Christopher Mims

@mimsical
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1.9K Following
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tech columnist @ wsj, here to make friends & chew bubblegum (& I'm all out of gum)
Weekly tech column, WSJhttps://www.wsj.com/news/author/christopher-mims
moar linkshttps://linktr.ee/mimsical

What if there were a way to eliminate China's rare earths leverage over the rest of the world -- which allows it to handicap everything from EV to defense production -- by making a new kind of cheap motor that simply doesn't need those elements?

It's happening.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/these-electric-motors-could-help-break-the-worlds-dependence-on-china-3fa07b0b

The Internet of Things ended up being the internet of unsupported products.

Google is ending support for 1st & 2nd generation Nests and completely pulling out of Europe.

Imagine having to replace the thermostats in your home because a reorg at some big tech meant it was no longer a priority.

https://www.theverge.com/news/656332/google-ending-support-nest-thermostats

Google is killing software support for early Nest Thermostats

Software support for the original and second-gen Nest Learning Thermostat devices will end on October 25th, leaving customers unable to control them from a phone.

The Verge

We Now Know How AI ‘Thinks’—and It’s Barely Thinking at All

Maybe you've heard that AIs are "black boxes"

But a growing body of research keeps arriving at the same conclusion: Today's AIs all work in surprisingly similar -- and simplistic -- ways

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-ai-thinks-356969f8?st=yow5Ga&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

When the physicists need burner phones,
that’s when you know America’s changed

At international academic conferences recently, one sees an interesting trend.

Some American participants are travelling with “burner” phones
or have minimalist laptops running browsers and not much else.

In other words, they are equipped with the same kind of kit that security-conscious people used to bring 15 years ago when travelling to China

Many teachers and researchers in US universities are now fearful of what lies ahead.

No line of inquiry is safe from the raging firestorm of Maga intolerance.

The looming crisis in the US is beginning to remind people in Europe of the 1930s,
when the UK and the US began to realise that Jewish scientists needed to be rescued from the Nazis.

About 2,000 scientists and academics fled the fascist countries between 1933 and 1941,
fearing for themselves or Jewish family members.

Then, universities in the US and the UK made space for and welcomed a whole generation of geniuses

Now, in a different age, there are stirrings in Europe to provide safe places for American researchers.

In France, Aix-Marseille University is welcoming American scientists whose work has become untenable after the Trump administration’s cuts in certain academic sectors.

This is the beginning of something hopeful.

But it also raises the question of what UK institutions are doing to meet the coming challenge.
The answer, at the moment, seems to be nothing much.

Perhaps that’s because most of British academia still can’t get its head around the idea that
the US is now an enemy, not an ally,
and that the “special relationship” is yesterday’s story.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/29/when-the-physicists-need-burner-phones-thats-when-you-know-americas-changed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

When the physicists need burner phones, that’s when you know America’s changed

US academics, fearing persecution by their own government, are becoming ideological refugees. Europe, and Britain, must offer them sanctuary

The Guardian

12 years after after Amazon promised it was just around the corner, widespread commercial drone delivery is finally coming to the U.S.

The technological enablers here are fascinating -- it turns out it was a design problem as much as anything.

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/tech/the-drone-delivery-service-beating-amazon-to-your-front-door-1ad898b4?st=4mWfzC&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

We live in interesting times. Friend of mine is a scientist in France. He just got briefing on what to do when traveling to the US. He was told to use an empty, freshly installed laptop with nothing but his presentation on it. Uninstall all messengers and social media. If he has to surrender any of his devices even for a minute, he shall get it checked by the French secret service for back-doors and Trojans.

I guess I rather stay home than going to a conference in the US.
#science #usa

Challenge: name a song that more perfectly embodies the way a track can feel like total cringe a decade after it comes out but subsequently proves to be a near-perfect piece of pop perfection (impossible)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah5gAkna3jI

Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy (Official Music Video)

Official Music Video for Hey Jealousy performed by Gin Blossom.#GinBlossom #HeyJealousy

YouTube

Thanks to Steve Jobs and Gorilla Glass, factories in America are now ramping up to make affordable windows, made from panes thinner than a credit card, that can:

* save Americans $25 billion / year

* withstand a 2x4 shot out of a cannon

(gift link)

https://www.wsj.com/business/corning-window-gorilla-glass-4f443b07?st=UPDbcE&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

hey y'all I'm back

after realizing that algorithmic feeds are just totally incompatible with my particular brain, gonna make a go again of being more deliberate about using Mastodon

turns out OpenAI funded the math benchmark that its "reasoning" model subsequently did really well on

https://the-decoder.com/openai-quietly-funded-independent-math-benchmark-before-setting-record-with-o3/

via @acookiecrumbles

OpenAI quietly funded independent math benchmark before setting record with o3

OpenAI's involvement in funding FrontierMath, a leading AI math benchmark, only came to light when the company announced its record-breaking performance on the test. Now, the benchmark's developer Epoch AI acknowledges they should have been more transparent about the relationship.

THE DECODER