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Sunday, 7 December 2025
Cross Fit for the Mind
Saturday, 6 December 2025
Decluttering space – outer space
We declutter closets and drawers. We delete old apps. We sift through the photos on our phones and bin them. We declutter our living spaces in hopes that lighter shelves will bring lighter minds. But here’s a question we rarely ask: If we declutter our homes, our clothes, and our phones, do we also need to declutter outer space? According to a New Scientist article released on 3 December 2025, and current research, our skies are fast becoming crowded; so crowded that the stuff we’re sending into orbit is interfering with the tools we use to understand the Universe. Nearly 14,000 satellites circle Earth today. Almost 10,500 (75%) of them were launched in the past five years. Most belong to mega-constellations like Elon Musk’s Starlink that aims to cover the planet with global internet coverage. But that number, astonishing as it is, is merely the prelude. Filings with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission show proposals for up to 560,000 satellites to be launched by the end of the 2030s. Half a million! If that many toothbrushes were left in your bathroom, you’d notice. If that many files clogged your phone, it would crash. And yet these objects, orbiting at thousands of kilometres per hour above us, in our skies, are largely invisible to us. What will happen? What will crash? A new study by NASA Ames Research Centre researcher Alejandro Borlaff and colleagues simulated how these planned satellites would affect some of our space observatories, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, China’s upcoming Xuntian telescope, and newer missions like ARRAKHIS and SPHEREx. Their findings are that if all the proposed satellites are launched by the 2030s, one in three Hubble images could be marred by bright satellite streaks. For telescopes with wider fields of view, like the Xuntian, a single image could contain up to 90 trails, spoiling the image it was designed to take. This isn’t a far-off hypothetical. Even with current satellite numbers, 4% of Hubble’s photos already have satellite interference. This means that already our quest to connect the planet may be hindering our ability to understand the cosmos. We often think of space as endless, untouched, “out there.” But that’s not the case. The zone where most satellites are, called Low-Earth Orbit, isn’t infinite. It’s more like a small attic we keep stuffing things into because we don’t want to reorganize the garage. The consequences ripple back down to us: astronomers lose clean data; long range telescopes photograph neon scratches instead of distant galaxies; and fundamental research into dark matter, early galaxies, and cosmic evolution, becomes more difficult and more expensive to conduct. Beyond that: there’s the risk of collisions, real life crashes, debris, and cascading space junk that could threaten astronauts and long-term space exploration. Scientists believe that the actual number of satellites launched will likely reach 50,000 to 100,000, not the proposed 560,000. But that’s still a huge number, although manageable with thoughtful regulations and smarter satellite design. We don’t need to stop innovating. We simply need to ask: How do we keep our skies safe, functional, and beautiful? How do we keep space from becoming the attic of humanity or the top drawer in need of decluttering? Decluttering isn’t about austerity. It’s the difference between 10 memorable photos or 10,000 useless screenshots. It’s the difference between space as a shared human heritage and space as an overcrowded, unmanaged storage unit. To declutter outer space means launching satellites responsibly; devising international agreements about orbital space usage; designing spacecraft that de-orbit safely; and funding research into debris cleanup and sustainable orbit management. Let me communicate that again. Sustainable orbit management. Just as we realize that cluttered homes affect our mental wellbeing, it’s time to understand that cluttered skies affect our scientific wellbeing, and our future. It would be a shame if we cluttered space beyond recognition.
