Hernan Bruno
@hbru.bsky.social
Marketing prof (U. of Cologne). Trying to figure out things.
I usually trust Google AI summaries to simple queries. But this answer to "What is an acre?" ends in a weird twist that made me chuckle.
November 30, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I usually trust Google AI summaries to simple queries. But this answer to "What is an acre?" ends in a weird twist that made me chuckle.
Rules to young researchers, from one of the best mathematicians in history:
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Rules to young researchers, from one of the best mathematicians in history:
What is more prestigious, to be in a list of "30 under 30" or "40 under 40"?
November 17, 2025 at 3:26 PM
What is more prestigious, to be in a list of "30 under 30" or "40 under 40"?
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
Wrote a short piece arguing that higher ed must help steer AI. TLDR: If we outsource this to tech, we outsource our whole business. But rejectionism is basically stalling. If we want to survive, schools themselves must proactively shape AI for education & research. [1/6, unpaywalled at 5/6] +
Opinion | AI Is the Future. Higher Ed Should Shape It.
If we want to stay at the forefront of knowledge production, we must fit technology to our needs.
www.chronicle.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Wrote a short piece arguing that higher ed must help steer AI. TLDR: If we outsource this to tech, we outsource our whole business. But rejectionism is basically stalling. If we want to survive, schools themselves must proactively shape AI for education & research. [1/6, unpaywalled at 5/6] +
Cone volume calculations reveal how much graphite in a standard HB pencil we actually use: even if you use the pencil until it’s completely dull, only about 33% of the graphite is used — the remaining 67% is wasted. If you sharpen it when it’s only halfway dull, the waste jumps to 90%.
Beyond Euclid #198
Welcome to Beyond Euclid #198, the newsletter for the best mathematics and science stuff of the week. I am Ali, and I curate cool math and science stuff every week to help you have a better week.
beyondeuclid.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Cone volume calculations reveal how much graphite in a standard HB pencil we actually use: even if you use the pencil until it’s completely dull, only about 33% of the graphite is used — the remaining 67% is wasted. If you sharpen it when it’s only halfway dull, the waste jumps to 90%.
You might have heard of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Be ready for
**Stoic Burnout and the Art of Connecting a New Front Light to the Dynamo of my Daughter's Bicycle**
(manuscript in preparation)
**Stoic Burnout and the Art of Connecting a New Front Light to the Dynamo of my Daughter's Bicycle**
(manuscript in preparation)
October 27, 2025 at 8:53 AM
You might have heard of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Be ready for
**Stoic Burnout and the Art of Connecting a New Front Light to the Dynamo of my Daughter's Bicycle**
(manuscript in preparation)
**Stoic Burnout and the Art of Connecting a New Front Light to the Dynamo of my Daughter's Bicycle**
(manuscript in preparation)
Saturday morning I ask GPT5 to "tell me something about me" and among the list, I find the nicest of compliments: "Your style is iterative and meticulous — you like to refine, reorganize, and polish — but also boldly synthetic, seeking frameworks that connect ideas across domains"
boldly synthetic
boldly synthetic
October 25, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Saturday morning I ask GPT5 to "tell me something about me" and among the list, I find the nicest of compliments: "Your style is iterative and meticulous — you like to refine, reorganize, and polish — but also boldly synthetic, seeking frameworks that connect ideas across domains"
boldly synthetic
boldly synthetic
Invincible characters are boring and this is among the reasons why *Andor* and *Mandalorian* are better shows than *Ahsoka* and *Obi-Wan Kenobi*.
Same why Batman > Superman
Also why James Bond is insufferable.
Same why Batman > Superman
Also why James Bond is insufferable.
October 14, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Invincible characters are boring and this is among the reasons why *Andor* and *Mandalorian* are better shows than *Ahsoka* and *Obi-Wan Kenobi*.
Same why Batman > Superman
Also why James Bond is insufferable.
