Platform Status: Q2 2027
The simulation count is deliberately stable this quarter: we held at 345 while writing, editing, and publishing eight new long-form blog posts across three series (Spotlight, Learning, Devlog). The reasoning is straightforward. A simulation that nobody knows how to use has limited educational value. A well-written guide that explains the physics, walks through the mathematics, and points to the right controls transforms those 345 existing simulations from a catalogue into a curriculum.
Wave 8: What Was Published
| Post | Series | Topic | Read time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotlight #18 | Spotlight | Electronics & Digital Systems | ~9 min |
| Learning #17 | Learning | Quantum Mechanics & Wave Functions | ~13 min |
| Devlog #27 (this post) | Devlog | Q2 2027 Platform Update | ~7 min |
Spotlight #18: Electronics & Digital Systems
The electronics category launched in early 2026 with eight simulations (logic gates, 8-bit adder, transistor, RC filters, ADC/DAC, digital filter, OFDM, PLL) and had never received a dedicated spotlight post. Spotlight #18 fixes this. It walks through the full digital stack — from Boolean logic primitives at the gate level through transistor I-V characteristics, up to Nyquist sampling and OFDM sub-carrier modulation. Each layer links directly to the corresponding simulation.
Spotlight #18: Electronics
Logic gates → Transistors → RC Bode diagrams → ADC/DAC Nyquist sampling → OFDM orthogonal sub-carriers → Phase-Locked Loop. The full digital stack in one post.
Learning #17: Quantum Mechanics
Schrödinger TDSE → Wave packets → Quantum tunnelling → Hydrogen orbitals → Qubit & Bloch sphere → Grover's search algorithm. A guided tour with math boxes and interactive sims.
Learning #17: Quantum Mechanics — the Deepest Learning Post Yet
At ~13 minutes, Learning #17 is the longest Learning guide published. The topic warranted it: quantum mechanics connects five different simulation categories (quantum physics, quantum computing, nuclear physics, optics), and the mathematical connections between them are non-obvious from a simulation interface alone.
The guide covers the Crank-Nicolson TDSE solver used in the Schrödinger simulation, derives the WKB tunnelling formula and connects it to alpha decay and scanning tunnelling microscopy, explains spherical harmonics and their role in hydrogen orbital shapes, works through the Bloch sphere representation of qubit states, and builds up Grover's algorithm from oracle and diffusion operators. Each section has a math-box with the key equations and a sim-card pointing to the interactive.
Blog Milestone: 27 Devlogs, 18 Spotlights, 17 Learning Guides
As of this post, the blog contains:
- 27 Devlog posts — from "How It Started" (Devlog #1) to this Q2 2027 update
- 18 Category Spotlights — covering: Math / Quantum / Biology / Rendering / Climate / Physics / Space / Chemistry / Economics / Electromagnetism / Neuroscience / Fluid Dynamics / Quantum Computing / Optics / Chaos / Special Relativity / Ecology / Electronics
- 17 Learning With Simulations guides — from WebGL Intro to Quantum Mechanics
- 15+ Tip posts — practical short-form advice on canvas optimization, Three.js, GLSL, physics timestep, responsive canvas, memory management
- 20+ Announcement posts — category launches and simulation expansions
Every Spotlight covers a distinct simulation category. The full list (Spotlights #1–18) can be found in the Blog Index under the Category Spotlight section. Together they form a readable survey of the entire simulation library — useful both as a discovery path for new users and as SEO-targeted long-form content.
Simulation Categories Not Yet Spotlighted
With 80+ categories and 18 spotlights, there is substantial coverage ahead. The categories queued for Wave 9 content are:
- Genetics & Molecular Biology — DNA replication, Mendelian genetics, CRISPR, gene expression
- Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics — Maxwell-Boltzmann, Ising model, Lennard-Jones, blackbody radiation
- Algorithms & Computer Science — sorting, maze generation, TSP, graph algorithms, N-Queens
- Economics & Society — Schelling segregation, market microstructure, Solow growth, auction theory
- Geology & Earth Sciences — plate tectonics, seismic waves, glacier flow, volcanic eruption
Technical: What Didn't Change (and Why)
Content sprints require deliberate restraint on the technical side. We made no changes to the simulation engine, the PWA service worker, or the search index during Q2 2027. Every hour that wasn't spent writing went into editing — reading drafts aloud, verifying equations, testing that every sim-card link resolves correctly, checking that math-box formulas match what the simulations actually implement.
One lesson from 27 devlogs: the posts that perform best in organic search are the ones where the text matches the simulation precisely. When a user searching "Nyquist theorem interactive" arrives at Spotlight #18, finds the ADC/DAC simulation linked from the exact paragraph that explains aliasing, and the simulation label "Nyquist sampling" appears in the interface — that triangulation drives session length and return visits. Getting the vocabulary right between post and simulation is slow, careful work.
What's Coming in Q3 2027 (Wave 9)
Three content priorities and one technical initiative:
- Spotlight #19 — Genetics & Molecular Biology: DNA replication, Mendelian genetics, mitosis/meiosis, CRISPR, enzyme kinetics — the molecular biology simulation collection now has enough depth for a full spotlight.
- Learning #18 — Statistical Mechanics: Boltzmann distribution, the Ising model, Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution, Lennard-Jones molecular dynamics — the physics of temperature from first principles.
- Devlog #28 — Simulation Glossary: A persistent glossary page linking every technical term used across the blog to its first definition, the simulation where it appears, and the article that explains it. Part reference, part site map.
- Technical: Open Graph preview images per simulation. Currently all OG images point to the generic home preview. Generating per-simulation previews (600×315 canvas PNG captures) is on the Q3 technical backlog.