Data doesn’t care about surprise. Culture should.
The Van Gogh Museum models visitor pathways with 96% accuracy. But optimizing galleries for the average visitor risks killing curiosity, surprise, and the joy of unexpected discovery.
Krispijn Plettenberg
Optimism is an Act of Resistance: Reflections on Pride, Fear, and Real Solidarity
After an attack on Berlin Pride, I felt myself hardening into fear and cynicism. But reacting with hatred only plays into the hands of division. A personal reflection on why true solidarity and optimism is a necessary act of resistance.
Water From Nowhere, Sandbox Sisterhood, Robots in Color, Smiling Data, and a Frog’s Very Bad Day
Herman Chernoff died at 103 leaving behind two legacies—one that worked beautifully but got no headlines, and one that didn’t work at all but gets the obituary. Kiel University researchers are pulling drinking water from desert air using Nobel Prize-winning chemistry. The humble sandbox turns out to be feminist infrastructure from 1890s Boston. Robots have finally learned to see in color, which might save us or cost us our jobs. And yes, daddy longlegs really do eat frogs. Welcome to the gap between what we expect and what actually happens.
Kibble, Beanies, Democracy, Dentists, and Disagreement
Discover five surprising and inspiring stories: Neanderthals drilled teeth 59,000 years ago. Now a beanie reads your thoughts. We dissect the latest in AI, viral food trends, and why moral diversity is your only defense against catastrophe.
The Great AI Disconnect: Panic vs. The Data
The headlines scream that Americans loathe AI, but the data tells a different story. It isn’t a rejection of the technology itself, but a reaction to a chaotic, top-down rollout. As adoption hits a “growth spasm,” the public is demanding transparency and governance—labels, not bans—to bridge the canyon between AI’s promise and its current delivery.
Future Tense: The Wireless Gamble (2000)
In 2000, experts dismissed the mobile internet as a failed gamble. Twenty-five years later, the verdict is clear: the first draft of the future is always messy, but the payoff is real. Learn how to spot the pattern, turn uncertainty into advantage, and stop judging tomorrow by today’s imperfect tools.
The Wisdom of the Pause
In an era of Ambient Intelligence and relentless AI acceleration, the most strategic move isn’t speed, it’s the pause. Discover how “bootstrapping” small moments of reflection can help leaders escape the hype, regain poise, and steer toward a truly positive future.
Digital Literacy in Schools: Good News, Bad Timing
The Dutch Ministry of Education has locked in core learning objectives for digital literacy. From August 2027, these become the standard for primary and secondary schools. So yes, progress. But the timeline? It’s a joke.
Musical Memory, The English We Speak, Extreme Excel, Let’s Whisper, Grass is Cool
Discover five surprising and inspiring stories: from musical memory games to TikTok linguistics, teenage Excel champions, space noise, and a cooling trick from the past. stay amazed every day!
Our New Coworkers: Robots with Brains.
What happens when you give a robot army a Gemini-like brain? The conversation is no longer about AI “killing” white-collar jobs or robots replacing blue-collar jobs. It’s about the fusion of the two creating a new class of worker that can challenge both.
