Douglas Reese

love family, nature, science, bridges, learning and optimism!

[Sabine Hossenfelder @skdh]

I was offered money to scare you of AI. And I'm not the only one.

https://t.co/gTGc9bHMYJ

[DogeDesigner @cb_doge]

Elon Musk explains how Tesla owners will make money from its Cybercab fleet:

“For the fleet that is owned by our customers, it’ll be like an Airbnb thing. You can add or subtract your car to the fleet whenever you want.

You can say, ‘I’m going away for a week.’ Just one tap on your Tesla app, your car gets added to the fleet, and it just makes money for you while you’re gone. You can add it to the fleet for a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks.

Whenever you want it back, you can say, ‘Come back,’ and the car will come right back. I’m highly confident that the revenue made by the owner of the car will far exceed the actual monthly payment.”

[Derya Unutmaz, MD @DeryaTR_]

I am building an extremely sophisticated biomedical science application with GPT-6 Astra for analyzing flow cytometry data.

Flow cytometry is one of the most essential technologies in immunology. It allows us to analyze tens of thousands, or even millions, of individual cells from blood, tissues, or other samples, using fluorescently tagged antibodies that identify specific cell types and measure the proteins they express. It's like our window into the world of the cells.

For decades, labs like mine have paid thousands of dollars every year in subscription and licensing fees for commercial software to analyze these datasets. I have canceled all my subscriptions 😊

I have now almost built a fully functional, research-grade version of such an application with Astra! It already has a better UI/UX than many of the tools I have used, and my goal now is to make it even better than the leading commercial applications in this field!

I had in fact built earlier basic versions using previous Codex models, but this is the first time I have reached a version that works exactly the way I want it to, with the interface, analysis workflow, and features behaving almost perfectly. Previous versions took a lot of efforts with many bugs to deal with, with Astra you get what you ask for almost the first shot! It's just unbelievable!

And this is only one project. I have several other highly complex biological and biomedical software applications in my Astra pipeline. At this point, my main bottlenecks are basically token limits and the number of hours I can stay awake and massive coffee stocks! 😂

It is just incredible to think that scientific software that once required specialized development teams, years of engineering, and sometimes million dollar budgets can now be built by someone like me who has no software engineering experience!

With Astra you can just do things! ✨

[Douglas Reese @protohuman864]

@AlinejadMasih The freedom seeking Persians need an Underground Railroad to get the f out of Iran and another to funnel in weapons to those with the will to revolt!

[Masih Alinejad @AlinejadMasih]

The heartbreaking story of two young sisters who protested in Iran and were reportedly sexually assaulted in detention.

Twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi were just 20 years old. One dreamed of opening her own equestrian club. The other worked in a shoe shop.

Today, one is facing execution. The other has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The sisters, from Isfahan, were arrested in the middle of the night. Security forces broke into their home, tied their hands and feet, put bags over their heads, and took them away.

For four months, no one knew where they were.

Their mother spent night after night searching outside courthouses, prisons, and hospitals, desperate to find her daughters. When she finally saw them in Dowlatabad Prison, both had bruised and swollen faces. Parts of their hair had fallen out or had reportedly been ripped out.

Taraneh said that while held in solitary confinement, she could hear her sister screaming and crying as she was tortured. Interrogators repeatedly struck Taraneh’s previously operated knee and threatened to sexually assault her sister if she refused to sign forced confessions.

According to Taraneh, a prison medical official told her: “You’re going to die anyway. What difference does it make whether you die with a broken leg or a healthy one?”

A complaint alleging sexual assault during detention was formally filed. Yet the court did not hold even a single hearing to investigate the allegation. Instead, the two sisters and other defendants in the case were handed death sentences and decades-long prison terms.

Confessions extracted under torture. Lawyers given just ten minutes to review an 8,000-page case file. A judge who insulted the defendants more than 20 times during the proceedings.

Two young irani women had dreams and that is why they joined the January uprising to demand Freedom. Now one faces the gallows and the other could spend the best years of her life behind bars.

Be their voice.

