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Ted Corcovilos

@corcoted.bsky.social
458 followers 853 following 82 posts

Physics and such in Pittsburgh, PA

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Reposted by Ted Corcovilos
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 21/07/2026
1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024: The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.
arxiv.org
The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science
As a labor-augmenting technology, large language models (LLMs) have the potential to accelerate scientific activity across the research pipeline. But even if LLMs perform on par with human experts at ...
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I have just read the second butchering I've seen in two days of the story of Max Planck's quantum hypothesis. So I've posted this extract from the initial draft of my forthcoming book in the vain hope that it might avert a few such butcherings in future homunculusmusic.wordpress.com/2026/05/26/p...
homunculusmusic.wordpress.com
Planck’s quanta
This is an extract from the original draft of my forthcoming book The Man Who Broke Reality, a biography of Niels Bohr. Here I explain how Max Planck came up with his quanta. I’m putting it u…
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Nice paper! Anyone have recommendations for strategies that work in large lecture settings (>100 students) with minimal/no extra hands?
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
IT'S TACO TUESDAY!
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Thinking of an old friend who was a TMBG fan. This one's for her. "I don't want the world. I just want your half." youtu.be/gTa0nv-127E?...
youtu.be
They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng (BEST QUALITY Official Music Video)
YouTube video by ParticleMen
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Reposted by Ted Corcovilos
Andy Hall @testtubegames.com · 25/02/2026
New game posted at Universe & More! What?! Magnetism Mini Golf. Go give it a play - perfect for some magnetic puzzle fun, and GREAT fore students. universeandmore.com/magnetism-mi...
3 by 3 grid representing a minigolf course with a cartoon flag in the lower left, and a golf club to the right. Four tiles have little dotted-circles in them representing magnetic fields, and there is a red ball with a curved path shown behind it. The ball has gone around the golf course, curving 90 degrees every time it passes through one of the magnetic fields.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
This sentence blew my mind: "AMD will supply six gigawatts’ worth of chips to Meta" Two things: (1) We're measuring chip supply in watts now? (2) Gigawatts? 6 GW is something like the energy consumption of a few million US homes. Source: www.theguardian.com/business/liv...
theguardian.com
Trump’s new global tariffs kick in at 10%; Meta strikes $60bn chip deal with AMD - business live
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Rant of the day: Why put a QR code in an email and ask me to scan it? Do you realize what a PITA that is? Just give me the link.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I think this ends with Maduro getting a pardon after signing away the oil. The whole affair is a shakedown.
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Ryan Boyd @ryanboyd.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
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Coyote Lymn @coyotelymn.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
It's incredible that the U.S. is being ruled by the characters of Less Than Zero
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Go Hounds! On to the final!
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Happy Mole Day to all who celebrate! 🧪
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
If Harvard is slashing PhD admissions by more than half, what does this foretell about less-resourced institutions? Will my graduating seniors be able to continue their education?
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
The solution here is obvious. We all need brain implants, so we don't have to talk out loud. /s
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Reuters @reuters.com · 13/10/2025
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L
reut.rs
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.
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Nature Physics @natphys.nature.com · 07/10/2025
Want to read a Comment by the three Nobel Laureates on quantum circuits? Here it is: ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Quantum Josephson junction circuits and the dawn of artificial atoms - Nature Physics
In 1985, experiments revealed the quantum behaviour of a macroscopic degree of freedom: the phase difference across a Josephson junction. The authors recount the history of this milestone for the development of superconducting quantum circuits.
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Robert Garisto @robertgaristo.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Congratulations to John Clarke, Michael Devoret, & John Martinis Nobel in Physics "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling & energy quantization in an electric circuit" in 3 PRLs journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events. Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... 1/14
jeremymberg.github.io
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Question for the #ITeachPhysics crowd: Does anyone know of a paper where they measure the effectiveness of recitation sections for university intro physics (calc or non-calc)? Trying to build a case that we need recitation, but need data to back it up.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Where can kids get a COVID shot in Pittsburgh? CVS and Walgreens turned us away.
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Matthew Holden 🏳️‍🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Happy 4^ / 3^2 / 5^2 day!!! (3^2/ 4^2 / 5^2 for us weird Americans) Not too many days satisfy the Pythagorean thm. @amermathsoc.bsky.social @austms.bsky.social @stevenstrogatz.com @monsoon0.bsky.social ht Peter Baxter for noticing. Looking forward to coming back to the US for joint maths in Jan.
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Star Wars Holocron @swholocron.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
“The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it. And that is the real trick of the Imperial thought machine. It's easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident” Every day this line feels more and more relevant.
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Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
"Once Guilder is blamed, the nation will truly be outraged—they'll demand we go to war"
media.tenor.com
a bald man is making a funny face and saying inconceivable .
Alt: a bald man is making a funny face and saying inconceivable .
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I condemn political violence. I don't think polarization is the cause. We must realize that violence becomes more likely when people feel disenfranchised, feel that they have no other way of being heard, feel that the only power they have left is the power to destroy.
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Chad Orzel @orzelc.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Unless something exciting happens that pre-empts it, I should be on Science Friday this afternoon talking about the first 100 years of quantum physics. They said around 3:20 ET, if you want a more specific time. www.sciencefriday.com
sciencefriday.com
ScienceFriday.com
Brain fun, for curious people.
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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
AI slop and the destruction of knowledge irisvanrooijcogsci.com/2025/08/12/a...
irisvanrooijcogsci.com
AI slop and the destruction of knowledge
This week I was looking for info on what cognitive scientists mean when they speak of ‘domain-general’ cognition. I was curious, because the nuances are relevant for something I am researching at t…
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Encouraging advice for early career scientists (and us old folks, too) for navigating the changes in science funding and culture. Read and share!
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
The only surprise here is that they're fighting publicly. Lobbyists' extortion isn't working, so they whine. Time to get the money out of politics.
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
NEW: NSF will be kicked out of their building. Announcement will be made tomorrow by HUD Sec. and Governor of VA. HUD will take over the NSF building over the next two years. NSF staffer: "There is no planning for NSF, no identified future location, appropriation for a new building or a move."
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Local/state police need to start arresting ICE who aren't showing identification.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Let me summarize the #NSF and #NASA budgets: Make America Stupid and Weak
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Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Here's NASA astrophysics, if I read the president's proposed budget correctly. 🔭
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 11/05/2025
Have we reached the phase transition where #science PhD students in the US will be expected to pay tuition out of their own pockets? It's starting to feel like this is coming.
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PhET Interactive Simulations @phetsims.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
1/7 💔 We are very disappointed to announce that on April 25, NSF terminated a $1.5M PhET grant – our Pathways to Open Source Ecosystems Phase II grant for advancing PhET’s SceneryStack project. Learn how this impacts our work and how you can help: bit.ly/PhETNSF2025
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Noam Ross @noamross.net · 19/04/2025
🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨 We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely! airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
NSF Grant Termination Information Collection Form

Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NSF grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025.


We are tracking these grants to increase transparency, organize affected PIs, and facilitate responses, including via litigation. Please share the form as widely as possible with your networks. 


We are actively building a pipeline to organize these terminations and will soon have a tracker akin to our NIH grant tracker at https://airtable.com/appjhyo9NTvJLocRy/shrNto1NNp9eJlgpA


WE WILL NOT DISCLOSE THE IDENTITY OF ANYONE WHO USES THIS FORM TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. We will keep your identity confidential.


These resources are maintained by Noam Ross of rOpenSci and Scott Delaney of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, with input and support from additional volunteers. For any questions, please contact Scott Delaney on Signal (sdelaney.84).


THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE!
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Chad Orzel @orzelc.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Announcing a reboot of the Schrodinger Sessions, a 2.5-day workshop on communicating quantum physics at the Joint Quantum Institute of the University of Maryland, July 31-August 2 this year: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
The Schrödinger Sessions: Quantum Information Meets Science Communication
In celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, the American Physical Society (APS) Innovation Fund is supporting projects that enhance public engagement, broaden p...
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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
🧪⚛️. This article is a classic example of tacitly assuming that “physics” = high energy physics. A whole article about how physics is stagnating and maybe we need to move on from empiricism, and not a single mention of, you know, *the whole rest of the discipline*. aeon.co/essays/why-t...
aeon.co
Why the hunt for reality is an impossible burden for physics | Aeon Essays
Physicists today need to jettison the all-too-attractive myth that they are uncovering the hidden reality of our Universe
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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · 05/04/2025
Hands Off Pittsburgh
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
At least the 21st Amendment is pretty far down the list.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Congress must take the tariff gun out of his hand. That and all the other "emergency" powers.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14/03/2025
i have never been to pittsburgh and would really like to visit so if anyone wants to invite me up to give a talk i’ll be happy to do it
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Replace "game designer" with "teacher" and this still holds true.
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Flakey Foont @flakyfoont.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
“Arrests rolled through the streets like an epidemic… People vanished in the middle of the night, seized in their homes, at their workplaces, on the street. It seemed as if they had never existed at all.” -The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
I feel like we're a week away from Trump declaring Order 66 and Elon turning on SkyNet. Oh, and Don Jr. finding the One Ring. Yeah, that's how I feel right now.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Note: It is Presidents' Day, not President's Day.
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Sometimes you roll the dice just to make the players nervous.
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Kevin Bird @stairwaytokevin.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
I'm begging a major news org to cover the fact NSF is defying the courts to enact Trump's unconstitutional executive order
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Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Every time I switch textbooks it's a struggle to remember if electrons are red or blue. #iTeachPhysics 🎢
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