Magnitude and Direction
Welcome to the latest installment of my bi-weekly newsletter, covering some of my favorite new developments in the fields of biotech, data science, andengineering. As always, if you come across something cool you'd like to share, send me a note. If you know someone else who might be interested in this newsletter, I encourage you to send them my way!
(For previous issues, check out the Magnitude and Direction Archive)
Hardware, Prototyping, and Fabrication
In case you ever wanted to eat your optical equipment, here's a diffraction grating made out of chocolate and candy.
How to make wooden balls with a hole saw.
Disney made a jacket that lets you feel creepy sensations that aren't there... no thanks.
Combine analog with digital and make a wall clock out of a 60-LED ring.
Software and Programming
Style is an algorithm.
Goodboy alert! How do you train machine vision software for robot dogs? Put some gear on an Alaskan Malamute.
Nvidia's new image reconstruction software can almost flawlessly remove your ex from old photos. Even watching these edits happen in real time, it can be hard to truly tell that a region of the image is artificially generated. The results produced by editing photos of people are particularly jarring.
Science, Engineering, and Biomedicine
Given the choice, ants prefer to turn left. This could be because one of their eyes is better than the other.
Original content! --> An article I wrote for a new science advocacy magazine at Yale University, Distilled, was recently published in their first ever issue. In the article, I discuss how technological advanced are leading to the rapid automation of work in many different sectors, including white collar and"thinking" jobs once thought to be outside the reach of robots and automation. Check out my article and all the others in Vol. 1 No. 1 of Distilled here.
A drug delivered at just the right moment during pregnancy can cure a severe genetic disorder in the womb.
Mapping and Data Science
Explore the geometric beauty of infrastructure with Geraldine Sarmiento'sMorphology mapping tool.
When Catholicism gives you lemons, you make tacos.
Every New Yorker understands the prestige of the 212 area code, but how did it come to be in the first place?
Maybe my data is biased because I live here, but the state of New York seems to have some of the most hotly contested region boundaries of any state in the US. In a (likely futile) effort to resolve this debate, the Washington Post is asking "Where is 'Upstate New York' according to data?"
Events and Opportunities
- The next New York BioPharma Networking Group meeting will be on Tuesday, 5/15 at Tir Na Nog
- The 2nd Sneak Preview of the Queens Night Market is this Saturday.
- Come see the latest cohort of student startups at the Zahn Innovation Center's Demo Day on Monday, 4/30 at CCNY.
- After that, hear the final pitches from the finalists selected from each venture track on Thursday, 5/3.
- Join The Only Bookstore in The Bronx(TM) at the 2018 Bronx Book Fair
- The Greek Jewish Festival takes the Lower East Side by storm on Sunday, May 6th
- By design, SafetyFest doesn't really live up to its name. Find out exactly what that means on Saturday, May 5th.
Map of the Month
It looks like the weather is finally getting nice, which means its time to start enjoying sidewalk cafes again. Find out where they all are with this map from the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.