iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

i worry that men think being A Good Guy is dramatically and heroically intervening on behalf of an endangered woman and then being publicly rewarded on a grand scale when actually being A Good Guy is just usually saying, “hey man that’s not funny” or “wow that’s fucked up” and there is no reward

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Kim Cobb @kimcobb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

And I'm on the search committee, so send me your questions. But mostly, send the talented early career scientists in your network our way! Target deadline: Oct 26

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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Quotes & replies are showing that Bsky is what you make of it. If your feed is full of drama & misinformation, well, you are seeking out people who are providing it. Similarly the way you act encourages your followers to respond in kind, for better or worse. I appreciate being able to curate this.

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 25/09/2026

I honestly have never considered switching from Google Pixel phones until they sent me a "wanna celebrate destroying the lives of trans people" as a system update.

Android Pixel system update screen, showing Harry Potter customizations as a bullet point.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 26/09/2026

It's fine we can drown our trauma in maple syrup.

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Venkat Rao @venkyrao.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Jumping on the bandwagon with a 3D view of Xenopus multiciliated cells: cilia (magenta) sprouting above the apical actin network (cyan) 🐸. Not live, but no #AISLOP

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

Well - depends on how elections go, eh?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

But what if as the interviewer I want to establish and demonstrate my power? 👀

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

And that's why we can't have 15 minute cities!!!!

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

🐈‍⬛: Your human construction of "reasonable" does not make sense. What is reason?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

It's very much a land of distraction and overstimulation. In a cruel sense of irony - we organized an EDI mini conference there, and in retrospect that was not a great plan…

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

3 - where the glass floor was intact, it triggered my vertigo and I said sorry lots. 4 - someone comments that I don't need to say sorry, and I retort and I am Canadian… they proceed to gaslight my citizenship. Is this an allegory for my views on Vegas conferences?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 25/09/2026

So I just had a nightmare about attending a conference: 1 - it was in Vegas, and it took several hours to leave the resort half of the hotel. 2 - I got to the conference centre, and they continued the "resort theme" by having it as a glass floor over a fishpond. The glass cracked and we had to swim

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Simon Cleary @simoncleary.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Nikon seem to have admitted awarding an AI-generated video 1st place in the Small World in Motion contest, which has a rule forbidding AI-generated entries:

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

Yes - quite a time of flux I feel...

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

The post goes on... "The Ubyssey has previously reported G+PS has churned through three Deans in three years, and its now-fourth and current Dean, Leonard Foster, is also a member of the Board of Governors — and sits on the committee that approves Bacon’s compensation."

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

#UBC folks: "[President] Bacon also hinted at some potentially major changes on the horizon. He said the university will be “redesigning” the faculty of graduate and postdoctoral studies “shortly,” meaning “within a year,” but didn’t give further details." @ubyssey.ca ubyssey.ca/news/board-o...

ubyssey.ca

Student unions ask for stable food security funding at Board of Governors

The board is meeting for the first time this school year, with four student unions across two campuses presenting their yearly priorities to the body. Also being presented is the president's prioritie...

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

This stacks up. I briefly dated a tech bro, and couldn't make his area of work align with what I thought about the world 🫥

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

Even in the simpler case - if you don't want the audience to care about the other stuff in the image, and you think it should not matter if you use AI or not - just don't use the AI for that stuff...

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 24/09/2026

This is one of the many examples of people calling out the improper use of AI & microscopy - making something visible "just for the presentation", especially with an unexplainable ML model is basically fraud 🔬🧪

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

And the other part is re a lack of representation at Faculty and student level, with regards to a sample of the Canadian population. Both of which are yikes.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

Ah - yes. There are two stories here - people with a wide variety of experience being questions that others don't think of, and we have seen this time & again re women and women's issues. (cf the crash dummy / seat belt story)

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

I am aware what the letters stand for.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

And yes - I hold a T1 CRC, in part because I am dyslexic.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

It was a long day - so I haven't read the full documents beyond the news article. I am skeptical of "legitimate issues" - as there are always flaws in a system, and yet we know that the system is failing individuals and communities E.g. thewalrus.ca/how-universi...

thewalrus.ca

How Universities Are Shutting Out Disabled Students and Staff | The Walrus

Some administrators treat accommodations as a favour—and those requesting them as problems

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

Academia would like its voice heard.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

And don't worry, we will call something else soon enough ...

