Read:
Turning Potential into Realities: The Invention of the Integrated Circuit, Jack Kilby - This lecture was delivered at the Nobel Prize ceremony in December 2000 where Jack Kilby was awarded the Physics Nobel for creation of the integration circuit. Robert Noyce, who had also independently developed the integrated circuit at Fairchild Semiconductor, could not be named as prize winner as the Nobel is not awarded posthumously (Ralph Steinman is the exception), but is recognized in Kilby’s lecture.
No Great Stagnation in Guinness, The Fitzwilliam - Very interesting and fun read on Guinness, the globally distinguished beermaker.
“Taken over its entire history, Guinness may just be the most successful company Ireland has ever produced. In 1930, it was the seventh largest company in Britain or Ireland. It is one of our oldest companies of note. Considering that it predates the Bank of Ireland and the State itself, it could even be said that Guinness is the longest-running successful large institution in Ireland.”
The Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence, by Kai-Fu Lee - This op-ed from AI expert, Kai-Fu Lee, has radical ideas on how jobs will disappear and appear, the economy will change massively and countries leading AI innovation will truly become superpowers. You may love AI or not, you certainly can’t ignore it.
On Preprints, Century of Biology by Elliot Herschberg - On scientific publishing - how journals came to exist, the flaws in the system and how preprints are upending a several billion-dollar industry. This is an excellent piece from Elliot, like all others he’s written.
What do we know about Covid's impact on the brain, by Eric Topol, The Guardian - Loss of smell during Covid infection is more than an inconvenience. It may result from long-lasting loss of gray matter.
Lewis Hamilton: The F1 Superstar on Racism, His Future, and the Shocker That Cost Him a Championship, Vanity Fair - A no-frills look at some aspects of the most awesome F1 driver’s life and interests.
The housing theory of everything, Works in Progress - Insanely good read covering the global housing crisis and its unseen effects on human life from obesity, to climate change, lower fertility and more.
Cellulose Shoes made by Bacteria, Nature - Two London-based entreprenuers are making durable, biodegradable shoes using bacteria.
Excel Never Dies, Not Boring - If you’re lucky, you’ve worked in a role that used Excel day and night and fell in love with it. (I say this with the utmost sincerity. Financial modeling in Excel is tremendously gratifying and fun). Packy and his co-writer Ben have captured accurately the delights of working with Excel and why it is ubiquitous, versatile and well-loved (depending on who you ask ;). They also discuss Excel’s limitations, which do not actually limit its use, and the myriad of software companies that have arisen by building software solutions that are more reliable versions of what has been accomplished using spreadsheets for decades.