The eggs that the stink bug (Swedish bärfis, which translates to "berry fart") laid under our new parasol literally* five minutes after I put it up.
* and I mean literally, not figuratively, as has become the more common meaning of the word. Is there a new word for literally literally?
Interesting that, when it comes to meat eating habits, Swedes are more similar to the French than Germans or Brits. And that China has already "caught up".
I have recently encountered the Wolfram Physics Project a few times, for example this podcast.
The basic idea, if I dare re-state it without any deep understanding, is that the universe is computation at the fundamental level and the laws of nature that we have figured out are emergent pockets of computational reducibility. In general though, the underlying rules are being executed a very large number of times in a computationallly irreducible way, without any shortcuts. Particles and such are patterns in the "grid", analogous to a glider in Conway's Game of Life.
I find this surprisingly non-crazy, especially if, as Wolfram and collaborators claim, much of physics naturally arises in that framework. But what do I know‽ Theoretical/fundamental physics is not exactly my strong suit, and as always it needs to be judged on whether or not it provides better explanations and predictions than competing theories.
If you enjoy getting your mind tickled by abstract questions like How fundamental are numbers?, there are worse places to go than the world of Stephen Wolfram.
I try to take note when I encounter fun new words. Today: persnickety, which means fussy, overly obsessed about details, snobbish.
Not so long ago: recalcitrant, meaning subbornly defiant of authority.
Have you heard of PlantNet and BirdNET? Their phone apps allow you to take a picture of a flow or plant, or record bird song, and instantly get an answer on what species it is.
They are not perfectly accurate and often give several probable choices, but very impressive and fun nonetheless. I especially like the visualization of the spectrum of bird songs, because I remember more easily how they look than from sound alone.
One of the two water wheels in the nearby mill. I spend all day there yesterday to free it from the bushes that were in the process of overgrowing it.
Sometimes I wonder whether I made the wrong choice to get into academia. Now that I have been spending a few days planting trees instead, I get reminded once more that there is a sense of satisfaction after a long day of physical work that has no real equivalent in a desk job. The getting into a rhythm of repetition, the sense of visible progress, and the feeling of relaxed exhaustion in the evening. Something to be appreciated, for sure!
Then again, it might well be the case that the positive valence comes purely from the contrast to everyday life. Probably I would quickly get fed up, if I had to do boring physical work day in and day out.
