Brothers Judd Blog

If two New Hampshire men aren't a match for the Devil, we might as well give the country back to the Indians. -Stephen Vincent Benet (1898-1943)

Technology

Robotics/AI

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERSTATE DEFLATIONARY PRESSURES:

AI Is Radically Democratizing Legal Services (Jack Nicastro and Samuel Crombie, 8/05/25, Fusion)


Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to leave no corner of American society unaltered, and the legal system is no exception. Dr. Bateman believes AI will birth an inequitable and disorderly justice system. On the contrary, we believe AI is positioned to be an ultimate equalizer of justice.

AI is cheap and fast intelligence; intelligence facilitates truth-seeking, and it is truth-seeking that is the primary function of our courts. Bateman fears that AI adoption will be an ultimatum for the rule of law, or an epistemic weapon of mass destruction. We believe it is functionally identical to previous technologies adopted by courts to improve the truth-seeking process.

AI is a broad term for a broad set of technologies. U.S. courts are similarly decentralized in structure and diverse in function. Through his piece, Bateman conflates distinct parts of the justice system (impact statements, evidence rules, representation) and distinct AI technologies (chatbots, deepfakes, audio cloning) with one another. In our response, we clarify the different forms of courtroom AI and consider the unique operating procedures and rules of different parts of the legal system.

In explaining how AI could be used and in what contexts, we challenge his assertions that it will weaken the foundations of our justice system. Bateman envisages a world where legal criterion and judicial precedent evaporates, while agents of the court cease to operate rationally. Through the examples he offers, Bateman fundamentally misinterprets the court’s present frustrations, e.g., a victim impact statement made with prejudice, an unlicensed attorney practicing law, the introduction of falsified evidence, &c., as essential to AI. They are not. 

We confront his conclusion that AI is outpacing prudence and reach the conclusion that it is luddism that is imprudent. AI is nothing more than a tool. An auditable, increasingly interpretable, unprecedentedly powerful tool for ascertaining and evaluating the truth. Judges, juries, public defenders, court clerks, self-representing defendants, expert witnesses, and mediators all stand to benefit from AI.
Technology

SO, NOT JUST SHOWER CURTAIN RINGS?:

3D printing set to slash nuclear plant build times & costs (David Szondy, August 04, 2025, New Atlas)

As part of the Generation IV Hermes Low-Power Demonstration Reactor project being built at the Oak Ridge campus in Tennessee in partnership with Kairos Power, MDF is testing the use of 3D-printed polymer forms to build the thick concrete bioshield used to contain the reactor vessel and isolate it from the outside environment. These forms are assembled around networks of steel rebar and concrete then poured into the mold.

According to Oak Ridge, the new polymer forms are fast to produce and can be reused as required. In addition, they are more precise than conventional steel or wooden molds, can be configured into complex shapes, and allow for more precise formations. This allows complex structures to be assembled onsite in a matter of days rather than weeks. In addition, reusable polymer molds can reduce the amount of timber needed for plant construction by 75%.

Always fun when the Luddites tell you AI or renewable energy has been transformative…yet.

Health

TO PARAPHRASE YOGI: 90% OF HEALTH IS HALF MENTAL

The Mere Sight of Someone Sick Triggers an Immune Response, Study Suggests: Researchers equipped study participants with virtual reality headsets and observed how their brains and immune systems reacted to avatars with signs of illness (Sara Hashemi, July 31, 2025, Smithsonian)

The study is “unique in demonstrating that people’s immune system can be primed just by the visual recognition that someone looks sick,” Irwin adds to Simon Makin at Science News. “That’s really remarkable.”

Or un.

Health Identitarianism

WHAT’S A SINOPHOBE TO DO?:

How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic (Robert Garry, Edward C Holmes, Andrew Rambaut, Kristian G. Andersen, 7/29/25, The Conversation)


In the five years since our Nature Medicine paper, a substantial body of new evidence has emerged that has deepened our understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 most likely emerged through a natural spillover.

In early 2020, the case for a zoonotic origin was already compelling. Much-discussed features of the virus are found in related coronaviruses and carry signatures of natural evolution. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 showed no signs of laboratory manipulation.

The multi-billion-dollar wildlife trade and fur farming industry in China regularly moves high-risk animals, frequently infected with viruses, into dense urban centres.

It’s believed that SARS-CoV-1, the virus responsible for the SARS outbreak, emerged this way in 2002 in China’s Guangdong province.

