Skip to content

Sign up for a small monthly payment and enjoy ads-free browsing at 3QD


3 Quarks Daily

Make a one-time donation and enjoy ads-free browsing at 3QD


  • Home
  • About Us
  • Recommended Reading
  • Our AI Policy
  • Magazine Archives
  • Support 3QD
  • Log In

S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, Abbas has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering & computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and a graduate degree in philosophy from Columbia University. He lives with his wife, Margit Oberrauch, and their feline friend, Frederica Krueger, near the small, very beautiful city of Brixen in the Italian Alps. Email: s.abbas.raza.1 [at] gmail.com

Website: https://3quarksdaily.com/

This Week’s Photo

Posted on Thursday, Jan 29, 2026 4:00AMTuesday, January 27, 2026 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Rocky cliff with a dusting of snow (and more snow falling) in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Part of the winter Olympics will be in South Tyrol, starting next week, so this is good. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Jan 22, 2026 4:00AMMonday, January 19, 2026 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Islands of ice form around the rocks in the river Eisack on very cold days as it passes through Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Jan 15, 2026 4:00AMMonday, January 12, 2026 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Frozen edge of a stream in Brixen, South Tyrol. It seems the level of the water went down a bit after the freezing, as it is an inch or so below the frozen part. Anyway, it looked cool to me. Pun intended, I guess! Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating…

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Jan 8, 2026 4:00AMMonday, January 5, 2026 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Leaves pressed into a dirt road by passing vehicles and/or people in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Jan 1, 2026 4:00AMMonday, December 29, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Sign in the Alter Schlachthof restaurant in Brixen, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Dec 25, 2025 4:00AMMonday, December 22, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

A glass ashtray turned the weak winter sunlight from the window into this rainbow on a wooden cutting board on our kitchen counter. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Dec 18, 2025 4:00AMTuesday, December 16, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Car in a parking lot with frost on the ground. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Dec 11, 2025 4:00AMMonday, December 8, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Self-portrait by reflection in the very large glass window of the new public library in Brixen, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Dec 4, 2025 4:00AMMonday, December 1, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Winter scene in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Nov 27, 2025 4:00AMMonday, November 24, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

The first snowfall of this winter arrived a couple of days ago in our backyard. Photo taken from our dining room window. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Nov 20, 2025 4:00AMMonday, November 17, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Leaves on the ground in Brixen, South Tyrol, which looked like spilled treasure to me. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Nov 13, 2025 4:00AMFriday, December 26, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Just something I saw in a children’s playground in Brixen, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Nov 6, 2025 4:00AMThursday, November 6, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Rowan tree, also known as the mountain ash and its bright treasure of berries. With its yellow-orange leaves, it looks particularly striking at this time of year. Photo taken during a walk last week through Franzensfeste, South Tyrol, on a sunny day with beautiful light. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by…

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Oct 30, 2025 4:00AMMonday, October 27, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

This wild apple tree in Franzensfeste, South Tyrol, had scores of apples on its leafy branches a month ago but now has just this one last apple still hanging on. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Oct 23, 2025 4:00AMMonday, October 20, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Wondering what this contraption on the roof of a neighbor’s house is, I showed this photo to GPT5 and here is what it said: This is a chimney cowl — a device placed on top of a chimney to improve airflow and prevent downdrafts. The specific type in your photo is a rotating, directional chimney…

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Oct 16, 2025 4:00AMSunday, October 12, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

ChatGPT confirmed that this is Virginia Creeper and also suggested a caption: “Autumn’s rebellion against the wire.” Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 4:00AMTuesday, October 7, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Guess what this is, sitting on a counter in my office. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Oct 2, 2025 4:00AMMonday, September 29, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Just a jet over Franzensfeste, South Tyrol. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Sep 25, 2025 4:00AMMonday, September 22, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Two ceramic swans my wife bought cheaply at a flea market somewhere. They might be tea-light holders. Or something like that. I like them. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

This Week’s Photograph

Posted on Thursday, Sep 18, 2025 4:00AMWednesday, September 17, 2025 by S. Abbas Raza (Weekly Photo)

Just a leaf I saw lying on the sidewalk. Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.

