development for Chicago. I hope to spend some time there next summer! ~ learn more
oh, austin 🤠
The complete guide to Austin’s moonlight towers. One of these tall towers has just been reinstalled near my house after what seems like a couple years of refurbishment. “In 1894, Austin bought moonlight in the form of towers. Nowadays, these monolithic lamps are super impractical, but in 1895 they were a revelation.” ~ learn more
tech, startups, internet ⚡
Gary Marcus decides he deserves a victory lap. After news of GPT improvements slowing down broke, the famous machine learning scientist who some call a skeptic writes: “For years I have been warning that “scaling” — eeking out improvements in AI by adding more data and more compute, without making fundamental architectural changes — would not continue forever.” My view is that all educated opinions are worth reading, and he certainly has one. ~ learn more
AI prompts as Product Requirements Documents. “The PRD contains the output of a conversation between product & engineering - what is to be built within a few leaves of digital paper. Perhaps similar to the conversation one might have with a chatbot about a product feature.” ~ learn more
Ray-Ban Meta glasses are the top selling product in many stores. “Just to give you an idea, it's not just a success in the US, where it's obvious. But it's also success here in Europe. Just to give you an idea, in 60% of the Ray-Ban stores in Europe, in EMEA, Ray-Ban Meta is the best-seller in those stores.” ~ learn more
Inside a firewall vendor’s 5-year war with Chinese hackers. “Sophos went so far as to plant surveillance “implants” on its own devices to catch the hackers at work—and in doing so, revealed a glimpse into China's R&D pipeline of intrusion techniques.” ~ learn more
retail therapy 💸
Amazon’s going down market. To compete with the likes of Temu, Amazon has launched Amazon Haul. Now you can get your cheap Chinese products from the US retailer you already love, delivered in 1-2 weeks. “All items are priced $20 or less with the majority priced $10 and under, and some items as low as $1.” ~ learn more
under the microscope 🔬
Plastic chemical phthalate causes DNA breakage and chromosome defects in sex cells. “In the new study, researchers tested a range of doses of BBP on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and looked for abnormal changes in egg cells. They saw that at levels similar to those detected in humans, BBP interferes with how newly copied chromosomes are distributed into the sex cells. Specifically, BBP causes oxidative stress and breaks in the DNA strands, which lead to cell death and egg cells with the wrong number of chromosomes.” ~ learn more
City microbes surviving on disinfectants. “New research shows microbes in our cities are evolving to resist the very cleaners we use to eliminate them. It also identifies novel strains living in Hong Kong that were previously only found in Antarctic desert soil.” ~ learn more
Electric wound healing. “Imperceptible low-level electric current applied through a skin patch caused a nearly 10 times reduction in amounts of Staphylococcus epidermidis, a common bacterium found on human skin, researchers reported … in the journal Device.” ~ learn more
thoughts of food 🍔
A peanut butter company raises VC money. After reading this, I ordered a couple jars. They are indeed really good! “Get ready for a mane event in the food industry as One Trick Pony, a new player in the peanut butter space, is set to corral the market with its pure-ingredient product that prioritizes health and taste.” ~ learn more
big ideas 📚
Watermelons. It’s an insult. “Big, strong, and unabashedly green on the outside. Very red on the inside, with little substance. Seeds of black in their heart.” Tomas Pueyo writes Uncharted Territories and has quickly become one of my favorites. “As you know, I think technology will solve climate change in particular and environmental issues in general, so environmentalists who block technological development are doubly evil, since they destroy both the economy and the environment, while posing as saviors.” ~ learn more