{"id":8047,"date":"2026-10-30T19:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T02:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=8047"},"modified":"2026-10-30T19:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T02:20:20","slug":"tgfi-volume-578-coral-restoration-and-a-new-dwarf-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/10\/30\/tgfi-volume-578-coral-restoration-and-a-new-dwarf-planet","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 578: coral restoration and a new dwarf planet?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a> You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues like\u00adly to be of inter\u00adest to Chris\u00adtians in col\u00adlege. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions, so if you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass it my way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stanforddaily.com\/2026\/10\/29\/stanford-scientists-bleached-coral\/\">Stan\u00adford sci\u00aden\u00adtists find solu\u00adtion to reverse coral bleach\u00ading<\/a> (Abi\u00adgail Chan, Stan\u00adford Dai\u00adly): \u201cThe team, led by third-year Ph.D. can\u00addi\u00addate Dan\u00adny Collins, dis\u00adcov\u00adered that bleached corals could make a com\u00adplete recov\u00adery when paired with a healthy coun\u00adter\u00adpart. The team pub\u00adlished their recent find\u00adings in \u2018Sci\u00adence Advances.\u2019&nbsp;\u201d (rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded by a stu\u00addent)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.opb.org\/article\/2026\/10\/23\/bend-oregon-kaylub-giamanco-silver-rail-elementary-school-shooting\/\">\u2018I\u2019m just a car\u00adpen\u00adter from Bend\u2019: Father who killed Sil\u00adver Rail school shoot\u00ader grap\u00adples with the after\u00admath<\/a> (Emi\u00adly Cure\u00adton Cook &amp; Jen Baires, Ore\u00adgon Pub\u00adlic Broad\u00adcast\u00ading): \u201cThat\u2019s when I start\u00aded hear\u00ading chil\u00addren plead\u00ading for their lives and then I start\u00aded hear\u00ading gun\u00adfire and I just start\u00aded army crawl\u00ading faster and faster and I told myself this is prob\u00ada\u00adbly the last thing that I\u2019m ever going to do.\u201d \u2014 This sto\u00adry is wild.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8NIwXWwKOpw\">New Dwarf Plan\u00adet Hid\u00ading in Our Solar Sys\u00adtem?<\/a> (NOVA, PBS) \u2014 sev\u00aden min\u00adutes of absolute cool\u00adness. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.astralcodexten.com\/p\/my-california-ballot-2026\">My Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia Bal\u00adlot, 2026<\/a> (Scott Alexan\u00adder, Astral Codex Ten): \u201cAs effec\u00adtive altru\u00adists, we are called to care for all crea\u00adtures, from slimy shrimp to bod\u00adi\u00adless AIs, and so we may \u2014 per\u00adhaps \u2014 try to cul\u00adti\u00advate a tiny mea\u00adsure of com\u00adpas\u00adsion for Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia politi\u00adcians. They face the near-impos\u00adsi\u00adble task of gov\u00adern\u00ading a state whose res\u00adi\u00addents are allowed to kneecap them how\u00adev\u00ader they want through a bonkers bal\u00adlot propo\u00adsi\u00adtion sys\u00adtem. If they try to build hous\u00ades, a thou\u00adsand local NIMBY groups will rise up to thwart them; if they don\u2019t, the vot\u00aders will kick them out for let\u00adting hous\u00ading become unaf\u00adford\u00adable. If they tol\u00ader\u00adate home\u00adless peo\u00adple and crim\u00adi\u00adnals, the vot\u00aders will remove them for fail\u00ading to pri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adtize pub\u00adlic order; if they don\u2019t tol\u00ader\u00adate them, the vot\u00aders will remove them for cru\u00adel\u00adty and unfair\u00adness. Hav\u00ading giv\u00aden them this small mea\u00adsure of sym\u00adpa\u00adthy, we can admit that Cal\u00adi\u00adforn\u00adian politi\u00adcians most\u00adly fail to live up to even the very low base\u00adline we can fair\u00adly expect from them.