Similarly, detailed analyses of epidemiological data show the earliest known COVID cases clustered around the Huanan live-animal market in Wuhan, in the Hubei province, in December 2019.

Multiple independent data sources, including early hospitalisations, excess pneumonia deaths, antibody studies and infections among health-care workers indicate COVID first spread in the district where the market is located.

In a 2022 study we and other experts showed that environmental samples positive for SARS-CoV-2 clustered in the section of the market where wildlife was sold.

In a 2024 follow-up study we demonstrated those same samples contained genetic material from susceptible animals – including raccoon dogs and civets – on cages, carts, and other surfaces used to hold and transport them.

This doesn’t prove infected animals were the source. But it’s precisely what we would expect if the market was where the virus first spilled over. And it’s contrary to what would be expected from a lab leak.

These and all other independent lines of evidence point to the Huanan market as the early epicentre of the COVID pandemic.

Energy

A BIG BUSINESS SUBSIDY IN A GREEN DRESS:

How Big Agriculture Mislead the Public About the Benefits of Biofuels: Michael Grunwald on the Cascading Impact of Ethanol Production on Climate Change (Michael Grunwald, July 21, 2025, LitHub)

Searchinger’s spidey-sense kept tingling, though. His father, another question-everything guy, liked to quote H. L. Mencken: “For every complex human problem, there’s a solution that’s clear, simple and wrong.” That’s what ethanol felt like. And the more he thought about the study, the less he understood its conclusions.

Yes, corn soaked up carbon as it grew. But it soaked up just as much carbon whether it was grown for fuel or food! Why would growing corn for ethanol and burning it in an engine be any climate-friendlier than growing that same corn for food and burning an equivalent amount of gasoline in an engine? The carbon absorbed in the field wouldn’t change; neither would the carbon emitted from the car. If the only difference was that producing ethanol emitted much more carbon than producing gasoline, where were ethanol’s benefits?

That led back to his original concern: If more corn was diverted from food to fuel, how would the lost food be replaced? Presumably, Midwest farmers would plant more corn, converting more wetlands into farmland that would get blasted with more chemicals. Again, he wasn’t focused on the climate impact, just the environmental impact of losing habitat and increasing pollution. But he had a hunch the Argonne researchers and their spiffy analytical tools were also understating the climate costs of using grain to fuel our cars instead of ourselves.

Health

A RANGE OF PLACEBOES:

64 widely available “mood-boosting” supplements are put to the test (Bronwyn Thompson, July 14, 2025, New Atlas)

The most comprehensively studied products were omega-3s (39 trials), St John’s wort (38), prebiotics (18) and vitamin D (14) – as well as saffron (18), which is popular in the Middle East and Asia.

As far as relieving depression symptoms, there was little conclusive evidence that omega-3 supplements had any impact; the scientists found more studies produced no effects than those that showed some, compared to a placebo. In 2021, we covered one such study that failed to show omega-3 supplements played any role in treating depression.

St John’s wort and saffron had the strongest positive outcomes, with studies showing these two distinct supplements worked, compared to a placebo, and were on par with existing prescription antidepressants. And gut-health probiotics, as well as vitamin D, reduced depressive symptoms to some degree in their respective controlled trials.

But overall, the researchers found a distinct lack of multiple trials for many emerging OTC products, which shows how far the science is lagging behind as the wellbeing supplements market continues to grow. More than 40 of the 64 products had only a single clinical study completed on them to date.

Do whatever you believe will work.

Health

ALL IN YOUR HEAD:

Five Psychological Tricks You Can Use to Make Yourself Feel Happier: Hack your brain and feel better. (Jeff Somers, July 3, 2025, Life Hacker)

For a quick mood booster, try the One Minute Rule: Identify tasks and chores that you can accomplish in one minute or less. These will be simple things, like putting something away, responding to a text, or packing up an item to return. Because these tasks are quickly accomplished, they take relatively little effort to engage with—but the sense of accomplishment is often the same as with larger, more complex tasks.

Escape yourself.

Health

ESCAPE YOUR SELF:

Can a Campfire Improve Your Mental Health? Many Therapists Say Yes. (Stephanie Vermillion, 6/30/25, Outside)

Since 2021, Ward has been using the healing benefits of fire to help those struggling with mental health challenges and addiction through his Scotland-based nonprofit, Fire and Peace Recovery. He runs monthly retreats in Scotland’s great outdoors that harness the healing power of campfires. He’s not the only one tapping into fire’s therapeutic effects.

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