Algiers’ paradoxical name; a polynomial that took 80 years to discover; ChatGPT’s monty hall difficulties; and what is an angzarr anyway?

A brief look at the mysterious world of real numbers

What pair of pieces have only been forked once in chess history?

Why taxing cryptocurrency mining doesn’t hurt anyone, and how to de-decentralize bitcoin in one easy step

A 2010 paper entrenched the idea that humans cannot survive above 35 C wet-bulb temperature. What is wet-bulb temperature, and what did it really say?

Best of the Beatles or Best bait-and-switch?; the limits of parity arguments for irrationality; how newer, higher performance subway cars in NYC caused slower service; the importance of streets vs roads vs stroads for urban planning; the OEIS once had an error in the Fibonacci sequence

A brief look at fractal spirals

I’m not a planet either 2023: in review

‘you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame’ -Capablanca

Some personal ramblings and a long digression about ASL

L’Hopital’s rule meets Lambert W function

Hint: it’s the sun

We can build on the core principles of the simplified model by looking at the many complexities introduced by nature

The influence of the atmosphere on incoming and outgoing light is immensely complicated – but we can understood the fundamental behavior by considering the simplest possible model

A simple balance of incoming and outgoing light determines the temperature of astronomical bodies lacking an atmosphere

A scientific explanation for why hot objects feel hot from a distance – the blackbody effect – lays the groundwork for understanding the balance regulating the Earth’s temperature.

Ozone is both toxic to breathe yet vital for human life. While ozone bears little relation to the greenhouse effect, the global response to the ozone hole is a model for addressing global warming.

How thick is the atmosphere and does it even have a top? Why does the atmosphere have distinct layers? A quick rundown on that stuff you breathe every few seconds.

Patton’s bloodthirsty battle speech and Chaplin’s call for peace and unity, ‘colorfully’ compared, with a side of color theory and video editing

Growing up, I was confused how summer warming exactly canceled winter cooling, as I lacked the physics background to understand how the Earth warms and cools. In this series, I first cover the requisite physics and then show the greenhouse effect as a consequence.