Same why Batman > Superman
Also why James Bond is insufferable.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
I’ve decided not to post my annual “women on the Econ job market” thread this year. Social media has splintered too much, and now that I’ve left academia I’m focused on other priorities.
October 14, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I’ve decided not to post my annual “women on the Econ job market” thread this year. Social media has splintered too much, and now that I’ve left academia I’m focused on other priorities.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
Ever since I made a video about Fourier Transforms, one of the most requested topics on the channel has been its close cousin, the Laplace Transform.
I've been having a lot of fun animating a mini-series about this topic, and the main part is now out.
youtu.be/j0wJBEZdwLs
I've been having a lot of fun animating a mini-series about this topic, and the main part is now out.
youtu.be/j0wJBEZdwLs
But what is a Laplace Transform?
YouTube video by 3Blue1Brown
youtu.be
October 12, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Ever since I made a video about Fourier Transforms, one of the most requested topics on the channel has been its close cousin, the Laplace Transform.
I've been having a lot of fun animating a mini-series about this topic, and the main part is now out.
youtu.be/j0wJBEZdwLs
I've been having a lot of fun animating a mini-series about this topic, and the main part is now out.
youtu.be/j0wJBEZdwLs
One of my top 5 favorite films.
October 12, 2025 at 4:53 PM
One of my top 5 favorite films.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
Nobel for metal-organic frameworks!
Could we have had the technology earlier had we not spent the whole 20th century dividing organic and inorganic chemistry into different departments?
Probably something to be learned for the social / management sciences.
Could we have had the technology earlier had we not spent the whole 20th century dividing organic and inorganic chemistry into different departments?
Probably something to be learned for the social / management sciences.
October 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Nobel for metal-organic frameworks!
Could we have had the technology earlier had we not spent the whole 20th century dividing organic and inorganic chemistry into different departments?
Probably something to be learned for the social / management sciences.
Could we have had the technology earlier had we not spent the whole 20th century dividing organic and inorganic chemistry into different departments?
Probably something to be learned for the social / management sciences.
I wish I had a Jupyter notebook (or similar) of every paper posted or published.
Reasons this is not possible:
- cultural: do not underestimate inertia and
- pdfs give you aesthetic and expositional control
- benefits from intransparency
- lack of common language
- proprietary data
Reasons this is not possible:
- cultural: do not underestimate inertia and
- pdfs give you aesthetic and expositional control
- benefits from intransparency
- lack of common language
- proprietary data
October 8, 2025 at 7:26 AM
I wish I had a Jupyter notebook (or similar) of every paper posted or published.
Reasons this is not possible:
- cultural: do not underestimate inertia and
- pdfs give you aesthetic and expositional control
- benefits from intransparency
- lack of common language
- proprietary data
Reasons this is not possible:
- cultural: do not underestimate inertia and
- pdfs give you aesthetic and expositional control
- benefits from intransparency
- lack of common language
- proprietary data
Is it my impression or Nobel Prizes have been increasingly awarded to researchers in the private sector? A good sign in general, but not good news for Universities in terms of relative relevance.
Maybe I should look up if this is even true, but whatever.
Maybe I should look up if this is even true, but whatever.
October 6, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Is it my impression or Nobel Prizes have been increasingly awarded to researchers in the private sector? A good sign in general, but not good news for Universities in terms of relative relevance.
Maybe I should look up if this is even true, but whatever.
Maybe I should look up if this is even true, but whatever.
I hope this chat control regulation does not go through. It is in principle bad to scan the devices of every user, even if the instrumental objective is valid. The slippery slope and collateral consequences are real.
Chat Control Is Back on the Menu in the EU. It Still Must Be Stopped
The European Union Council is once again debating its controversial message scanning proposal, aka “Chat Control,” that would lead to the scanning of private conversations of billions of people. Chat ...
www.eff.org
October 4, 2025 at 9:09 AM
I hope this chat control regulation does not go through. It is in principle bad to scan the devices of every user, even if the instrumental objective is valid. The slippery slope and collateral consequences are real.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
Amazing breakfast this morning. I love waffles
October 2, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Amazing breakfast this morning. I love waffles
The bearish case for AI by Doctorow. Worth a read even if this is not your view.
