#51: WikiTok, Play-Doh, DeepSeek, AI Adoption, State Hackers, Leap Seconds, Drilling Bots, and more!
Hi everyone!
I want to start by sharing a personal project (and a fun use case for AI) with you.
Over the last few months, I wrote a book for my kids. It's about a foam monster that's angry because people polluted the river he lives in. I wrote the story myself and used AI tools to generate illustrations for it.
I documented the entire process on my blog. I had a blast coming up with the story, shaping the characters, and ultimately creating something that my kids genuinely enjoy.
By now I’ve read the story so many times to them I’m sick of it lol. Time to write my next story, I guess?
Enjoy this newsletter!
Xavier
🤓 Cool Stuff I Found on the Internet
WikiTok
Tired of doomscrolling TikTok? Try doomscrolling Wikipedia articles instead!
Sunscreen to cool down
This new sunscreen not only protects against UV rays but also cools the skin through radiative cooling. By adding titanium dioxide nanoparticles, the sunscreen can keep your skin 6°C cooler! Oh, and it costs about as much as regular sunscreen.
Ideal coffee time
When is the best time to drink coffee? New research suggests limiting your caffeine intake to the mornings. Morning coffee drinkers were 16% less likely to die from any cause and 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared to non-coffee drinkers. Researchers speculate that afternoon coffee consumption may disrupt circadian rhythms and sleep patterns, potentially affecting cardiovascular risk factors.
The history of Play-Doh
My kids have been into Play-Doh recently, and somehow I ended up on Wikipedia reading about it. Turns out, Play-Doh was originally sold to clean coal residue from wallpaper. When people switched to natural gas and vinyl wallpaper, sales plummeted. After reading a news article about using wallpaper cleaner for art projects, they pivoted and started making the Play-Doh we know today. Oh, and the scent is trademarked!
Bacteria trapped in endless evolution
Bacteria in Lake Mendota in Wisconsin undergo cyclical evolution in response to seasonal changes. These microbes evolve through thousands of generations within a year, only to revert to their original state as seasons shift.
⏳ On this day...
1881 - Cleopatra’s Needle is erected in Central Park. The 3,500-year-old ancient Egyptian obelisk was gifted to the US because it had remained neutral when others were vying for control over the Egyptian government.
1995 - Declassification of the CORONA reconnaissance satellite program, revealing one of the most important early space surveillance programs that revolutionized satellite imagery and intelligence gathering.
1997 - Announcement of Dolly the sheep, the first cloned adult mammal. A groundbreaking moment in genetic science but one that sparked ethical debates that continue to this day.
🧠🤖 Artificial intelligence
"80% of companies fail to benefit from AI"
Many companies fail to reap the expected benefits of AI because of employees’ emotional and behavioral reactions to it. Employee discomfort leads to cases where they manipulated or withheld data from AI tools, making them perform much worse. This highlights the importance of addressing human factors in AI adoption!
State hackers using Gemini
Google found state hackers to be using Gemini. Iranian hackers focus on Android security, Chinese hackers researched US institutions, and North Koreans use it to gather info on South Korean military tech. While certainly alarming, Google claims its guardrails are effectively blocking these attempts. This highlights the cat-and-mouse game between AI firms and those seeking to exploit the tech for malicious purposes.
DeepSeek not as efficient
DeepSeek shocked the world with a new approach to AI training that significantly reduces costs and energy usage. However, new research suggests DeepSeek R1 uses more power while reasoning compared to the traditional model. This offsets the gains in efficiency (Jevons Paradox).
Evading facial recognition
Want to evade cameras with facial recognition? This research found that darkening key facial areas like brows, nose bridge, and jaw can disrupt AI face detection without drawing attention.
👽 Space
These missions are planned in 2025
Overview of planned space missions in 2025. It looks to be an exciting year! NASA’s CLPS initiative will deliver payloads to the Moon, while the SPHEREx observatory will survey the sky in near-infrared light. ESA’s Space Rider will conduct experiments in low Earth orbit, and Japan’s M2/Resilience mission will explore the lunar surface. China’s Tianwen-2 mission aims to collect asteroid samples and study a comet.
Leap year cripples OneWeb
OneWeb's satellite internet service experienced a 48-hour outage after failing to account for the 2024 leap year! Yikes. Like Neil Armstrong said, "That's one small leap, one giant outage".
🏥 Health & Medicine
Air pollution linked to dementia
Researchers in Scotland have uncovered potential links between childhood air pollution exposure and dementia risk in later life. The study suggests that air pollution during early childhood and even in the womb may increase the likelihood of developing dementia. While not conclusive, it highlights the importance of reducing air pollution throughout life.
⚡️ Energy & Environment
Drilling bot for geothermal energy
A geothermal heat pump is the most efficient way to heat your home, but it requires expensive drilling operation. A Swiss startup developed an autonomous drilling machine that solves this issue. They drop it off at your house, power it using a regular electrical socket, and let it do its job. Could this make geothermal energy more accessible?
Solar energy <3 farming
Byron Kominek transformed his family's 24-acre farm into a pioneering "agrivoltaic" site that combines solar energy production with agriculture. His 3,276 solar panels generate electricity for 300 homes while allowing crops to grow underneath. This innovative approach maximizes land use, protects soil, creates valuable shade, and offers additional income for farmers.
Cargo sail ships
The shipping industry is exploring wind power as a sustainable solution to meet the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Modern cargo sails, including wings, rotors, and kites, can supplement or fully power vessels, potentially reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20%!