iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Nice work! Can we skip a year for great new books at some point please, my TBR pile will be the end of me already

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

When at Cosener’s… getting ready for my talk at the Winter Crystallography Meeting tomorrow where I’ll be talking about vibe coding and how we trust anything in the age of AI

020

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

New @jmaterchem.rsc.org paper on how we can maintain and build trust in scientific data in the age of genAI now spotted in the wild! pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

pubs.rsc.org

011

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Really chuffed that our paper on Data Integrity in Materials Science in the Era of AI: Balancing Accelerated Discovery with Responsible Science and Innovationhas been accepted for publication in @jmaterchem.rsc.org!

051

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Local field next to my house looks well. Think Herbie approves

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

6/6: Next Steps Ultimately, checklists &manual review won't scale. We need a new class of community-developed tools to vet datasets for statistical anomalies and physically implausible results before they are published or used to train future generations of AI models. #AI #DataScience #OpenSource

020

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

5/6: The Real Fix: Mandate Raw Data The single most important step? Journals must require raw data files (.raw, .xrdml etc), not just processed plots. Raw data is harder to fake (though not impossible). This one change could be transformative. #FAIRdata #OpenData

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

4/6: A Solution: Checklists We propose a practical checklist for reviewers and authors alike. It provides clear, technique-specific validation steps to make it much harder for poor or fraudulent data to get published. #PeerReview #OpenScience

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

3/6: Example 2: Batteries My field is a key target. GenAI could easily "smooth" noisy battery cycling data, hide capacity fade, or invent a few extra cycles to make a material look more stable than it is. It's a potential nightmare. #Batteries #Electrochemistry

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

2/6: It's Deeper Than Just Images XRD isn't safe. Published Rietveld refinements are often rife with errors: impossible stats (χ² < 1.0), missing R-factors, and physically absurd parameters like negative ADPs. #Crystallography #Diffraction

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

1/6: The "Garbage In, Garbage Out" Problem AI models learn from the published literature. But studies show our data is already riddled with errors - like a review finding over 40% of XPS papers had significant errors. AI will just learn and amplify these flaws.

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

A short thread on the specifics, because this is a challenge for the here and now. 🧵

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

I think it's a problem that needs serious attention. AI will revolutionise materials science, but also makes it dangerously easy to fabricate or manipulate data. The traditional peer review process is not equipped to handle this threat. #MaterialsScience #AI #AcademicIntegrity #PublishOrPerish

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Just resubmitted this to the Journal of Materials Chemistry A as a possible Perspectives piece: TITLE: Data Integrity in Materials Science in the Era of AI: Balancing Accelerated Discovery with Responsible Science and Innovation AUTHORS: Reeves-McLaren, Nik; Christensen, Sarah

111

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

From aerospace engineering studies to restoring Italian grinding machines and bringing vintage scissor patterns back to life - this is exactly the kind of hands-on, real-world problem solving we love to see from our students and researchers. Sheffield Made. Sheffield Innovation. 🔴⚪

020

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

This project beautifully demonstrates how our facilities and talent support local industry. The metal prototypes from the Royce Centre allowed Ernest Wright to iterate their designs efficiently while maintaining their traditional hot drop forging process.

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

What makes this extra special: Elliott did his UG degree here; the Royce Centre's 3D printing technician George did his PhD with us (In-Situ Monitoring & Control during Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Nickel Superalloys) & continues to work in our School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering.

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Elliott Nurcombe helped Ernest Wright & Co redesign their vintage Nurseryman Scissors using metal 3D printing from our Royce Centre.

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

It must be soul-destroying for those who don’t. Hope it gets sorted.

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

It’s a disgrace and the form is unfit for purpose. I seem to remember we wrote ‘see attached statement’ in most of the text boxes and then attached a lengthy statement that states the case in full in the way the case needed to be told. It’s just a nightmare. Worth the fuss if you get support but…

120

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Apparently there’s a course I can do…

000

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

A friends daughter just asked me if I would marry her and her fiance. Apparently I’m the most sensible man she knows. When her brother was 4 I turned up to his birthday party with what turned out to be meningitis. I think we need some calibration on where the sensibility bar is

120

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Decide to give it another go. First word: FEET. Not in the list again. Sigh

000

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Testing last night’s creation, hedgerow jelly. Featuring foraged elderberries, sloes and blackberries. It’s even better than the cherry plum chutney!

0101

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

I’d been playing daily from the start - this was the breaking point!

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Also: MACE, MADE… but I could have had Cadi or Calid. And Laic, of course

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Think I’m done with the @theguardian.com word wheel daily puzzles when today’s word list doesn’t include LICE or MICE.

220

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

Saw some nice fruit growing by the local field where I walk Herbie. Made cherry plum chutney, delicious

020

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

The leg extension machine when I can actually get on it

000

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Getting on the one leg extension machine would do #CrystalPeaksPain

000

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

@puregym.bsky.social how long will I be waiting for the one leg extension machine at Crystal Peaks Sheffield tonight? Ten minutes so far. One of the busiest in the country, it’s not good enough

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Amazing news, well done!!! I’m so chuffed for you

000

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

My fingers are crossed for you - I was told the 11th as well so it was a bit of an extra shock!

100

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Hope you got better news than me - my Open+ rejection came through yesterday 💔

210

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

I count now 8 @theguardian.com articles on the Bezos/Sanchez wedding. Really? Do all weddings get this level of coverage?

010

Reposted by Nik Reeves-McLaren

Phillip Broadwith @broadwithp.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

For such critical materials, a whole variety of metals have quite precarious supply chains. From Congolese cobalt to various metals with (perhaps unexpected) military applications, supplies of technologically important materials are under serious strain www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/crit...

chemistryworld.com

Critical metals supply strained

Conflict - both military and political - is having profound effects on supplies of a wide range of materials

142

Reposted by Nik Reeves-McLaren

Hugh Geaney @hughgeaney.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Congrats to Maryam for her 1st author publication in J. Mater. Chem. A,showing that Si/Gr anodes can be used for more that just Li-ion batteries! Tuning the Si content allows for controlled Li deposition in Li metal batteries, unlocking higher energy density.🔋⚡ #battchat pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Schematic showing the lithiophilic influence of Si incorporation, to induce more homogenous Li deposition

131

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Totally agree - I still feel sometimes like an odd one out, that I don’t fully get the language

020

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Next grant proposal is to investigate why my feet always hurt when I go to London. I wear the same shoes and socks all day every in Sheffield with no issues. I need answers.

120

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Is it too much to ask for to have functional WiFi on a train in the UK in 2025? Yes. Apparently it is.

010

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Excited to be in London for the Bright Minds Live event later this evening, championing the excellent research being done by PhDs at the University of Sheffield!

040

Reposted by Nik Reeves-McLaren

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Red lightsabers, both of them. They know exactly what they are: pure evil.

1973209564

Reposted by Nik Reeves-McLaren

Cottage in the Woods @cottageinwood.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

That first sip of fresh coffee in the morning:

A human floats through space, transmuted and healed by the glowing light of the universe

1275929528

Nik Reeves-McLaren @acadenik.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

If they then, being more highly skilled and trained, stay in the UK at the end of their studies… great! Include them then.

020