rob mahurin
@robtasm.bsky.social
I am large. I contain multitudes.
A company whose full-time employees qualify for welfare should have to pay 200% of the benefit as a tax penalty.
The Boston Globe identified the companies in Massachusetts that employ the most SNAP recipients. A key stat: "In Massachusetts, 74% of working-age recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are employed, half of them full-time."
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
Full article: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/28/m...
November 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
A company whose full-time employees qualify for welfare should have to pay 200% of the benefit as a tax penalty.
Reposted by rob mahurin
Hey fun fact google thanatophobia
October 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Hey fun fact google thanatophobia
I really enjoyed this visualization of polynomial coefficients and solutions animated together in the complex plane … with some serious reservations, described below.
1/🧵
1/🧵
There is NO Quintic Formula
YouTube video by 2swap
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 6:29 AM
I really enjoyed this visualization of polynomial coefficients and solutions animated together in the complex plane … with some serious reservations, described below.
1/🧵
1/🧵
"It wrong," is what they are doing. They are doing it wrong.
November 29, 2025 at 1:51 AM
"It wrong," is what they are doing. They are doing it wrong.
In quantum optics, light with "left circular polarization" is made of photons which have "right-handed helicity."
I bet lots of technical fields have these sorts of context-dependent contranyms.
I bet lots of technical fields have these sorts of context-dependent contranyms.
I have learned that in machine learning sparsity is measured as 'fraction of zeros', as in sparsity=0.9 means very sparse. Whereas in neuroscience sparsity is measured as 'fraction of non-zeros', so sparsity=0.1 would be very sparse
not sure what to do with this discovery but there you go
not sure what to do with this discovery but there you go
November 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
In quantum optics, light with "left circular polarization" is made of photons which have "right-handed helicity."
I bet lots of technical fields have these sorts of context-dependent contranyms.
I bet lots of technical fields have these sorts of context-dependent contranyms.
This isn't a pun. It is a crime.
I love the sound of rolling out a thin carpet on top of a shelf.
“On a Mat Up ‘ere?”
“No, it sounds nothing like it’s name”. #LunchPun
“On a Mat Up ‘ere?”
“No, it sounds nothing like it’s name”. #LunchPun
November 25, 2025 at 4:25 PM
This isn't a pun. It is a crime.
"A comparative approach to the evolution of kissing," in Evolution and Human Behavior (2025), doi.org/10.1016/j.ev.... Open access.
November 24, 2025 at 7:01 PM
"A comparative approach to the evolution of kissing," in Evolution and Human Behavior (2025), doi.org/10.1016/j.ev.... Open access.
Reposted by rob mahurin
I read about this from Kip Thorne, but it was his "Black Holes and Time Warps," which was assigned reading when I took freshman astronomy in 1997. Careful with your "looooong time ago," scamp.
The idea is that you make a wormhole whose two mobile ends are initially near each other in spacetime. 1/
The idea is that you make a wormhole whose two mobile ends are initially near each other in spacetime. 1/
November 24, 2025 at 1:05 AM
I read about this from Kip Thorne, but it was his "Black Holes and Time Warps," which was assigned reading when I took freshman astronomy in 1997. Careful with your "looooong time ago," scamp.
The idea is that you make a wormhole whose two mobile ends are initially near each other in spacetime. 1/
The idea is that you make a wormhole whose two mobile ends are initially near each other in spacetime. 1/
Reposted by rob mahurin
Have you ever wondered what sound looks like?
My latest video answers this question, and is now out on YouTube! Here's the official trailer, the link to the full video follows. If you like @veritasium.bsky.social, @3blue1brown.com, and @smartereveryday.bsky.social, you're going to love this!
My latest video answers this question, and is now out on YouTube! Here's the official trailer, the link to the full video follows. If you like @veritasium.bsky.social, @3blue1brown.com, and @smartereveryday.bsky.social, you're going to love this!
November 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Have you ever wondered what sound looks like?