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Thursday, 4 December 2025
Oddly, being a little delusional can be a good thing
Oddly, being a little delusional can be a good thing… allow hopes to lift you up and facts to ground you … why a little unreasonable optimism can help you grow …
When beginning something, whether it’s a new job, a creative project, a relationship, or starting a business, people often take steps forward without full knowledge of what lies ahead. Oddly enough, that’s sometimes a good thing. If humans were perfectly rational, they might never start anything at all. It takes a little delusional belief sometimes to get started. Psychologists understand that almost everyone has mild distortions or delusions of reality and that some of these delusions are not only harmless but helpful. The word “delusion” comes from the Latin word “deludere” meaning “to play, to mock, to deceive.” Historically, it refers to beliefs that stray far from reality. Psychologists use terms such as optimism bias, unreasonable optimism, the planning fallacy, and the confidence effect. From Tali Sharot’s research, “optimism bias” is the belief that things will turn out better than statistics suggest. In behavioural psychology, “the planning fallacy” is the tendency to underestimate how long things will take, yet still get them done, and “the confidence effect” is when people often begin something challenging because they imagine they can handle it, even when they don’t yet know how. Here, I’m not talking about clinical delusions or ignoring serious warning signs. I’m talking about unreasonable hope, optimism that outruns current evidence, believing in possibilities before they are visible, and starting the journey before we feel ready. This kind of healthy irrationality enables courage, momentum, and creativity. The benefits of being a little delusional include the following: It lowers the barrier to entry: If people knew every challenge of starting a business, writing a book, or changing their life, most would never begin. A little bit of ignorance, though a bit delusional, protects people from paralysis. It fuels persistence: Hope, even slightly unrealistic hope, keeps people going long enough to build resilience. It sparks creativity: Innovation often begins with, “What if…?” which is a question that lies just outside the boundaries of reality. It keeps anxiety in check: A little delusion, such as “I can figure this out,” reduces the fear that stops many people from taking positive risks. It supports emotional recovery: During hard times, belief in a better future, before there is proof, is one of the strongest predictors of healing. The downsides of being too delusional include the following: It leads to overcommitment: People may take on more than they can handle because they underestimate complexity. There is a denial of reality: If optimism becomes avoidance, problems deepen instead of dissolving. Ignoring red flags: Believing things will “just work out” can prevent necessary planning and boundary-setting. Burnout: Unrealistic expectations can collapse under pressure. Losing touch with support: Extreme self-belief can make some people feel that they must do everything alone. The goal is not to eliminate delusion. The goal is to stay in the healthy range by staying grounded, by saying something like, “I don’t know everything that’s coming, but I believe I can learn, adapt, and grow.” This middle path combines optimism with self-awareness. Though delusion shouldn’t be permanent, a little amount of imaginative optimism protects people’s courage, encourages experimentation, nurtures healing, and opens doors that realism alone might close. To stay grounded, do micro-experiments by testing small low-risk activities, such as doing a pilot project, trialling an activity for a short period – maybe a month, writing a sample chapter to share or mull over, or accepting a mini business offer. Then take note of what happens and how you feel. Create a “reality check circle” by choosing two or three trusted people who support your ideas but tell you the truth. If they don’t panic at your ambition, their feedback can keep you balanced. Use the two-column method by writing the following to help distinguish between hope and fact without curbing your enthusiasm: Column A: “What I believe about this goal.” Column B: “What I actually know so far.” Check your energy level, not just your ideas, because reality often shows up in your body: are you exhausted, or excited but overwhelmed, or energised and curious? Try these three short exercises: Three hopes, three facts exercise: To balance imagination with evidence, for 5 minutes, pause and breathe slowly. Write down 3 hopes – things you want to be true but aren’t yet, e.g., “I hope the business grows.” Write down 3 facts that are definitely true right now about your goal or situation. Read both sides aloud. Allow hopes to lift you up and facts to ground you. This helps to keep optimism intact while connecting to reality. Sensory scan for reality anchoring: To keep in the present moment, for 2 minutes, sit comfortably and notice 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and one long breath out. This helps to ground the nervous system and reduce the tendency to drift too far into wishful thinking or catastrophic thinking. Next small step reality check: To prevent over-delusion, for 2 minutes, think of a big goal. Ask, “What is one tiny, non-heroic action I can take in the next 24 hours?” and write it down. Then actually do it. Examples include write 100 words, email one potential collaborator, set a 10-minute timer to sort out my receipts, invite a friend for coffee, or draft a title for a blog post. This helps to start with a small step, no matter how ambitious the vision is. This prevents drifting into fantasy while maintaining forward movement.
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Cross Fit for the Mind
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