iluli by Mike Lamb
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iluliexplains.bsky.social
iluli by Mike Lamb
@iluliexplains.bsky.social
Explaining the ideas and innovations changing our lives.
Webby Award-winning YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@iluliexplains
Instead of bold New Year's resolutions that fizzle out by February, why not make 2026 the year of "Tiny Experiments"?

Watch our latest video, inspired by @neuranne.bsky.social's book, to see how thinking smaller can unlock big progress:

youtu.be/UkC9d1vfB5g

#NewYearsResolution #NewYearNewYou
Why Big Goals Fail (And What to Do Instead)
YouTube video by iluli by Mike Lamb
youtu.be
January 1, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Advent is in 10 days (!)🎄and somehow we’ve gone from peeling back cardboard windows to building miniature DeLoreans. We’ve rounded up a few of the more unusual #adventcalendars for 2025 – science kits, coding challenges and retro throwbacks aplenty…

www.iluli.eu/post/unusual...
Unusual Advent Calendars for 2025
You know how it is: one minute you’re bemoaning how early the festive ads appear “these days”; the next you’re sprinting through town on Christmas Eve, battling sub-zero temperatures and praying that ...
www.iluli.eu
November 20, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Today marks 70 YEARS since Doc Brown slipped, hit his head, and dreamt up the flux capacitor.

But does the science stack up? Could Einstein, wormholes and a splash of exotic matter actually get us back to 1955? ⚡️

Time to find out 👉 www.iluli.eu/post/great-scott-70-years-of-the-flux-capacitor
Great Scott! 70 Years of the Flux Capacitor
Here's a red-letter date in the history of science: November 5th, 1955. Yes! Of course! November 5th, 1955! That was the day I invented time travel. I remember it vividly. I was standing on the edge o...
www.iluli.eu
November 5, 2025 at 10:45 PM
If ChatGPT is doing the thinking, are we doing any learning? 🤔

The latest iluli newsletter explores how AI could revolutionise education – and why school might never look the same again.

iluli.substack.com/p/how-to-lea...

#education #ai #school #futureoflearning
How to Learn in the Age of AI
Is this the end of school as we know it?
iluli.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Think you’d thrive on The Traitors? 🤔

Science suggests it’s tougher than it seems... Find out why 👇

www.iluli.eu/post/the-tru...

#celebritytraitors
The True Cost of Being a “Traitor”
One week ago, more than six million of us tuned into The Celebrity Traitors (UK) – and haven’t stopped talking about it since! Starring a raft of bona fide household names – a rarity for “celebrity” e...
www.iluli.eu
October 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
“Superforecasters” have proven there is a science to predicting the future 👀🔮

The latest iluli video explores:

❌ Why predictions fail
📈 How the Good Judgment Project changed the game
✅ Habits to think like a superforecaster

Ready to level up your foresight? Watch now 👇

youtu.be/W9sFZkYqvLo
How Amateurs Outsmarted the Intelligence Agencies: The Science of Superforecasters
YouTube video by iluli by Mike Lamb
youtu.be
September 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM
⚡️ Romans used electric fish to cure headaches.

⚡️ Nikola Tesla believed electrified classrooms would make children smarter.

⚡️ Today brain-zapping headsets are being used to treat depression.

📖 Exploring the strange history and promising future of neurostimulation: open.substack.com/pub/iluli/p/...
Electric Minds
How neurostimulation could transform mental health (and maybe even make us smarter)
open.substack.com
August 22, 2025 at 12:28 PM
🧦 Bluetooth socks

🥶 Smart fridges

🚨 Predictive policing

💸 Faulty welfare algorithms

There’s a tech "solution" for virtually everything. But do they always help?

The latest iluli newsletter explores what happens when solutions create new problems.

open.substack.com/pub/iluli/p/...
Can technology fix everything?
Maybe there’s not always “an app for that”...
open.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Would you use electricity to improve your brain?

Neurostimulation devices are helping to treat depression, anxiety and more. There’s now evidence they can boost cognitive performance too.

Should we be excited? Or worried? This month’s iluli video takes a look: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6C...
Boost Your Brain With… Electricity? ⚡️🧠
YouTube video by iluli by Mike Lamb
www.youtube.com
August 10, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Should you trust your gut instinct?

Intuition can be incredibly powerful. But it can also mislead us. In the latest iluli newsletter, we explore:

✨ Life-saving hunches

🧠 Fast vs slow thinking

⚠️ Biases and blind spots

✔️ A checklist for better decisions

open.substack.com/pub/iluli/p/...
When to Trust Your Gut (and When to Ignore It)
The science-backed guide to smarter intuition
open.substack.com
July 25, 2025 at 11:49 AM
🌌 A telescope that can spot a golf ball on the Moon.
📸 Images so detailed, you'd need 400 Ultra HD TVs to see just one.

@vrubinobs.bsky.social just dropped its first images – and they're stunning. But who was Vera Rubin? And why does dark matter... matter?