My latest video answers this question, and is now out on YouTube! Here's the official trailer, the link to the full video follows. If you like @veritasium.bsky.social, @3blue1brown.com, and @smartereveryday.bsky.social, you're going to love this!
My latest video answers this question, and is now out on YouTube! Here's the official trailer, the link to the full video follows. If you like @veritasium.bsky.social, @3blue1brown.com, and @smartereveryday.bsky.social, you're going to love this!
Ooooh, this paper is open access.
I think that, in many scientific efforts, you learn the most by starting very carefully exactly what you don't know. Quantitative ignorance.
I think that, in many scientific efforts, you learn the most by starting very carefully exactly what you don't know. Quantitative ignorance.
November 23, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Ooooh, this paper is open access.
I think that, in many scientific efforts, you learn the most by starting very carefully exactly what you don't know. Quantitative ignorance.
I think that, in many scientific efforts, you learn the most by starting very carefully exactly what you don't know. Quantitative ignorance.
Schlieren imaging really feels like magic. You do some fiddly adjustments with a lamp and a camera together right at the focus of a curved mirror, and suddenly the fiddliness becomes sensitive to tiny variations in the air density near the mirror itself.
The "oh, wow!" moment for me here was 1/🧪⚛️
The "oh, wow!" moment for me here was 1/🧪⚛️
Is it possible to see sound?
YouTube video by All Things Physics
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Schlieren imaging really feels like magic. You do some fiddly adjustments with a lamp and a camera together right at the focus of a curved mirror, and suddenly the fiddliness becomes sensitive to tiny variations in the air density near the mirror itself.
The "oh, wow!" moment for me here was 1/🧪⚛️
The "oh, wow!" moment for me here was 1/🧪⚛️
It's pronounced "deplorable," Mr. Rather.
Despicable
The bully-in-chief is targeting women in the White House press corps
steady.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
It's pronounced "deplorable," Mr. Rather.
I really enjoyed this colloquium-style talk 🔭 about the origin of the Chixulub impactor — a carbonaceous chondrite which must have formed in the outer solar system, beyond the "snow line," and then scattered into an Earth-crossing orbit.
1/6
1/6
Where Did the Asteroid That Killed The Dinosaurs Come From
YouTube video by Nick Longrich Evolution and Paleontology
youtu.be
November 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
I really enjoyed this colloquium-style talk 🔭 about the origin of the Chixulub impactor — a carbonaceous chondrite which must have formed in the outer solar system, beyond the "snow line," and then scattered into an Earth-crossing orbit.
1/6
1/6
Everybody's favorite extremophile, the tardigrade, is sometimes also called the "moss piglet" because supposedly that's where you can find them in your yard.
Now we have learned about an extremophile moss, so future space tardigrades can have a place to come home to!
🧪
Now we have learned about an extremophile moss, so future space tardigrades can have a place to come home to!
🧪
November 20, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Everybody's favorite extremophile, the tardigrade, is sometimes also called the "moss piglet" because supposedly that's where you can find them in your yard.
Now we have learned about an extremophile moss, so future space tardigrades can have a place to come home to!
🧪
Now we have learned about an extremophile moss, so future space tardigrades can have a place to come home to!
🧪
Is it an anachronism to put this kind of acrostic into Chaucer's mouth? My understanding is that acronyms are (more or less) a twentieth-century development. But there are acrostic poems going back to antiquity.
Tech wythout heart ys harmful.
For a bettir future we need poetrye, creativitye, historical studye, love of languages, dreames, dialogues, new storyes, & intellectual curiositye.
We must fund & expand higher educacioun yn HEART:
H umanityes
E thiques
A rtes
R hetorique & the crafte of
T eaching
For a bettir future we need poetrye, creativitye, historical studye, love of languages, dreames, dialogues, new storyes, & intellectual curiositye.
We must fund & expand higher educacioun yn HEART:
H umanityes
E thiques
A rtes
R hetorique & the crafte of
T eaching
November 20, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Is it an anachronism to put this kind of acrostic into Chaucer's mouth? My understanding is that acronyms are (more or less) a twentieth-century development. But there are acrostic poems going back to antiquity.
