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Brian Malow: Don’t grow up, look deeper and see the world with fresh eyes!

Fifteen years ago, I sat down with a man whose job title made no sense: science comedian.

Brian Malow has performed for Apple, JPL, NIST, and the American Chemical Society. He made audio essays for Neil deGrasse Tyson and trained scientists to speak like humans for the National Science Foundation. He got laughs from rooms full of chemists, which may be the hardest crowd in comedy.

But the reason this 2011 conversation still matters is not the resume. It’s the thesis.

Brian argued that comedy and science are the same discipline. Both refuse to accept the world as presented. Both look deeper. Both require you to see the familiar with fresh eyes and notice what everyone else walked past.

We covered the tension between humor and scientific truth, his favorite science fiction writers, his insect photography, and his take on the technological singularity, including our chances of surviving it.

His answer to that last question? Listen for yourself.

Continue reading “Brian Malow: Don’t grow up, look deeper and see the world with fresh eyes!” | >

MIT’s 1000TB/s Photonic Chip Finally Puts an End to NVIDIA’s AI Domination!

MIT engineers are building a chip reaching one petabit per second. See how this hardware processes data faster than any current consumer tech. This video examines the technical details behind the new MIT processor chip designed to push data limits. We explore how researchers are utilizing interferometer technology to achieve speeds of a thousand terabits on a surface thinner than a human hair. This breakdown is for engineers, students, and tech enthusiasts interested in the future of high-speed hardware. By analyzing the electronic components and the specific measurement diagrams, you will better understand the engineering hurdles involved in reaching a petabit per second. You will see how this data processing speed milestone compares to existing silicon-based architectures and why this specific design is capable of such massive throughput.

Subscribe for weekly engineering breakdowns, and comment below if you want to see a deep dive on how interferometers are used in modern computing.

What Are the Limits of Human Knowledge?

Can humanity ever know everything? Explore the hard limits of knowledge: cosmic horizons, quantum measurement, chaos, computation, lost meaning, AI, wisdom, and the shoreline of the unknown.

Get Nebula using my link for 50% off an annual subscription: https://go.nebula.tv/isaacarthur.
Watch my exclusive video Colonizing Ocean Worlds: https://nebula.tv/videos/isaacarthur–… out Gods & Monsters: https://nebula.tv/curiousarchive/gods… 🛒 SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall… 🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net ❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur ⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a… 👥 Facebook Group: / 1,583,992,725,237,264 📣 Reddit Community: / isaacarthur 🐦 Follow on Twitter / X: / isaac_a_arthur 💬 SFIA Discord Server: / discord Credits: What Are the Limits of Human Knowledge? Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur Music Courtesy of Stellardrone & Chris Zabriskie Editor: Donagh Broderick Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:58 The Horizon of Observation 7:01 The Horizon of Measurement 11:45 The Sealed Envelope 14:02 The Horizon of Computation 21:34 The Horizon of Meaning 26:25 The Horizon of Mind and Wisdom 31:09 Gods & Monsters 32:24 The Expanding Shoreline.
Check out Gods \& Monsters: https://nebula.tv/curiousarchive/gods…

🛒 SFIA Merchandise: https://isaac-arthur-shop.fourthwall…
🌐 Visit our Website: http://www.isaacarthur.net.
❤️ Support us on Patreon: / isaacarthur.
⭐ Support us on Subscribestar: https://www.subscribestar.com/isaac-a…
👥 Facebook Group: / 1583992725237264
📣 Reddit Community: / isaacarthur.
🐦 Follow on Twitter / X: / isaac_a_arthur.
💬 SFIA Discord Server: / discord.
Credits:
What Are the Limits of Human Knowledge?
Written, Produced \& Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Music Courtesy of Stellardrone \& Chris Zabriskie.
Editor: Donagh Broderick.
Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images.

Chapters.
0:00 Intro.
1:58 The Horizon of Observation.
7:01 The Horizon of Measurement.
11:45 The Sealed Envelope.
14:02 The Horizon of Computation.
21:34 The Horizon of Meaning.
26:25 The Horizon of Mind and Wisdom.
31:09 Gods \& Monsters.
32:24 The Expanding Shoreline

29 Countries Sign Agreement Establishing World AI Cooperation Organization

Shanghai, July 16 (QNA) – A total of 29 countries signed today an agreement in Shanghai establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization.

Under the terms of the agreement, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization will be an independent intergovernmental international organization headquartered in Shanghai.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in China.

Updates on nature, land and biodiversity

Nature is humanity’s lifeline. Human health, food, economies and well-being depend on nature. Yet nature is in crisis. One million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, ecosystem degradation is affecting the well-being of 40 per cent of the global population.

The spotlight on nature and biodiversity highlights updates from around the UN System, from partners and others, helping to call attention to the need for a just, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

Nature Ecology & Evolution divergence

Yellow-eyed penguins, also known as hoiho or takaraka (Megadyptes antipodes, pictured), are an endangered species endemic to Aotearoa (New Zealand) with only around 3,000 individuals left in the wild, and the only living member of the genus Megadyptes. In collaboration with Ngāi Tahu iwi (tribe) of the South Island of Aotearoa, whole-genome sequencing of 249 individuals that span the entire species range has identified 3 phylogenetically distinct lineages, which suggests that they exist as 3 subspecies that have been isolated from each other for several thousand years. Genome scans also reveal candidate gene variants associated with differential susceptibility to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.

New study defines conditions for successful long-term biodiversity net gain

A new study identifying the ecological conditions needed for biodiversity offsetting to achieve conservation goals could provide important guidance for governments and industries as they expand biodiversity net gain (BNG) and nature restoration policies. The research is published in the journal Conservation Biology.

Biodiversity offsetting is increasingly used to compensate for environmental damage caused by development. It sees habitat loss in one location compensated through habitat restoration or protection elsewhere, with the aim of achieving no net loss of biodiversity.

The latest research, led by Swansea University in collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Forest Research, shows that biodiversity offsets are far more likely to succeed when restoration areas are larger than impacted habitats, are protected over long timescales and are designed around how ecosystems recover over time.

Neuroscientists find a teamwork paradox: highly synchronized brains perform worse at complex tasks

A recent study published in NeuroImage reveals that while human brains naturally synchronize during cooperative video games, this mental alignment does not guarantee success. High neural synchrony was actually linked to worse strategic performance.

Beyond lithium: how sodiumion batteries could change the world

The lithium-ion battery is the beating heart of the modern world. It powers eight billion mobile phones, hundreds of millions of laptops and rapidly growing fleets of electric cars and energy-storage banks. But there’s a new contender breaking into the battery market.

Batteries based on sodium promise to be cheaper, safer and much more environmentally friendly than lithium-ion cells. And this year could mark the start of the sodium era.

In April, Chinese firm CATL — the world’s largest battery producer — announced that it will start mass-producing sodium-ion batteries before the end of 2026. CATL, which is headquartered in Ningde, added that it had signed deals to sell the batteries both to a car manufacturer and to a provider of energy-storage stations for electricity grids.

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