The latest developments in the “forever war” over string theory: "Are Strings Still Our Best Hope for a Theory of Everything?" @nattyover.bsky.social @quantamagazine.bsky.social
(Plus- Hermann Rorschach)

Grappling with Godel: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/04/02/for-what-man-in-the-natural-state-or-course-of-thinking-did-ever-conceive-it-in-his-power-to-reduce-the-notions-of-all-mankind-exactly-to-the-same-length-and-breadth-and-height-of-his-own-yet-thi/

As Stephen Hawking said, life would be tragic if it weren’t funny: "Today in Tabs" @rusty.todayintabs.com
(Plus- the spaghetti trees)

Smirk: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/04/01/lord-what-fools-these-mortals-be/

The early history of e-gaming-- when telegraph cables let chess clubs stage matches across continents: "The First E-Sports? Chess by Telegraph" @inverting-vision.bsky.social @jstordaily.bsky.social
(Plus- Johnny B. Goode)

What's old is new again: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/31/it-is-impossible-to-win-gracefully-at-chess-no-man-has-yet-said-mate-in-a-voice-which-failed-to-sound-to-his-opponent-bitter-boastful-and-malicious/

On the critical importance of what we share-- the commons (of so many important sorts)-- and the painful price of their privatization: "The Enclosure of the Human Psyche"
(Plus- Alaska, purchased)

Cherish commons: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/30/the-enclosure-of-the-commons-inaugurates-a-new-ecological-order-enclosure-did-not-just-physically-transfer-the-control-over-grasslands-from-the-peasants-to-the-lord-it-marked-a-radical-change-in-t/

From cooperation to conflict: the evolutionary grammar of social interactions: "The fascinating insights of Robert Trivers" @lionelpage.bsky.social
(Plus- Ludwig Büchner)

Lingering over legacies: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/29/unhappy-is-the-land-that-needs-a-hero/

On technologies and paradigmatic change: "Why ATMs didn’t kill bank teller jobs, but the iPhone did"
(Plus- Sir Joseph William Bazalgette)

Musing on metamorphosis: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/28/technological-change-is-not-additive-it-is-ecological-a-new-technology-does-not-merely-add-something-it-changes-everything/

The Louvre has the Mona Lisa. but what is the "most treasured" holding of other museums? "It’s Their Mona Lisa" @ironicsans.com
(Plus- Tiepolo)

Hitting the highlights: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/27/the-pieces-i-chose-were-based-on-one-thing-only-a-gasp-of-delight-isnt-that-the-only-way-to-curate-a-life/

Our democracies depend on our picking up the pace of learning: "Can Democracy be Rehabilitated?"
(Plus- Beethoven erases Napoleon)

Devoting ourselves to democracy: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/26/you-live-and-learn-at-any-rate-you-live/

From 18th century bar trick to scientific staple: "The Math That Explains Why Bell Curves Are Everywhere" @quantamagazine.bsky.social
(Plus- Norman Borlaug)

Noodling on the normal distribution: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/25/its-the-bell-curve-again/

Comparing and contrasting wealth and expenses: "$Billions" (and "$Trillions") @infobeautiful.bsky.social
(Plus- the Exxon Valdez spill)

Pondering the pecuniary: https://roughlydaily.com/2026/03/24/a-billion-here-a-billion-there-and-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money/