# Progress links and tweets, 2023-07-20: “A goddess enthroned on a car”

**Opportunities**
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*   The Roots of Progress Blog-Building Intensive endorsed by [@sapinker](https://twitter.com/sapinker/status/1678786030802022401), [@vpostrel](https://twitter.com/vpostrel/status/1678810466917941249), [@johanknorberg](https://twitter.com/johanknorberg/status/1679057377637613570), [@CharlesCMann](https://twitter.com/CharlesCMann/status/1679493811863527429), [@antonhowes](https://twitter.com/antonhowes/status/1679080742213566465), [@s8mb](https://twitter.com/s8mb/status/1678770980397944832), [@kevin2kelly](https://twitter.com/kevin2kelly/status/1679168616955285505), [@Marian\_L\_Tupy](https://twitter.com/Marian_L_Tupy/status/1678784169378484224), [@atrembath](https://twitter.com/atrembath/status/1679157165918134272), [@jposhaughnessy](https://twitter.com/jposhaughnessy/status/1678789817830715394), [@eric\_is\_weird](https://twitter.com/eric_is_weird/status/1678770875125104644), [@CJHandmer](https://twitter.com/CJHandmer/status/1678864322406252544), [@srajagopalan](https://twitter.com/srajagopalan/status/1679360418488152064), [@s\_r\_constantin](https://twitter.com/s_r_constantin/status/1679175386553368601), [@danielgolliher](https://twitter.com/danielgolliher/status/1678871306765205506), [@krishnanrohit](https://twitter.com/krishnanrohit/status/1678797049569898497), and [@krisgulati](https://twitter.com/krisgulati/status/1678779413096435712)
*   [Progress studies meetup in Miami on Saturday, July 22](https://progressforum.org/events/57EHkbNCzcqH3pSGo/curious-saturday-miami-progress-studies)
*   [Progress studies reading group](https://progressfellowship.info/) (via [@jayendra_ram](https://twitter.com/jayendra_ram/status/1676384956212183042))
*   [Hollywood for Intellectuals: Writing Big Ideas for the Big (and Small) Screen](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677355837461864455)
*   [University of Austin’s summer high school program](https://www.uaustin.org/high-school) (via [@mbateman](https://twitter.com/mbateman/status/1675899515339931648), who will be teaching there)
*   [Sid Sijbrandij wants a postdoc to help him learn about incentive structures](https://twitter.com/sytses/status/1679538806196957185)
*   [Loyal (longevity startup) starting to look for a board member](https://twitter.com/celinehalioua/status/1677757567592955904)

**Announcements**
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*   [Elon Musk announces x.ai](https://x.ai/) (via [@pitdesi](https://twitter.com/pitdesi/status/1679158051872415745))
*   [Claude 2 improves performance in coding, math and reasoning](https://claude.ai/login) (via [@AnthropicAI](https://twitter.com/AnthropicAI/status/1678759122194530304))
*   [Major new AI alignment effort from OpenAI](https://openai.com/blog/introducing-superalignment) (via [@janleike](https://twitter.com/janleike/status/1676638205452640256))
*   [Fundraiser for an asylum-seeker who left Russia rather than fight Ukraine](https://www.gofundme.com/f/ildar-sokolovs-immigration-expenses) (organized by [@Marian\_L\_Tupy](https://twitter.com/Marian_L_Tupy/status/1677035461179592708))

**Audio & video**
-----------------

*   [Very good Kevin Esvelt talk on securing DNA synthesis against misuse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Xv-rmmsmY)
*   [Panel discussion on fundamental research featuring me and others](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3szVHP1dbCkg87hIi2hLt3) (via [@PrimeMoversLab](https://twitter.com/PrimeMoversLab/status/1678495329665052675), recorded last October but just published)
*   Nick Touran ([@whatisnuclear](https://twitter.com/whatisnuclear)) has been scanning old film of nuclear reactors: here’s one about [a reactor that powered a military radar station](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-07-03-film-about-pm1-microreactor-in-wyoming.html) and one about [a prototype nuclear cargo ship](https://whatisnuclear.com/news/2023-07-12-the-nuclear-ship-savannah-film-digitized.html)

