Example Science & Tech Newsletter
The Shallow Brain Hypothesis 🧠 & Lessons Learned from Two Decades of Site Reliability Engineering 🔧
How deep is the brain? The shallow brain hypothesis
The article discusses the shallow brain hypothesis, which challenges the assumption of hierarchical processing in neural networks. It highlights the neurobiological evidence that all cortical areas, whether higher or lower, have direct connections with subcortical areas. The shallow brain architecture integrates hierarchical cortical processing with a massively parallel process involving subcortical areas. This architecture utilizes the computational capacity of cortical microcircuits and thalamo-cortical loops that are not included in typical deep learning and predictive coding networks. The article argues that the shallow brain architecture provides several critical benefits and offers a more complete depiction of how mammalian brains achieve fast and flexible computational capabilities.
What Do You Do When You Think You Have a Murderer in the Family?
The author reflects on their grandmother's behavior and the suspicion that she may have been a murderer. They recall witnessing their grandmother crying over the deaths of family members and discovering disturbing things in her house, such as heroin spoons and a bag of dead animals. The author also describes the dilapidated state of the house and their grandmother's frugality. Despite her old age, the grandmother remains informed and insightful. The author ponders whether their grandmother deserved to be a murderer and reflects on the possibility of selling a vial of red fluid found in the house. They also mention the grandmother's hearing aids and her loose teeth.
People with autism less likely to succumb to bystander effect, research finds
New research led by York University shows that people with autism are less likely to be affected by the bystander effect than neurotypical people. They are less likely to stay silent in the face of misconduct or mistakes, pointing to the positive aspects of autism and how organizations can benefit from hiring more neurodivergent people. The study has important practical implications, especially considering the high rates of unemployment and underemployment for people with autism.
Lessons learned from two decades of Site Reliability Engineering
This article discusses the lessons learned from two decades of Site Reliability Engineering at Google. It highlights the evolution of tools and understanding of distributed systems, as well as the importance of choosing appropriate mitigations based on the severity of an outage. The article also emphasizes the need to fully test recovery mechanisms before an emergency and to canary all changes to avoid unintended consequences.
Elon Musk's chaotic first year at Twitter leaves X Corp. with shaky finances
One year after Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, now renamed 'X', the social media platform is facing shaky finances. Musk has ambitious plans to transform X into an 'everything app', but data leaked to the media shows a decline in users and ad revenue. The number of daily active users has dropped 3.7% to 245 million since Musk's purchase. The drop in users is coupled with significant drops in advertising revenue, as concerns about moderation and controversial moves by Musk have deterred advertisers. Usage of X has also declined, with a 13% drop in total hours of usage compared to the previous year. In contrast, Facebook's usage has increased by 10%. Despite the challenges, X's Threads app launched by Meta has not surpassed X in usage. X's daily active users were down 9% in August 2023 compared to the previous year.
