B-52 Navigation

Ken Shirriff's deep dive into the electromechanical Angle Computer that enabled celestial navigation in the B-52 bomber.

The B‑52’s Astro Compass used a sealed, motor‑driven mechanical model of the celestial sphere—full of gears, synchros, and differentials—to physically solve spherical trigonometry in real time and guide a bomber by tracking stars to a tenth of a degree, all before practical digital computers existed.

Project Hail Mary's Science Is More Real Than You Think

Cleo Abram sits down with Andy Weir and his actual spreadsheets used to calculate the physics in Project Hail Mary. He walks through designing the alien species Rocky from first principles: atmosphere, gravity, echolocation, pentagon-symmetrical biology. They also brainstorm a story about us detecting traces of life in another solar system.

How IKEA Mastered Furniture

The engineering genius behind flat-pack furniture: how Gillis Lundgren's accidental discovery in 1956 led to cam locks, particle board, honeycomb paper structures, and a hexagonal-pattern table that's survived 40+ years of inflation while keeing the $9.99 price.

How accurate are wearables like Apple Watch, Whoop, and Oura?

A researcher compiled 16 studies on fitness wearable accuracy (with surprising results).

If you care about overall, broad accuracy and features: Apple Watch tends to be the best all‑rounder across active HR, sleep (in independent data), SpO₂, steps, and calories, plus FDA‑cleared cardiac features.

For overnight HRV / RHR and temperature trends: Oura (especially Gen 4).

If you care about VO₂ max and performance running metrics: Garmin (Forerunner/Fenix) are far ahead.

The Peoples of America

A sweeping anthropological essay on how American regional cultures differ as much as European countries do—with their distinct geographic, ancestral, and ethnic roots. The Puritans, Cavaliers, Quakers, and Scots-Irish seeded four fundamentally different Americas.

US Public Opinion Is Shifting Hard Against AI

A comprehensive review of 13 recent polls showing Americans are far more skeptical of AI than Silicon Valley insiders. 64% of Americans think AI will reduce jobs vs. only 39% of AI experts—and Americans don't trust their government to regulate it.