February 25, 2014

Our Flat Solar System

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Why is our solar system flat? We started off as a shapeless blob of gases after the Big Bang. How did our solar system flatten out? From Saturn’s rings to other galaxies, it turns out that “flatness” is common in our 3D universe. It has to do with collisions.

MinutePhysics breaks down the mathematics for our 3D-thinking brains:

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

A person holds a smartphone and a book with an ornate cover, clasped together in both hands.

The Present

Silicon Valley’s obsession with AI looks a lot like religion

The tech world’s fixation on artificial intelligence has spawned beliefs and rituals that resemble religion — complete with digital deities, moral codes, and threats of damnation.

Wind turbines on grassy hills under a clear blue sky.

The Future

Should we turn the electricity grid over to AI?

And can we run the grid of the future without AI?

Abstract image featuring glowing lines radiating outward, creating a wave-like, undulating pattern.

Thinking

The “living mirror” theory: Why all living organisms may have consciousness

“We do not experience primarily because we have brains; we experience because we are alive.”

An illustration intertwines reality with imagination, featuring a cow, a rainbow, and a human skull linked by red lines and targets.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Are rainbows, farts, and emotions “real”?

Just because you can’t experience it doesn’t mean it’s not real.

In this striking black and white portrait, a young person with short hair gazes with a serene resolve, their face half in shadow, as if to remind us all to go grudge-free.

Business

Go grudge-free: Use the “Weil method” to deal with insults

We have it in our power to forgive a debt — and learning to use this power in the workplace can be golden.

Up Next

Jetpack Rocket Science

Ever wonder how jetpacks work? The motorcycles of tomorrow may not be populating the skies just yet, but you can test drive a jetpack. There’s a famous jetpack instructor who […]