**Other links**
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*   [A “protein printer” could “change biology as much as printers changed the news.”](https://www.readcodon.com/p/machine) Related, [“DNA printers are on the cusp of a big upgrade”](https://twitter.com/kanzure/status/1679566376300584961)
*   [“The power to maintain is the power to improve.” Stewart Brand on auto maintenance](https://books.worksinprogress.co/book/maintenance-of-everything/vehicles/three-maintenance-philosophies-fought-for-control-of-the-auto-industry/3)
*   [The prospects of molecular manufacturing](https://contrary.com/foundations-and-frontiers/molecular-manufacturing) (via [@annasofialesiv](https://twitter.com/annasofialesiv/status/1679562956571553793))
*   [Cleaning wool in classical times](https://classicalstudies.org/scs-blog/torilee/blog-pecunia-non-olet-adventures-roman-woolworking) (via [@NadyaWilliams81](https://twitter.com/NadyaWilliams81/status/1678528717176356865))
*   [Brian Potter tells the story of titanium](https://www.construction-physics.com/p/the-story-of-titanium)
*   [Moralizing about consumption vs. economic reality](https://link.vox.com/view/608adc4491954c3cef03908bj2yp3.ace/95319359) (via [@atrembath](https://twitter.com/atrembath/status/1679223288697094144))
*   [The Engineering and Technology History Wiki](https://ethw.org/) (via [@Ben_Reinhardt](https://twitter.com/Ben_Reinhardt/status/1679436078258835456))

**Queries**
-----------

*   [Who have been the best research and development leaders in industry history?](https://twitter.com/varma_ashwin97/status/1677015824479969283)
*   [What is the best writing about positive AI futures?](https://twitter.com/michael_nielsen/status/1676416255111331840)
*   [Which companies have incredibly thorough, detailed books written about them?](https://twitter.com/_brianpotter/status/1677686576829153282)
*   [Foundational texts for a course on economic growth?](https://twitter.com/kurtislockhart/status/1679515917095522305) (And some [actual examples](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1679525101648191488))
*   [What happened to public trust in government in 1964?](https://twitter.com/asymmetricinfo/status/1675893899481497600)

**Quotes**
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*   [“A goddess enthroned on a car”: automobiles represented empowerment for women](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1680557531830140930)
*   [A Ford factory as “a daring expression of the human spirit”](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677755655044714498)
*   [We used to terraform](https://twitter.com/samswoora/status/1676017033538838529)
*   [The importance of statistics in the spread of sanitation and hygiene practices](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677754048257179648)
*   [Deirdre McCloskey on the British Empire](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1679588844092497921)
*   [Wisdom from James Watt Jr.](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1680555839822651394)
*   [Bones evolved via biochemical recycling](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1680558188049969152)
*   [The bill creating Social Security was only 37 pages long](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677851104988520449)

**Other tweets**
----------------

*   [Many people upset about this weed zapper, but the alternative is spraying poison](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677357368999387146)
*   [Gardens in late-19th c. Paris produced crops using manure from city horses](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1679217870004269056)
*   [Rather than “work” vs. “post-work”, the reality is a continuous, gradual change](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1680600716740640768)
*   [A new technology that could reduce costs of whole-brain connectomics by 1000x](https://twitter.com/SGRodriques/status/1680219753267466240)
*   [Portable MRIs are a thing now](https://twitter.com/s_r_constantin/status/1680240182799237122)
*   [Academics once saw their work as in service to engineers/industry](https://twitter.com/eric_is_weird/status/1677045319329103873)
*   [Project idea: a series of studies of how different technologies got cheaper](https://twitter.com/_brianpotter/status/1679469176115568641)
*   [“You cannot separate the ability to make a decision from the ability to make a wrong decision”](https://twitter.com/neil_chilson/status/1675821209185837056)
*   [Safety is only one reason to want self-driving cars, and not necessarily the top one](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1677040510152720389)
*   [Glenn Seaborg, who discovered plutonium and several other elements](https://twitter.com/1517fund/status/1677076367161139201). See also my [essay on nuclides](https://rootsofprogress.org/nuclear-physics)
*   [Richard Ngo is “optimistic about almost all aspects of AI”](https://twitter.com/RichardMCNgo/status/1678835365157965824)
*   [Alex Tabarrok’s message to Americans: “double down on America”](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1676691937519194113)
*   [We need a capitalism appreciation day](https://twitter.com/Altimor/status/1680665658118541312) (or a [course](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1103146785411723264))
*   [“The Age of Invention,” a proto-steampunk card game](https://twitter.com/WhippleMuseum/status/1675795080228093953)

[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0GbsNpXgAEpT3S.jpg)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0GbsNpXgAEpT3S.jpg)

*   [Treadwheel cranes were a real thing](https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1678582896154509313)

[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0uGFD0XgAA4fWE.png)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0uGFD0XgAA4fWE.png)

**Charts**
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*   [The world has made enormous progress against diarrheal diseases](https://twitter.com/salonium/status/1675974772671258625)

[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0JCLJSWwAAfCI4.jpg)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0JCLJSWwAAfCI4.jpg)

*   [Different types of prefab building systems according to Brian Potter](https://twitter.com/_brianpotter/status/1678135036430696448)

[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0nujisWIAI0RTK.jpg)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0nujisWIAI0RTK.jpg)

**Beauty**
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*   [Quantum computer aesthetics](https://twitter.com/justindross/status/1678583354692706304)

[![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0uGqjkXgAAjxco.jpg)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F0uGqjkXgAAjxco.jpg)