Dan Elton
@delton.bsky.social
Science enthusiast and researcher. Founder @metascienceobs.bsky.social . I write about science, metascience, progress studies, AI, and other topics.
speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.
http://moreisdifferent.blog
speak the truth, even if your voice shakes.
http://moreisdifferent.blog
PSA: the next online Ekkolapto salon will feature a discussion with Jim O'Shaughnessy & Atman Pandya on new mechanisms for science funding. RSVP here to join the Zoom call: luma.com/oshaughnessy...
November 4, 2025 at 3:59 PM
PSA: the next online Ekkolapto salon will feature a discussion with Jim O'Shaughnessy & Atman Pandya on new mechanisms for science funding. RSVP here to join the Zoom call: luma.com/oshaughnessy...
PSA for Boston-area folks - special event Monday Nov 10th on the future of AI and humanity. RSVP Here: www.aicamp.ai/event/eventd...
November 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
PSA for Boston-area folks - special event Monday Nov 10th on the future of AI and humanity. RSVP Here: www.aicamp.ai/event/eventd...
Mind First Foundation Chief Scientist Preston Estep has published a review of "If Anyone Builds it Everyone Dies". A key point is that we need more rigorous scientific study of Steve Omohundro's emergent AI drives! Furthermore, AI scientists may help us craft safe AI.
s-rsa.com/index.php/ag...
s-rsa.com/index.php/ag...
October 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Mind First Foundation Chief Scientist Preston Estep has published a review of "If Anyone Builds it Everyone Dies". A key point is that we need more rigorous scientific study of Steve Omohundro's emergent AI drives! Furthermore, AI scientists may help us craft safe AI.
s-rsa.com/index.php/ag...
s-rsa.com/index.php/ag...
Not a good look... 😬 (www.thefp.com/p/students-c...)
September 14, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Not a good look... 😬 (www.thefp.com/p/students-c...)
September 10, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Great news today from Jim O'Neill, ChatGPT is available to all workers at HHS!
September 9, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Great news today from Jim O'Neill, ChatGPT is available to all workers at HHS!
PSA for Boston-area folks!!
The 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 will be held at the MIT Media Lab on August 23rd. Come see the products & projects that are pushing intelligence augmentation, bio-interfaces, longevity, consciousness, and more! I’ll be attending along w/ a bunch of @Ekkolapto folks!!
The 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 will be held at the MIT Media Lab on August 23rd. Come see the products & projects that are pushing intelligence augmentation, bio-interfaces, longevity, consciousness, and more! I’ll be attending along w/ a bunch of @Ekkolapto folks!!
August 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
PSA for Boston-area folks!!
The 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 will be held at the MIT Media Lab on August 23rd. Come see the products & projects that are pushing intelligence augmentation, bio-interfaces, longevity, consciousness, and more! I’ll be attending along w/ a bunch of @Ekkolapto folks!!
The 𝙷𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚒𝚝 will be held at the MIT Media Lab on August 23rd. Come see the products & projects that are pushing intelligence augmentation, bio-interfaces, longevity, consciousness, and more! I’ll be attending along w/ a bunch of @Ekkolapto folks!!
🚨🚨Parts of the Constitution were just casually deleted from Congress's official Constitution website. 😬 The parts deleted involve habeas corpus rights, forbidding titles of nobility, & forbidding foreign emoluments (salaries/gifts) for US officials. See for yourself: web.archive.org/web/diff/202...
August 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
🚨🚨Parts of the Constitution were just casually deleted from Congress's official Constitution website. 😬 The parts deleted involve habeas corpus rights, forbidding titles of nobility, & forbidding foreign emoluments (salaries/gifts) for US officials. See for yourself: web.archive.org/web/diff/202...
Clearest evidence yet Trump is a wannabe dictator with no comprehension of or respect for the Constitution.
Unfortunately, I suspect many ppl aren't aware of what's going on since people have been screaming "fascist!", etc for about nine years over every little thing, which causes ppl to tune out..
Unfortunately, I suspect many ppl aren't aware of what's going on since people have been screaming "fascist!", etc for about nine years over every little thing, which causes ppl to tune out..
