• The world needs more bulletpoints, not less.
• In the right places, that is.
• That’s why I thoroughly enjoyed this rant.

First time I’ve heard of the term «mental privacy». Yet here we are, worrying about how we to sure nobody accesses our thoughts without consent. And it’s not just about what you’re now thinking (ha, see what I did there?): «While some brain-computer interfaces only aim to read what’s happening in your brain, others also aim to write to the brain — that is, to directly change what your neurons are up to.»

The argument in a nutshell: Biden is a good president, but that will not be enough to keep Donald Trump out of the White House. It takes someone who is good at running for President. And Biden isn’t. So he needs to step aside. I don’t think I fully buy into the argument. However, among all the simplistic talk about how «Biden is too old», it’s wonderful to be challenged by an opinion, well thought out and delivered with such nuance and conviction.

The fascinating inside story of how Spotify came up with the idea of an AI DJ and how they shaped the idea into a product – well before the technology to pull it off actually existed. After listening to this, I’m even more annoyed that the feature still isn’t available in Switzerland.

«Even behind bars Navalny was a real threat to Putin, because he was living proof that courage is possible, that truth exists, that Russia could be a different kind of country. […] If Navalny is showing his countrymen how to be courageous, Putin wants to show them that courage is useless.» It’s only the very last sentence of the article that delivers a sliver of hope.

Tipping points in the climate system are a tricky beast. For one thing, tipping point sounds almost cute, when they indeed are points of no return with catastrophic consequences for humanity. Secondly, they mess with our sense of linearity: Even when things get worse, we expect them to get gradually worse. But when you walk towards a cliff, one step too much means things get worse in a rather non-gradual way. And third, even with ever improving prediction models, tipping points still come with a high level of uncertainty, which makes them easier to dismiss than other climate related bad news. A new study has found that one such tipping point might be closer than previously thought, and once reached will unfold more quickly than previously thought, with enormous consequences, especially for Europe. In The Conversation the authors of the study themselves present their findings and what they mean.

A conversation about the other significant others.

It’s safe to consider Cory Doctorow, author and technology journalist, fairly well-versed with digital security. This is the story of how he got tricked into giving away his credit card details, and how AI is making things worse (but not in the way you think).

A poignant bit of advice on how you «cannot change a feeling with a fact», neither in science communication nor in personal relationships.

Very interesting podcast episode on how artificial intelligence is helping to discover new materials, and how those move forward solar, batteries and other clean energy tech.