All posts tagged: supposed

Commencement Speeches Are Supposed to Be Boring

Commencement Speeches Are Supposed to Be Boring

Published by Daniella Wilson

Congratulations. After four years of hard work, you—or your son or daughter, or grandson or granddaughter, or neighbor or niece, or other sort of ramen eater—are graduating from college. It wasn’t easy. It was probably also very expensive. You may have thought, I’m not sure I will make it. I thought that too. And I remembered that feeling when I dropped in, last night, for late-night custard at Famous Local Diner With Not-So-Secret Custard. But I did make it, and so did you. And here we are together, having made it. The sun is shining, and the rest of your lives are ahead of you. That’s the structure and message of a commencement speech. An accomplished and maybe-famous person is probably giving a similar address right now to a sea of graduation caps spread across a green lawn and under blue skies. All of those hardworking graduates will probably forget the content of the address by tomorrow, if not earlier–and that’s fine. A good commencement speech is not aimed at posterity, proffered to everyone for …

What Is Consciousness Actually Supposed To Do?

What Is Consciousness Actually Supposed To Do?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Britain’s Royal Society dedicated its November 2025 issue to a roundup of theories on what consciousness is supposed to have evolved from mud to mind to do — the “evolutionary functions of consciousness”: Although the scientific study of consciousness has boomed in the past two decades, a central question remains unanswered: what is the function of consciousness? This applies both to the immediate, cognitive functions of consciousness, and the ultimate evolutionary value of consciousness in our ancestors. Answers to these questions are central to understanding why some species (like our own) became conscious, while others (like oak trees) did not. In this special issue, for the first time, a group of international experts from a variety of disciplines – biology, neuroscience, philosophy, and cognitive science – address the functions of consciousness from multiple perspectives. The articles offer a concise introduction to this central problem in the evolution of cognition. The evolutionary functions of consciousness Fitch, W.T.; Allen, C.; Roskies, A.L. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B Biological Sciences 380(1939): 20240299 2025Volume …

Sound baths are supposed to help relax and ‘soothe’ your nervous system. But do any of these claims ring true? | Donna Lu

Sound baths are supposed to help relax and ‘soothe’ your nervous system. But do any of these claims ring true? | Donna Lu

Published by Sam Flores

I, for one, am partial to a bath: what’s not to love about a dim room, candles and nary an electronic device in sight? But a wellness trend that has emerged in recent years makes soaking in tepid water seem quaint: increasingly, people are paying to be “bathed” in sound. Social media is awash with clips of sound baths, where participants – for a fee – lie on yoga mats, hang in cocoons or float on inflatable pool loungers while berobed practitioners gently ring chimes and bang gongs for relaxation. Online interest in these experiences has risen exponentially in the last decade. Some are available outside in places such as Sydney Harbour, where you can be “rocked gently by the tide” while blindfolded. High-end wellness clubs, meanwhile, boast of surround-sound chambers complete with subwoofers. The purpose, according to the marketing copy for such classes, is to “soothe and calm your nervous system” with sounds that will “penetrate every cell in your body”, while specific frequencies are purported to promote “healing”. Singing bowls – metal or …

‘I will never forget him’: Sir David Attenborough on the magical TV moment that was never supposed to happen

‘I will never forget him’: Sir David Attenborough on the magical TV moment that was never supposed to happen

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Grainy footage shows a fifty-something man in jeans and a shirt, with a flop of blond hair, climbing through the dense rainforest. He’s been spotted by a lookout – a silverback gorilla. Carefully, the presenter approaches, and what happens next is one of the most-viewed moments in British television history. Not only do the gorillas go over to our intrepid explorer, but an infant, Pablo, playfully climbs on top of the awestruck, whispering host: a beaming Sir David Attenborough. Even now, almost 50 years on, the original footage of the naturalist frolicking with the gorillas is incredible – perhaps even more so, as nowadays human interaction with subjects is a strict no-no. But this famous TV moment wasn’t even supposed to happen. In a new Netflix documentary, David Attenborough: A Gorilla Story, the 99-year-old national treasure revisits his most famous and …

Almost Half of US Data Centers That Were Supposed to Open This Year Slated to Be Canceled or Delayed

Almost Half of US Data Centers That Were Supposed to Open This Year Slated to Be Canceled or Delayed

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech The data centers powering your favorite AI chatbot are running low on helium, cash, and neighbors who don’t hate them — and that’s not even the worst of it. According to new reporting by Bloomberg, about half of the data centers slated to open in the US in 2026 will either face delays or outright cancellations. The publication interviewed analysts at market intelligence company Sightline Climate, who noted that 12 gigawatts worth of power-consuming data centers are set to open this year in the country. But here’s the catch: they say only a third of those are actually under construction right now, with the rest in a liminal pre-production stage in which they could — and likely will be — canceled. It’s not just a problem for data centers planned for 2026, either. Among data centers slated to open in 2027, only about 6.3 gigawatts worth of computing infrastructure are actually under construction, compared to 21.5 announced gigawatts. …

HDR was supposed to make everything look better — but do you even notice it?

