Links for 2021-11-08
"A collective analysis of lifespan-extending compounds in diverse model organisms, and of species whose lifespan can be extended the most by the application of compounds", Berkel & Cacan 2021 https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/aspirin/2021-berkel.pdf
“A Nuclear-Powered Shower? Russia Tests a Climate Innovation. A remote Siberian town now has its own miniature nuclear plant as a Russian state company tests a new model for residential heating. Some see it as a tool to minimize climate change.” [NYT] https://archive.md/8HBZx
A Q&A with Radiant CEO, Doug Bernauer, on building 1.2-megawatt nuclear reactors. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/former-spacex-engineers-founded-a-company-to-build-climate-friendly-cost-effective-portable-nuclear-reactors-11635536253
Google: Another Step Towards Breakeven Fusion (by applying machine learning to fusion power research) https://ai.googleblog.com/2021/11/another-step-towards-breakeven-fusion.html
Sam Altman invests into fusion startup Helion: “I’m delighted to be investing more in Helion. Helion is by far the most promising approach to fusion I’ve seen.” https://blog.samaltman.com/helion
Unraveling the evidence about violence among very early humans https://www.cold-takes.com/unraveling-the-evidence-about-violence-among-very-early-humans/
“…two San from different groups both living in Namibia’s Northern Kalahari desert, and speaking click languages...are more genetically distinct from one another, by a solid 20%, than a person from Stockholm is from a person from Shanghai…” razib.substack.com/p/out-of-africas-midlife-crisis
Is Your Exoskeleton Ready for Primetime? Wearable robotic exoskeletons can be a game changer. But the tech may still be too hard on your brain. https://neo.life/2021/10/is-your-exoskeleton-ready-for-primetime/
A majority of philosophers find human genetic engineering permissible https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/results/5046 (see also mind uploading: https://survey2020.philpeople.org/survey/results/5094)
Review of a new book about the Belgian terrorist who masterminded Islamic State attacks in Europe. https://europeanconservative.com/articles/essay/how-brussels-became-a-laboratory-for-islamo-fascism/
Evidence for natural selection in modern societies. It is concentrated among low-income people, people with less education, and single mothers. wyclif.substack.com/p/the-natural-selection-paper-part
A Collection of Definitions of Intelligence: “This paper is a survey of a large number of informal definitions of ``intelligence'' that the authors have collected over the years. Naturally, compiling a complete list would be impossible as many definitions of intelligence are buried deep inside articles and books. Nevertheless, the 70-odd definitions presented here are, to the authors' knowledge, the largest and most well referenced collection there is.” https://arxiv.org/abs/0706.3639
The Idiocy of the Average: reasonably intelligent people tend to overestimate how smart everyone else is https://archive.is/ySvfT