You are definitely going to learn something in today’s edition of the newsletter. Whether it is the shady behavior of AI companies, how scientists are recreating history’s greatest smells, or the truth about neuroplasticity, there is something interesting for everyone.

Happy reading,

Brett

Anthropic launched "Project Panama" in early 2024 to acquire and scan millions of physical books for AI training, spending tens of millions to buy titles, slice off their spines, digitize the pages, and recycle the remains. Court documents from a copyright lawsuit reveal the company hired a Google Books veteran and purchased books in bulk from retailers like Better World Books before sending them to scanning facilities equipped with hydraulic cutters. The operation aimed to teach AI models quality writing rather than "low quality internet speak." While a judge ruled AI training qualifies as "fair use," Anthropic settled for $1.5 billion over its earlier practice of downloading pirated books from shadow libraries like LibGen.

The filings show Meta and OpenAI pursued similar strategies, with Meta employees expressing discomfort about torrenting copyrighted material from corporate laptops. Internal communications reveal executives approved these practices despite legal concerns, sometimes using third-party servers to avoid detection.

Read here, free for LBR Readers.

Scientists are reconstructing historical smells using chemistry and archival analysis, from ancient Egyptian mummies to Victorian-era paintings. Researchers at University College London captured the scent of St. Paul's Cathedral library by analyzing volatile compounds through gas chromatography, combining chemical data with human descriptions like "woody" and "vanilla" to create reproducible scent recipes. A 2025 study examined nine Egyptian mummies, identifying embalming ingredients including frankincense and cinnamon alongside modern museum pesticides; the team plans to create a "mummy perfume" for Cairo's Egyptian Museum. The European Odeuropa project built an AI database mining 2.5 million smell references from historical texts and images to recreate scents like the Battle of Waterloo and 17th-century Amsterdam canals. Museums find that scent exhibits dramatically increase visitor engagement; when Madrid's Prado added smells to a Bruegel painting, viewers lingered 13 minutes versus the typical 32 seconds, sparking conversations about memories and shared olfactory experiences.

Read here.

A Tufts graduate describes moving into a chaotic Somerville communal house after Tracy Chapman vacated it, where a dozen misfits navigated post-college uncertainty through shared rent, bathroom journals, and endless yearning. The three-story half-house became infamous for Chapman's "Behind the Wall," inspired by domestic violence she heard through thin plaster walls. Residents rotated through rooms, arguing over thermostats, practicing primal-scream therapy, and debating menstrual cups while a cat named Misha battled pit bulls outside. Chapman had found the place in 1985, stood on a milk crate to peer through windows, and built a six-sided communal table before busking in Harvard Square during Thanksgiving break. After her 1988 album hit number one, fame plucked her away like a stork through the roof. The author stayed two years, sleeping on a street mattress, working at Harvard, getting fired from a bookstore, and eventually abandoning writing for graduate school while housemates scattered to ashrams, medical schools, and Europe.

Read here. May be paywalled.

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The metaphor of "rewiring" the brain oversimplifies neuroplasticity, treating biological change like swapping circuit components when actual neural adaptation is slow, conditional, and incomplete. While stroke patients can regain function and singers overcome stutters by recruiting alternative pathways, these changes represent detours rather than restored original routes.

Neuroplasticity operates through gradual synaptic strengthening, dendritic growth, and network shifts requiring sustained effort across months or years, not quick fixes promised by apps and self-help programs. The brain resembles a forest where paths wear and fade with use, not a circuit board undergoing precision repairs. Research confirms plasticity exists throughout life but becomes more effort-dependent with age, shaped by factors including environment, repetition, nutrition, and emotional state. When overemphasized, the rewiring metaphor risks blaming individuals for incomplete recovery from trauma or disease, ignoring biological constraints and turning healing into moral achievement. Scientists need more honest language acknowledging both promise and limits while respecting the messy, nonlinear reality of neural change.

Read here.

Texas Monthly (1989): The World’s Greatest Poker Player

The Atlantic (2015): When Meth Was an Antidepressant (Free for LBR Readers)