#TaranehRahimi #RominaRahimi

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

She knew she wasn’t coming home. And she chose to be a witness anyway.
​On the morning of September 11, 2001, 35-year-old Madeline "Amy" Sweeney was working aboard American Airlines Flight 11. Minutes after takeoff, terror took the cabin. The cockpit went dark. Crew members were slashed. A passenger was stabbed. The pilots were gone.
​In a situation where human instinct screams to panic, Madeline picked up an Airfone.
​She dialed ground control. When supervisor Michael Woodward answered, he didn’t hear hysteria. He heard a calm, quiet, razor-sharp voice relaying reality through the dark.
​Methodically. Relentlessly.
​She gave the seat numbers of the hijackers. She described their faces. She detailed the injuries in the cabin. She gave investigators the precise identities of the men steering them toward catastrophe—including Mohamed Atta.
​She could not overpower the hijackers. She could not force the cockpit door open. She could not steer the Boeing 767 back toward the sky.
​So she did the only impossible thing left: she made sure they wouldn’t get away with doing it in secret.
​As the plane banked sharply and descended over the Manhattan skyline, she stayed on the line. Reporting what she saw. Giving the world the truth, second by second, until 8:46 a.m.
​Madeline left behind a husband and two babies—four-year-old Jack and seven-year-old Anna. She spent the final minutes of her life trapped in an airborne nightmare, staring down certain death, and weaponizing her courage so history would have an answer.
​True bravery isn't the absence of terror. It is looking into the abyss, refusing to break, and doing your duty until the very last breath.
​Remember her name. Madeline Amy Sweeney.

[Chamath Palihapitiya @chamath]

I turn 50 today. This is a message to my kids but I offer it to you in case any of it rings useful.

I was born in Sri Lanka in 1976 in a country that, at the time, was about to enter a decades long civil war. My father was able to get stationed at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Canada for four years in the early 80s - when some of the fighting was most severe - and which from our vantage point in Canada gave us some respite from an otherwise omnipresent conflict.

He came as a diplomat but then my father filed for refugee status after four years when his life was threatened by militants. We stayed in Canada as refugees. My dad never really landed on his feet and we grew up on welfare.

My mom stepped up. She did an incredible thing and put our family on her back and kept marching forward. Sometimes the steps were very small but she always tried to keep moving forward.

I worked at Burger King starting at 14, giving my paycheck to my mom and dad to support our family in the role that I was assigned - earn enough to pay for our bus passes because we couldn’t afford a car.

I was a loser growing up. Some friends, some good memories but mostly forgettable and lonely. I wasn’t very studious but did get my act together in my final year and got into a great university.

I immigrated to the US soon after graduating and found an opportunity. Things clicked and I have been traveling a path to find myself ever since. Only in America is this possible…

I worked hard, followed the rules, paid my taxes and stayed in California out of loyalty for the opportunities it has given me despite its dysfunction.

I found my wife here. Had my kids here. Found my tribe here.

There have been some very hard times as well - deaths, divorce, financial pain, mistakes of omission and mistakes of commission. You can’t dwell on these things - they are weights that will pull you down if you’re not careful. Learn from them. Respect them. BUT MOVE ON.

To think 50 years ago I could have ever gotten a chance to meet the people I’ve met and have had the experiences I’ve had would have been mind boggling to my parents. It’s mind boggling to me now.

We forget often and try to convince others it’s not true but America truly is the best country in the world. Everything and anything is possible here. I can testify. Be grateful to be here.

This is the only place that gives EVERYONE a chance to live a great adventure. The first 50 years have been that for me - an incredible adventure.

Notice there is nothing here about accomplishments or money. Because it doesn’t matter and it won’t matter.

You will be dust in less than 100 years from now and the decision to be remembered won’t be yours so stop sweating it. It’s not in your control.

So what is in your control?

Be kind. Have fun. Work on something meaningful to you. Find your tribe. Try to find perspective. Find an incredible partner. Have a bunch of kids. Live an adventure. Forgive your parents - they were doing the best they could even if that wasn’t what you deserved.

