What was the most important transition in human history, the thing that most drastically altered our species' way of life? David Reich's lab has found evidence pointing to a new answer.
— Dwarkesh Patel (@dwarkesh_sp) May 9, 2026
There are two standard candidates:
1. The shift from hunting and gathering to farming, around… pic.twitter.com/649RdS9Bl4
Interesting. I would think that the recent explosion of tech would be a similar driver, but it’s happening too fast to affect natural selection.
It’s official now that it was always a scam.
Your cat is leaving a chemical on your face. Its name is F4. The translation is “you’re family,” and cats only leave it on people and animals they trust. F4 was identified in 1998 by a French researcher named Patrick Pageat.
— Anish Moonka (@anishmoonka) April 29, 2026
Pageat found five different chemicals coming out of… https://t.co/E99rR1y0c6
They could be useful in understanding it for humans as well.
This is of particular current interest, given that we just spent several thousand dollars for surgery for one of the cats to remove a tumor in the small intestine. Fortunately, it appears that they got it all, and the prognosis for the 7YO is good.
Since it came out, I’ve been saying that the decadal needs to be completely redone, as it assumes business as usual. But there’s a new report out from academics on how to use Starship for Mars exploration, so people are finally starting to get it. Bob Zimmerman summarizes.
Long, but interesting. Why it is perfectly safe to not take them seriously.
Unfortunately, this BS lies at the foundation of much of academia.
Are we on the verge of it?
Good news, from VDH.
Are we at a turning point?
We can hope.
None of these things are logically incompatible or (in my opinion) untrue:
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) September 3, 2025
The vaccine announcement was delayed for political reasons to help Biden win the election.
The vaccines were beneficial for people at high risk.
The vaccines were unnecessary for young people at low… https://t.co/QDy6OvLPh1
Related: How the CDC’s double standards cost it our trust, and how hard it will (and should) be to win it back.