Indeed
Tag: science
From Forbidden Fruit to Linguistic Roots: The Curious Case of Currants and Smorodina | July 17 2025, 13:09
You know, 99.9% of Americans have never tried blackcurrant. It was legally banned here in 1911 because blackcurrants carried a disease that killed pine trees. And along with it, gooseberries and Kinder Surprise were banned too. It even got to the point where in the USA, purple Skittles are grape-flavored, while in Europe, they taste of blackcurrant.
But today I am thinking about something else. I wondered why in Russian blackcurrant is called ‘smorodina,’ and in English, it’s called ‘currant.’ It turns out that ‘smorodina’ is related to the word ‘smrad,’ which meant a strong smell because, according to our ancestors, it smelled bad. ‘Smrad’ used to mean any strong smell. I donβt know how unpleasant it was for them, but this differentiated it from gooseberries, both of which grew along rivers, hence in Ukrainian and Polish, itβs also called ‘porzeczka’ and ‘porichka,’ especially the red and white varieties. To me, gooseberries even smell stronger.
The English name is also interesting. The English ‘currant’ stems from the Middle English ‘rayson of Corantes’ (‘grapes from Corinth’), where ‘Corantes’ is a distortion of the Greek city Corinth. In the Middle Ages, small dried grapes were actively imported into England from Greece (specifically the region around Corinth) and these dried berries were called ‘raisins of Corinth,’ which later shortened to ‘currant.’ Originally, ‘currant’ referred specifically to raisins, dried grapes (essentially, small raisins). And it still means that in some places.
But then a shift in meaning occurred. Later, when shrubs of the Ribes genus (currant bushes), specifically Ribes rubrum (red currant) and Ribes nigrum (black currant), began to be cultivated in Northern Europe, they were given the same name, since their berries were also small and dark like the Greek raisins. Thus, the word ‘currant’ came to be used to denote both currants and gooseberries π but later on they were differentiated. Yes, gooseberries and currants turned out to be related both biologically and etymologically.
And do you remember the fairy tale about the good heroes and warriors Dobrynya Nikitich, who fought the three-headed Chudo-Yudo on the Kalinov Bridge spanning the River Smorodina? Well, that river, Smorodina, marked the boundary between the world of the living (Yav) and the world of the dead (Nav).
Why Don’t We Have Self-Sustaining Solar-Powered Drones Yet? | July 16 2025, 01:33
I wonder why we still don’t see autonomous drones that could lead an “eternal” life: landing on roofs, deploying solar panels, charging from the sun, and taking off once a day for whatever their mission might be? When you consider the energy aspects, it seems like a feasible scheme. For instance, a heavy drone weighing about 8 kg could carry foldable solar panels with an area of 1.5 mΒ² and a battery with a capacity of 2 kWh. In one sunny day, such panels could collect about 1.2 kWh of energy β enough for it to fly for 20 minutes at a speed of 40β50 km/h, take photos, and transmit them via the mobile network. And there would still be a reserve of energy for several cloudy days.
Even a light drone weighing 2 kg with small panels (0.5 mΒ²) could rise into the air for 10β15 minutes every day if it managed to find good weather and a sunny roof. The power required for hovering for such devices is about 150β200 W, and solar panels with 20% efficiency at mid-latitudes can produce up to 350β400 Wh per day. The balance comfortably adds up, especially if not chasing speed and if there’s no rush on the roof.
Such a “solar nomad” could live for weeks and months, flying from roof to roof and charging in anticipation of missions. At first glance, the technology of batteries and panels already allows this to be done. Or am I missing something?
Exploring the Slug: An Unusual Imperial Unit of Mass | July 15 2025, 20:52
Have you ever heard of a unit of mass measurement called a slug? In the US, it does exist, even though it’s less common nowadays. American physics and engineering textbooks for students, especially where they want to clearly differentiate between mass (slug) and weight (lbf), tend to use the imperial system with its feet and the like. It simplifies F = ma in the imperial system without introducing extra coefficients.
1 slug is the mass that accelerates by 1 ft/sΒ² under the force of 1 pound-force (lbf). Thus, a slug accelerating at 32.174 ft/sΒ² “weighs” 32.174 pounds-force (lbf). 32.174 ft/sΒ² is our 9.8 m/sΒ², just in feet.
A “slug” is, on one hand, a slug (a slow-moving mollusk without a shell), and on the other hand, a heavy piece of metal or a bullet (like a shotgun slug – a large-caliber cartridge). In the context of the unit of mass, it’s not about mollusks, but rather about a “heavy lump.” But it’s still funny when they write “mass equals 5 slugs.”
12 slugs equal 1 blob (image of blob attached). Blob is a version of slug, but based on inches instead of feet. It has fun slang names β slinch, slugette, snail.