HDR was supposed to make everything look better — but do you even notice it?

Published by skeptic

So, you’re watching Squid Game on Netflix, excited to see all the deep colors promised by the title’s HDR tag. Except, well, it looks like every other show or movie you pull up on your TV. There’s nothing magical about it. HDR promises a revolution in how we see contrast and color on our screens, but with misleading certifications, inconsistent implementation, and less-capable hardware, most people are watching content labeled HDR that looks no different (or actively worse) than what came before. Here’s why that’s so, and why the promise is bigger than the reality. Related Netflix Is More Expensive Than Ever, But There Are 3 Reasons I’ll Keep Paying It might be more expensive, but I think Netflix is worth keeping around. What HDR is actually supposed to do The science of brightness, contrast, and color volume Credit: Pexels / Pixabay HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, meaning the largest difference between the darkest black and brightest white your display can show. SDR, or Standard Dynamic Range, typically tops out at around 100 nits of …

The BBC is supposed to belong to you – now’s your chance to be heard

The BBC is supposed to belong to you – now’s your chance to be heard

Published by Daniella Wilson

Joni Mitchell’s folk-pop song Big Yellow Taxi has always been one of my favourites. It contains that immortal line, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone”. I wonder if we might soon say that about the BBC? Even if it does survive, will it become just a different sort of BBC, just a Big British Company and not the main deliverer of public service content? Is the BBC safe at the hands of the politicians, or even the present management? Remember that the Corporation is supposed to belong to you. “It’s Your BBC.” Well, now you have a chance to be heard. The Government consultation about the Corporation ends on 10 March. The online survey is long, it might seem tedious, but it may be your last chance to influence the future content of what you have to pay for. Because change is coming – and, if we are not careful in the rush to be digital first, the Corporation may leave the digitally deprived with blank screens if the Government does, as …

Their Mutated Genes Were Supposed to Be Harmless

Their Mutated Genes Were Supposed to Be Harmless

Published by Daniella Wilson

Back when he was 17 and in high school, Eric Sid fainted. In the emergency room, he was diagnosed with anemia, which can cause fainting spells, and for years he thought that was the end of the story. About a decade later, in the early 2010s, he came down with pneumonia and had blood work done. He took a peek at the results and saw markers of anemia, as he expected. But the report also mentioned that his red blood cells were smaller than normal. Sid was in medical school at the time, and he immediately thought of a few genetic conditions that could explain this result. One was thalassemia, which causes low levels of hemoglobin, leading to anemia and other related problems. A laboratory test showed that he had this inherited illness. And this meant that he had a gene mutation. Finally, he thought, he had an explanation for symptoms he had been experiencing for years. Except there was a catch. In the most common forms of thalassemia, people who show symptoms have mutations …

I Tried the Slop Bowl That’s Supposed to Get You Jacked

I Tried the Slop Bowl That’s Supposed to Get You Jacked

Published by Jenni Sidey

In 2008, New York City became the first place in the United States to enact a calorie labeling law. If a restaurant is part of a chain with 20 or more locations, then it must list out the calories in food items on the menu. And if a customer asks, the establishment must be able to provide other nutritional information: saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbs, sugars, fiber, and protein. Failure to comply? A hefty fine. Now, what if a restaurant not only willingly listed all of its dietary information, but let you adjust your meal’s composition—down to the gram—so that you could adjust your macros—carbohydrates, fats, protein—to achieve your fitness goals? That’s the story of Matter, a new fast-casual restaurant in New York City that’s catering to the growing subculture of optimizers who keep close track of what they’re putting into their bodies. Here’s the thing: I’m part of that target audience. Sure, I’ve never actually counted my macros, or weighed out my food to ensure I’m getting all the protein per day …

Censorship & The Ratchet Effect: Threats To Free Speech Outlast Supposed Crises

Censorship & The Ratchet Effect: Threats To Free Speech Outlast Supposed Crises

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Julian Adorney via TheDailyEconomy.org, Late last year, YouTube announced plans to reinstate accounts that had been banned at the behest of the Biden Administration for posting alleged COVID-19 misinformation. The announcement likely came as a relief to groups like the Children’s Health Defense Fund, a group associated with Robert Kennedy Jr.; and to Senator Ron Johnson; both of whom were punished by the social media giant for posting videos that ran contrary to the Biden administration’s official policy on the COVID-19 vaccine and on COVID-19 treatments. This is a good move. But we should remember, it wasn’t just YouTube that decided to punish speech disapproved by the prior administration.  A report by the United States House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government contains damning evidence that the Biden Administration leaned on social media companies to censor anti-vaccine content during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report details how Facebook, Amazon, and YouTube all shadowbanned or removed content that was critical of the administration’s official stance on the vaccines, the …