War in Europe is a staple topic in the study of history, but there’s one major conflict most history books won’t teach you: the battle of the equal sign, =. These two parallel lines were, in fact, the source of serious dispute among European mathematicians in the mid-1500s. This dispute is just one of many… Continue reading Mathematics + Symbols = a Surprising × Contentious History
In ‘Weird’ Austin, a Double Shot of Academic Counter-Revolution
AUSTIN, Texas — Lacking three crucial components – students, faculty, and facilities – the two educational experiments proposed in this state capital sounded like moonshots just a few years ago. Today, the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas and a feisty startup calling itself the University of Austin are not just up… Continue reading In ‘Weird’ Austin, a Double Shot of Academic Counter-Revolution
Will AI Ever Understand Language Like Humans?
Large language models (LLMs) are becoming increasingly more impressive at creating human-like text and answering questions, but whether they can understand the meaning of the words they generate is a hotly debated issue. A big challenge is that LLMs are black boxes; they can make predictions and decisions on the order of words, but they… Continue reading Will AI Ever Understand Language Like Humans?
Would Work Requirements Cut Medicaid Costs?
Congressional Republicans are currently looking to slow the growth of federal Medicaid spending, which has surged from $161 billion to $616 billion over the past two decades. Although only 17% of Americans support reducing Medicaid spending; 62% support requiring most adults to work in order to gain eligibility. But, while work requirements command broad appeal… Continue reading Would Work Requirements Cut Medicaid Costs?
Dimension 126 Contains Strangely Twisted Shapes, Mathematicians Prove
It can be tempting to assume that your intuitions about three-dimensional space carry over to higher-dimensional realms. After all, adding another dimension simply creates a new direction to move around in. It doesn’t change the defining features of space: its endlessness and its uniformity. But different dimensions have decidedly different personalities. In dimensions 8 and… Continue reading Dimension 126 Contains Strangely Twisted Shapes, Mathematicians Prove
Dear Democrats, Republicans Are Eating Your Lunch on Education. What Are You Going to Do About It?
Early in my tenure at the education policy organization I founded, we barely had any money. No money meant no lobbyist, which left me, a complete stranger to the legislative process, to figure out how to pass meaningful policy. A conversation I had with a Democratic legislator seen as an up-and-coming leader stands out among… Continue reading Dear Democrats, Republicans Are Eating Your Lunch on Education. What Are You Going to Do About It?
To Make Language Models Work Better, Researchers Sidestep Language
Language isn’t always necessary. While it certainly helps in getting across certain ideas, some neuroscientists have argued that many forms of human thought and reasoning don’t require the medium of words and grammar. Sometimes, the argument goes, having to turn ideas into language actually slows down the thought process. Now there’s intriguing evidence that certain… Continue reading To Make Language Models Work Better, Researchers Sidestep Language
Miami Is Enjoying a Tech Renaissance Under Francis Suarez
While San Francisco grapples with a tech exodus and New York navigates regulatory headwinds, Miami has quietly emerged as a technological powerhouse. The numbers tell the story: the city now ranks 16th among global startup hubs, with a $95 billion valuation and nearly $5 billion in venture capital raised just last year. Behind this transformation lies a deliberate strategy focusing on… Continue reading Miami Is Enjoying a Tech Renaissance Under Francis Suarez
Touch, Our Most Complex Sense, Is a Landscape of Cellular Sensors
Genetic technologies soon gave him a way to do so. During the first decade of his studies of neuronal development, Ginty amassed a library of genes specific to different touch neuron types. Around 2007, he began genetically engineering mice in which these genes could be used to control particular populations of touch neurons. In each… Continue reading Touch, Our Most Complex Sense, Is a Landscape of Cellular Sensors
Christianity and Near-Death Experiences
Christianity and Near-Death Experiences < !- end of Google Analytics Code Snippet by GA4WP–> // tabnab protection window.addEventListener(‘load’, function () { // make all links have rel=”noopener noreferrer” document.querySelectorAll(‘a[target=”_blank”]’).forEach(link => { link.setAttribute(‘rel’, ‘noopener noreferrer’); }); }); ]]> Podcast: Download MYS363: Are near-death experiences compatible with Christianity? Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli break down key data,… Continue reading Christianity and Near-Death Experiences