I am observing the parallel between current datacenter investment and optical fibre deployment in the 90s, before the advent of multiplexing and other tech that made so much fibre unnecessary.
I am observing the parallel between current datacenter investment and optical fibre deployment in the 90s, before the advent of multiplexing and other tech that made so much fibre unnecessary.
Andrew Ng: "AI is the new electricity!"
Cory Doctorow: "AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...)
Cory Doctorow: "AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations."
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...)
October 2, 2025 at 9:31 AM
The bearish case for AI by Doctorow. Worth a read even if this is not your view.
I am observing the parallel between current datacenter investment and optical fibre deployment in the 90s, before the advent of multiplexing and other tech that made so much fibre unnecessary.
I am observing the parallel between current datacenter investment and optical fibre deployment in the 90s, before the advent of multiplexing and other tech that made so much fibre unnecessary.
Imagine being successful enough to actually be anxious that Nobel Prize week approaches.
September 30, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Imagine being successful enough to actually be anxious that Nobel Prize week approaches.
Nobody knows the answer to the title question, but the analysis is worth reading/listening/skimming.
How not to lose your job to AI
About half of people are worried they'll lose their job to AI. And they're right to be concerned: AI can now complete real-world coding tasks on GitHub, generate photorealistic video, drive a taxi mor...
80000hours.org
September 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Nobody knows the answer to the title question, but the analysis is worth reading/listening/skimming.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
Worse news: there are uncountably many undecidable problems. Computers have been a scam this whole time
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Worse news: there are uncountably many undecidable problems. Computers have been a scam this whole time
Just in case there was any doubt that today's 400m final in Tokyo was insane, here I made a chart with the top 10 times in the last 50 years (excluding 2020).
The 1980s were also insane but for other reasons (95% eastern Europe, 50% M. Koch)
2000-2010 is mostly the formidable Sanya Richards.
The 1980s were also insane but for other reasons (95% eastern Europe, 50% M. Koch)
2000-2010 is mostly the formidable Sanya Richards.
September 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Just in case there was any doubt that today's 400m final in Tokyo was insane, here I made a chart with the top 10 times in the last 50 years (excluding 2020).
The 1980s were also insane but for other reasons (95% eastern Europe, 50% M. Koch)
2000-2010 is mostly the formidable Sanya Richards.
The 1980s were also insane but for other reasons (95% eastern Europe, 50% M. Koch)
2000-2010 is mostly the formidable Sanya Richards.
Reposted by Hernan Bruno
A gentle reminder that it’s not too late now. That was decades ago.
January 6, 2025 at 9:14 PM
A gentle reminder that it’s not too late now. That was decades ago.
In case you are an "AI Hater" and want some sources and validation for your beliefs, this is a good link.
For everyone else, it is interesting to see how others feel about AI.
For everyone else, it is interesting to see how others feel about AI.
I Am An AI Hater
I am an AI hater. This is considered rude, but I do not care, because I am a hater.
anthonymoser.github.io
September 1, 2025 at 6:52 AM
In case you are an "AI Hater" and want some sources and validation for your beliefs, this is a good link.
For everyone else, it is interesting to see how others feel about AI.
For everyone else, it is interesting to see how others feel about AI.
" 'Automating a mess yields an automated mess.' Unless an organization reconceptualized its operations, overlaying new technology on these operations accomplished little."
(From 90s bestseller *Reengineering the Corporation*, Hammer and Champy)
(From 90s bestseller *Reengineering the Corporation*, Hammer and Champy)
September 1, 2025 at 6:19 AM
" 'Automating a mess yields an automated mess.' Unless an organization reconceptualized its operations, overlaying new technology on these operations accomplished little."
(From 90s bestseller *Reengineering the Corporation*, Hammer and Champy)
(From 90s bestseller *Reengineering the Corporation*, Hammer and Champy)