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Pant-Pant, Choo-Choo

It’s a dog! It’s a train! It’s the head of a dog superimposed on the body of a train! You may have recently seen a mutant creature chugging through your feed, a hybrid beast, like a centaur or sphinx, uniting the head of a dog and the body of a…

25/06/2026

The AI-Tutor Revolution That Wasn’t

In a 2023 TED Talk watched by millions of people, the American educator and entrepreneur Sal Khan declared that AI was about to deliver “probably the biggest positive transformation that education has ever seen.

25/06/2026

Does the War on ‘Ultra-Processed Foods’ Make Any Sense?

Once again, Americans are in a panic over what we eat. More than two-thirds of those surveyed now regard the industrially produced, ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, that dominate the U.S. food supply as addictive, according to a study published…

23/06/2026

I’d Rather Risk Cancer Than See AI Move This Fast

On a fall afternoon 15 years ago, I met an idealistic researcher outside a Stanford coffee shop to discuss our shared dream: using AI to detect cancer. He had wiry hair, a penchant for talking with his hands, and a reputation for brilliance.

21/06/2026

A Modern-Day Playtime Nightmare

Pixar’s cruelest and cleverest trick has been successfully convincing audiences, over several decades, that all kinds of creatures—even inanimate objects—can have rich inner lives. In Cars, vehicles talk and run a whole society; in Finding Nemo,…

19/06/2026

America Is Headed Toward the Infinite Workweek

Last year, Steve Yegge started “suddenly getting pounded by nap attacks in the middle of the day.” Without fail, Yegge—a programmer and tech blogger—would “hit a wall, fall over, and sleep for 90 minutes,” he told me. Like many developers, Yegge no…

18/06/2026

The Toy Story Franchise Forgot Its Own Message

Pixar made a classic trilogy about growing up. At that point, the studio should have left its toys behind.

17/06/2026

The Butterflies That Defy Aging

For most butterfly species, an adult’s life is brief and—with all due respect to butterflies—unextraordinary.

16/06/2026

The Marshmallow Test Is Bunk

Eating a pint of ice cream instead of improving a difficult relationship with your partner is easy. So is scrolling social media instead of completing a cardio workout at the gym.

16/06/2026

What AI’s Style Tells Us About It

In the late 19th century, it was commonly believed that a criminal or lunatic could be recognized at a glance, based on certain physiognomic tells.

15/06/2026

My Descent Into Mah-Jongg

When my mom found out I was planning to travel to Dallas to play in a Lunar New Year mah-jongg tournament, she texted a reasonable query: “Don’t they require some level of competence?