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I always find Scot\u00adt\u2019s bal\u00adlot analy\u00adsis posts help\u00adful even when I dis\u00adagree with him. High\u00adly rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded if you want to see what it looks like to thought\u00adful\u00adly eval\u00adu\u00adate your options before cast\u00ading a bal\u00adlot. Insert your own val\u00adues over Scot\u00adt\u2019s wher\u00adev\u00ader there is diver\u00adgence, obvi\u00adous\u00adly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI Relat\u00aded\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/emergencemagazine.org\/essay\/benchmarking\/\">Benchma\u00aeking<\/a> (James Bri\u00addle, Emer\u00adgence Mag\u00ada\u00adzine): \u201cWhat we have here is, quite lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly, a chair designed by some\u00adone who has read a lot about chairs but nev\u00ader actu\u00adal\u00adly sat in one. They know what a chair should look like, what it should do, the mechan\u00adics of how one is put togeth\u00ader, the physics of hold\u00ading you up. But they have no embod\u00adied expe\u00adri\u00adence of the world, no his\u00adto\u00adry with chairs or any oth\u00ader object, no phys\u00adi\u00adcal mem\u00ado\u00adry. They don\u2019t know how it feels, not mere\u00adly to sit in a chair, but to encounter one in the world, to place it among oth\u00ader things in a home, to live with it, to be around it every day as one goes about the mun\u00addane busi\u00adness of life. This is the <em>idea<\/em> of a chair brought to life; but things\u2014objects, beings, relationships\u2014are not mere ideas, and you cer\u00adtain\u00adly can\u2019t get every aspect of them from books. The chair is low stakes, but, once again, you wouldn\u2019t want to run a soci\u00adety, or a cul\u00adture, or a plan\u00adet this way.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li> Fair\u00adly fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading in bits, but I con\u00adfess to skim\u00adming parts of it. The author is wordy!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2026\/10\/ai-dominates-human-peer-reviews.html\">AI dom\u00adi\u00adnates human peer reviews<\/a> (Tyler Cowen, Mar\u00adgin\u00adal Rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion): \u201c&nbsp;\u2018We show that AI-gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded arti\u00adcle reviews are now bet\u00adter, by every mea\u00adsure we could con\u00adstruct, than reviews writ\u00adten by well-com\u00adpen\u00adsat\u00aded human experts and judged to be of unusu\u00adal\u00adly high qual\u00adi\u00adty by jour\u00adnal edi\u00adtors and authors. We then dis\u00adcuss how this result may inform jour\u00adnal pol\u00adi\u00adcy choic\u00ades, with con\u00adcern\u00ading down\u00adsides as well as poten\u00adtial paths to increase pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion speed and qual\u00adi\u00adty; reduce adver\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adal inter\u00adac\u00adtions; improve the expe\u00adri\u00adence of edi\u00adtors, review\u00aders, authors, and read\u00aders; and advance sci\u00adence.\u2019 By Gary King and Steven Wor\u00adthing\u00adton, not even using what are now the very best mod\u00adels, rather based on Claude Opus 4.8. The details of the dom\u00adi\u00adnance, as out\u00adlined in the paper, are strik\u00ading. It is not close.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aaronrenn.com\/p\/how-the-mainstream-recruits-for-the-manosphere\">How the Main\u00adstream Recruits for the Manos\u00adphere<\/a> (Aaron Renn, Sub\u00adstack): \u201c[Women blame men for their prob\u00adlems far more than men blame women for theirs.] One of the sig\u00adna\u00adture appeals of the manos\u00adphere is pro\u00advid\u00ading true sta\u00adtis\u00adtics like this rarely men\u00adtioned in main\u00adstream dis\u00adcus\u00adsion. The canon\u00adi\u00adcal case here is the fact that women ini\u00adti\u00adate the vast major\u00adi\u00adty of divorces. But this is anoth\u00ader good exam\u00adple. Harvard\u2019s Steven Pinker has not\u00aded that encoun\u00adter\u00ading true facts that aren\u2019t said in main\u00adstream soci\u00adety is a prime vec\u00adtor of online rad\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adiza\u00adtion.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/danielsilliman.substack.com\/p\/notes-on-a-burning-flagship\">Notes on a Burn\u00ading Flag\u00adship<\/a> (Daniel Sil\u00adli\u00adman, Sub\u00adstack): \u201cRuth Gra\u00adham reports\u2014accurately, I was there, though I\u2019m not the source for this information\u2014that a new leader at <em>Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty Today<\/em> said, a year ago, that CT need\u00aded to be less like Wheaton Col\u00adlege and more like Tik\u00adTok.