On this science update on the Local Maximum, we discuss the possibility of life in the atmosphere of Venus, as well as a surprising finding about Viking genetics.

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Today’s show features callers and emails from the Local Maximum Audience. One listenered learned about Bayesian inference and published a manuscript on Bayes Rule applied to Covid-19 Testing. Another listener introduced me to a topological approach to representing numbers in computer science. A third listener had some point to make on the Electoral College.

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In today’s episode, Max talks about why election predictions that veer too far off from 50% and have high variance over time carry little weight. We learn several arguments why, plus we learn about the idea of a probability martingale. Also, it’s been 25 years since the introduction of Windows 95. Why is that interesting and what does it say about the nature of human computer interaction and tech marketing.

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Today’s Local Maximum continues the discussion of the difference statistical models, and the knowledge needed to understand something like language. Also - can AI be used to extend our memory, and discussion of an op-ed that disputes the remote work trend.

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Max talks about current tech news, including openAI's GPT-3, and wrapping our heads around natural language understanding.

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What is topology, and could there be an application in AI?

Max and Aaron use common language to talk about a field of mathematics known as topology, and an interesting subfield of that known as pointless topology. They end with knot theory and meticulous predictions.

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Rob Bernstein (@robbiethefire) - standup comedian and host of the Run Your Mouth podcast - joins the Local Maximum. The conversation with Max covers podcasting, comedy during the pandemic, his ongoing summer porch tour, New York City, and the presidential election.

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Today’s guest is Jeff Meyerson, host of the Software Engineering Daily Podcast. Max and Jeff talk about his talk last year “You are not a commodity” to software engineers, the assembly line mentality, remote work, and podcasting in general.

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Today's discussion centers around the difficulty in pursuing truth, knowledge, and engineering feats in an age of hyper-politics. Max and Aaron start with Lawrence Krauss's article in the Wall Street Journal on "The Ideological Corruption of Science", then move into whether it's possible to remain apolitical, and considering the ethical implications of research. Finally, they give an update on "Fake Faces" and how they are being used to push slanted news articles.

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Max talks to João Graça, CTO of multilingual translation platform Unbabel to talk about the past, present, and future of translation technology and the role of machine learning.

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