1. Maelstrom by Peter Watts. Maelstrom is the second book in the Rifters series, continuing the story of Lennie Clark, a deeply psychotic woman, part machine, who is the unwitting victim of psychological manipulation and a plague-carrier. As always, Watts’ writing is packed with scifi explorations and philosophic concepts. “Volition’s subconscious; the command is halfway down the arm before the little man behind your eyes even decides to move. Executive summaries, after the fact, Desjardins thought. That’s all we get. That’s free will for you.”
  2. How Music Heals Us, Even When It’s Sad – By a Neuroscientist Leading a New Study of Musical Therapy by Leigh Riby for The Conversation.
  3. Germany Approves Financial Reforms to Help its Tech Industry Compete with Silicon Valley by Ryan Browne for CNBC. A game changer for the German startup world. Taxation of options will now be at the point of sale, so employees aren’t punished for taking the chance on a startup.
  4. The Devices That Will Read Your Brain—and Enhance It by Daniela Hernandez for The Wall Street Journal. Implantable and non-invasive brain computer interfaces promise to help with ailments and lack of productivity.
  5. ML Papers Explained A collection of key papers in the machine learning world.
  6. User Experience of Older People While Using Digital Health Technologies: A Systematic Review by Takano et al. (2023). A systematic review of questionnaires used to assess the user experience (UX) of older individuals (aged ≥65) with digital health technologies, highlighting the System Usability Scale (SUS) as the most effective tool.
  7. How to Design Better User Experiences for Physicians by Jean Kaluza. About the role of UX design in enhancing the efficiency and experience of physicians in the US healthcare system, addressing challenges like paperwork, burnout, and system inefficiencies with innovative digital solutions.