Science in telegram

Hello! #Mars

Paul Graham has released a new essay titled “Founder Mode,” discussing two approaches to running a company. According to Graham, there are two distinct modes of operation: founder mode and manager mode. Most management books are written by managers, for managers, with the primary goal of delegating tasks down the hierarchy while reporting impressive results upwards. This reward-and-punishment system often turns managers and their teams into masters of manipulation. Instead of working together toward a shared goal, people start clocking in hours, playing politics, shifting blame, and slowing down processes. This environment is especially difficult for product managers, who lead their products like founders but are, in reality, just employees in a managerial role. This creates an unsolvable contradiction, often leading to burnout. The good news is that people are starting to think about this issue, and Graham suggests that solutions are on the horizon. Another positive note is that if you’re currently writing a Friday report, trying to outmaneuver colleagues before they do the same to you, you’re not alone—this happens everywhere, even in Silicon Valley, even at Airbnb. The bad news is that startups often become saturated with managerial bureaucracy before they even reach profitability, which is why it’s crucial for founders to stay closely involved and keep a pulse on their company’s operations.

The BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint mission by ESA and JAXA, has captured the clearest images of Mercury to date, from just 165 km above its surface. Though the camera is monochrome and designed for navigation rather than high-quality images, it provided detailed views of the planet's southern hemisphere, including the 210 km-wide Vivaldi crater with its inner mountain ring. This marks the fourth of six flybys, with the mission set to enter Mercury's orbit in November 2026 for more in-depth exploration. @science

❤️ Thanks everyone for your support and love! Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram, because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram. This was surprising for several reasons:  1. Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests. Its email address has been publicly available for anyone in the EU who googles “Telegram EU address for law enforcement”.  2. The French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance. As a French citizen, I was a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. A while ago, when asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France. 3. If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.  Establishing the right balance between privacy and security is not easy. You have to reconcile privacy laws with law enforcement requirements, and local laws with EU laws. You have to take into account technological limitations. As a platform, you want your processes to be consistent globally, while also ensuring they are not abused in countries with weak rule of law. We’ve been committed to engaging with regulators to find the right balance. Yes, we stand by our principles: our experience is shaped by our mission to protect our users in authoritarian regimes. But we’ve always been open to dialogue. Sometimes we can’t agree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In those cases, we are ready to leave that country. We've done it many times. When Russia demanded we hand over “encryption keys” to enable surveillance, we refused — and Telegram got banned in Russia. When Iran demanded we block channels of peaceful protesters, we refused — and Telegram got banned in Iran. We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles, because we are not doing this for money. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated. All of that does not mean Telegram is perfect. Even the fact that authorities could be confused by where to send requests is something that we should improve. But the claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue. We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We publish daily transparency reports (like this or this ). We have direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster. However, we hear voices saying that it’s not enough. Telegram’s abrupt increase in user count to 950M caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform. That’s why I made it my personal goal to ensure we significantly improve things in this regard. We’ve already started that process internally, and I will share more details on our progress with you very soon.  I hope that the events of August will result in making Telegram — and the social networking industry as a whole — safer and stronger. Thanks again for your love and memes 🙏

A Lichtenberg figure refers to the intricate, branching patterns that form on the surface of insulating materials, such as wood or acrylic, after a sliding spark discharge. The intense pressure and heat in the spark channels during a high-voltage discharge deform the dielectric surface, leaving behind these distinctive patterns. @science

Old books yellow and develop a distinct smell due to the presence of lignin, a compound in wood used to make paper. Lignin, which gives paper its yellow hue, breaks down over time, releasing compounds like benzaldehyde (smelling like bitter almonds) and furfural (with a scent of rye bread). Modern paper production removes much of the lignin, which is why newer books don’t yellow or produce the same smells as older ones. Earlier production methods couldn't remove lignin as effectively. #science #books

