iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Love materials? Love materials science but dont want to be an academic? How about working for us and being the science lead for the best Materials Library in the world? www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/blog/we-are-...

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Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

New report by @jonasalgers.bsky.social and myself on how Canada is well positioned to be a #greeniron&steel superpower, increasing Canadian value added, exports, and jobs, while helping the Canadian and global steel industries decarbonize robustly & cheaply.🧵

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Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Friends don’t let friends ship #greenhydrogen, and help them ship #greeniron instead (or green ammonia/fertilizers, green menthol, etc 😉)

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

We are looking to hire an economist/finance professional to crunch the numbers on the repair economy.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 12/05/2025

For some time - it is amazing that the University/Post Secondary sectors have struggled to articulate their value to the economy, meanwhile the sector is being 'quietly' shaped by immigration policy. 1/

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Unexpected bug things happening at scienceworld in Vancouver…

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Christine O. she/her @cloreally.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Update on "Larry the Leaf insect". Our local Uni which shares a similar species colony has never seen a spontaneous male from a parthenogenic colony in a least a decade of rearing. Larry is an icon! 🤣

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Christine O. she/her @cloreally.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Soooo.... our parthenogenic female phasmid colony just produced a male by cloning. An #Extasoma tiaratum. Like dude, you are supposed to be IMPOSSIBLE! Deletion of a sex chromosome maybe 🤷🏼‍♀️ Any ideas #entomology folks?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 16/04/2025

Academic Freedom at #UBC has been on my mind quite a bit recently - in light of the proposed new Senate Policy - also recently due to very helpful discussions with colleagues, and the open letter that's been circulating. Here are some of my thoughts: bmatb.medium.com/academic-fre... #AcademicSky

bmatb.medium.com

Academic Freedom @ UBC

As a tenured professor and active participant in UBC governance, I have been closely following ongoing discussions about academic freedom…

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Doug Aoki 青木定夫 @nantanreikan.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Some people are asking why Poilievre and the Conservatives are so much less popular among women. This is one reason: actual messages sent to female Canadian MPs. Misogyny pervades right-wing populism.

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

If you are thinking of toilet training your kid this spring, please consider taking part in our global citizen science project to understand obstacles you face: www.bigtoiletproject.org

bigtoiletproject.org

Home - Big Toilet Project

Are you a parent or adult responsible for toilet training a child? We need your help to understand toilet training better! Get involved with the Big Toilet Project to be part of the world’s biggest...

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Craig Welch @craigwelch.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Wow. California State University, UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis, UC-San Diego and U of SF are ALL urging foreign-born students, faculty and staff to reconsider international travel because there's no telling whether the Trump administration will allow them to re-enter. www.desertsun.com/story/news/n...

desertsun.com

Trump travel ban: California colleges urge international students to rethink travel plans

At least one university said it doesn't recommend international travel as a possible travel ban that could impact more than 40 countries looms.

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Joel Wood 🇨🇦 @joelwwood.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

First, a bilateral trade surplus is not a subsidy. Second, it is more than offset by financial outflows to the US. I love this graphic by Janice Nelson in this @trevortombe.bsky.social article thehub.ca/2025/01/22/t...

Shows cAnada's $100m trade surplus, but then also the Financial inflows to Canada, and then the offsetting financial outflows to the US.

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

So for CAN academics travelling to some countries there have already been strong restrictions on devices - will we see that travel to the US requires us to carry clean devices?

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

If you are visiting the United States, having a negative view of Trump is enough to get you denied entry. If this was coming out of Russia or China, we would deplore such an authoritarian attack on freedom of expression.

"I learned with concern that a French researcher" on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) "who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled ," said the Minister of Higher Education and Research, Philippe Baptiste, in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP). "This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher's phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration's research policy ," he added

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 17/03/2025

At the #UBC "Provost's All-Faculty Forum" a conversation between Dr Gaga Avril (Provost) and Dr. Kamal Al-Solaylee, Director of the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media

A photo of Gage, Kamil and Dr Janice Stewart

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Alex Panetta @alexpanetta.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

This is new: “A source with direct knowledge of the discussions told NBC News that Trump is heavily focused on Canada in conversations with aides, who believe he is completely serious about making the country the 51st state—even with Trudeau out of power” www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

nbcnews.com

Trump's quest to conquer Canada is confusing everyone

Canadians and Republicans alike are confounded as President Donald Trump increasingly links a trade war to his push to annex America's northern neighbor.

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Richard Zussman @richardzussman.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

NEW - BC is preparing legislation to repeal the consumer carbon tax in B.C. The province is also readying legislation to eliminate the scheduled increase to the carbon tax that would otherwise have occurred on April 1, 2025. #bcpoli

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

😔 I hope polisci schools will teach how bad comms can unnecessarily kill good policies using this as an example

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

The “our research ecosystem is going to collapse it’s so underfunded” to “let’s poach all the top US academics and bring them here” arc makes my brain hurt

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Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

If you need some good news, the pace of innovation in energy storage, of heat and electricity, from home to industrial to regional long duration storage scale, is absolutely incredible.

