iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alan Rew

Dr. Abigail Desmond @abigaildesmond.bsky.social · 1h

This unassuming little lumpkin is the world’s oldest surviving tool, excavated from the archaeological site of Lomekwi 3 in Kenya. It was made some 3.3 million years ago by a human ancestor, probably someone like afarensis or Kenyanthropus (images 2-3).

1113

Reposted by Alan Rew

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 1h

Natural Chimneys is such a compelling place: "tower karst" (à la southern Thailand or Guilin, China) in the heart of Augusta County, Virginia. ⚒️

Aerial view of a cluster of multiple limestone turrets, with forest behind and mowed grass (& a fence) in the foreground.

0194

Reposted by Alan Rew

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 25m

Olivia C. caught baby elephant "Matope" at the Dallas Zoo having the time of his life. His name means "muddy water" in Swahili. A classic case of nominative determinism: a water-loving elephant named Muddy Waters. Matope reminds you to hydrate. Mother Mlilo is there to make SURE you do. ❤️🫂🐘

26919

Reposted by Alan Rew

Grady Booch @booch.com · 1h

The large language models at the center of most contemporary frontier AIs have on the order of 100 layers of various kinds: recurrent, embedding, normalization, feed forward, attention, and others.

2183

Reposted by Alan Rew

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 51m

I wrote up the recipe for MPS (My Perfect Sandwich) earlier this year, if you wish to see my qualifications: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/i-dont-kno...

7374

Reposted by Alan Rew

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 55m

[my brain so large it threatens to engulf the entire Atlantic ocean]: the perfect sandwich is actually buttered on all four sides as it should be lightly fried in a pan too

151358

Reposted by Alan Rew

Ash Oro @ashoro.co.uk · 39m

If I only had 1/1000th of her self-confidence…

041

Reposted by Alan Rew

James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 3h

Sensational. Can’t believe it dropped just after I filed a column about her epic ridiculousness, though.

Kemi Badenoch describes herself as captain, coach and owner of the Conservatives.

5234357

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 51m

"no one who follows the Scottish Parliament – elected by a form of proportional representation – would describe it as a paragon of collaboration ... . Even when some parties do find they have to work together, others remain as antagonists, & the rhetoric they throw at each other can be vicious"

000

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 1h

"The last time we had a high-profile UK-wide discussion of voting systems – during the campaign for the 2011 referendum on the Alternative Vote (AV) system – misinformation was widespread. Indeed ... public perceptions of the options became less rather than more accurate as the campaign proceeded."

000

Reposted by Alan Rew

Samira Ahmed @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social · 3h

On tonight's #BBCFrontRow: Johnny Marr🎸, Booker nominee Rebecca Perry, Monet's letters & Jeffrey Archer remembered.. 715pm or link after: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

1162

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 1h

The Private Eye covers featuring Archer are well worth viewing.

001

Reposted by Alan Rew

Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 2h

Archer’s resignation from the London mayoral race after it was revealed he lied in court was the thing that got Paul Foot up from his sickbed and contributing again, having first started chronicling Archer’s lies and misdemeanours in 1969. From the Private Eye archive. Issue 992, December 1999.

15532178

Reposted by Alan Rew

Compound Interest | Chemistry infographics @compoundchem.com · 2h

This year's #NobelPrize in Chemistry will be awarded tomorrow 🏅 Here's a reminder of the research that has won in previous years, including molecular sponges, the prediction of protein structures, and clicking together new medicine molecules: www.compoundchem.com/category/nob... #ChemSky 🧪

Infographic titled "2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry" celebrating Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal, and K. Barry Sharpless for click and bioorthogonal chemistry. Sharpless coined "click chemistry" in 2001 for quick, selective reactions without unwanted byproducts. Sharpless and Meldal independently developed the first reaction using a copper catalyst to combine azides and alkynes. Bertozzi developed copper-free click chemistry in 2003 for live cell applications like tracking glycans. Applications include drug synthesis and targeting cancer.

Infographic titled "The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry" honoring Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov for discovering and synthesizing quantum dots. Quantum dots are semiconductor nanoparticles whose light absorption and emission change with particle size due to quantum effects. In 1981, Ekimov created size-dependent color in tinted glass; in 1983, Brus discovered size-dependent absorption/emission in liquid solutions; in 1993, Bawendi developed a precise synthesis method. Applications include QLED TVs, LED lamps, flexible electronics, and solar cells.

Infographic titled "The 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry" honoring David Baker for computational protein design, and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for protein structure prediction. Proteins fold into 3D structures determining their function. In 2020, Hassabis and Jumper introduced AlphaFold2, an AI model that evaluates amino acid interactions to predict 3D folded structures, now used on nearly 200 million proteins. David Baker created Rosetta software to work in reverse, designing amino acid sequences for custom protein structures, succeeding in 2003. Applications include protein-based drugs, vaccines, and catalysts.

Infographic titled "The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry" honoring Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi for the development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are porous molecular sponges composed of metal ions connected by organic linkers, allowing small gas molecules to move in and out of their cavities. In 1989, Robson combined copper ions with four-armed molecules. In 1997, Kitagawa created stable and flexible gas-storing MOFs using cobalt ions. In 1999, Yaghi built MOF-5 with zinc clusters, achieving massive internal surface area. Applications include gas storage, harvesting water from air, targeted drug delivery, and toxic chemical detection.