Manufacturing stymied by lepton number conservation
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
November 19, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Manufacturing stymied by lepton number conservation
Reposted by rob mahurin
Well, we might imagine a rule where the unpunctated quote (here, "features)" must ALWAYS take following punctuation inside the quote marks. But that's an abomination.
November 19, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Well, we might imagine a rule where the unpunctated quote (here, "features)" must ALWAYS take following punctuation inside the quote marks. But that's an abomination.
Part of the fun here is trying various accents until the pun works.
A Friends Character is to become the new Vampire Slayer.
“Phoebe? Buffy?”
“No, it’ll be Monica Bing”. #LunchPun
“Phoebe? Buffy?”
“No, it’ll be Monica Bing”. #LunchPun
November 16, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Part of the fun here is trying various accents until the pun works.
A video about how "high sodium is bad for you" and it's a chemistry nerd using sodium metal to set water on fire
I keep seeing videos that are like "THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT/YOU DON'T WANT TO EAT/THIS IS WHERE IT REALLY COMES FROM" about food and i dont know how to explain to people the concept of "cooking is a transformational process that turns one thing into another"
November 13, 2025 at 4:24 AM
A video about how "high sodium is bad for you" and it's a chemistry nerd using sodium metal to set water on fire
Apparently tsunamis displace enough air to distort the ionosphere. This past summer, such distortion was used in real time to monitor the evolution of the tsunami from the Kamchatka earthquake.
A striking example of how interconnected the system is:
A tsunami created ripples high in the atmosphere...
#climate #earth
A tsunami created ripples high in the atmosphere...
#climate #earth
'It sounded kind of crazy': How ripples in the high atmosphere warned scientists of a tsunami in real time
Tsunamis are notoriously difficult to spot on the open ocean as they race towards shore. But in the summer of 2025, scientists watched one unfold as it happened.
www.bbc.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Apparently tsunamis displace enough air to distort the ionosphere. This past summer, such distortion was used in real time to monitor the evolution of the tsunami from the Kamchatka earthquake.
Chatbots offering advice to literate baby animals
November 4, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Chatbots offering advice to literate baby animals
What if chelation could also be charitable
Extremely 2025 coded - Firefighters are donating their plasma to reduce the forever chemicals in their blood. "If a firefighter donates plasma six times a year, the PFAS in their blood could be reduced by up to 60%." (The plasma is "cleaned" before being used.) www.yourvalley.net/glendale-ind...
Glendale firefighters donate plasma to change out PFAS - Glendale Independent
Across Arizona and the United States, firefighters are facing a cancer epidemic. One cause of this spike in cancer is the record high amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also …
www.yourvalley.net
November 4, 2025 at 8:15 PM
What if chelation could also be charitable
If you want "cellar door" to have the magic sound like "Selador," the elvish hero, you need Tolkien's accent. I have too much Tennessee; "cellar door" is unremarkable.
In your neighborhood, someone speaks a distinctively local dialect. What is an unexpectedly beautiful word in their accent?
In your neighborhood, someone speaks a distinctively local dialect. What is an unexpectedly beautiful word in their accent?
low key "cellar door" is kinda mid
November 3, 2025 at 6:25 AM
If you want "cellar door" to have the magic sound like "Selador," the elvish hero, you need Tolkien's accent. I have too much Tennessee; "cellar door" is unremarkable.
In your neighborhood, someone speaks a distinctively local dialect. What is an unexpectedly beautiful word in their accent?
In your neighborhood, someone speaks a distinctively local dialect. What is an unexpectedly beautiful word in their accent?
this cuts awful close to home for a fortune cookie
October 30, 2025 at 2:11 AM
this cuts awful close to home for a fortune cookie
Companies whose full-time employees qualify for welfare should pay 200% of the cost of the welfare benefit in their federal taxes.
October 27, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Companies whose full-time employees qualify for welfare should pay 200% of the cost of the welfare benefit in their federal taxes.