A curiosity project · nothing tracked, nothing stored

STEM, explained to the curious.

What this is

STEM, explained to the curious. One idea at a time — what it is, why it matters, then the explanation itself, pitched at a smart newcomer rather than a specialist. Every piece is written in our own words, drawn by us, and linked to the source it came from, so you can check the working.

100 published, newest № 111 — with 3 more already read and waiting their turn. No accounts, no tracking, no feed.

Science 25

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Technology 25

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Engineering 25

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Math 25

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Start here

Our pick of where to begin. This becomes “most read” the day there is something counting; until then we are not going to claim numbers we do not have.

  1. № 01 Why adding noise can create images Denoising diffusion · Technology · 2:28 A network is never asked to imagine a cat from nothing. It is asked, thousands of times, to remove a tiny amount of grain — a job so easy it can be mediocre at every step and still excellent at all of them.
  2. № 13 Why there is no largest prime Infinitude of primes · Math · 1:34 Whatever list of primes you hold, there is always one missing from it — and the proof is 2,300 years old and still the template for the trick.
  3. № 17 The Monty Hall problem Math · 1:48 Swapping wins twice as often as staying — because the host is not giving you information, he is telling you which door he could not open.
  4. № 21 The four-colour theorem Math · 2:18 Four colours always suffice and three sometimes do not — the first major theorem proved by a machine, and the argument over whether that counts.
  5. № 22 Benford's law: why 1 leads Benford's law · Math · 2:26 In real-world data 1 leads about 30% of the time. Multiply everything by any constant you like; the pattern will not budge.

Ask for a topic

Every piece here started as something one of us could not stop wondering about. If there is something you want taken apart, say so — the queue is not closed.