link roundup

For new subscribers: I post substantive essays every two weeks. On off weeks (like this one), I post a list of links that I’ve been reading/thinking about and/or housekeeping announcements.

In case you missed the announcement last week, I’m writing a living literature review on migration. Most (but definitely not all!) of the substantive posts in the coming months will be migration-related. And if you happen to be working on a paper on migration, please tell me about it! I try to be as thorough as possible, but I definitely miss things. Email me at lagilbert@gmail.com.

And on to our regularly scheduled “things I have read recently”:

• I’ve been thinking a lot about AI for science lately, and enjoyed this paper on AI-assisted materials science. AI made top researchers more productive but also less satisfied with their work.

• My former colleague Oliver Kim - who, annoyingly, continues to be smarter and more thoughtful than I am - wrote a post on how much we can believe GDP estimates in poor countries. Spoiler alert: probably not very much.

• Voters are actually completely cool with policies being randomized. More support for my real policy agency: Randomize Everything.

• The London Congestion Charge decreased car ownership by 7%.

• Vaccines are amazing; about 70% of deaths in Massachusetts in the mid-19th century are now preventable with vaccines.

• People overestimate their romantic partner’s intelligence even more than their own.

• Vermont named a snow plow Clearopathra.

• Cats with curly tails communicate with an “accent” with other cats.