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

I was warned that BC politics can be a whirlwind... and they were right.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

I also hope that people recognise that "viewpoint diversity" is a dog whistle. In plain language, we want a range of perspectives that can come to the table - and they may be shaped by experience etc. but a room of white men "thriving" in an echo chamber falls short.

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Sarah Dorner @sarahdorner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Meanwhile, my cousin just posted she is doing research on mastitis in male cows because there isn't enough funding to deliver on EDI plans that are actually needed. Yves Gingras, Gad Saad, and Steven Pinker were part of the coordinated group that testified against EDI at the standing committee.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 23/09/2026

Yeah - the reporting here seems like a mess. It seems to argue that the report has dissent in the documents/recommendations, and there was dissent from both the Liberals and Conservatives. Which just sounds like some rage bate headlines...

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Jim Woodgett @jwoodgett.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

There’s a concerted campaign to undermine EDI in Canada. The evidence behind EDI policies reducing excellence are based on abysmal, flawed evidence. Look at who feels threatened by equity, diversity and inclusion. They’re the least diverse, least equitable and most exclusive people. Just no.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 22/09/2026

ELI5: Interpret my dog's inner thoughts...

A photo of waffles the doodle staring at the camera

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 22/09/2026

We have our own circus, it's just later in the day than most 😅

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Shocking to see this for one of the (historically) most respected Theoretical Computer Science conferences

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 19/09/2026

Neural networks did not work UNTIL they got all that data. Raw data is useless without immense human labour to clean and store it in massive data centres. GPUs which are also required need rare earth minerals. On and on. AI only works because we're dedicating all of a massive industry to it.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 17/09/2026

Concurrently I have entered that phase of the semester where I have 3 things I haven't done yet (and I should/could have), and it's not even 8 am 🫠

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 17/09/2026

It's curious how dogs grow up - quite fast (😭). My dog is settling into his 4th spin around the sun, and has firmly decided that mornings are overrated and stays in bed while I breakfast.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 16/09/2026

There is definitely a strange feeling being British when the UK voted to leave and left the EU, and then being Canadian(-British) as Canada and the EU explore associate member status

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 16/09/2026

Not being able to exercise (due to an injury) means jetlag recovery continues to be less than ideal 😭

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Prof Chris Jackson @seismatters.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

In recent years, many professional/learned societies replaced their *young* scientist awards/grants with more inclusive titles and criteria that recognise that not all early career scientists are, for example, under 30. So what is this rather odd #50Under50 framing @geosociety.bsky.social?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 16/09/2026

A lazy base 10 bias that frames things in the "you must have made it by YY age" and we will ignore all the other shit that may have come your way. These YY under YY age lists are a marker of privilege, not necessarily esteem.

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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 15/09/2026

One aspect of research funding that it took me a while as a prof to appreciate: Someone who directs significant funding can shape the questions researchers investigate, *even researchers they don't directly fund*. Why? Because many researchers chase citations, and better-funded areas get cited more.

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

many social media managers will encourage you to spread your posts throughout the day but why do that when you have 500 thoughts and you could just literally post them all at the same time

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Prof Chris Jackson @seismatters.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I’ll be real with you: the gloss was taken off today’s Great North Run by a very crowded “Raise the Colours” roundabout at around mile 9. My wife and kids had to walk past it to see me. Check this post about the impact those present had on one Black participant: www.instagram.com/reel/DdO3Kt8...

instagram.com

Emma Kirk-Odunubi 🙋🏽‍♀️ The Voice of Running on Instagram: "Well not how I thought my post would go sharing finishing Great North Run 🙃 As I said aside from being hyper aware of being literally 1 of ...

3,013 likes, 534 comments - emmakirkyo on September 13, 2026: "Well not how I thought my post would go sharing finishing Great North Run 🙃 As I said aside from being hyper aware of being literally 1 ...

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