Every nuance of AI, awe and charisma anatomised, clean aircraft and hydrogen cells. Noema’s top ten 2023 stories are a ride
We are great fans of Noema magazine, and it’s an early seasonal treat to cross-post (and promote) their own assessment of their top ten articles of 2023 (by readership numbers, or by judgement, it’s not clear). Above is a video promoting their top ten commissioned illustrations for the magazine - itself an editorial flow of high quality. Subscribe to Noema here.
Jonathan Zawada
How Modernity Made Us Allergic
by Theresa MacPhail
Our very old immune systems can’t keep up with modern lifestyles and diets, leading to increases in all sorts of chronic health problems like allergies and obesity.
Anthony Gerace
What AI Teaches Us About Good Writing
by Laura Hartenberger
While AI can speed up the writing process, it doesn’t optimize quality — and it endangers our sense of connection to ourselves and others.
Lucas Foglia
Finding Awe Amid Everyday Splendour
by Henry Wismayer
A new field of psychology has begun to quantify an age-old intuition: Feeling awe is good for us.
Sanchit Sawaria
Still image from Ho Tzu Nyen’s “The Nameless,” a film about a mysterious Sino-Vietnamese communist and spy working in Southeast Asia in the first half of the 20th century. (Courtesy of the artist and Kiang Malingue Gallery)
The World China Is Building
by Jacob Dreyer
China’s diplomats and tech companies pin their hopes on partnerships in the Global South.
Refael Idan Suissa
The Secret History And Strange Future Of Charisma
by Joe Zadeh
How our culture, politics and technology became infused with a mysterious social phenomenon that everyone can feel but nobody can explain.
Gretta Johnson
The Seductive Vision Of Green Aviation
by Henry Wismayer
Air travel is profoundly bad for the environment but one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. Can green technologies make a difference before it’s too late?
Alex Valentina
The Extraordinary Green Promise Of A Tiny Molecule
by Holly Jean Buck
Hydrogen produced by renewable energy makes it possible to fully transition to a global green economy. So what’s stopping us from going all in?
Jonathan Zawada
Cecilia Erlich
Artificial General Intelligence Is Already Here
by Blaise Agüera y Arcas and Peter Norvig
Today’s most advanced AI models have many flaws, but decades from now, they will be recognized as the first true examples of artificial general intelligence.