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Wildfires claimed 50 Californians in 2020—but the smoke from them killed over a thousand, according to a new Stanford study
Imagine the flames of a wildfire consuming your home. It’s a horrifying thought, and you’ve probably purchased fire insurance, signed up for emergency alerts, created a “go bag,” and made an evacuation plan in order to address the direct risk of fires. (Right?)
All those steps are important. But the biggest risk from California’s wildfires, it turns out, isn’t the fires themselves. It’s the smoke.
That’s according to emerging research from Stanford University, which looks at wildfires in California from a variety of angles. …
A young entrepreneur runs for student body president, and it couldn’t be more painful to watch
During my junior year of college, I unwittingly became the assistant campaign manager for Stanford’s foremost megalomaniac. He was running for student-body president, and I was mostly going along with it. I did it because I was friends with his running mate and bad at saying no. Also, all my friends were studying abroad! Also, he was reasonably attractive.
The candidate (let’s call him Ben) wasn’t hard to mock. He was verbose and obsessed with his own personal brand. For example, earlier that year, he’d published a 40-page life plan and promoted it on social media. He also stated publicly…
A primer for the name that’s become synonymous with tech
By Alyssa Oursler
The name “Silicon Valley” has become a stand-in for anything and everything tech. It’s synonymous with start-up culture, a symbol of disruption and innovation, and even the title of a hilarious TV show. But the high-tech phrase comes with an old-school origin story.
It all started as a catchy newspaper headline. Forty-five years ago, the nickname “Silicon Valley” first appeared in print as the title of an article about the semiconductor industry, which was then booming in Santa Clara Valley. Written by Don Hoefler, the article appeared in the weekly tech tabloid Electronic News. …
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