July 12, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Clearest evidence yet Trump is a wannabe dictator with no comprehension of or respect for the Constitution.
Unfortunately, I suspect many ppl aren't aware of what's going on since people have been screaming "fascist!", etc for about nine years over every little thing, which causes ppl to tune out..
Unfortunately, I suspect many ppl aren't aware of what's going on since people have been screaming "fascist!", etc for about nine years over every little thing, which causes ppl to tune out..
New on my Substack. If you find value in my posts, consider subscribing. You can also give a one-time donation here: coff.ee/moreisdiffer.... I am thinking of quitting my job to focus on writing full-time for a period. open.substack.com/pub/moreisdi...
July 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
New on my Substack. If you find value in my posts, consider subscribing. You can also give a one-time donation here: coff.ee/moreisdiffer.... I am thinking of quitting my job to focus on writing full-time for a period. open.substack.com/pub/moreisdi...
Periodic reminder of this article by @jacobtref.bsky.social: blog.jacobtrefethen.com/10-technolog...
July 7, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Periodic reminder of this article by @jacobtref.bsky.social: blog.jacobtrefethen.com/10-technolog...
Meanwhile in the UK - government goons are bragging about how they are arresting people for non-violent, non-threatening speech. It's terrible what’s been happening in the land of John Stuart Mill.
July 5, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Meanwhile in the UK - government goons are bragging about how they are arresting people for non-violent, non-threatening speech. It's terrible what’s been happening in the land of John Stuart Mill.
Election denialism and tin foil hat conspiracy theories exist on the left too - this viral Substack post alleges that Elon Musk used Starlink to manipulate voting machines, LOL, together with Palantir. Also, Trip Lite UPS machines had "backdoors" and were network integrated with voting machines..
July 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Election denialism and tin foil hat conspiracy theories exist on the left too - this viral Substack post alleges that Elon Musk used Starlink to manipulate voting machines, LOL, together with Palantir. Also, Trip Lite UPS machines had "backdoors" and were network integrated with voting machines..
PSA - July 31st is the deadline for the Norm Handy Prize and Foresight Fellowship program at the Foresight Institute!
foresight.org/norm-hardy-p...
foresight.org/foresight-fe...
foresight.org/norm-hardy-p...
foresight.org/foresight-fe...
July 1, 2025 at 12:16 PM
PSA - July 31st is the deadline for the Norm Handy Prize and Foresight Fellowship program at the Foresight Institute!
foresight.org/norm-hardy-p...
foresight.org/foresight-fe...
foresight.org/norm-hardy-p...
foresight.org/foresight-fe...
The amount of land the federal government owns is mind boggling. We should be selling small bits of land that have extremely high values for home building, like barren desert outside of Las Vegas (pictured below).
Read Alex Tabarrok's latest :
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
Read Alex Tabarrok's latest :
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
June 30, 2025 at 3:50 PM
The amount of land the federal government owns is mind boggling. We should be selling small bits of land that have extremely high values for home building, like barren desert outside of Las Vegas (pictured below).
Read Alex Tabarrok's latest :
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
Read Alex Tabarrok's latest :
marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevo...
PSA: The American Science Acceleration Project has a request for information (RFI), and the deadline is tomorrow! Their goal is to make science 10x faster by 2030. This is admin is unusually friendly to metascience, so your comments could go a long way! www.rounds.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
June 29, 2025 at 8:20 PM
PSA: The American Science Acceleration Project has a request for information (RFI), and the deadline is tomorrow! Their goal is to make science 10x faster by 2030. This is admin is unusually friendly to metascience, so your comments could go a long way! www.rounds.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
There are many ways to detect early state atherosclerosis using medical imaging also -- it can be observed on CT scans, DEXA scans, and even mammograms. A cheap, quick measurement of carotid artery thickness with a handheld ultrasound device can also be very informative.
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
There are many ways to detect early state atherosclerosis using medical imaging also -- it can be observed on CT scans, DEXA scans, and even mammograms. A cheap, quick measurement of carotid artery thickness with a handheld ultrasound device can also be very informative.
