Week of July 21, 2025
My last several weeks were filled with plane time reading a new biography of Douglas Adams, the author who taught me that science fiction encompasses more than just lasers and spaceships. Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (which I read at the age of 12) opened my mind to the notion that science fiction, when done right, is really "counterfactual political science"- alternative constructs to explore politics and philosophy. I do not typically reread books, but revisiting the backstory of the writing that shaped my early impressions of life's complexities and absurdities was like opening a conversation with a teenage version of me. I suspect my “reading retrospectoscope” will stop there, I don't think I have the capacity (or patience) to reread the Choose Your Own Adventure books that shaped elementary school Adam.
The Douglas Adams book: https://www.pushkin.fm/audiobooks/douglas-adams-the-ends-of-the-earth
For those who did not grow up in the early 1980s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure
An article I found on the value of rereading books:
https://bluelabyrinths.com/2020/12/13/rediscovering-the-past-the-value-of-rereading-books/
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Listen to a Google Notebook LM A.I.-generated podcast of the newsletter with two virtual "hosts."
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u8snBoOEuB3-qUf9kGMcIgkqlkvdgwm8/view
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Science and Technology Trends
University of Chicago researchers used blood samples from an extensive, long-term cardiovascular outcomes study to examine changes in DNA among study participants who reported marijuana use. The researchers found epigenetic effects of marijuana use, which are changes to the chemicals attached to DNA (methylation markers) that alter how DNA is read and replicated in a cell. Although the DNA itself was not changed, the additional methyl groups attached to the DNA were found in "biologically relevant" areas of the genome. Of note, the study relied on self-reported cannabis use, and the authors could not demonstrate causality. However, the large sample size looking at blood from 5-year intervals points toward the potential that frequent marijuana use leads to long-term, measurable consequences.
Readable article: https://share.google/ZiG9485aY69pQtPMy
Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-023-02106-y
AI Summary: https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/aaf265b3-4f91-4e40-b786-2a9129815d38
Learn about epigenetics with this infographic:
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/EpigeneticsInfograph c_FINAL.jpg
Tim Heffernan, the NY Times Wirecutter's water quality expert (with a decade of experience testing filters and water systems), writes about how, after extensive research and testing his water, he stopped filtering entirely. This article is an excellent example of how to make judgment calls in the face of imperfect science, data, and solutions.
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/know-your-water-quality/
AI summary: https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/adb6adbb-14c1-47bb-9623-cbc9e97952f6
Anti- Anti-Science Articles of Note
Once again, it takes many more words to defend the nuance of science and evidence than it does to undermine confidence in vaccines. Stanford infectious disease physician Dr. Jake Scott debates Dr. Robert Malone on X.
https://x.com/jakescottmd/status/1945716297809248386
It is worth reminding yourself about Dr. Robert Malone.
Here is the 2022 NY Times article that captured some of the motivation for his anti-vaccination stance:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/technology/robert-malone-covid.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk8.h4Uj.MbTiFzT2zyUz&smid=url-share
Among the many trivialities and distractions opined upon by our current science leadership, this feels uniquely trivial: "Why RFK Jr. wants Canada to pardon 400 ostriches." Some ostriches in the flock tested positive for avian flu (which typically results in the culling of an entire local population). Numerous politicians and others on both sides of the Canadian border are firmly committed to saving these birds (for reasons I do not fully understand - other than the birds' owners).
https://www.politico.com/news/ 025/07/15/why-rfk-jr-wants-canada-to-pardon-400-ostriches-00455360?utm_campaign=july16morningnote&utm_content=morningnote&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iterable
Living with AI.
Stanford's Human-Centered AI Institute conducted a comprehensive survey of 1,500 workers across 104 occupations and 52 AI experts to develop a framework and map how workers perceive AI (what tools they have, what tools they want, and what tools they fear) compared to what AI tools are available today. Workers reported favoring AI tools that automate repetitive, low-value tasks while maintaining human oversight and offering more time for high-value activities. However, when comparing what tools are available today, the researchers found that only 60% of current AI tools can be classified as desirable (matching with the workers' goal of improved job efficiency). The other 40% of current AI tools either introduce additional inefficiencies or outright threaten to replace workers' roles. These data suggest AI developers and employers have significant opportunities for more strategic, human-centered AI deployment, developing AI capabilities that workers want, while being cautious about imposing AI solutions that workers would resist. Moreover, the 4-box conceptual framework of matching worker wants to technical capabilities offers a path to understand development priorities better, given AI's rapid evolution.
