https://flipso.com/ Latest posts on Flipso Flipso en-us https://flipso.com/static/img/favicon_rss.png https://flipso.com/ 144 144 Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:00:10 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss jwnop99c0 https://flipso.com/p/jwnop99c0?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:00:10 GMT A free university thermodynamics textbook with solved examples, practice problems, and real-world applications. Available as a 330-page PDF under a Creative Commons license, with updated SI units and material for engineering students. [thermodynamicsbook.com] 5g80y8gle https://flipso.com/p/5g80y8gle?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:40:30 GMT In 1953, Los Angeles staged a public civil defense exhibit in Pershing Square featuring mannequins and displays from Nevada nuclear tests. The event was meant to show how an atomic blast could affect a city, and drew crowds interested in Cold War preparedness and propaganda. [flashbak.com] v08wdzg03 https://flipso.com/p/v08wdzg03?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 14:40:09 GMT A mathematical look at Tetris strategy: some piece choices let a player survive indefinitely, while an alternating S-and-Z sequence can force game over within a finite number of moves. [chalkdustmagazine.com] zfv3a44jy https://flipso.com/p/zfv3a44jy?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:40:30 GMT A history of tobacco’s rise from Native American ceremonial and medicinal use to a global cash crop, and how smoking spread through European courts, consumer culture, empire, and slavery. The piece also contrasts tobacco’s reputation as a medicine, a vice, and an addictive stimulant. [worldhistory.substack.com] gumhlhdpd https://flipso.com/p/gumhlhdpd?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:00:08 GMT A 23-year-old with no advanced math training used ChatGPT to crack an Erdős conjecture that had resisted experts for decades. Mathematicians say the AI’s approach appears genuinely new and may point to broader uses, though the long-term significance is still unclear. [scientificamerican.com] gd9l90ri8 https://flipso.com/p/gd9l90ri8?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:20:08 GMT Learn mahjong in five minutes. A visual guide for total beginners — tiles, winning hands, wall mechanics, and turn actions. [themahjong.guide] 03rufn4ml https://flipso.com/p/03rufn4ml?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 10:40:31 GMT Gresham’s Law says that when lower-quality or counterfeit currency enters circulation, people hoard the good money and spend the bad. Seth Godin applies that idea to social platforms, email lists, and AI-generated content: once trust is diluted by spam or low-value output, it attracts more of the same and drives out the signal. [seths.blog] acde3yfeu https://flipso.com/p/acde3yfeu?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 06:40:09 GMT A detailed look at Low-tech Magazine’s large human-powered handcart: how it was built, how much it can carry, and why it can be surprisingly easy to move heavy loads in cities. [solar.lowtechmagazine.com] e4npkyi3s https://flipso.com/p/e4npkyi3s?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 06:00:35 GMT A personal account of getting sick in Shanghai, starting with sudden sneezing and confusion over whether it was pollen, COVID, or something else. The post appears to document the experience and what followed. [winnielim.org] 84nf4s12n https://flipso.com/p/84nf4s12n?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 05:00:27 GMT Robin Hanson explains how his idea of decision markets combines speculative markets for information aggregation with decision theory, and why he thinks the concept could improve governance by tying predictions to specific choices. [overcomingbias.com] zxq0gdtkb https://flipso.com/p/zxq0gdtkb?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 04:00:10 GMT A piece by Roger Z. about the George business, presented on Eternal Flame's library site. [eternal-flame.org] cek62ddho https://flipso.com/p/cek62ddho?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 02:40:09 GMT Promising drugs keep failing in trials, and researchers have struggled to turn decades of work on amyloid, tangles, and other targets into effective treatments. An Alzheimer’s expert explains why progress has been so difficult and what new directions the field is exploring. [freakonomics.com] mn75fn5kh https://flipso.com/p/mn75fn5kh?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 01:20:27 GMT A short, practical note on asking well: be curious, start politely, read indirect cues, listen for no, and don’t let rejection stop you from trying. Sometimes the simple act of asking gets you closer to a yes than staying silent. [herbertlui.net] loh6mu988 https://flipso.com/p/loh6mu988?ref=rss Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:25 GMT Movie theater ticket sales have fallen sharply since 2019, and the piece argues theaters may rebound over the next 18 months for a grim reason tied to the way Hollywood and streaming have changed movie release economics. [honest-broker.com] p02r9onhq https://flipso.com/p/p02r9onhq?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 23:00:09 GMT Serious Eats tested 17 common methods for reducing bean-related gas, including soaking, rinsing, and adding enzyme treatments, with help from Harvard’s Science of Cooking program. The results separate folk wisdom from techniques that actually lower the compounds linked to bean-induced flatulence. [seriouseats.com] 2eyb819qj https://flipso.com/p/2eyb819qj?