By getting high-risk individuals on statins (or administering a one-time gene therapy) we should be able to eliminate 90%+ of heart disease. Researchers have been making this case for a while -- see this article from 2008 :https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.107.717033
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
By getting high-risk individuals on statins (or administering a one-time gene therapy) we should be able to eliminate 90%+ of heart disease. Researchers have been making this case for a while -- see this article from 2008 :https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circulationaha.107.717033
Fatty plaques are essentially nucleation sites for plaque build up. It is believed that genetics play a major role in determining whether the process of atherosclerosis starts really early in life. Thus, polygenic risk modeling should be very useful here in the coming years.
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Fatty plaques are essentially nucleation sites for plaque build up. It is believed that genetics play a major role in determining whether the process of atherosclerosis starts really early in life. Thus, polygenic risk modeling should be very useful here in the coming years.
I also want to point out here if we could start *high risk* individuals on statins starting in their teenage years, we could likely prevent 80+% of heart disease! We know from autopsy studies that about 15% of 15-34 yr-olds already have fatty plaque streaks in their arteries...
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I also want to point out here if we could start *high risk* individuals on statins starting in their teenage years, we could likely prevent 80+% of heart disease! We know from autopsy studies that about 15% of 15-34 yr-olds already have fatty plaque streaks in their arteries...
Alex Kesin writes that even if just 1% of adults aged 40-75 started a statin, that would prevent ~14,000 heart attacks and strokes. As he puts it - the cost-per quality-adjusted life year saved "plunges below the price of a fast-food combo meal." (Graphic from Alex)
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Alex Kesin writes that even if just 1% of adults aged 40-75 started a statin, that would prevent ~14,000 heart attacks and strokes. As he puts it - the cost-per quality-adjusted life year saved "plunges below the price of a fast-food combo meal." (Graphic from Alex)
A survey is exactly the sort of thing FDA now invites under their new "additional condition for nonprescription use" rule. A study showed that when ppl used a smart phone app it resulted in ">96 % concordance between consumer self-selection & clinician judgment for rosuvastatin".
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
A survey is exactly the sort of thing FDA now invites under their new "additional condition for nonprescription use" rule. A study showed that when ppl used a smart phone app it resulted in ">96 % concordance between consumer self-selection & clinician judgment for rosuvastatin".
The FDA's assumptions about consumer behavior are not scientifically grounded, yet they've held them firmly. One path forward here would be for FDA to require pharmacies to administer a short survey to ppl before selling them statins OTC, similar to vaccines or pseudoephedrine.
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
The FDA's assumptions about consumer behavior are not scientifically grounded, yet they've held them firmly. One path forward here would be for FDA to require pharmacies to administer a short survey to ppl before selling them statins OTC, similar to vaccines or pseudoephedrine.
... With each rejection, the FDA has worried that consumers wouldn't be smart enough to know whether they would benefit from the drug. This sort of paternalism falls outside the FDA's mandate, which is to ensure safety and effectiveness -- not decide how drugs should be used!!...
June 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
... With each rejection, the FDA has worried that consumers wouldn't be smart enough to know whether they would benefit from the drug. This sort of paternalism falls outside the FDA's mandate, which is to ensure safety and effectiveness -- not decide how drugs should be used!!...
Alex Kesin has presented a set of arguments for making statins available OTC
Statins have been proven to be much safer than many of today's OTC drugs.
Only 35% of ppl eligible under current guidelines are taking them. Alex estimates the cost per QALY is less than cost of a fast food combo meal 🤯🧵⬇️
Statins have been proven to be much safer than many of today's OTC drugs.
Only 35% of ppl eligible under current guidelines are taking them. Alex estimates the cost per QALY is less than cost of a fast food combo meal 🤯🧵⬇️
June 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Alex Kesin has presented a set of arguments for making statins available OTC
Statins have been proven to be much safer than many of today's OTC drugs.
Only 35% of ppl eligible under current guidelines are taking them. Alex estimates the cost per QALY is less than cost of a fast food combo meal 🤯🧵⬇️
Statins have been proven to be much safer than many of today's OTC drugs.
Only 35% of ppl eligible under current guidelines are taking them. Alex estimates the cost per QALY is less than cost of a fast food combo meal 🤯🧵⬇️