Pitches for issue 3 (or 4) for In Development Magazine close tomorrow! Information here.
Asterisk Magazine is also accepting pitches on the theme of flourishing. If I was not busy running a magazine of my own, I would be pitching them.
Analogue has announced the awardees for their Research Revival Fund - including one translating and uploading Soviet science.
Saloni Dattani wrote on how we got COVID vaccines so far - and included some very excellent footnotes.
Archie Hall has a post about AI writing - and why it should be shunned.
He also has a fun chart for the types of AI use he thinks are acceptable vs. the type of writing it is used for.
Jennifer Doleac finds that Arnold Ventures spends about $35k per new collaboration created via convenings.
Todd Moss argues that more evidence couldn’t have saved USAID. He’s right, but Dean Karlan is also correct that more evidence can save some lives.
Stripe has announced a new fund trying to end respiratory diseases. As an immunocompromised person living in a major city, this day cannot come fast enough.
You may have noticed that Europe had a heat wave last week. In London, temperatures were in the low 90s,1 with the heat index peaking around 100.2
11% of Britons planned to use air conditioning to combat the heat.3 Only 3% of households containing a person over 75 have AC. This is… too few.
This is at least partially because most British homes have no ductwork - making retrofitting AC much more expensive than it is where there are existing ducts for heating.
I have previously written about how air conditioning is a survival technology, and how it is actually useful for Britain’s Net Zero goals. If I was God of All UK Policy, I would remove all planning restrictions on AC installation and increase the air-to-air heat pump Boiler Upgrade Scheme subsidy.
The Economist encounters Indian government websites: “Before you read beyond this paragraph, grab a glass of water and 1,000mg of paracetamol. Walk over to your laptop—the supercomputer in your hand is not up to the task—and make yourself comfortable. Now navigate to indianvisaonline.gov.in and see if you can figure out how to apply for a visa.”
Mid-30s to the non-Americans.
38.
66% planned to open the windows. To the [checks notes] almost 100 degree heat?
FYI ductless heat pumps exist, often called minisplits. $2-5k per zone, which can end up more expensive than a ducted solution, but a lot cheaper than building ducts+heat pump. It also gives you the flexibility to just pay to cool one room, though insulation for that room will dictate how effective that is. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/ductless-minisplit-heat-pumps