Be Curious

studyblr physics, astronomy, languages, art, mathematics and business studies

[enki2]

[thebdelliumlady]

For anyone wondering, the PhD student's name is Myra Cheng.

Here's a link to an article about the study from the Stanford Report: link.

[chapscher]

Across three preregistered studies, participants interacting with sycophantic AI became more convinced of their own rightness and less willing to repair relationships. Yet at the same time, participants rated sycophantic AI models as higher quality, more trustworthy, and more desirable for future use, which may explain why this behavior has persisted despite its harmful impacts.

Myra Cheng et al. "Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence." Science 391, eaec8352 (2026).

[blasteffect]

Saturn's north pole !

The hexagon is nearly 30,000 km (20,000 miles) wide. This is large enough that two Earths could fit inside the storm with room to spare.

It is a standing atmospheric wave created by a powerful jet stream that wraps around the pole. Winds along its edges can exceed 300 km/h (about 220 mph).

At the very center of the hexagon lies a deep, dark polar vortex that extends hundreds of kilometers down into Saturn's atmosphere.

Spacecraft/Mission: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI (Space Science Institute).

[fyrmayj]

Thanks to @shipleaves in the notes for sharing this link, because legit I did not believe this was a real photo (and it isn't exactly, it's been colorized... but the phenomenon is real)

Saturn's Hexagon in Motion - NASA Science

An enormous spinning hexagon in the clouds at Saturn’s north pole has fascinated observers since our first glimpse of it in the 1980s. The l

[rederiswrites]

There really really ought to be a book about how the staple crops of different civilizations shape and influence those civilizations, and I really want to read it.

[alexseanchai]

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky and A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage (three are alcohol, three have caffeine) are not quite that, but may still be of interest?

[rederiswrites]

I read Salt back in the day and it's so so good, second the rec. I have heard of 6 Glasses and not read it but I am sure I would probably love it. Gotta see if the library has it. Thank you!

[pandorasquillandquotes]

Gonna throw Empire of Cotton by Sven Beckert in the ring here! You'll never see the modern world the same way again.

[vaspider]

A Short History Of The World According To Sheep by Sally Coulthard blew my mind. So many things are tied to wool and sheep and weaving and so many words and phrases are tied to wool, people have no idea.

Example words which come from textiles/weaving, if not specifically wool (go look them up!): subtle, shoddy, tabby, Brazil, rocket, twit, warped, going batty, on tenterhooks, text...

[foxofninetales]

I'll throw in a rec for Pickled, Potted, and Canned by Sue Shephard - a very interesting look at food preservation and how the availability of different types of food preservation shaped cultures and cuisines.

[electronsprotonscroutons]

Sweetness and Power is this but for the topic of sugar

[magneticdeclination]

The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past might also be up your alley. It's about "forgotten" foods and staples. They talk about different types of wheat, sauces, veggies, etc and a little about the cultures from whence they come

[doctornerdington]

Also: Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser. One of my favourite books.

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

DO I HAVE A SERIES FOR YOU. University of California Press has a gift for you and it is a 80+ book series on food studies. There are even some that are open access (legally free), but the rest are in libraries.

I also highly recommend Frostbite by Nicola Twilley. It’s about the impact refrigeration has had/is having on food preservation and culture, globally. It was one of my favorite books of this last year.

[calystarose]

Also, The Rice Theory of Culture https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1172&context=orpc By Thomas Talhelm

[karis-the-fangirl]

Consider the Fork isn’t about food itself exactly but all about cooking technology and how it changed how and what we eat

[yuangler]

手：hand

目：eye

看：to look

[whimsical-catacombs]

goddamn the Et Al family are some smart motherfuckers

[residentevildash-moved]

To: [email protected] Subject: CLASS3290 Question

are you mad at me

[eidos-eidos16]

Yes

Sent from my Galaxy Dishwasher

[tokkibean]

"work in progress" is actually so misleading like it assumes that im actually making progress on my work

[veristudyblr]

Summer blues

april ‘26

[cleverreports]

We report: spring night sky in the Northern Hemisphere. Venus vanishes behind the horizon soon after sunset, Jupiter remains for a bit. When it gets dark, before midnight, we see Procyon and Capella, Castor and Pollux, Sirius, Betelgeuse and Aldebaran (our favourite neighbours).

[h0lyshift]

the urge to learn everything

[cutecipher]

science has always been political. what gets studied. what doesnt. who gets to do the studying. on and on and on.

[cutecipher]

scientists on this post: yuuuup 👍

people who aren't scientists: um actually ☝️

[hands-off-my-dinosaur]

log (😅) = 💧log 😄

[catchymemes]

[therobotmonster]

When life gives you bears… trick them into doing market research?

[loki-zen]

@mercuryjellyfish

[discoursedrome]

What I really like about this is that the containers all have prominent labels with a camera pointing directly at them, but it’s still called a double-blind trial because the researcher isn’t present and the bear can’t read

[holyunholy]

should be able to leave kudos on scientific studies. i liked your paper dude keep at it

[holyunholy]

sorry, Dr. Dude

[thepioden]

Dude et. al.

[wormofmouth]

need y'all to know that most academics have publicly searchable email addresses and this not only makes their day but they can put nice emails in their giant packets for applying for jobs or tenure. "hi i read your paper for a class and it was very helpful, im at xyz college and the class is blah with professor blah" is sufficient and ENORMOUSLY helpful

[body5000]

Sleep well, study well, stretch, exercise, cook good food, read a book, make art

I was feeling overwhelmed by all the things I want to do but all written out it seems so simple

[dzgrizzle]

“The studious silence of the library... Thought is the thought of thought. Tranquil brightness.” ~ James Joyce, Ulysses

[twocubes]

pretty good peel

[eka-mark]

Beautiful! Those who want to know more about this shape (an approximation to the Euler spiral) and how it arises can read this exposition about orange peels.