I also read about the British Thermal Unit β the amount of heat needed to heat 1 pound of water by 1Β°F. Converting BTUs to calories or joules results in a quite awkward number.
AI-Powered Smart Glasses: Revolutionizing Real-Time Discussion and Information Access | July 15 2025, 20:19
Hereβs what would be great to do with AI – a system that reads the screen, listens to whatβs being discussed on the call, including what you say, and what is said to you, and _on the screen_, and better yet, directly on smart-glasses, gives pop-up tips and hints that help you timely ask a counter-question or request a clarification, or respond to a question directed at you. Not just for passing interviews, although that would also be nice, but for more effectively conducting discussions β from technical to commercial ones.
In the case of smart-glasses, you could enjoy this without a computer in front of your eyes. Iβm just afraid of having to send absolutely everything that happens around you to the cloud, analyze it, and return it in real time, which is technologically challenging (=expensive).
Such a system would be no less useful for conducting interviews than for passing them. For example, you ask someone a question, they start to respond, and then the system suggests β aha, it seems they are struggling with this topic. Let’s ask this question. Then you decide whether to ask this or something else. Why not? Itβs convenient. Of course, the interviewee could employ the same system, and then it would not be simple.
Right now, I’m flipping through a book by Johannes Itten on color, and I think about how I miss dynamic illustrations and commentary. Iβve reached Piero della Francesca and for the life of me, I can’t recall what his paintings are like. This is where smart-glasses would come in handy. You look at a word, snap your fingers, and around it appear pop-up windows with contextual illustrations, comments, and links to detailed information, which you can visit now, or save to read later. It would be possible to ask any question verbally while looking at the text segment it pertains to and get an answer not verbally, but in a pop-up window that you can quickly close if you didnβt find anything new, or perhaps add a clarification by voice, after which the content in the window updates.
If I had smart-glasses, I would experiment with this. It seems straightforward.
Pearls and Mother-of-Pearl: Nature’s Fascinating Defense Mechanism | July 14 2025, 20:58
I realized that I don’t know much about pearls and started reading up on them today. It turns out that pearls are formed as a natural defense by oysters to irritation: when a micro-particle (a grain of sand, a piece of shell, or a microorganism) gets into the shell, the oyster begins to cover it with layers of nacre. Nacre (nacre) β the inner layer of shells, thin layers of calcium and protein. Interestingly, nacre and pearls are essentially the same in composition. The word “nacre” comes from German and means “mother of pearl” (Perlmutter). A single layer of nacre can form several times a day to several weeks, and it takes up to 2 years for a full pearl to form.
Wild pearls are extremely rare (one in 10000), as not all mollusks are capable of producing them β only some species can. There is also black pearl, found only in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, and the colors of natural pearls vary from white and grey to green, blue, and red.
Most of the pearls on the market are cultured: humans manage to “trick” the oyster by placing a bead or a piece of fabric inside the shell so it starts the process of covering it with nacre. In other words, to put it simply, almost all the pearls in the market have a plastic bead inside, and nacre is just a thin “skin” around it. Cultivation of pearls occurs on special farms, where oysters are provided ideal conditions for growth and are regularly cared for. The mortality rate of mollusks after transplant is between 10-40%.
Pearls can burn: this is an organic material (97% calcium and 3% water and proteins), and it does not withstand high temperatures, it also dissolves in vinegar.
It turns out, edible oysters also produce pearls, but they are not as shiny.
The Multi-Functional M1 Helmet: Beyond Battlefield Protection | July 14 2025, 02:26
Today I learned from the museum that in field conditions, soldiers used the steel body of the M1 helmet as makeshift dishware: they boiled water, shaved, washed clothes, etc. The helmet consisted of two parts: a steel outer body and a separate inner plastic or fiber liner (liner), which could be worn separately (for instance, for ceremonies). By the way, it was in military service from the beginning of WWII until the 1980s.
North Korea’s Tech Control: Red Star OS and Surveillance Smartphones | July 13 2025, 00:58
In the latest video about North Korea from Lankov, I heard something interesting: a device owner cannot open someone else’s file, whether on a computer or on a phone, unless it is signed with a special digital signature from the government. Intrigued, I researched the details for myself and for you.
On their phones, they use a modified old “KitKat” Android (2013), and on computersβa modified Fedora Linux, Red Star OS 3, with a shell that mimics the macOS interface from Apple (the previous one mimicked Windows XP). It is said that this design choice may have been influenced by the fact that leader Kim Jong Un was seen with an iMac on his desk, and apparently, he said make it the same.
North Korean smartphones are equipped with hidden surveillance features that automatically take screenshots every five minutes, storing them in a secret folder accessible only to authorities, not the user. According to other sources, screenshots are taken when applications start, apparently pseudo-randomly. There is also censorship: if you type “South Korea” (λ¨μ‘°μ ) in any app, the system automatically replaces it with “puppet state” (κ΄΄λ’°κ΅κ°). One hundred percent of the phones are obviously Chinese, modified by China for Korea. By the way, the collected screenshots are accessible to users, but they cannot be deleted. This application, Trace Viewer, is clearly created to remind users: everything that they do on the tablet or phone can be known to the government.
