Chad Orzel
@orzelc.bsky.social
Physicist, professor, author of books about science for non-scientists. Longer-form stuff at https://chadorzel.substack.com/
Reposted by Chad Orzel
People are right to roll their eyes at this—another stupid and malicious effort to undermine universities. But don’t rest your opposition on the idea that scores “don’t predict outcomes”. Insofar as any measure is used to select a population, you have conditioned on it so it won’t predict outcomes.
January 2, 2026 at 6:28 PM
People are right to roll their eyes at this—another stupid and malicious effort to undermine universities. But don’t rest your opposition on the idea that scores “don’t predict outcomes”. Insofar as any measure is used to select a population, you have conditioned on it so it won’t predict outcomes.
Reposted by Chad Orzel
New #physics post - a ball of clay hits a stick in the center and then on the edge. Which one has a greater recoil speed? #python included (of course).
rjallain.medium.com/the-physics-...
rjallain.medium.com/the-physics-...
The Physics Paradox: Does Where You Hit a Stick Change How Fast It Moves?
Here’s a fun physics question. Suppose we have a 1 kilogram stick laying flat on ice (at rest). A 1 kilogram ball of clay is launched…
rjallain.medium.com
January 2, 2026 at 7:12 PM
New #physics post - a ball of clay hits a stick in the center and then on the edge. Which one has a greater recoil speed? #python included (of course).
rjallain.medium.com/the-physics-...
rjallain.medium.com/the-physics-...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
I'm convinced that assigning funding at random would lead to better outcomes. Put a quality control on it if you like, but if you are already losing half of the money to admin, losing a quarter to bad science/fraud instead would be preferable
This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
www.nature.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:46 PM
I'm convinced that assigning funding at random would lead to better outcomes. Put a quality control on it if you like, but if you are already losing half of the money to admin, losing a quarter to bad science/fraud instead would be preferable
Reposted by Chad Orzel
I actually would disagree with this take - though he might not have known it, Hitler has essentially set the conditions to make eventual defeat and regime extinction very likely (and so his great power position very poor) by November 1940 at the latest, even with the success of Fall Gelb/Rot.
From a great power diplomacy perspective, Hitler had a good run until the twin idiocies of invading the Soviet Union and declaring on the US.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
His luck might have run out with the invasion of Poland if the invasion of France hadn’t worked. However, he did have a de facto alliance with the Reds.
In defense of my discipline, we do not, in fact, all agree to that.
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
Indeed, the general view from a military perspective is that the Wehrmacht succeeded (to the degree it did) substantially despite Hitler. I'm not sure many serious historians of any field would label him a 'genius.'
January 2, 2026 at 6:14 AM
I actually would disagree with this take - though he might not have known it, Hitler has essentially set the conditions to make eventual defeat and regime extinction very likely (and so his great power position very poor) by November 1940 at the latest, even with the success of Fall Gelb/Rot.
Reposted by Chad Orzel
The cut to Cignetti making this face may be my favorite broadcast moment of the year
January 1, 2026 at 9:54 PM
The cut to Cignetti making this face may be my favorite broadcast moment of the year
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Well 2025 was an awful year but thank god all the problems will be solved by the 2026 US presidential election
December 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Well 2025 was an awful year but thank god all the problems will be solved by the 2026 US presidential election
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Something for quantum computing folks to think about. 👇
Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
December 31, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Something for quantum computing folks to think about. 👇
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Let's not forget that quantum computers will be able to simulate both human biology as well as materials, so they will be more powerful than AI scientists and magic ponies!
“An AI scientist, for example, could figure out how the human brain works, or deliver any gene to any cell in the body.”
Yeah and a magic pony could shit bricks of 24k gold and piss a highly concentrated solution of pure heroin.
Yeah and a magic pony could shit bricks of 24k gold and piss a highly concentrated solution of pure heroin.
Building an AI Scientist
Hertz Fellow Sam Rodriguez launched FutureHouse, a nonprofit research lab working toward building an AI scientist or AI systems that can automate scientific research in biology and other complex scien...
www.hertzfoundation.org
December 30, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Let's not forget that quantum computers will be able to simulate both human biology as well as materials, so they will be more powerful than AI scientists and magic ponies!
Reposted by Chad Orzel
I've said this before, but one of the reason why DIE HARD works when so many imitators fail is because of how it feels like every human being on screen has a complex inner and outer life that this moment is just glancing upon. It's filled with little three-dimensional moments that give it life.
Die Hard is a diamond of a film. I couldn't write something that tight in a million years. It also would not occur to me to shoot air ducts and cubicle farms with anamorphic lenses like some kind of crazed lens-flare wizard, but that's why I'm not Jan de Bont
December 29, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I've said this before, but one of the reason why DIE HARD works when so many imitators fail is because of how it feels like every human being on screen has a complex inner and outer life that this moment is just glancing upon. It's filled with little three-dimensional moments that give it life.
I wrote way too many words about the recent STRANGER THINGS drop and the reasons it doesn't work: open.substack.com/pub/chadorze...
Not Nearly Strange Enough
Refusing to decide to be anything in particular
open.substack.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I wrote way too many words about the recent STRANGER THINGS drop and the reasons it doesn't work: open.substack.com/pub/chadorze...
The hook for this story is that fatal crashes are low on Christmas Day, but putting this interactive graph in just makes me wonder what's up with late March? www.timesunion.com/news/article...