Paper:
https://hai.st nford.edu/news/what-workers-really-want-from-artificial-intelligence
AI Summary:
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/6b69e8e3-6bdf-4db0-9e83-948c419a111a
Ethan Mollick reviewed ChatGPT's new agent functionality. "It feels much more like working with an actual human intern capable of a broader range of analytical and computer tasks, and, like an intern, you want to give it feedback and work back & forth. Not all the way there yet, but the paradigm is shifting from prompting to delegating.”
https://x.com/emollick/status/1945892669575647431
For readers who want to know more about agents, Grammarly (the AI-powered grammar checking platform I use to proofread this newsletter) has published an "Agentic AI 101 Primer" that is both understandable and comprehensive.
https://www.grammarly.com/agentic-ai
Infographics
Fascinating infographic from The Visual Capitalist about jobs that are safest from AI replacement. However, this visual does not tell the whole story. I strongly suspect that the work involved in even the least "automatable" jobs will be materially different due to the use of AI tools.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-which-jobs- re-safest-from-ai/
Things I learned this week
A loyal reader shared (about 7 weeks too late!) that New York City's High Line Park held its first and only pigeon festival in June. Pigeonfest's highlight was the Pigeon Impersonation Pageant, in which contestants dressed as and performed as a pigeon. The linked YouTube video below may be the most excellent piece of "forced unironic" local journalism I have seen in many years (harkening back to the best of 1980s Anchorman-style feel-good stories about kids' charity lemonade stands and used car dealer antics).
Pigeonfest: https://www.thehighline.org/pigeonfest/
Iowa's ABC 5 reporting on the NYC Pigeonfest:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH5Z- CAgpQ
My favorite (almost) non-clickbait science headline of the week: "Flesh-Eating Fly Invasion Could Cause Devastation Across America." The sensational headline is not totally without justification - "The (previously eradicated, but now returning) female New World screwworm fly is attracted to the odor of any wound to lay her eggs. The larvae (maggots) then feed aggressively on living tissue, causing immeasurable suffering to their unlucky host (most typically cows), including death if left untreated." Add screwworm fly larvae to my ever-growing list of 'things I don't want to encounter,' including murder hornets, brain-infesting amoebas, and deadly viruses.
https://www.sciencealert.com/flesh-eating-fly-invasion-could-cause-devastation-across-america
AI art of the week
A visual mashup of topics from the newsletter.
I use ChatGPT to summarize the newsletter, suggest prompts, and make the images.
"In a grand, surreal public square that feels part court, part carnival, a feather-caped grey-haired man wearing a suit solemnly pardons a group of dignified ostriches standing upright like diplomats. To his left, a four-quadrant pavilion shows human workers negotiating with AI agents: one celebrates with a helpful robot intern, another argues with a glitching algorithm, a third hides behind unreadable terms-of-service scrolls, and the fourth sketches new tools with a holographic interface. Above, confetti rains down from a 'Pigeon Impersonation Pageant Parade' — human contestants in elaborate pigeon costumes strike dramatic poses on a floating bandstand. But on the edge of the scene, mostly unnoticed, a giant screwworm fly creeps in, its shadow stretching ominously across a pasture of oblivious cartoon cows nibbling on ballots and ethernet cables. Maximalist surrealism, oil painting style, inspired by Bosch and Bruegel, highly detailed and vibrant."
ChatGPT:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UAkCT_VFLatYPLhHVRVJp4GUvfXFcj4p/view
Grok: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18Vw7L8FvGJoYWsRBGIcRigc9gicl3Ox8/view
Gemini:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j6tToHIooTYhp_Wc14wrJefh8aBw0jYm/view
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COVID rates are back to 1 in 148, up from 1 in ~200 a few weeks ago.
The Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) utilizes wastewater viral RNA levels to forecast four-week predictions of COVID-19 rates.
https://pmc19.com/data/
based upon https://biobot.io/data/
Wastewater Scan offers a multi-organism wastewater dashboard with an excellent visual display of individual treatment plant-level data.
https://data.wastewaterscan.org/
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Clean hands and sharp minds,
Adam
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