Matthew Bashaw

Chief Photon / Scientist / Engineer / Entrepreneur / Wine Enthusiast / Foodie / Traveler / Photographer

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Growing up in South Bend, Indiana, we were under the aura of Notre Dame - if you didn’t speak football in the local dialect, your social opportunities were limited. Coach legends Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine, and Lou Holtz, and quarterback legend Joe Montana, defined ND greatness.

In 1972, ND admitted their first female undergraduates, and an Indiana senator Birch Bayh sponsered Title IX Amandmen to existing statues, which prohibited the unequal treatment of women in colleges and universities receiving federal funding.

Fast forward to this weekend in 2026, and witness Hannah Hidalgo, 5’-6” guard, lead the ND women’s basketball team to the next round, where the Irish face UCONN tomorrow. This rivalry promises to be the most intense game of March Madness

Poetry in motion.

https://t.co/3eCIhgj7ZF

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

And it’s accelerating rapidly

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

You can see this happening already in California.

Here's their grid yesterday:

Solar provides more than half the power during the middle of the day, and batteries provide almost a quarter of the power in the evening.

Expect these numbers to go up.

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@knowiiiedge The team is having lunch! 🥪

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Looks like a planet to me!

[Astronomy Vibes @AstronomyVibes]

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft traveled nearly 3 billion miles over nine years to capture this moment on Pluto 🤯

About 15 minutes after its historic flyby, New Horizons turned back toward Pluto and recorded a breathtaking near-sunset view.

The images reveal vast icy plains, towering mountains rising up to 11,000 feet, and delicate layers of atmospheric haze glowing in the fading sunlight. Taken from roughly 11,000 miles away, it showcases just how complex, dynamic, and astonishing Pluto’s surface truly is.

Via: #NASA

[Karl Mehta @karlmehta]

The real reason some people have unbreakable willpower…

Isn't discipline.

It's a brain structure most people have never heard of. It only grows when you suffer. And it might predict how long you live.

Here's what Stanford neuroscientists discovered: 🧵

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@ronawang Congratulations! Awesome post you… compiled!

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Energy Is All You Need

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Fitness for Life

As I complete another trip around the sun, I find myself reflecting on the role physical fitness has played in my life. 

I ran track and cross country in high school, and my fav race was the mile run (aka 1600m). My junior year introduced us to a new track coach, Mr. Joe Hardman, who insisted we incorporate weight training into our practice, and in particular partnering up and adding negative resistance to failure in the final reps of each set. 

This approach is one of the most effective forms of resistance training. We were skeptical at first, thinking the stress might overwork us and adversely affect our performance, but, after 2-3 weeks, it became routine and we saw improvements in our event time. My high school experience inspired in me a lifelong passion for resistance training and other fitness exercise including cycling and yoga - albeit at times on and off.

Fast forward to my early thirties, when I developed a rotator cuff injury - most likely due transitioning from a more active lab job on a university campus to a commute and desk routine. My primary care provider sent me to group physical therapy with other patients twice my age, where they showed me how to use a resistance band to improve strength. 

This routine was slow going; I departed from the recommended regimen and started benching dumbbells, at first 2.5 lb in each hand, then gradually increasing until I reached 50 lb per hand, over a number of weeks. I’ve had good shoulder health since - once or twice, when lifestyle choices disfavored fitness activities, I could feel a slight echo of the injury returning - and a few weeks back at the gym would fix it.

Many hotel suites abroad have polished marble  bathroom floors. At the end of last year, I slipped on such a floor and injured my I-T Band. The injury progressed to the point where it was difficult to walk up a staircase. After an X-Ray at UCSF confirmed no fracture, the physician on duty diagnosed a musculoskeletal injury and recommended physical therapy. 

I found a PT group that helped persons with a wide range of injuries, including athletes such as skiers and swimmers. At first we focused on simple stretching and resistance exercises, then, by introducing weight, exercises that began to resemble athletic training. I came to realize that fitness and associated training span a continuum, ranging from deficient, to fit, to athletic. I “graduated” from physical therapy in July and now have an arsenal of do-anywhere stretching and resistance routines designed to keep me in shape.

Today I take the train to the office twice a week, including 12 miles biking on each day, in an “urban triathlon.”

Dr. Peter Attia is a physician-author-influencer who emphasizes exercise as the most potent tool to promote a long healthspan - which he distinguishes from lifespan as the period of time when you live in good health and can perform activities meaningful to you. He offers strategies to mitigate what he calls the Four Horseman that threaten healthspan: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and type 2 diabetes. He asks probing questions, like do you want to be able to put an 18lb bag into an overhead bin when you are 70. In his book Outlive, he discusses lifelong lifestyle choices that may help centenarians lead fulfilling lives. I copy here a link to one of his podcasts - he has many more on YouTube and other forums. I’m obviously a fan!

I’ve offered a lot to absorb - think about it on your next walk!

And when traveling, be mindful of your surroundings and stay alert. Jet lag and unfamiliar surroundings can throw you off balance - figuratively, and quite literally!

Peter Attia: https://t.co/gGvyhkRQEY

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

When it comes to innovation, “Do or do not - there is no try!” https://t.co/KTJEbSFokO

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@elerianm I think about this all the time- but is gold the best metric? DXY? BTC? Or is the stock market itself the metric, e.g. ^GSPC?

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Collaboration across generations: Olivia Rodrigo (22) and Robert Smith (66).

#oliviarodrigo #robertsmith #cure

https://t.co/Fo9qTEbQKb

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@tanvi_ratna s/b tariffs will *not* offset this effect !

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@tanvi_ratna A weaker dollar decreases the cost of exports, not imports, but reciprocal tariffs will offset this effect, and inflation and interest rates will trend upward, amplifying the impact.

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

@Nithya_Shrii Using your mind (reading books, problem solving, playing games, etc.)

Pursuing a purpose (volunteering, personal goal, etc)

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Have a great weekend, everyone !

Here’s a Toucan to brighten your day.

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

Wow! #grok does Haiku about drones (with key prompts):

Against Jersey's dusk
Birds scatter as drones ascend
Sky's fierce battleground

[Matthew Bashaw @optisurf]

#Interstellar is my goto long haul flight movie. If I doze off, I don’t need to rewind (except for the Wormhole, Gargantua, and the Wave, of course). I am still puzzled by the circular causality of events that holds the story together - the only explanation I can fathom is key branch points are coordinated by a civilization not materially affected by the outcome. But why would they take an interest? Then again, I live in only 4 dimensions!