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The Gene Pool By gene weingarten Humor. Outrageous discussions, surprising observations, live chats, polls, and the weekly Invitational humor contest (formerly The Washington Post's Style Invitational). Significant misanthropy tempered by a warm heart. ncG1vNJzZmirpZfAta3CpGWcp51kjaixzZ6unqGenK6zwMSn

(Updated 24.6.2023, 3.7.2023, 16.4.24) Asking new questions is a great way to advance science. But coming up with new, interesting questions to ask about ecology and the environment — or any other topic — is incredibly difficult. This continuously updated post tries to summarize some of what has worked in the past. Here is what I learned from reflecting on some of our lab’s own work or when reading papers that others published.

While listening to the Huberman Lab podcast yesterday, I was introduced to a fascinating concept by Dr. Paul Conti known as "generative drive." According to Dr. Conti, generative drive is a profound concept that sheds light on our relationship with ourselves and with others. Dr. Conti characterizes generative drive as the wellspring of our inclination to seek agency and cultivate gratitude, two pinnacle aspects of the human condition. This inherent desire to create, generate, and produce meaningful contributions has propelled humanity to remarkable heights.

Welcome back to DailyPalantir! In today’s newsletter, we’ll discuss Germany wanting Palantir, a congressman leaving congress to join Palantir, and updated Foundry links to project customer count. Let’s get into it! So, back in April 2023, Germany officials publicly stated they did not want to use Palantir software. Alex Karp confirmed these statements in the Q4 2023 earnings call when he mentioned that countries like Germany and France were trying to build their own version of Foundry, and basically wished them good luck.

I'm not a big fan of kitchen tools that only do one thing. Garlic press? No, thank you. Those plastic things with wires running across them that claim to be for cutting eggs? Absolutely not. There is only room for one unitasker in my kitchen, the onigiri mold. What is Onigiri? Onigiri is a Japanese short-grain rice ball formed into shapes. They can be plain, have mixins, or have a pocket of filling in the center.

Every year at this time, Wall Street forecasters put out their guesses for what will happen in the new year. They tell you what they think will go up, what will go down, and warn you about the risks you supposedly need to worry about. It all feels so responsible, such that reading this financial tapestry gives investors a comforting sense of taking control of their money. But it’s a false sense of comfort.

Antone’s is Austin’s internationally renowned “Home of the Blues,” but from 1977 until its final blowout on April 24, 1980, the Rome Inn had the hottest blues scene in town. Stevie Vaughan and Lou Ann Barton played every Sunday and Paul Ray’s Cobras had Tuesdays, but the hottest night was “Blue Monday,” with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. The T-Birds had only one album during their Rome run, but it was a great one.

Hello readers, Albert here. For the past few weeks I’ve been working in an archive in Stuttgart, Germany, abandoning Michelle to experience the joys (miseries) of solo parenting. Unfortunately, little P. has been hit by successive bouts of illness and they’ve both been homebound.  In lieu of a new post, we’re re-running our piece on Ghost Month, which begins in Taiwan in nine days. This year, on August 15th, the gates of hell will open and ghosts will enter the world of the living.

The fragile beauty of the pines is easily accessible, often at the end of a local road that begins paved and well-traveled. My first foray was to visit the memorial to pilot Emilio Carranza, which I wrote about here. That’s the perfect introduction; you et a glimpse of some relatively unknown history, and if you desire to travel further, the ruins of a cranberry bog town are a scant mile away.