You’ve probably heard of stories where algorithms have been used to assess people and — surprise, surprise — turned out to be extremely biased. What makes this one so insightful is that it lays bare how exactly the system worked, and how it targeted the most vulnerable people. Reading this really makes you wonder how anyone could look at this algorithm and be like: Yes, this is something we should be using against out citizens.

Compensating petro-states for their lost income, and a carbon coin to incentivise decarbonisation: The key idea from Kim Stanley Robinson’s climate fiction bestseller «The Ministry of the Future», condensed to the length of an essay, by the author himself.

An astonishingly detailed inside story on the days and hours that sealed the fate of Switzerland’s second largest bank.

No link to click for once, just one graphic to take a long hard look at. Its name is SYR.1c, it features prominently in the IPCC’s latest Synthesis Report on everything science knows about the climate and the futures we’re headed for. It’s futures in plural, because none of them are set in stone, we choose our path with the actions we take in the coming years.

An excellent three-part series on the origins of life on Earth from Vox’ Unexplainable podcast. Or to make things more personal: Why are we here?

• Part 1: How did all the water come to that fireball in space we now call Earth?
• Part 2: What was the first ever living thing? (and what do man-made aliens have to do with it?).
• Part 3: What do we even mean by «life»?

This is too good. A bunch of kids, giving their perspectives on a wide range of topics: Expressing feelings and fair tax rates, social media and death, and why it makes sense not to trade in your dad for an iPad. Oh, also this timeless piece of advice: «Twitter, it’s like giving up».

You know who emits more CO2 per year than China? All the countries that some like to call «too small to make a difference», combined. There are other good arguments for countering the «too small to make a difference» take (also mentioned in this article), but this one feels particularly vigorous in its simplicity.

Gardening metaphors for people and creative ideas.

Interesting piece on what connects Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, and how China’s de facto support for Russia might be less strategic than it appears on the surface.