Notes

Notes on Science

65 notes

Oct 2026

There's something interesting here. Humans like elegant solutions, because they are easy for us to understand and explain.I get it. I see it in my work with design systems. Build something modular because it fits nicely where it's supposed to. So everyone can see how it works.But that belief that things should be or are elegant has probably prevented us from seeing the world as it is.

Noe1017@Noe1017_Monad

所谓优雅的数学结构,本质上是人类为了迁就自己那点可怜的脑容量,被迫发明出来的拐杖。一个顶尖人类数学家的工作内存,撑死也就同时追踪五六个变量的交互。当你在算一个偏微分方程或者组合不等式时,一旦展开到三阶以上,几十个交叉项涌出来,人脑就直接宕机了。所以人类数学家极其厌恶展开高阶项,一旦看到高阶项发散,人类的本能反应是此路不通,赶紧退回来找对称性、找不变量、搞同调代数或者几何直观,试图不展开式子就把问题绕过去。但 AI 没有这个生理缺陷。对于上万个并发的 Agent 来说,同时追踪一万个五阶交叉项的系数变化,跟我们算 1+1 一样轻松。在它的视野里,根本不需要什么几何直观,它直接站在高维的代数展开式里往下看,人类觉得像乱麻一样的百项高阶余项,在它眼里就是一张明明白白的线性方程组。既然把式子硬展开到第七阶,再凑几个待定系数就能让所有讨厌的发散项精准归零,它为什么要费劲去帮你发明一个人类能看懂的新概念?这 700 个结果背后最无奈的黑色幽默:我们终于拿到了上帝账本里的答案,却发现上帝算账根本不用微积分,他老人家是直接拿计算器硬按出来的。

The models were correct, the experts made calculation errors. Strange times in the industrial revolution of the mind—the intelligence revolution.

Nirmalya Kajuri@Kaju_Nut

"Our initial evaluation suggested that GPT-6-Astra's score was in the late eighties followed closely by Opus 5.5. But, as we started to investigate the mistakes that the models might have made, the models, especially Astra, insisted that they were right and that it was the expert-supplied answers that were erroneous. When we went back to the experts it turned out, in multiple instances, that that the experts found some subtle errors buried deep inside their calculations. As they revised their answers, Astra's score started to inch up and it finally ended up with 98% (49/50)."

Facebook post introduces a study of AI agents solving unpublished theoretical physics problems and recounts collecting expert problems
Screenshot says GPT-6-Astra reached 98% (49/50) after experts corrected calculation errors, with concerns about access and equity

Thread · 3 posts

We're about to have interlocking scientific and industrial revolutions occur at the same time—mathematics, medicine, materials, robotics.

Wendigo@driftingwendigo

Am I the only one a little freaked out by the fact that our neat little lower bounds, nlog(n) in this case, are just slightly wrong. The sublime beauty of math is looking like a weak approximation resulting from our limited human faculties.

Things are getting stranger, faster than expected. And it only speeds up from here. Buckle up.

Dan McAteer@daniel_mac8

OpenAI is downplaying this for PR reasons. If you’re a mathematician, you must feel like a nuclear bomb hit, and you’re at ground zero.Reasoning models are two years-old. In that time they went from incapable of basic arithmetic to solving problems humans couldn’t solve for decades.Math is only the beginning. AI will revolutionize the entirety of the human scientific endeavor. Most of us don’t appreciate what that means.What a time to be alive!

Paper titled “The Quasi-Riemann Hypothesis,” claiming a zero-free half-plane and proof of the quasi-Riemann hypothesis

Sep 2026

FWIW, from Wikipedia.Kardashev I civilization (planetary) is able to access all the energy available on its planet and store it for consumption.Kardashev II civilization (stellar) can directly consume a star's energy, such as through the use of a Dyson sphere.Kardashev III civilization (galactic) is able to capture all the energy emitted by its galaxy, and every object within it, such as every star, black hole, etc.Pretty wild!

David@DavidSHolz

if we double the industrial production in outer-space every 12 months starting from some initial seed in 2030 then we hit Kardashev I by 2064 and Kardashev II by 2098. If we take 24 months for each doubling, we still hit Kardashev I by 2096 and Kardashev II by 2165

Aug 2026

Whoa, seems like we could really be on the verge of a medical renaissance.PCSK9 + GLP-1 + GIP + Glucagon has the potential to be a true longevity drug. All the glucose and weight benefits of GLP-1, plus LP(a) reduction for populations with genetically high Cholesterol.Curious about the second order effects here. A healthier population means lower insurance rates, longer health-span, more productivity, more tax revenue.diabetesjournals.org

Jun 2026

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Nov 2017

This random astronomer on reddit is claiming that the astronomy community has not ruled out that this interstellar rock is an abandoned spaceship. Take that for what you will. reddit.com

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...' - Isaac Asimov

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Oct 2013

Economics has replaced curiosity as the driving force behind research in the 20th century.

Sep 2013

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Jun 2013

A new lightweight lift cable will allow elevators to operate at twice the height, let buildings soar ever upward. buff.ly

Oct 2012

Jun 2012

Science owes much more to the steam engine than the steam engine owes to science. #TIR

Feb 2012

There are more people alive on earth today than have ever lived and died on this planet. Wow, can that be right?

Jan 2012

Telepathy, world currency, space elevators, and an occupied Antarctica all on the books for all on the books for 2112 - me.lt

Arcfinity: Announcing Arc: a new magazine about the future from the makers of New Scientist - Arc: a new... tmblr.co

Dec 2011

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May 2011

If flood waters from the Mississippi were diverted to a football field it would fill up 44 feet every second.

Dec 2010

"Nature does not create waste as such. Everything in nature is used up in a closed, continuous cycle with..." tumblr.com

Feb 2010