the lab

Rabbit holes.

The back rooms of the site, where physics, machine learning, and the question of identity turn into things you can touch. Each one is its own little world.

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Quantum & Measurement

Superposition, interference, and what looking does.

01quantum measurementCollapseA site in superposition that resolves only when something conscious observes it.02observer effectThe MirrorThe observer effect, turned around: it watches how you move, then shows you the reflection.03quantumDouble-SlitFire quanta one at a time; they interfere with themselves. Look at which slit, and the fringes die.

Relativity & Gravity

Spacetime, light cones, and curved space.

04general relativityEvent HorizonDrag a black hole and watch it bend the light behind it into a ring.05special relativityWorldlineYour life on a spacetime diagram. Drag to boost the frame; the light cone never moves.06n-body gravityGravityA universe you build by hand. Drop a star, fling one into orbit, watch a galaxy fall out of a cold cloud.

Emergence & Life

Simple rules that decide to become complicated.

07machine learningThe Learning MachineA neural network learning live in your browser. Pick a shape; watch the boundary form.08artificial lifePrimordiaParticles, a few simple rules, an interaction matrix: somehow it decides to become alive.09pattern formationMorphogenesisReaction–diffusion you paint into; one rule, and the spots decide to happen.10emergenceSlime MoldA brainless organism grows a trail network between Munich landmarks - and rediscovers the map.

Thermo & Cosmos

Entropy, scale, chaos, and the long story of the universe.

11scale invarianceRenormalizationScroll from the cosmic web to a quark and back. The same law at every scale.12thermodynamicsHeat DeathPlay Maxwell's demon. Sort the hot from the cold. Order isn't free; you pay in work.13cosmologyFirst LightA cold start for the universe: the Big Bang to now, in fifteen seconds.14chaosDeterminismTwo pendulums, identical to a thousandth of a radian, ending up in different lives.

Geometry & Waves

Shape, dimension, harmonics, and resonance.

15harmonicsFourierDraw any closed shape; a chain of rotating circles redraws it. Any path is a sum of circles.16resonanceCymaticsDrag a frequency; a Chladni plate finds the standing wave in sand, and you hear the tone.17geometryTesseractA four-dimensional cube, rotating in 4D and projected to your screen. A shadow of a higher dimension.18non-Euclidean geometryHyperbolicA plane with too much room. Regular tilings flat space forbids, in the Poincaré disk - drag to walk where the edge is infinitely far.

The City

Munich, the place the rest of it happens in.

19the cityMunichThe U-Bahn I actually live on: the full network, as a map you can plan a real journey on.

psst · there's ambient sound in the corner, and the homepage is in superposition on a first visit