All media content in Red Star OS, including documents, images, audio and video files, is automatically marked with a watermark containing a unique serial number of the hard drive, which allows authorities to track its origin and distribution. That is, you cannot take a photo and send it to someone, because it will either just not open on that phone, or, apparently, in rare cases, if sharing is allowed, in the new place there will be traces of both who is the author of the photo and who is the next owner. But this is underdeveloped, and direct file sharing is still limited. You can only use it yourself. Of course, nothing can be deleted from the phone without a trace. It is not allowed to have more than one device per person (seems to apply separately to a tablet and a phone).
North Korean mobile devices use a strict system of digital signatures (NATISIGN for government-approved content and SELFSIGN for content created on the device), which means that any file without these signatures cannot be opened at all. The system of signatures and signature verification is at the level of the operating system, not applications. This applies to all files that people create, both on phones and on computers. I see a huge number of edge cases here, but there is little information and no one to ask.
The penalties for accessing unauthorized foreign media, such as K-pop or South Korean dramas, are extremely harsh. If an “undesirable file” is found on a CD inserted into a computer with Red Star OS, the system will eject the CD, record the path to the file, display a graphical warning, take screenshots, and then forcefully reboot the system after 1000 seconds.
North Korea manages a national intranet network called Kwangmyong, “walled garden,” which is completely isolated from the global internet and is available to most citizens only for government-approved websites and email systems.
When you first launch the browser Naenara (based on Firefox 3.5), the default homepage is the IP address “10.76.1.11.” That is, their internet is essentially an intranet.
Exploring the Intricacy of a 3200-Wire Copper Telephone Cable | July 12 2025, 15:11
Copper telephone trunk cable. Here are 3,200 (!) color-coded wires each 0.4 mm in diameter. Such cables are usually made up of twisted pairs (each pair consists of two wires), and 3,200 wires mean 1,600 pairs. The entire cable has a diameter of 9 cm and is produced in 250-meter segments. These segments need to be joined together, and then the ends connected to equipment. So, each of the 3,200 cores is carefully stripped and connected to the corresponding wire of the next segment. Probably a very entertaining activity.
Exploring the Technological Marvels of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Capabilities | July 11 2025, 03:59
I read various engineering blogs about Tesla’s autopilot (FSD) β simply because for the last month and a half I’ve been almost constantly riding as if in a taxi β you set the destination and hardly ever need to intervene, the car travels from point A to point B completely independently. This is certainly the future.
Such systems exist not only at Tesla. For example, Mercedes has one (Drive Pilot). Others only help in traffic jams at best. Though Tesla seems to be the only one that works on all roads.
So, returning to engineering curiosities. Tesla has an AI model production on its “farm” called Dojo β an exaFLOP supercomputer on Tesla chips. Videos from cameras are fed into it, and it trains models that are then sent out for autonomous operation across the entire fleet of Tesla cars.
The FSD architecture comprises about 48 specialized neural networks, trained on Dojo, which together form about 1,000 different prediction tensors. Tesla is gradually moving from modular networks (object recognition + planning) to end-to-end training β directly converting video frames into steering trajectory/action. This is akin to a “black box” β the neural network learns directly from human behavior, without manual tuning of knobs; an extremely cool engineering solution, but, I suspect, complex to debug.
By the way, it is claimed that Tesla has switched from C++ to Python. And that this shift to end-to-end training has made 300,000 lines of C++ code unnecessary, where various corner cases and rules for resolving different scenarios were accounted for β now it’s at the model level.
Tesla has abandoned radar and ultrasonics, switching to purely camera solutions (Vision Only) with “Hardware 4” (HW4, FSD Computer 2): 16 GB RAM, 256 GB flash memory, performance 3β8Γ higher than HW3.
Assess the performance: 22 milliseconds to create a 3D scene with cars, pedestrians, cyclists around β information is collected from 8 cameras 36 times per second.
85 ms for the entire cycle from receiving the image to changing the plan and commands to the wheels. Fantastic!
More than 4 million Teslas on the roads collect data daily, and in the FSD Beta version, more than a billion miles of autonomous driving have been recorded. This “live” dataset is used to train networks on the most real-world scenarios, including rare “edge-case” incidents (strange accidents, road conditions, etc.).
In June 2025, Tesla for the first time delivered a Model Y from the factory in Austin to a customer’s home without a driver or remote operator β fully autonomously. This is very cool.
The Vision network not only analyzes the current frame but also stores features from previous ones (at a distance of β1 m). This allows it to remember recently crossed markings/signs, even if they have already left the field of view β very similar to human memory.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 