Hi everyone!
My whole life is centered around digital tools. I think there isn't a single problem that can't be solved with more technology or another app.
You could say I'm a technology maximalist.
Or am I?
Over the past few years, I've bought more physical books than ever before. I've jotted down ideas more frequently in a physical notebook than in my digital second brain.
And then last week happened... I bought a fountain pen, and I'm considering which ink I'll order for it.
It sounds absurd. Why would I carry heavy books around when I could read from my phone? Why would I carry a physical notebook that has a finite storage capacity and isn’t searchable?
I believe it's about focus.
My computer truly is an amazing tool. But it's also a gateway to distractions. There's always the temptation to "just quickly" Google something or try to outsource my thinking to the latest AI model. And one thing leads to another. That quick Google search turns into a multi-hour deep dive on fountain pens, inks, and stationery. The quick conversation with AI turns into frustration when it can't quite solve the issue at hand.
Over the past weeks, I found that closing my laptop and thinking on paper is more effective. It kills distractions. It removes a certain barrier with digital tools that require you to think in a certain way.
And yet, here I am, writing this newsletter on my computer, sending it to your inbox. Not quite analog. But maybe the goal is not to escape technology. Maybe it’s about being more intentional about when we use it.
Enjoy this edition of the newsletter,
Xavier
🤓 Cool Stuff I Found on the Internet
Claude helped recover $400k Bitcoin
What do you do when you've lost the password to your $400,000 Bitcoin wallet? This anonymous person on X gave Claude his entire personal history and asked to derive passwords from it. And sure enough, Claude was able to infer how he picked passwords and suggested which password might've been used for his wallet.
Pokémon GO gave us a highly accurate map
Did you play Pokémon GO? Congrats, you helped to train a Visual Position System! This system allows delivery robots from Coco Robotics to navigate with centimeter-level accuracy by recognizing landmarks, overcoming the limitations of GPS in urban areas. I guess I should ask the makers of Pokémon GO for a fair compensation for the work I did?
The misaligned stars
When Neil deGrasse Tyson saw Titanic, he noted that the star field Rose sees from her raft was inaccurate for the time and location. So he bugged director James Cameron about it, who digitally altered the scene for the film's 15th-anniversary re-release. Amazing attention to detail!
The Stretcher Railing
Throughout London, you can see an incredible example of upcycling: fences made from WWII-era stretchers. They were originally built to rescue civilians during the Blitz. In post-war Britain, the leftover stretchers were repurposed as railings for new houses.
⏳ On this day...
1888 - Nikola Tesla demonstrated his brushless AC motor. It established alternating current as the dominant system for global electrification.
1960 - Theodore Maiman successfully operated the first optical laser. This lead to everything from barcode scanners to fiber-optic communication.
1975 - Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth.
⚡️ Energy & Environment
Cooling down to heat
Our CO2 emissions are heating the planet but paradoxically also cooling down the upper atmosphere. In the dense lower atmosphere, CO2 acts like a blanket. It absorbs heat radiating from Earth and sends it back down, trapping energy. But in the thin upper atmosphere, the extra CO2 radiates heat more effectively out to space, which leads to cooling.
Nairobi’s Invisible Recyclers
This article shows life on Nairobi's Dandora dump. Every day, people sift through 2,000 tons of waste looking for plastics, metals, and textiles that can be fed back into global supply chains. The workers face dangerous conditions with no protective gear and toxic fumes.
🧠🤖 Artificial intelligence
Not in my backyard
Over 70% of Americans don’t want to live near an AI data center. In fact, the opposition has become so intense, some would rather live near a nuclear plant. This pushback is having a real impact on the build out of infrastructure to power the AI boom.
Developers say AI rots brains
Software developers are complaining on social media that AI coding makes them feel like they're losing their own skills. My experience with AI has been the opposite. I found that having in-depth knowledge of a programming language or a codebase has been instrumental for me to work more effectively with AI.
A large language model from 1930
Meet “talkie”, a large language model trained only on text from before 1931. The project aims to study if AI could re-invent our current technology with this knowledge. Although talkie isn’t anywhere near as smart as “modern” models, it shows the ability to learn new concepts like basic Python programming.
Write worse to pass the test
AI detection tools in schools, intended to prevent cheating, are creating a paradoxical "Cobra Effect." They often flag sophisticated, original student writing as AI-generated, punishing good writers and forcing them to adopt a simpler, more mediocre style. Yikes!
👽 Space
Artemis lll
We’ve flown around the Moon, next mission should be landing on it, right? Nope.. In 2027, astronauts will practice flying to and docking with the new lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. The only problem? The landers might not be ready. So NASA needs to decide between flying on schedule with immature hardware or delaying the mission.
Gene Kranz on Artemis ll
Gene Kranz, the legendary flight director who saved Apollo 13, reflects on the Artemis ll mission. He's jealous of today's NASA interns and told them he would trade anything he's ever done to be in their position. Wouldn't we all?
The Moon goes Nuclear
NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy are partnering to build a nuclear fission reactor on the Moon by 2030. The project provides a reliable, long-term power source for the Artemis program’s goal of establishing a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.