01713

Reposted by Alan Rew

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 11h

If these media reports are accurate, we're looking at one of the worst espionage scandals in German history. And it comes at an especially bad time - not just because of the broader geopolitical situation but also because the BND is about to get a lot more powerful

215425

Reposted by Alan Rew

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 11h

The former boss of Germany's most important intelligence agency, the BND, has been arrested on suspicion of treason.

13387183

Reposted by Alan Rew

Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 2h

I also bring this sort of thing up when doing author talks. What are you doing about the kids who can’t afford a signed book? In the past, I have discounted my fee so the school can give books to kids who can’t afford them. Because the “diversity and inclusion” thing I care about most is poverty.

0203

Reposted by Alan Rew

Steve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 4h

I had assumed that's what he meant, but it's obviously not what he said. The press should not be condemned for reporting what he said; and no one with this much difficulty expressing his thoughts is fit to be president.

169581136

Reposted by Alan Rew

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 4h

How rare are neutrino interactions? A neutrino (of the type emitted by the Sun) could go through a light year of lead with only a small chance of interacting. They pass through the Earth, and each of us, constantly, without anyone noticing. 100 trillion neutrinos go through you every second.

616414

Reposted by Alan Rew

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 4h

I attended a seminar by freshly minted Nobel Laureate Francis Halzen many years ago and something he said stuck with me, but it takes some explaining, so this will be a (short) thread. The talk was about neutrino telescopes, and he started by explaining how rarely neutrinos interact with anything.

532371

Reposted by Alan Rew

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 4h

"Has she elegance? Has she fragrance?"

7478

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 4h

It reminds me somewhat of the judge's summing up in the Jeremy Thorpe trial, parodied brilliantly by Peter Cook. Highly recommended! youtu.be/Kyos-M48B8U?...

youtu.be

130

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 4h

Please make sure that the Eye goes into mourning in the next issue.

000

Reposted by Alan Rew

Adam Macqueen @adammacqueen.bsky.social · 10h

Just as a counterpoint to some of the obituaries this morning, here's the start of the Archer chapter in my history of political lying, The Lies of the Land:

2127180

Reposted by Alan Rew

Tom Kindlon @tomkindlon.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🧵 Fatigue is an unrelenting,deeply isolating symptom in ME/CFS.It cuts individuals off from family time, social activities, & hobbies, fundamentally fracturing their identity & how they view themselves.It leaves people grieving who they used to be tinyurl.com/fatigueimpac... #MEcfs #CFS #fatigue 1/

What fatigue in ME/CFS feels like
Responses from ME Research UK Symptom Saturday Fatigue Survey
i
INFORM. INFLUE10E. INVEST.

14812

Reposted by Alan Rew

Cab Davidson @gnomeicide.bsky.social · 4h

What kind of folk are attracted to a career that enacts the states legalised monopoly for violence against civilians? This kind. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

PCs who used Taser and baton on Donald Burgess at care home sacked

A disciplinary hearing finds both officers used unnecessary force on Donald Burgess at his care home.

021

Reposted by Alan Rew

John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.

362022443

Reposted by Alan Rew

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 4h

Excellent thread this:

6288

Reposted by Alan Rew

Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 4h

I am currently enjoying Tim Stanley. archive.ph/rcs2v

5283

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 4h

@nuclearanthro.bsky.social do you have any information that might identify this particular test? It looks like an airburst to me.

000

Reposted by Alan Rew

Scott Wortley @scottwortley.bsky.social · 9h

Classic Archer. Signing his books after he's died.

78922

Reposted by Alan Rew

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 6h

11. I will not be taking questions.The story of a woman whose data was stolen by two ambitious men who then did not credit her seems to be too powerful to be overcome by mere facts. This is, of course, all Watson's fault because of how he presented events. We are all hoist by his petard.

3204

Reposted by Alan Rew

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 6h

8. The discovery was not the sole work of Watson and Crick, nor was it seen as such at the time. All three groups published back to back in Nature under a common title, and the reprints were bound together. The first public presentation of the double helix took place in June. Look at the authors:

1123

Reposted by Alan Rew

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 6h

it contained had been sketched out by Wilkins in a letter to Crick on the basis of one of his own (less clear and less stylish) images in April 1952. 7. Watson and Crick did NOT steal Franklin's data and they DID credit her in increasing detail in the *four* articles they wrote in the months

172

Reposted by Alan Rew

Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 6h

(this was not clear until after the double helix; experimental proof was initially slight and limited to microbes for over two decades). 5. It still needs saying: Franklin did NOT discover the double helix; no historian says she did. She did not twig that there was complementary base pairing

151

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 4h

That's unusual. Was it an air burst?

110

Alan Rew @alanrew.bsky.social · 4h

It's probably the dangling switch that attracts his hunting instincts. Irresistible!

010

Reposted by Alan Rew

Dinah Rose KC @dinahrose.bsky.social · 11h

Attacking the lamp

Grey cat batting ineffectually at the hanging cord of a Tiffany style lamp.

1919215