December 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The hook for this story is that fatal crashes are low on Christmas Day, but putting this interactive graph in just makes me wonder what's up with late March? www.timesunion.com/news/article...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
This might sound harsh, and judgmental, but if video is your preferred way of getting information about a topic, you’re a fucking moron
December 28, 2025 at 2:05 AM
This might sound harsh, and judgmental, but if video is your preferred way of getting information about a topic, you’re a fucking moron
The Pip and I watched SISU 2 tonight, and if you haven't seen these, they are cartoonishly violent in the absolute best sense of that phrase. Great fun to watch an old Finnish dude fuck up Nazis and commies.
December 28, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The Pip and I watched SISU 2 tonight, and if you haven't seen these, they are cartoonishly violent in the absolute best sense of that phrase. Great fun to watch an old Finnish dude fuck up Nazis and commies.
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Living and working abroad has had its difficulties but imo it’s something everyone should do at least once. You learn things about yourself being a stranger somewhere.
December 28, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Living and working abroad has had its difficulties but imo it’s something everyone should do at least once. You learn things about yourself being a stranger somewhere.
I generally dislike complaints about fiction in whatever medium being "padded," but will make an exception for this latest STRANGER THINGS drop. Every plotline gets a moment-of-catharsis speech that's about 30% longer than it needs to be. Jesus, people, get ON with it...
December 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I generally dislike complaints about fiction in whatever medium being "padded," but will make an exception for this latest STRANGER THINGS drop. Every plotline gets a moment-of-catharsis speech that's about 30% longer than it needs to be. Jesus, people, get ON with it...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
It's fun to describe quantum teleportation in terms of particles that move both forward and backward in time. And it's more than just fun: the intuition derived from that description can guide us to new applications.
quantumfrontiers.com/2025/12/14/m...
quantumfrontiers.com/2025/12/14/m...
Make use of time, let not advantage slip
During the spring of 2022, I felt as though I kept dashing backward and forward in time. At the beginning of the season, hay fever plagued me in Maryland. Then, I left to present talks in sou…
quantumfrontiers.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:53 PM
It's fun to describe quantum teleportation in terms of particles that move both forward and backward in time. And it's more than just fun: the intuition derived from that description can guide us to new applications.
quantumfrontiers.com/2025/12/14/m...
quantumfrontiers.com/2025/12/14/m...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give A Shit
December 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Are Tests Biased Against Students Who Don't Give A Shit
We got 6-ish inches of powdery snow that would be lovely to ski on, but I'm coming off a nasty cold and just pushing the snowblower around had me wheezing, so... #DiscretionVsValor
December 27, 2025 at 2:23 PM
We got 6-ish inches of powdery snow that would be lovely to ski on, but I'm coming off a nasty cold and just pushing the snowblower around had me wheezing, so... #DiscretionVsValor
Reposted by Chad Orzel
I generally think @maiamindel.bsky.social is a very good commentator and her take on the Are White Male Millennials Oppressed? discourse is good too.
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/whose-lost...
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/whose-lost...
Whose Lost Decade?
Woke Saturn devouring his chud son
someunpleasant.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
I generally think @maiamindel.bsky.social is a very good commentator and her take on the Are White Male Millennials Oppressed? discourse is good too.
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/whose-lost...
someunpleasant.substack.com/p/whose-lost...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Very indifferent Jesus here, like “lady, I literally wrote this book, I don’t need to hear it again”
I'm contemplating Mary reading, with child, these days.
December 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Very indifferent Jesus here, like “lady, I literally wrote this book, I don’t need to hear it again”
If you want to know how tech has changed over the last ~20 years, we got a new home weather station for Christmas because the sensor on the old one died. The inside unit for the old one took 6AA batteries as a backup to the wall plug, the new one just 3AAA batteries.
December 26, 2025 at 9:44 PM
If you want to know how tech has changed over the last ~20 years, we got a new home weather station for Christmas because the sensor on the old one died. The inside unit for the old one took 6AA batteries as a backup to the wall plug, the new one just 3AAA batteries.
Reposted by Chad Orzel
Honestly at some point you just gotta respect Cameron's ability to do whatever the fuck it is he is doing with these films, bloody hell.
collider.com/avatar-fire-...
collider.com/avatar-fire-...
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Recovers Reported $400 Million Budget in Under a Week at the Box Office
James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash has already recovered its reported $400 million budget in less than one week in theaters.
collider.com
December 26, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Honestly at some point you just gotta respect Cameron's ability to do whatever the fuck it is he is doing with these films, bloody hell.
collider.com/avatar-fire-...
collider.com/avatar-fire-...
Reposted by Chad Orzel
I am not a Christian of course but like all Americans I have spent my life marinating in Christian mythography, and so around this time of year I have a lot of thoughts about the Nativity and the part where the innkeeper says there's no room in the inn.
December 23, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I am not a Christian of course but like all Americans I have spent my life marinating in Christian mythography, and so around this time of year I have a lot of thoughts about the Nativity and the part where the innkeeper says there's no room in the inn.
Watching the Lions against the Vikings is making me feel a lot better about how my Giants looked on Sunday...
December 26, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Watching the Lions against the Vikings is making me feel a lot better about how my Giants looked on Sunday...
Definitely going to ask SteelyKid the challenge question at the end of this
December 25, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Definitely going to ask SteelyKid the challenge question at the end of this