Tuesday, August 11, 2026
ArchiveNvidia’s Risky Business
Thompson maps Nvidia's current position onto Jay Cooke's 1870s railroad bet — the financier who saved the Union and then blew up the economy. The structural parallels are uncomfortably precise.
The Delusions of John Roberts
Trump showed up at oral arguments and the Court had to figure out where to put him. That scene opens a devastating profile of Roberts's gap between stated institutionalism and actual rulings.
No Bosses: Ancient Engineering Marvel Was Built Without Rulers, Study Suggests
A canal system spanning 2,000 square miles, visible from space, built over centuries by communities with no kings, no bosses, no central plan. Archaeology's hierarchy assumption just took a hit.
Zap Rocks. Add Water. Get Clean Hydrogen
Beneath a quiet horse farm outside Boston, engineers are sending lightning into bedrock and pulling clean hydrogen out. The physics is real, the narrative is gorgeous, and the energy implications are enormous.
Dunning Kruger Effect Wrong, Scientists Claim
The largest dataset ever assembled on the Dunning-Kruger effect says it might be a statistical artifact. Both sides looked at the same numbers and saw opposite things — and Hossenfelder explains why.