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Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Your weekly reminder that it is not ok to out or misgender trans or nonbinary individuals whether it is in a public forum, workplace, or anywhere else. It’s harassment, and a real distraction from everything else.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 12/03/2025

Voting has opened - check your inbox

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

So frustrating. The aim seems to be to simply mislead consumers.

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Robson Fletcher @robsonfletcher.com · 11/03/2025

Looks like someone took it upon themselves to update the product descriptions in at least one Toronto location. (Via Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/ontario/co... )

Bottles of Wayne Gretzky Cabarnet Merlot wine with a label saying: "USA, Cabarnet Merlot, Sad & Two Faced." Description: "This Merlot is as weak as its namesake's moral fibre. Leaves the aftertaste of anything from a modern day Tim Horton's. Pair with boiled raccoon." $8.95

Bottles of Wayne Gretzky Pinot Grigio labelled "USA. Pinot Grigio. Weak & Backstabbery." Product description: "This Pinot delights with notes of elitism and effluent. Terry Fox would not have used this swill to put out a fire. Pair with broasted raccoon." $16.95

Bottles of Wayne Gretzky Baco Noir labelled "USA. Baco Noir. Depressing & Turncoating." Product description: "This Baco's rancid berry flavour offers the hint of a garbage bag used to hold the empties of after game brews. Pair with roast raccoon." $16.95

Bottles of Wayne Gretzky Chardonnay labelled "USA. Chardonnay. Acrid & treasony." Product description: "This mediocre Ontario Chardonnay reeks of betrayal. Expect hints of moral rot, fermentedin the casks of vast wealth. Pair with barbecued raccoon." $16.95.

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Andrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, 91, with some words for Donald Trump

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

For repair to be a substantial part of what replaces consumerism the wealth it creates at community level needs to be given a cash value. Here is how such calculations can be done: www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/blog/social-...

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Adriana Guatame-García @adriguatame.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.” Absurd we still need to go through this 🧪👩‍🔬

There have been people less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, bc I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study assoc that made me sing songs about how women couldn't study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a stripper name within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of computer girl. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to apologise months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so no hard feelings remain hopefully And no thank you to him for attending every conference I've been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was surprising that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with you should consider it. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists don't know how to design an experiment. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent.
And finally, no thank you to the exec board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
... You have made me feel like I do not belong in science & I cannot forgive you for that.

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

We think that earlier toilet training could halve diaper waste which at the moment is 300,000 diapers per minute. If you are about to toilet train a child please send them this invite to our global citizen science project: www.bigtoiletproject.org

bigtoiletproject.org

Home - Big Toilet Project

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 05/03/2025

And so it continues 😭

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Chris Bataille @chrisbataille.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Seriously - trust and empathy is what allows sophisticated economies to work, because we cannot put an enforced contract or price on everything - the transactions costs would slow everything to a crawl.

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Prof Rachel Oliver @profrachelgan.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Well, there's not a lot in this report that suggests the Royal Soc is going to provide clear evidence that their code of conduct is applied to the powerful without fear or favour.... www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.com

Elon Musk survives as fellow of Royal Society despite anger among scientists

Questions remain over whether further action will be taken after resignations and calls for the Tesla CEO to be expelled

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Catherine McKenna @cathmckenna.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Dear Americans who are appalled by Trump and his administration. Are you going to start marching in the streets or something … soon?

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

The Canadians* at work tomorrow are going to be so smug… (*I am the Canadians)

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Not enforcing regulations is, in this case, a political act.

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

The world sucks but I can make cupcakes and that makes it a bit better.

Vanilla cupcakes with colourful sprinkles

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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

We have a food safe experimental kitchen up and running. If you are a UCL student or staff you can use it for free for research projects: www.instituteofmaking.org.uk/blog/call-ou...

instituteofmaking.org.uk

Call out: we're looking for Experimental Kitchen projects! - Institute of Making

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Chad Sinclair @chadsinclair.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Why is UBC still on the place-that-shall-not-be-named and using it as the first place to post important information? Apparently in-person classes for tomorrow are cancelled- this has been posted on X but has not been posted on the UBC website… 🤦‍♂️

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 04/02/2025

Lots of thoughts have been on my mind about Diversity and the state of US research/funding, especially with respect to Professional Societies. 🧪 Here's a blog piece on the item: bmatb.medium.com/professional...

bmatb.medium.com

Professionalism & Diversity

Current in events in the US are quite exhausting, with a rapid onslaught of change that is set to change how we conduct research, do…

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Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

It feels like such irony when a group of us were writing this article to Cell, and were told by the American higher-ups of the journal to soften the language. e.g. we were asked to omit the word, "radical" which appeared once in the paper just so it won't offend any one. That was <12 mths ago.

cell.com

Rigorous science demands support of transgender scientists

To build a just, equitable, and diverse academy, scientists and institutions must address systemic barriers that sex and gender minorities face. This Commentary summarizes (1) critical context informi...

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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Shopify is a toxic brand.

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