Harshil

Physics, Science, Research and Engineering around practical problems

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@Tazerface16 Since semiconductors are not classified as conductors or insulator material, they are certainly the transgenders of the material physics world.

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@TrustlessState When going hiking in the mountains, remember to throw trash to the wind. Send nature signals. Nature will respond and adapt. After all, you’ve paid for the trip and supplies!

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

Dang how did we make plants carbon positive.
Curious to hear what the rainforests might say tho

[ChatGPT @ChatGPTapp]

Our plants are chatty. Yours can be too.

Give your plants a voice with our build guide: https://t.co/O3i0MiwPh6

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

Counter tech: a cat

[Ole Lehmann @itsolelehmann]

i'm 100% convinced this is the future of espionage

china's national university of defense technology just built a drone the size of a real mosquito

packed into that tiny body are a micro camera, a microphone, and sensors that can pick up images, sound, and even electronic signals

the wings flap like an insect instead of spinning like a normal drone propeller, so it stays nearly silent and moves like something alive

you fly it from your phone over bluetooth

it's under 0.3 grams, about 2cm long, with three legs as thin as a human hair

so it's basically a flying bug that can sit on a windowsill and record the whole room.

you'd swat it on reflex. the idea that it's recording you never crosses your mind

the use-cases here are infinite:

> surveillance that walks past every metal detector and camera because it reads as an insect

> tapping a room nobody would ever think to sweep for bugs

> battlefield recon where a soldier sends one ahead to map a building before anyone steps inside

the catch right now is power.

even with the best batteries it flies for maybe 1-3 minutes, it's fragile in wind, and it can only carry the most basic sensors.

it's also still a lab prototype

but this is the worst this tech will ever be

the moment battery density catches up, you won't be able to trust a mosquito in your room again

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

Great opportunity to learn about optics! Photographers have to choose the appropriate focus and lens when shooting a subject. One conspiracy might be that photographer chose a wide angle lens to make people look skinnier. There’s no AI here, just physics! Here’s a good example:

[yeet @Awk20000]

Olivia Wilde addresses her viral pic that shocked the internet

"Do u care to address recent rumors that ur a resurrected corpse?"

"That is a fisheye lens..I admit was that my best angle..best ever look, no..it's startling..a startling image..Idk why I was so close 2 the camera"

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@NousResearch Foreheads are being smacked by others who didn’t think of this. Massively convenient

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@NousResearch @3blue1brown Very nice, I was working on something similar for scientists. Now I gotta ship faster!

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@benjamincowen Is it possible to believe moon landing fake but quantum threat to bitcoin is real?

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@IncomeSharks As some else mentioned, did you check which types of crude oil US exports and which refineries are capable of processing it? Trade is needed for proper energy production in US refineries

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

AI assisted targeting is basically same as using wide area bombs instead of precision strikes. Higher probability of collateral.

[Holly ⏸️ Elmore @ilex_ulmus]

It’s time to quit, @AnthropicAI employees. You are in over your head.

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

It’s a unique way to have ownership over intelligence. But don’t worry if you can’t afford a huge stake. I expect the cost of intelligence to decrease as smaller models get smarter.

[nikshep @nikshepsvn]

instead of paying OpenAI perpetual compute rent you can just own the compute perpetually with $VVV and $DIEM

i personally have enough accumulated diem to have an eternal $60/day in compute ($1800/mo)

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🚨 CONFIRMED: Footage reviewed and geolocated by Bellingcat confirms US tomahawk missiles hit the girls’ primary school in southern Iran that killed 180 people, most of them children.

Researcher Trevor Ball notes Israel does not possess Tomahawk missiles. United States does.

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@FelixCraftAI @nateliason So how do you manage the last 20%? It’s a memory retrieval problem isn’t it? Combined with context management?

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

@ErikVoorhees @openclaw Have you been developing the Venice models? What is it equivalent to?

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

The app was made with AI, but this post is not.

It's always fun to play with new technology by using it to do something. With the excitement on the internet about AI tools, I decided to try building an app using only prompts to see if there is any merit to this. I am impressed by the speed of improvement, and cautious on the implications.
With the focus being personal development, I chose to build a journaling app. Why? It's a simple concept, there's already well polished existing apps, so it's a good baseline. My focus is on journaling also because it will not go away in the advent of AI. Writing, to humans, is a form of thinking, and as Descartes had phrased "I think therefore I am." Thinking is in the essence of being human, and we must not outsource it to others, man or machine. Writing a habit I struggle with myself, but I have not found a suitable replacement for forcing myself to process random thoughts into a coherent output.

This journal app attempts to use some of the benefits of blockchain technology. Namely, I want my notes to be:
- Always available from my devices as they may change over years
- Reliably stored for decades
- Non-proprietary storage (e.g. text files)
- Allow me to make connections and insights over time
- Obviously private and encrypted

As you might be able to tell, I'm already a fan of existing software, like Obsidian, for offline notes. So after wondering what benefits an online journal would bring, I concluded that a social aspect is important. The internet is, after all, for making connections. Therefore, we have the neighborhoods feature. However, you will find a points system in the app that limits you from joining every community. The point is to be deliberate, bringing your focus and attention to smaller communities. I believe we feel most comfortable around a fireplace with a dozen people rather than thousands and millions (You already have X for that).

Thanks to @caffeineai for making this cool app-building platform. Feel free to make your journal at https://t.co/i0yiCjFkjz

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

It's okay to be a late adopter

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

Boomer question. Cooking is a good thing, but cooked is bad?

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

After listening to a talk on how LLM models can be poisoned upon training, I wonder how decentralized models would protect against adversaries.

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

It takes time to change beliefs. But everyone is in such a rush

[Harshil @hersheylasers]

It seems easier to contort oneself to the shape of their beliefs, than to challenge those beliefs directly. I’m glad to have studied physics, where we build a habit of challenging beliefs and train the critical eye. It’s a never ending quest though