(2/2) New laureates Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi did their pioneering work in the 80's and 90's. Since then, chemists have created some very powerful applications with MOFs. In 2020, I covered a few of them in an article in Wired:
www.wired.com/story/this-c...

(2/n) Enough about science. Let's talk about me. This is a rare opportunity to name drop a physicist I've hung out with and not be met 100% with blank stares. I partied with John Martinis in 2018 on an LA rooftop. The party was weird.

Receipts:

www.wired.com/story/google...

(3/n) And the second: the federal government's chatbots.

gizmodo.com/ai-running-a...

(2/n) The first: A Utah and Arizona-based company that uses generative AI to help people clear their criminal records through the process known as expungement.
gizmodo.com/ai-expunge-p...

(5/n) But these clocks show, in their real-life operation, how time slows down in a gravitational field, as predicted by GR. They tick according based on a principle of quantum mechanics, that electrons can only be located in certain orbitals around atoms.

I freaking love clocks.

(4/n) And here's the reason I'm obsessed with clocks. Fundamental physics can seem so esoteric, so foreign. General relativity and quantum mechanics don't make intuitive sense.

(3/n) In my latest piece, I write about how scientists translate that precision in time to measure elevations on Earth. If you can measure elevation precisely, that means you can build better bridges, canals, and dams. And you can monitor changes in sea level.

(2/n) Clocks are the most precise instruments humans have ever made. The precision isn't just some party trick. If you can measure time precisely, because the speed of light is constant everywhere in the universe—you can measure distances precisely.

(n/n) Companies and governments are also building more natural gas-fired power plants, particularly in the US. (At the same time, they are also building renewable capacity.) This will extend our reliance on fossil fuels.

(2/n) The IEA estimates that 20% of planned data center projects will face delays coming online because of strain on the grid.

My favorite tidbit, because I love to learn about a clever new scam:

"Some operators exploit the sector for subsidized green electricity, obtaining permits to generate and sell power...Instead of using the energy for AI workloads, they resell it back to the grid at a premium."