🔗 substack.com/home/post/p-...
How Vera Rubin Transformed Astronomy
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has just unveiled the most detailed view of the universe ever seen
substack.com
June 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
In 2024, Sonos rolled out an app update that broke multi-room sound systems – a textbook product fail.

The latest iluli blog unpacks what went wrong, and how four key lessons from Inspired by @martycagan.bsky.social could have helped avoid it.

www.iluli.eu/post/inspire...

#tech #sonos #blog
Inspired Thinking: What Sonos Got Wrong
How often have you come across a terrible piece of technology and wondered how it ever made it past the drawing board? Buttons in weird places. Features you’ll never use. Options you need but can’t fi...
www.iluli.eu
June 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
🦖 Jurassic Park? Not happening.
🦣 A gene-edited woolly mammoth? Maybe...
🦤 A dodo comeback? It’s being worked on.

Dive into the wild world of de-extinction:
www.iluli.eu/post/can-we-...

#science #deextinction #colossal
Can We Build Jurassic Park Yet?
More than thirty years ago, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park captivated audiences with its amber-encased DNA, lab-grown dinosaurs, and a franchise so enduring even Dr. Ian “life, uh… finds a way” Malc...
www.iluli.eu
June 16, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Can a fake be just as good as the real thing? 🤔 When it comes to medicine, the placebo effect says... maybe.

Watch the explainer to find out more 👇
youtu.be/tiGRfr66TjI

#placebo #medicalmystery
The Placebo Paradox: When Fake Medicine Works 💊
YouTube video by iluli by Mike Lamb
youtu.be
June 1, 2025 at 12:39 PM
🎯 Are you chasing rewards – or driven by something deeper?

In his bestselling book Drive, Daniel Pink challenges old ideas about what truly motivates us. Spoiler: it’s not about carrots and sticks.

Find out more in my latest blog: iluli.eu/post/stick-y...

#Purpose #Motivation
Stick Your Carrots: Why Purpose Beats Perks
Back in the days of cavemen, motivation was as primal as it gets: eat, drink, mate – and try not to get trampled by a woolly mammoth.Jump ahead to the Industrial Revolution, and things changed. Work b...
www.iluli.eu
May 30, 2025 at 7:49 AM
🌍 More GDP. More growth. More… problems?

Trees don’t carry on growing forever. What if economies shouldn’t either?


The latest iluli Substack newsletter dives into Degrowth - the radical idea to overhaul economics and save the planet.

📰 open.substack.com/pub/iluli/p/...
The Radical Idea That Might Just Work
Could ending economic growth save the planet? 🌍
open.substack.com
April 26, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Most of us tell white lies. But what happens when dishonesty hits science? 🧪

In the superconductor sphere, the pressure to deliver breakthroughs has sparked a cycle of hype and hoaxes.

What’s driving the desperation? And how could a real superconductor change the world?

🎥 youtu.be/MIhG_mtl02k
April 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
What do the most successful people have in common? Is it talent? Hard work? Or luck?

The new iluli newsletter explores the real formula for success — and reveals what science can tell us about how to improve our own luck.

✨ Free to read here: iluli.substack.com/p/how-to-be-...
How to Be Lucky
Taylor Swift, Bill Gates, The Beatles… are the most successful people just lucky?
iluli.substack.com
March 28, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Happy 146th birthday to Albert Einstein! 🎉

His theory of special relativity says time slows down if you move incredibly fast. But forget 88 mph – you’d need near-light-speed to travel into the future!

#factoftheday #didyouknow #timetravel
March 14, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The coldest temperature ever recorded at ground level on Earth was -89.2°C in 1983 at the high-altitude Vostok weather station in Antarctica. Brrrr 🥶

#factoftheday #didyouknow
March 13, 2025 at 8:35 PM
It was sent on 3rd December by Neil Papworth, a 22-year-old British software programmer commissioned by Vodafone to develop a Short Message Service (SMS). Nokia introduced a phone with SMS functionality the following year.

#factoftheday #didyouknow
March 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Taste buds detect five basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami – a savoury flavour often associated with monosodium glutamate 👅

#factoftheday #sciencefact
March 11, 2025 at 10:01 PM
What makes a healthy diet? It often seems to depend on who you ask.

🥚 Eggs = protein powerhouse or cholesterol nightmare
☕ Coffee = brain boost or cognitive risk

The new iluli newsletter explores whether personalised nutrition might be the answer open.substack.com/pub/iluli/p/...
Why Nutritional Science is So Confusing
Will personalised nutrition finally free us from fad diets and bad advice?
open.substack.com
March 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
This is causing Earth's rotation to very gradually slow down. As a result, our days are getting roughly 1.09 milliseconds longer each century. 🌎🌕

#factoftheday #didyouknow
March 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Astronauts tend to return from space missions 3% taller than when they left. This is because of the effect of microgravity on their spines.

#factoftheday #didyouknow #space
March 4, 2025 at 5:39 PM