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What does it mean to “see” atoms? How have we reached a stage in which it is possible to perform microscopy down to the atomic level? And what do we learn by doing this? The fascinating story that will explain this involves a question that has long been debated in Oxford, dating back to the seventeenth century when Robert Hooke became one of the first practitioners of the optical microscope: is light a particle or a wave? In the twentieth century, physicists asked the same question of electrons. The modern microscopy techniques that will be described utilise an effect called tunnelling, in which particles can behave like ghostlike entities, passing through solid walls. It’s often described as a counter-intuitive quantum mechanical effect, but in fact originates in classical nineteenth century physics. Now these methods are being used to unravel the mysteries surrounding the newly discovered materials of the twenty-first century, whose behaviour is fundamentally quantum-mechanical.

Many historians have thought that U.S. Navy funding of oceanography paved the way for plate tectonic theory. By funding extensive investigations of the deep ocean, Navy support enabled scientists to discover and understand sea-floor magnetic stripes, the association of the deep trenches with deep-focus earthquakes, and other key features. Historian of science and geologist Naomi Oreskes presents a different view: the major pieces of plate tectonic theory were in place in the 1930s, and military secrecy in fact prevented the coalescence of plate tectonics, delaying it for three decades.

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Naomi Oreskes is Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She has worked on studies of geophysics, climate change and the history of science. She sits on the board of US based not-for-profit organisations the National Center for Science Education and Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. She is a distinguished speaker and has published 10 books, including Science on a Mission and The Big Myth.

link to model https://huggingface.co/WeiboAI/VibeThinker-1.5B

link to model https://huggingface.co/WeiboAI/VibeThinker-1.5B

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Donald Trump became the first sitting president in nearly a half-century at a regular-season NFL game, attending the Washington Commanders’ 44-22 loss to the visiting Detroit Lions on Sunday.

There were loud boos from some spectators in the stands when Trump was shown on the videoboard late in the first half — standing in a suite with House Speaker Mike Johnson — and again when the president was introduced by the stadium announcer at halftime.

The jeering continued while Trump read an oath for members of the military to recite as part of an on-field enlistment ceremony during the break in the game.

A couple of years ago I decided to turn this blog into a podcast. At the time, I decided to make up a stupid rule: whatever model I use to clone my voice and generate article transcripts needs to be an open model.

https://gordonbeeming.com/blog/2025-10-03/taming-the-ai-my-paranoid-guide-to-running-copilot-cli-in-a-secure-docker-sandbox