A trebuchet, and a great magic trick.

29th June 2026

Hello! To everyone in Europe, I hope you've been coping okay with the heatwave; good luck, maybe you be able to find air conditioning. So if you are staying indoors, here's some good stuff on the internet:

We start with everything I've been part of this week! First up, over on Nebula: I launched the Mighty Trebuchet! The exclamation mark is part of the video title. Marc, the Trebuchet Master, was effortlessly knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and hope the joy of the day comes across on camera.

And if you haven't seen last week's Nebula episode, it's now on YouTube: I got hit in the teeth with 900-year-old antlers. Sometimes, the title of the video writes itself.

Over on the Technical Difficulties: does the sun make men more hungry? Maybe, or maybe not: because One Of These People Is Lying.

And, of course, this week's Lateral, where Charlotte Yeung, Iszi Lawrence and Ólafur Waage face questions about Latin lingo, legal leniency and gaming grass.

Right, onwards to what other people have published this week! As ever, if you see something that might fit anywhere in this newsletter, please do hit reply and tell me about it.

Simon Clark asks: why are people reinventing the sail? This is a thorough video that includes interviews with folks developing the sails, and also 3D-printed demonstrations... some of which actually work!
80,000 Hours -- who, as a disclaimer, sponsored me a few years ago -- have pivoted almost entirely to talking about AI safety in a way that is either entirely appropriate or ridiculously overblown, depending on your view of AGI, artificial general intelligence. With that caveat in mind: their video telling the story of Sam Altman's brief firing, and rehiring, as the head of OpenAI is a masterpiece of production design and storytelling. Even if the subject isn't for you, it's worth watching for the sheer style. Unlike most videos, the host is not the writer -- although he does have an 'additional writing' credit, so my guess is he tweaked the script into his speaking style in places. Writing and presenting are two very separate skills, even though smaller creators generally have to be good at both! And instead of motion graphics, there are custom-made physical props and multiple camera angles, including shots with what might be a probe lens. This is an example of a well-funded organisation putting out something with incredibly high production values that somehow still "feels" like YouTube -- and standing out in a sea of uninformed commentary on the same subject. (Thanks to Pierre for the suggestion.)
"Marauding cockatoos thwarted by bin lid invented by men's shed". Australian animal news, encapsulated in a wonderful two-minute news report from the ABC.

Away from the world of video, then!

If this paper is right, then emission-charging schemes in London dropped emergency hospital visits in London by several percent.
In memory of the man who put red and green squiggles under words.
The Unofficial Football World Championships are a reframing of international soccer as a boxing-style winner-stays-on knockout: an alternate reality where, just for a little while, Kosovo can be the champions of the world.

And finally, on TikTok: the Offshore Magician performs the classic cups and balls trick. (Strong language; alternate link for desktop.) There's something wonderful about staging such a classic trick with whatever objects happen to be around.

All the best,

— Tom

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