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 22:40:09 GMT Zoologist, author, surrealist painter and broadcaster Desmond Morris, best known for The Naked Ape, has died at 98. He also presented BBC documentaries and became widely known for exploring human behavior through a natural-history lens. [bbc.com] aw22nq8n7 https://flipso.com/p/aw22nq8n7?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:40:32 GMT Camus ends The Myth of Sisyphus with a famous claim that only makes sense if Sisyphus is read as part of a myth, not a literal allegory. The essay’s final image reframes his punishment around reflection, meaning, and the possibility of happiness without imposed purpose. [thecollector.com] yu27qfj3v https://flipso.com/p/yu27qfj3v?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:20:26 GMT A critique of mercantilist economics, arguing that export-led growth eventually turns self-defeating as domestic consumption, wages, and adaptive capacity are suppressed. The piece uses China and Japan to show how trade surpluses, subsidies, weak currencies, and centralized control can produce stagnation rather than lasting prosperity. [charleshughsmith.blogspot.com] x7g6t7td8 https://flipso.com/p/x7g6t7td8?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 20:00:27 GMT Cory Doctorow praises Ada Palmer’s sweeping historiography of the Renaissance, arguing that the book shows how ideas about historical “rebirth” are created, used, and revised over time. He connects Palmer’s work to questions of human agency, censorship, and how multiple histories can coexist rather than collapsing into one canonical story. [pluralistic.net] ghw9ekmsq https://flipso.com/p/ghw9ekmsq?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 19:00:09 GMT https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/science/desmond-morris-dead.html [nytimes.com] dnskw2cmc https://flipso.com/p/dnskw2cmc?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:40:09 GMT A set of 3D-printable adapters that let pieces from ten popular construction toy systems connect with one another, including Lego, Duplo, K’Nex, Lincoln Logs, Tinkertoys, Zome, and others. [fffff.at] ex4t7wb8s https://flipso.com/p/ex4t7wb8s?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:20:08 GMT A 1-bit pixel-art recreation of Hokusai’s “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” made at original Macintosh screen resolution and shared as part of an ongoing 36-view Mount Fuji project. The post includes a downloadable desktop-pattern version for classic Mac screens. [hypertalking.com] 1ru4ck4fs https://flipso.com/p/1ru4ck4fs?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:00:26 GMT Seth Godin argues that breathing is both a chemical necessity and an architectural challenge, then recommends trying three days of nose-only breathing, even during workouts, and cautiously considering mouth tape during sleep. He says the experiment may improve sleep, reduce snoring, help endurance, and lower stress. [seths.blog] y9jby32vh https://flipso.com/p/y9jby32vh?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:00:10 GMT Marcin Wichary looks at modern plain-text and ASCII diagramming tools, from web apps to Mac software, and argues that constraint-based text editing still matters—especially as AI makes intentional limits more valuable. [unsung.aresluna.org] igeohrnvn https://flipso.com/p/igeohrnvn?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:00:09 GMT The two battles of Panipat in 1526 and 1556 helped secure Mughal rule in northern India, using cavalry, artillery, and battlefield tactics to defeat much larger armies. [historytoday.com] 6lmp0pmmz https://flipso.com/p/6lmp0pmmz?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 10:00:32 GMT Albert Scopin’s recovered photos and memories capture daily life at the Chelsea Hotel during its bohemian peak, with glimpses of artists, musicians, writers, and figures like Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Wim Wenders. [flashbak.com] wbfjoqskn https://flipso.com/p/wbfjoqskn?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:20:08 GMT With a newly discovered mathematical tool, researchers are hoping to gain unprecedented insight into the structure of complex knots. [quantamagazine.org] q9hj91kgh https://flipso.com/p/q9hj91kgh?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 07:40:31 GMT Robin Hanson argues that many human activities cluster around mid-level goals because they are more conscious, articulable, socially observable, and norm-enforceable than low-level actions, while still being more concrete than very high-level aims. He contrasts this with large organizations, where higher-level goals can sometimes be managed directly. [overcomingbias.com] wm2gms6e5 https://flipso.com/p/wm2gms6e5?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 04:40:27 GMT Carthage’s armies rested largely on North African infantry and cavalry, recruited from subject communities rather than simple mercenaries. This installment argues that these African troops were paid conscripts equipped from Carthaginian armories, and explains their role as the heavy infantry backbone of Hannibal’s forces. [acoup.blog] njy9jjrp9 https://flipso.com/p/njy9jjrp9?ref=rss Sat, 25 Apr 2026 04:00:09 GMT Two photographers documented 304 individual humpback whales in a single day off South Africa’s west coast, a record for large whales and a striking sign that these animals may be feeding in unexpectedly dense groups. [bbc.com]