\u2026 Two younger staffers had been exper\u00adi\u00adment\u00ading with the plat\u00adform, see\u00ading what it could do, how it con\u00adnect\u00aded. They were fig\u00adur\u00ading out how to take, e.g., news reports about evan\u00adgel\u00adi\u00adcals in the UK giv\u00ading up their banks for lent, and turn them into short\u00adform video. What they were doing seemed to have the poten\u00adtial to reach and build new audi\u00adences. It was excit\u00ading. Until sud\u00adden\u00adly word came down from the top that it was shut down. No expla\u00adna\u00adtion. Just end\u00aded. The per\u00adson mak\u00ading Tik\u00adTok videos was laid off right after lead\u00ader\u00adship said CT needs to be more like Tik\u00adTok. So the mes\u00adsage, some\u00adhow, was <em>less like Wheaton, more like Tik\u00adTok, but also no Tik\u00adTok<\/em>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/its-go-time-mormons-prepare-for-one-evening-of-year-when-everyone-will-answer-their-door\">IT\u2019S GO TIME: Mor\u00admons Pre\u00adpare For One Evening Of Year When Every\u00adone Will Answer Their Door<\/a> \u2014 (Baby\u00adlon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stanforddaily.com\/2026\/10\/25\/a-love-letter-to-t-charts\/\">A love let\u00adter to T\u2011charts<\/a> (Sanya Gup\u00adta, Stan\u00adford Dai\u00adly): \u201cI know I wronged you. It was the coin flip. That was the final straw. When I went behind your back and flipped a coin to make my deci\u00adsion, I know that\u2019s what hurt you most. For that I will always be so excep\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly sor\u00adry. You didn\u2019t deserve my infi\u00addeli\u00adty.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar pro\u00adduced shrewd war\u00adriors \u201cwho under\u00adstood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a sim\u00adi\u00adlar way, we need to become wise peo\u00adple whose faith inter\u00adacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may con\u00adtin\u00adue the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chi Alpha is not a par\u00adti\u00adsan orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. To para\u00adphrase anoth\u00ader min\u00adis\u00adter: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agen\u00adda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agen\u00adda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agen\u00adda. Hav\u00ading said that, I read wide\u00adly (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ide\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Tur\u00ading test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fair\u00adly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI dis\u00adagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI under\u00adstand\u201d) and may at times share arti\u00adcles that have a strong par\u00adti\u00adsan bias sim\u00adply because I find the arti\u00adcle stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with every\u00adthing an author says in an arti\u00adcle I men\u00adtion, much less things the author has said in oth\u00ader arti\u00adcles (although if I strong\u00adly dis\u00adagree with some\u00adthing in the arti\u00adcle I\u2019ll usu\u00adal\u00adly men\u00adtion it). And to the extent you can dis\u00adcern my opin\u00adions, please under\u00adstand that they are my own and not nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly those of Chi Alpha or any oth\u00ader orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion I may be per\u00adceived to rep\u00adre\u00adsent.\n\nAlso, remem\u00adber that I\u2019m not report\u00ading news \u2014 I\u2019m giv\u00ading you a selec\u00adtion of things I found inter\u00adest\u00ading. There\u2019s a lot hap\u00adpen\u00ading in the world that\u2019s not mak\u00ading an appear\u00adance here because I haven\u2019t found stim\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading arti\u00adcles writ\u00adten about it.\n\nIf this was for\u00adward\u00aded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Inter\u00adest\u00ading On Fri\u00addays I share articles\/resources about broad cul\u00adtur\u00adal, soci\u00adetal and the\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal issues like\u00adly to be of inter\u00adest to Chris\u00adtians in col\u00adlege. Be sure to see the expla\u00adna\u00adtion and dis\u00adclaimers at the bot\u00adtom. I wel\u00adcome your sug\u00adges\u00adtions, so if you read some\u00adthing fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading please pass \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2026\/10\/30\/tgfi-volume-578-coral-restoration-and-a-new-dwarf-planet\" class=\"more-link\">Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cTGFI, Vol\u00adume 578: coral restora\u00adtion and a new dwarf plan\u00adet?\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"0","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[131,219,251,218,195,117,176],"class_list":["post-8047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-academia","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-astronomy","tag-california","tag-gender","tag-politics","tag-science"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-25N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8048,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8047\/revisions\/8048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}