Thursday, April 30, 2026
ArchiveHow an Oil Refinery Works
You use petroleum products every single day and have no idea what happens between crude oil and gasoline. Brian Potter fixes that with his signature clarity on industrial systems.
Farewell, Voting Rights Act
The Supreme Court just hollowed out the Voting Rights Act. Adam Serwer traces the ruling's roots to an explicit philosophy of state-sanctioned discrimination from the 1950s.
Scientists Unveil ‘Long Lost’ Map for Smell
Scientists assumed smell receptors were scattered randomly in the nose. Two new studies just proved they're organized in a precise spatial map — the last sensory map we were missing.
Why Anthropic’s Mythos Is Sparking Global Alarm
Anthropic built an AI that's so good at finding software vulnerabilities they won't release it publicly. The NSA is already testing it against Microsoft's code.
What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?
What if infinity is fake and math works better without it? Ultrafinitism was dismissed as heresy for decades. Now it's producing real results.