Daniel Oberhaus

I report on (astro/nuclear/quantum) physics, artificial intelligence, space exploration, the future of energy, DIY tech/open source development, and the psychedelic renaissance. 

tech-features

Who Killed the American Demoscene?

I went to Synchrony, one of the US's last active demoparties, where programmers showcase artistic audiovisual works made in marathon coding sessions.
Daniel Oberhaus
5.14.19
When the Drugs Hit

What It’s Like to Smoke Salvia for Science

I was the final volunteer in the world's first brain imaging study on salvia divinorum.
Daniel Oberhaus
3.5.19
Evidence Based Medicine

Volunteers Jumped Out of a Plane Without a Parachute to Test the Efficacy of Parachutes

Fifteen years ago, researchers said it would be impossible to do a randomized controlled trial of parachute safety. A team of scientists from Harvard, the University of Michigan, and UCLA disagreed.
Daniel Oberhaus
3.1.19
open source

The Internet Was Built on the Free Labor of Open Source Developers. Is That Sustainable?

A look at the complicated business of funding open source software development.
Daniel Oberhaus
2.14.19
AI

Researchers Use AI to Discover Evidence of Unknown Human Ancestor In Our DNA

The research explains how a third ancient human ancestor bred with humans to produce the modern human genome.
Daniel Oberhaus
2.11.19

Researchers Developed a Technique to Turn Nearly a Quarter of Our Plastic Waste into Fuel

The process could help convert millions of tons of plastic we generate every year into an gasoline and diesel-like fuel.
Daniel Oberhaus
2.8.19
Internet of Shit

This Hacker Showed How a Smart Lightbulb Could Leak Your Wi-Fi Password

The “moderate to severe” vulnerabilities discovered by the hacker LimitedResults have since been fixed, according to the smart bulb company LIFX.
Daniel Oberhaus
1.31.19
quantum

Physicists Created Quantum Structures That May Have Birthed Dark Matter

Some cosmologists have predicted the existence of “walls bounded by strings” in the aftermath of the Big Bang, and now a team of physicists have created these quantum structures on Earth for the first time.
Daniel Oberhaus
1.31.19
Motherboard

Leaving Facebook Makes You Happier and Less Informed, Study Finds

When researchers measured the welfare of hundreds of people who left Facebook for a month, they found they were happier, less politically informed, more active in IRL activities, and less likely to go back to Facebook.
Daniel Oberhaus
1.30.19
black holes

New Supercomputer Simulations Show How Plasma Jets Escape Black Holes

Black holes swallow everything that comes in contact with them, so how do plasma jets manage to escape their intense gravity?
Daniel Oberhaus
1.30.19
When the Drugs Hit

Scientists Identify Key Neural Mechanisms Behind an LSD Trip

LSD appears to cause information to disintegrate as it is passed through a neural circuit that determines how we process internal and external stimuli.
Daniel Oberhaus
1.29.19
scams

I Stopped Using a Computer Mouse for a Week and It Was Amazing

Your life will be so much easier if you force yourself to learn keyboard shortcuts.
Daniel Oberhaus
1.24.19
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