Top all-time · #8935
Mike the Mad Biologist
Personal blog · mikethemadbiologist.comsciencehealth
Mike the Mad Biologist is a personal blog at mikethemadbiologist.com about science and health. Since 2011, 9 different Hacker News readers have linked it 10 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-11-02, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (4) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for its arguments on suburban costs, such as the cost of maintaining a mile of road or sewer and the fiscal sustainability of suburbs. It is also cited for a re-posted piece that a magazine later pulled.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 4 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Helping idiots who desperately need my assistance by calling them fucking morons since 2004
What Hacker News says?
You’ve got it backwards. It’s the suburbs that are expensive. Think about it: one mile of sewer, one mile of street, supports X people in a suburb, or 50X people in a dense city. Even if the wear costs in the city are double or even four times that, the city comes out way ahead. https://mikethemadbiologist.com/2016/11/10/meanwhile-u-s-sub...
Comment linking /2016/11/10/meanwhile-u-s-suburbs-are-still-fiscally-unsustainable/
on “Remote work is reshaping San Francisco, as tech workers flee and rents fall”Submitted Deferred in the ‘Burbs as a story · 19 points
HN discussion> I think what the author misses is the large institutional structure that restricts the supply of experts and (as a result) enhances their prestige. These days, with the growing availability of technical information, existing systems of licensure, credentialing, and professionalization are breeding resentment on both sides of the lectern. I don't think you're correct. Ph.D.s are being produced at a 10:1 ratio relat…
Comment linking /2013/02/01/the-overproduction-of-phds-was-recognized-over-a-decade-ago/
on “The Death Of Expertise”Submitted Plasmid-Borne Colistin Resistance Has Jumped Species and Maybe Hemispheres as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis reminds me of a blog post about the unsustainability of suburbs — https://mikethemadbiologist.com/2017/03/20/the-fiscal-unsust... Even if this $1.5m figure is wildly inflated, calculate how few people live on a given mile in the suburbs, a conservative estimate on how much it costs to maintain a road, and the numbers just don't add up. The suburbs were a ponzi scheme and the bottom is about to fall out.
Comment linking /2017/03/20/the-fiscal-unsustainability-of-sprawl/
on “How Much Does a Mile of Road Cost?”Submitted Two Prosaic Reasons for Small(er) Protests in the U.S.: Transit and Geography as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThey are apologizing for pulling the piece re-posted here: http://mikethemadbiologist.com/2013/10/12/want-to-know-what-...
Comment linking /2013/10/12/want-to-know-what-privilege-looks-like-the-tell-someone-no-get-called-a-whore-edition/
on “A Message from Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief”Submitted Last Line of Antimicrobial Defense Is Falling: Colistin Resistance Transmission as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Tightening Security Without Any Discussion as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted ‘Pox Parties’ and Bioterrorism as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
