Daily Picks

Thursday, 20 August 2026

10 new posts
Nautilus
Society & IdeasNautilusDan Falk

The Return of a Discredited Pseudoscience

TL;DR

Eugenics, though scientifically discredited, is making a comeback under the guise of politics and technology, threatening social fairness.

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Works in Progress
Society & IdeasWorks in Progress

How Thailand resisted colonization

TL;DR

Thailand preserved its independence during the colonial era by showcasing its civilization, practicing flexible diplomacy, and modernizing proactively.

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404 Media
Society & Ideas404 MediaEmanuel Maiberg

Subtlefakes: Slightly Altered Nonconsensual AI Images Are Taking Over X

TL;DR

A new type of AI fake image, 'subtlefakes', which are less explicit but more realistic, are spreading on X and are harder to detect and regulate.

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Uncharted Territories
Society & IdeasUncharted TerritoriesTomas Pueyo

How Households Drive History

TL;DR

What truly shapes history is not emperors, generals, and wars, but the daily needs of countless ordinary families striving to put food on the table.

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WESTENBERG
Society & IdeasWESTENBERGJA Westenberg

Neo-Etiquette Basics: The New Rules of Being Human

TL;DR

Technology has made selfishness easier, but basic respect remains the bottom line of society; new etiquette is about restoring our awareness of other people's real existence.

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Hacker News
TechHacker Newsemctech

AliExpress runs silent WebAudio fingerprinting that breaks Bluetooth multipoint

TL;DR

The author found that Alibaba's security scripts run WebAudio fingerprinting quietly on the AliExpress homepage, which keeps the computer's audio channel active and causes Bluetooth headphones to fail switching back to the phone.

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Noahpinion
Economics & PolicyNoahpinionNoah Smith

Economists should be worried about birth rates

TL;DR

Acemoglu's new paper claims low fertility raises living standards through automation, but the author argues the evidence is weak and contradicts Acemoglu's own research.

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simonwillison
Techsimonwillison

Conceptual integrity and counting lines of code

TL;DR

Although counting lines of code is often mocked, it has become meaningful again in the era of AI-assisted programming, because engineers' cognitive capacity has become the new bottleneck, and conceptual integrity is the biggest hidden risk in AI-generated output.

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Nautilus
Science & HealthNautilusJake Currie

How Listening to Ocean Waves Can Predict Volcanic Eruptions

TL;DR

By measuring how the speed of ocean wave sounds changes as they travel through volcanic rock, scientists can predict volcanic eruptions in advance.

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Conversable Economist
Life & WorkConversable Economistconversableeconomist

“Syntax often breaks down just at the point where a new or significant meaning is beginning to break out”

TL;DR

Writer's block can be a good sign, because it often means new meaning is about to emerge, and the key is to learn to revise rather than just fix grammar errors.

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