Cosmic radiation comes from space. Only a small amount reaches the Earth's surface, but exposure is greater for people flying at high altitudes.

By Lee Vinsel

I'm reposting this essay I wrote in 2021 because the online blogging platform Medium has apparently changed its policies and people are having trouble accessing the original. Hopefully, I'll find a better, more durable solution soon. I'm reposting it unaltered, even though I would unsurprisingly do some

This blog post takes us back to 2010, retracing and incident where a statistical anomaly led to the discovery of a subtle flaw in the way we were using a security-critical library.

I admit it. I took the bait. Charity Majors made an appearance on Gergely Orosz’s show called “Stop being skeptical about AI for development”. I listened to the podcast—I don’t listen to many tech podcasts—and I don’t think she ever said to stop being skeptical. Not directly anyways. Great title, though. Good for engagement. “Stop being skeptical” is a phrase guaranteed to rustle any skeptic’s jimmies. A whole lotta provocation, not a lotta substance. 10/10. No notes.

The H5N1 virus has now reached every continent on the planet. What does it mean for some of the world’s unique species?

A decades-old rule about human friendship turns out to be built on such shaky math that it could just as easily be 2 or 520.

Andy Weir is the New York Times bestselling author of The Martian, Artemis, Project Hail Mary, and Cheshire Crossing.