I will do what I can to make my next 50 years a wild ride.

You should too.

I love you and thank you. ❤️

🙏🏽🙏🏽

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 WOW! Sen. John Fetterman is offering $50,000 to Abdul El Sayed to do a rally with Hasan Piker on 9/11, explaining why America deserves it

AND $50,000 for Abdul to do a rally with his psycho sister, who supported October 7th

"He LOVES Sharia Law...I'm offering $50,000 for you to do a rally with Hasan Piker on 9-11 the anniversary. And you could all explain to people why America would deserve that 25 years ago."

"Another $50,000. If you do a rally with your sister, you know, that she celebrates publicly after the massacre of 10-7! For that too!"

"These are the people that he aligns with. That's the kinds of folks that helped him win the primary now."

MIKE ROGERS MUST WIN!

[𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ @NiohBerg]

Several islamic regime casualties in Mashhad.

Whoever drove that car did more damage than all of the US strikes combined.

[Dr Singularity @Dr_Singularity]

We will have Holodeck technology before 2030.

[Eric Topol @EricTopol]

A key objective for treating and potentially curing autoimmune disease is to achieve tolerance— no more self-directed attacks. Today a Phase 1 report of tolerance in patients with multiple sclerosis using red blood cells
https://t.co/p8mHrD0RND

[Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent @SecScottBessent]

Under @POTUS, the United States is leading the G20 to address key sovereign debt issues, bolster financial markets, and strengthen the global economy, all in support of our primary objective: stronger global growth.

[Dr. Alex Wissner-Gross @alexwg]

I'm delighted to share that Physical Superintelligence PBC (PSI), which I co-founded with @matthew_pines and @AKlokus, has raised a $58M seed round to build the world's most advanced research lab for discovering and commercializing transformative physics breakthroughs at scale with AI, safely, verifiably, and for broad public benefit.

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: Four House Democrats introduce a resolution condemning socialism “in all its forms,” including the Democratic Socialists of America.

[Dan Crenshaw @DanCrenshawTX]

President Trump is right. China would absolutely love for America to talk itself out of building the infrastructure necessary to dominate AI. In fact, they’re already running influence operations to encourage exactly that.

Politicians who join the anti-data center frenzy aren’t showing leadership. They’re doing China’s work for them.

[U.S. Senator John Fetterman @SenFettermanPA]

Agreed.

We must win the war for AI supremacy over China. They foment the ‘anti’ argument through misinformation.

There’s nothing more damaging to a Democrat than agreeing with Trump AND data centers—but what’s right is right.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

BREAKING: President Trump posts a screenshot of our August 11th post regarding his reported capital gains tax cut discussions, including "indexing" capital gains for inflation before taxes are calculated.

It appears President Trump is actively considering capital gains tax cuts.

[Salim Ismail @salimismail]

Some really important points here re data centers

[𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 🇮🇷 ✡︎ @NiohBerg]

If you think Trump is exaggerating the death toll from the January massacre in Iran, consider this:

Here is one single morgue in Tehran. A grieving father had to swim through thousands of corpses for days, looking for his murdered son. This video is 12 minutes long, and never shows the same body bag twice.

Every morgue in Iran looked like this. Bodies were piling up. The streets ran red with blood.

And you think Trump exaggerates when he says 100,000 got killed?

If anything, he is still undercutting the real numbers. It was a genocide in the truest sense.

[Masih Alinejad @AlinejadMasih]

Breaking: The same morality police whose enforcement of compulsory hijab led to the killing Mahsa Amini in 2022 are back on the streets of Iran.

This video was filmed at one of the entrances to Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. Hijab enforcers are blocking a woman from entering simply because she refuses to cover her hair.

But watch what happens next : An Iranian man confronts the enforcers and stands beside the woman, defending her right to choose. This is what solidarity looks like.

Iranian women have fought too hard and sacrificed too much to be forced back into submission. They are overcoming fear, one act of defiance at a time.

Be our voice. Stand with the women of Iran who refuse to go backward.

Woman. Life. Freedom.💔✌️