14 MAR 2026

Day 73

A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents, but rather because its opponents eventually die.

Max Planck · Scientific Autobiography

A fragmentary clay tablet with a circular diagram incised on its surface, showing a disc divided by lines and surrounded by a double ring, with triangular projections extending outward from the ring. Cuneiform inscriptions label features within and around the circle.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

The Babylonian Map of the World

Babylonian · 6th century BC · Clay

The oldest known world map shows Babylon at the centre of a disc surrounded by bitter water, with triangular regions jutting beyond — places named in a lost inscription.

Enter lesson 6 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Architectural Limits

Reasoning and architecture · Provable depth limitations · Merrill et al., Dziri et al.

A transformer with twelve layers will never learn to do certain tasks perfectly, even given infinite data. The depth itself is the ceiling, and we can prove it.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

Sandstone temple exterior with multiple horizontal bands of high-relief sculpture. Figures of gods, dancers, and humans in various poses cover the wall, carved nearly free of the stone.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

The Sculpture of Khajuraho

Chandela dynasty · 885–1000 CE · Sandstone

Khajuraho's temples carry thousands of carvings. About one in ten depicts sexual activity. The rest show processions, musicians, hunters, dancers, deities and daily life — a complete carved world.

Enter lesson 7 MIN