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Open Thread 418

2026-01-26 · 13:30 UTC ·Astral Codex Ten ·3 min read

Brief

Open Thread 418 is a light community post rather than a substantive essay, but it contains two concrete announcements. First, Scott Alexander promotes the next Inkhaven cohort, a Berkeley-based writing residency built around an unusually strict output requirement: participants must publish daily for 30 days or be removed without refund. He reports that the prior November cohort of roughly 40 people rated the experience 8/10 on average, and notes that well-known internet intellectuals including Gwern, Zvi, Ozy, Aella, and Scott Aaronson participated as session leaders alongside him. Second, he spotlights Aerolamp, an ACX-backed company developing far-UVC lighting for airborne germ control in indoor spaces. The offer of free $500 lamps for selected venues suggests the company is still in awareness-building or early-market validation mode, using placements in coworking spaces, schools, or group houses to gather user feedback and public visibility.

Cleaned source text

title: Open Thread 418

author: Astral Codex Ten

content_type: newsletter

publication: substack.com

published: 2026-01-26T13:30:53+00:00

source_url: gmail://19bfa805d37903b0

word_count: 608

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Open Thread 418

Jan 26

READ IN APP

This is the weekly visible open thread. Post about anything you want, ask random questions, whatever. ACX has an unofficial subreddit, Discord, and bulletin board, and in-person meetups around the world. Most content is free, some is subscriber only; you can subscribe here. Also:

1:Inkhaven was a blogging residency/bootcamp/program in Berkeley last November. The conceit was that residents had to write one post per day for thirty days, or else get kicked out without a refund. I ran some sessions, and so did other people you might recognize like Gwern, Zvi, Ozy, Aella, and Scott Aaronson. People seemed to like it (average rating 8/10, see also reflections here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc; when you make forty people write every day, you sure do end up with a lot of written reflections on the experience). They’re doing it again this April, and you’re invited to apply. You’ll need ~$3,500 (some scholarships available) and a month free. I plan to help again. Application deadline March 1.

2: ACX grantee Aerolamp manufactures far-UVC lamps that kill airborne germs (but are safe for humans and animals). Place them in a heavily-trafficked area, and infections won’t spread from person to person because the germs will get zapped before they can reach a new host. The utopian dream is that nobody will have to worry about indoor gatherings during the next COVID-scale pandemic; more practically, companies and schools could use them to reduce sick days. In order to build buzz/awareness, Aerolamp will be giving away free lamps (~$500 value) to anyone with an appropriate location (they’re imagining coworking spaces and group houses, but maybe you have better ideas) who’s willing to display an included poster and take a customer survey. If you’re in this category, then apply here for your free Aerolamp DevKit.

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