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Ask HN: What cool skill or project interests you, but feels out of reach?

124 points akktor | 2 comments | 09 Jun 25 12:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.406s | source

This question's for all those cool projects or skills you're secretly fascinated by, but haven't quite jumped into. Maybe you feel like you just don't have the right "brain" for it, or you're not smart enough to figure it out, or even worse, you simply have no clue how or where to even start.

The idea here is to shine a light on these hidden interests and the little (or big!) mental blocks that come with them. If you're already rocking in those specific areas – or you've been there and figured out how to get past similar hurdles – please chime in! Share some helpful resources, dish out general advice, or just give a nudge of encouragement on how to take that intimidating first step.

Let's help each other get unstuck!

1. valgor ◴[11 Jun 25 20:51 UTC] No.44251679[source]▶
I love the idea of computational experiments that replace testing on animals. Reading about what we do to animals in the name of science is heart breaking, but learning there are computational models and experiments being developed to take place of animal cruelty is exciting. However, such projects feel overwhelming given I know next to nothing about biology, and I'm not sure spending the time learning is worth the payout given my age and other areas of expertise.
replies(1): >>44251836 #
2. directevolve ◴[11 Jun 25 21:10 UTC] No.44251836[source]▶
The reason we use animal models is that we don’t know enough about animal biology to be confident we can simulate it accurately.

However, computational tools that help biologists “replace, reduce, and refine” animal experiments are helpful. That catchphrase is a good one to Google to look for previous efforts.

Building computational tools to help scientists improve the design of necessary animal experiments is certainly worth working on.