Hi everyone!
I recently came across a great essay by Isaac Asimov called The Relativity of Wrong.
In it, Asimov answers a letter he received from a literature student who argues that every generation things they’ve got things sorted out, but they always get proven wrong.
Asimov offers nuance and explains with a few funny examples that things are rarely as black and white as they look.
People often throw nuance out the door and replaced by the "simplicity" of wanting to be right.
I want to keep Asimov's point of view in the back of my mind when I'm certain someone else is wrong.
Enjoy this newsletter! Xavier
🤓 Cool Stuff I Found on the Internet
Is Figma killing creativity?
Figma is a powerful and popular design tool but it may stifle design innovation. This article argues features like Auto Layout and Dev Mode push designers to adopt a rigid, engineering-centric mindset too early in the creative process. These features could prioritize structure over messy, free exploration, limiting creative possibilities. In a way, the tool is shaping us instead of the other way around.
McDonalds vending machines hacked
A white-hat hacker found a security flaw in the world's leading supplier of service robots. Anyone could hijack the robots, redirect them, and give them commands. When the researcher first alerted the company, she was completely ignored. So, she went directly to the company's biggest customers. After she warned major restaurant chains that use the robots, the company finally called her back within 48 hours.
Getting past procrastination
Procrastination often isn’t about laziness. It’s usually in how we misunderstand motivation. Most of us have it completely backwards. Here’s the truth: action creates motivation, not the other way around. Don’t wait until you feel ready. Just start, and the drive will follow.
Fridge ads
Bought a $1,800 fridge from Samsung? Congrats! The company will now start showing ads on it. Their goal is to push ads that enhance “everyday value” for customers. Things are really getting out of hand in the IoT market.
⏳ On this day...
1582 - The Gregorian Calendar is introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. It's a key moment in the history of timekeeping and a great piece of historical trivia that everyone uses every day.
1957 – Sputnik 1 becomes the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
1997 – The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history occurs in North Carolina. A vault supervisor and his conspirators stole $17.3 million in cash. The FBI was able to recover 88% of the stolen money.
🧠🤖 Artificial intelligence
Cops pull over autonomous car
A Waymo self-driving car got pulled over for an illegal turn. However, the police had no way to write a ticket. This loophole will soon close, though, as a new state law will make autonomous vehicle operators liable for traffic violations starting July 1, 2026.
AI speeds up senior devs more
A Fastly survey reveals a significant gap in AI tool adoption between developers. Senior engineers are far more likely to ship AI-generated code than their junior counterparts, with 32% saying over half their code is AI-assisted, versus just 13% of juniors.
AI has made no impact
Everyone's worried AI is coming for their job. But what does the data actually say? A new Yale study looked at the labor market since ChatGPT's debut. They found no major disruption in the US job market since generative AI went mainstream. Their conclusion? Fears that AI is eroding the demand for cognitive jobs appear to be overblown, at least for now.
AI-powered ransomware found
PromptLock is a new type of ransomware that actually contains no malicious code. Instead, it includes a local AI model to generate malicious commands directly on infected computers. Right now, it's a non-destructive proof-of-concept, but it could become a new type of threat in the future.
Don't believe the AI hype
Rodney Brooks, the founder of iRobot, argues the AI revolution will take far longer than most VCs and futurists believe. He says flashy demos often fail in the "messy reality" of the real world. The 'messy reality' of unpredictable environments is what makes progress so slow. It’s why self-driving cars still aren’t everywhere after decades of work. Interesting opinion!
AlphaEvolve drives efficiency
Google combined the power and creativity of language models with strict evaluators. The result? A model that can discover better solutions for complex computing problems. It made Google's datacenters 0.7% more efficient, sped up Gemini's training by 1%, and found faster methods for complex matrix multiplication. The aim is to apply a similar technique to fields like material science and drug discovery.
🏥 Health & Medicine
Declining mental health
The "mid-life crisis" doesn't exist anymore. A new study finds unhappiness no longer peaks in middle age. It is now highest among the young and declines from there. The cause might be the rise of smartphones and social media.
New antibiotic discovered in backyard
Researchers accidentally discovered a new type of antibiotic that could fight off superbugs. It’s called Lariocidin binds to bacteria’s protein synthesis machinery in a new way, stopping growth.
⚡️ Energy & Environment
The new nuclear age
For decades, nuclear power was in decline. Now, the need for clean, reliable energy is causing a major comeback. Tech giants look toward nuclear energy to power their energy-hungry AI datacenters, while countries want energy independence and a path to zero emissions. New technologies like small module reactors could be a key innovation to make nuclear power cheaper, safer, and faster to build.
👽 Space
Starlink directly to your phone
SpaceX bought wireless spectrum from EchoStar for $17 billion to offer global, broadband-speed internet directly to mobile phones. They will effectively become a global 5G provider!
Enceladus spews organic compounds
Scientists re-analyzing 15-year-old data from the Cassini spacecraft have found new organic molecules in ice plumes from Enceladus. This adds significant weight to the theory that Enceladus's subsurface ocean is habitable.
Mars sample return
NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered potential signs of ancient life in Mars' Jezero Crater. However, confirming this discovery requires returning the collected rock samples to Earth for detailed analysis. NASA's plans are facing major delays, and this opens a window for China, whose Tianwen 3 mission is scheduled to launch in 2028 and could become the first to bring Martian material to Earth.