Field Notes · 20 Jul 2026
Best explained
The glymphatic system clears Alzheimer-linked proteins beta-amyloid and tau specifically during deep sleep, giving a causal mechanism connecting sleep loss to dementia risk.
By the numbers
Curative's Anthropic API spend grew 6x per month for six to seven consecutive months, scaling from tens of thousands to millions of dollars per month.
New today — Evidence added
TRM Labs does not associate individual users with their alphanumeric blockchain addresses, only linking addresses to entities and illicit activity.
Ari RedbordNew today — Sharp calls
Compute cost to migrate 300 marketing campaigns off Marketo using an AI agent was $14.28.
Amelia LerutteCurative's AI credentialing agent (built on Claude) cut turnaround time from 2 to 3 months down to 12 hours, and cost per credential from $50 to $0.20.
Fred TurnerNew today — Useful context
Four genetic short-sleeping genes have been identified that allow some people to sleep as little as 5-6 hours with no measurable impairment.
Matt WalkerStill tracking
Big tech companies are on track to spend $720 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, with AI compute workloads growing 10x per year.
Yaroslav AzhnyukTool watch
Experimental memory-consolidation tools now allow researchers to selectively determine which waking memories are retained or lost during sleep, with potential therapeutic and cognitive-enhancement applications.
Worth quoting
“I personally favor a soft lean and done approach to Ethereum once the straw map is completed.”Vitalik Buterin
“Cocoa is to cocaine what potatoes are to vodka.”Andrew Weil
“The implementation is actually not the expensive part anymore. It's dare I say taste.”Andrew Ambrosino
“If I had a death wish, I would have just gone and done it. I would have spent nine years training for it.”Alex Honnold
“Consensus 2027 EPS change for AI infrastructure stocks. Insane. 42%.”Michael Zezas
“Walt's line on this was that ABC needed the show so badly that they bought the amusement park with it.”Ben Gilbert