Leave a comment

Posts pagination

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 21 Next

The Curated Links at 3QD *

The usual curated links to articles elsewhere are no longer on the front page. They are on the “Recommended Reading” page which can be accessed by clicking the menu item of that name, just under the main 3QD banner. Try it and see. Or just click here.

Receive 3QD Posts by Email

Please fill out the form below to get our email with all the posts from the previous 24 hours, which is sent out a bit after midnight (NY City time) each day. This is completely free of charge for everyone.
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

Follow 3QD on Social Media


What People Say About 3QD




"It is a great honor to be mentioned in one of my two ONLY portals to the internet—and the world, since I do not read newspapers. My discipline, to avoid drowning in information, is not to cruise the web outside of these two points. I tried many sites; yours has CHARM."

—Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan. [The other site NNT is referring to is the excellent Arts & Letters Daily.]




"I really appreciate your selection of generally sane and mostly stimulating articles. 3 Quarks Daily has been my goto website at the end of the day, and now also during the day!"

—Horst Ludwig Störmer, Nobel laureate in physics and emeritus professor at Columbia University.




"The algorithms that curate your social-media timeline do so with indifference and programmed greed. The humans who curate 3QD do so with love and well-aged wisdom. Read 3QD instead! It’s so much better!"

—Justin E. H. Smith, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Paris.




"3 Quarks Daily is smart and highclass."

—Robert Pinsky, only three-term U.S. Poet Laureate.




"I like to check in from time to time with 3 Quarks Daily."

—Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. "One of the most celebrated writers of his generation," according to the Virginia Quarterly Review.




“From my perspective as an early modernist, what you’re undertaking is akin to the heroic labors of Renaissance compositors, who would (like you) read widely and excerpt and synthesize vast amounts of knowledge for others. A real service to the republic of letters.”

—Scott Newstok, author of How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education.




"For sheer elegance, wit and worldly wisdom when it comes to reading, editing, presenting the real news of the world... for liveliness, cosmopolitanism, range of scientific, philosophical, and literary curiosity in harvesting big and provocative ideas... for consistency of character and manners, ever above the ordinary... 3 Quarks stands alone. If 3 Quarks Daily were a person, wouldn't it be Proust?"

—Christopher Lydon, host of the excellent show "Open Source" on National Public Radio, author, media personality.




"You guys rock!"

—Andrew Sullivan, former editor of The New Republic, author of five books, überblogger.




“I’m a longtime fan of 3 Quarks Daily!”

—Ben Orlin, author of four best-selling mathematics books: Math with Bad Drawings (2018), Change is the Only Constant (2019), Math Games with Bad Drawings (2022), and Math for English Majors (2024).




"3 Quarks Daily is a great website which should be supported!"

—Ned Block, Silver Professor of Philosophy, Psychology and Neural Science at NYU; former chair of the philosophy program at MIT.



Support 3 Quarks Daily







Support 3 Quarks Daily

Recent Comments on 3QD

3QD Design History and Credits

The original site was designed by S. Abbas Raza in 2004 but soon completely redesigned by Mikko Hyppönen and deployed by Henrik Rydberg. It was later upgraded extensively by Dan Balis in 2006. The next major revision was designed by S. Abbas Raza, building upon the earlier look, and coded by Dumky de Wilde in 2013. And this current version 5.0 has been designed and deployed by Dumky de Wilde in collaboration with S. Abbas Raza.

3 Quarks Daily

3 Quarks Daily started in 2004 with the idea of creating a curated retreat for everything intellectual on the web. No clickbait, no fake news, not just entertainment, but depth and breadth —something increasingly hard to find on the internet today. If you like what we do, please consider making a donation.