Visual Cortex, Lidar, Mealworms, Rivers Cuomo, Watermarks -- things I learned this week

We have been moving houses this week so not as much time as I would like to dig into some things but still a few nuggets.

The information passed between the retina and visual cortex is sparse. Most of what we think we are seeing is a construct in the brain.  Fascinating. I am sure this is common knowledge to a lot of people.

Lidar is getting ever cheaper and smaller — Moore’s law is cranking away.  When Lidar is basically free, what all will we do with, what apps will it enable?  I love how our Roborock vacuum uses lidar to create its map.  How else will we use in the home?  How will it affect home security apps?  What games will we create?

Good news, the yellow mealworm is now approved for human consumption. Unless you have prawn or dust mite allergies. Purportedly clear economic and environmental benefits. What will we be commonly eating in 50 years that was previously unthinkable?

Rivers Cuomo is thinking about learning flutter/dart.  I wonder what programming environments the Beatles or Prince or other artists would have chosen.

Audio watermarks – I didn’t realize these existed in Zoom.  I expect there to be a tool in about 30 seconds to strip them or to modify them.