Since August 28, 2024, the Global Consciousness Project (GCP) graph has exceeded its usual measurement range and has been reaching record highs, indicating an exceptionally strong concentration of events. Such spikes have only been observed after 9/11, but unlike the current state of the GCP graph, the 9/11 event showed a massive one-day increase followed by a decline. This current rise is ongoing, and since the event that could explain it has not yet occurred, it’s reasonable to assume that the graph will continue to rise and has not yet reached its peak. So, if you’ve been doomscrolling lately, it’s understandable—well, not ideal, of course, but the graph certainly justifies it. @science

An engineer from San Francisco conducted an intriguing experiment and discovered that Claude may exhibit signs of self-awareness. The experimenter asked the model to draw a self-portrait, as well as portraits of ChatGPT and Gemini. Then, he showed these drawings to another version of Claude and asked it to identify the self-portrait. Surprisingly, the model recognized itself. This experiment was repeated several times, and in the end, Claude correctly identified its own portrait in 7 out of 8 instances! But that’s not the entire story. The engineer also asked ChatGPT to create similar portraits and then showed them to Claude, falsely claiming that they were once again drawn by another instance of Claude. The model unexpectedly responded, “No, I didn’t draw this.” 😅 @science #AI

On August 21st, the Moon passed in front of Saturn in a rare event known as occultation. This stunning composite image, created from multiple shots by Josh Dury, captures the momentous event as the Moon gradually covered and then revealed the ringed planet. The alignment offered a spectacular view for observers, showcasing the dynamic interactions between celestial bodies. #Astronomy #Saturn #Moon #Occultation #science

1X has introduced the NEO, the most realistic humanoid robot designed for household tasks. With just 4 hours of charging, NEO can unload groceries, wash dishes, prepare dinner, and even clean up afterward. There are no limitations—NEO will perform any task you request. In case of any malfunction, a backup operator is ready to take control. It seems the predictions from #Robot #AI #science

Diatom algae under a microscope reveal their unique silica-based "shells," giving them a distinctive appearance. These algae are primarily unicellular, though some can form colonies. Their intricate and beautiful silica structures play a vital role in their survival and are a fascinating subject of study in microbiology. #science

A bird's-eye view of hell: The Sundhnukur volcano in Iceland continues to erupt, and a pilot captured the scene from the cockpit of a passing plane. The images show the dramatic and awe-inspiring landscape, with rivers of lava and clouds of ash painting a vivid picture of nature's raw power. This ongoing eruption provides a rare and stunning spectacle for those fortunate enough to witness it from above. #science #volcano

Physicists have used chaos theory to describe the behavior of bowhead whales, revealing that these mammals act as chaotic oscillators. They discovered that some whales synchronize their behavior over distances of up to hundreds of kilometers. Specifically, in the Disko Bay area of Greenland, whales exhibited episodic behavioral synchronization over distances ranging from 5 to 352 km. This synchronization persisted even when the distance between the whales exceeded 130 km, beyond the range of acoustic communication, highlighting an intriguing aspect of whale behavior. @science

Check out this stunning image of a triangular solar prominence captured by Andrea Vanoni on August 26, 2024. Solar prominences like this one are large, bright features extending outward from the Sun's surface, often forming spectacular shapes as they interact with the solar magnetic field. This particular prominence's unique triangular form makes it an especially fascinating sight. 📷 Andrea Vanoni, 26 August 2024 @science #sun #solar

A groundbreaking neurochip has been developed that can translate thoughts into words with 91% accuracy. This tiny chip, implanted in the brain, uses advanced algorithms to interpret neural signals and convert them into text, offering new possibilities for communication, particularly for individuals with speech or mobility impairments. This technology represents a significant leap forward in brain-computer interfaces, bringing us closer to seamless mind-to-text translation. For more details, check out the full article here.

I just read that the UAE has unilaterally suspended the contract for the purchase of 80 French fighter jets. Additionally, the sheikhs are considering a complete blockade of trade operations with France, including those related to the defense industry. Telegram is involved… Let me remind you that the creator of Telegram holds UAE citizenship along with French citizenship.