Reposted by Ted CorcovilosCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 21/07/20261. 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.orgThe unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in scienceAs 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 ... 10837339
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosPhilip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 26/05/2026I 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.comPlanck’s quantaThis 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… 107427
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosTrish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Every 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.comDrowning Doesn’t Look Like DrowningDrowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. 253133909733
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Nice paper! Anyone have recommendations for strategies that work in large lecture settings (>100 students) with minimal/no extra hands? 110
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 26/03/2026Lol. Exactly how I feel about my college students. 050
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Thinking 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.beThey Might Be Giants - Ana Ng (BEST QUALITY Official Music Video)YouTube video by ParticleMen 000
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosAndy Hall @testtubegames.com · 25/02/2026New 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... 1175
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 24/02/2026This 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.comTrump’s new global tariffs kick in at 10%; Meta strikes $60bn chip deal with AMD - business liveRolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news 100
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 23/02/2026This is just straight fraud. I think universities should send tuition bills every time an AI logs into their LLM. 030
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Great! Now fix public transit in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. 020
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 28/01/2026Rant 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. 010
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 04/01/2026I think this ends with Maduro getting a pardon after signing away the oil. The whole affair is a shakedown. 020
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 31/12/2025Didn't see this one posted yet. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7F...youtube.comGenesis - Land of Confusion (Official Music Video)YouTube video by Genesis 010
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosRyan Boyd @ryanboyd.bsky.social · 12/12/2025There 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 1055641585
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Also, don't forget the analog geniuses at pittsburghmodular.compittsburghmodular.comPittsburgh Modular SynthesizersManufacturer of synthesizers, eurorack modules, Structure travel and studio cases. Home of the Microvolt 3900 and Blackbox SV-1 desktop synths. Made in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Analog Matters. 110
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosCoyote Lymn @coyotelymn.bsky.social · 16/11/2025It's incredible that the U.S. is being ruled by the characters of Less Than Zero 0292
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 09/11/2025Paging @dieworkwear.bsky.social What's up with that suit? 030
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 06/11/2025Makes me nostalgic for the days when the internet was made of tubes. 010
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 23/10/2025In case you were wondering, 100 mol of moles has about the same mass as the Earth. 140
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 22/10/2025If 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? 021
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 16/10/2025The solution here is obvious. We all need brain implants, so we don't have to talk out loud. /s 010
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosReuters @reuters.com · 13/10/2025NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2Lreut.rsNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workersNASA'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. 44470299
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosNature Physics @natphys.nature.com · 07/10/2025Want to read a Comment by the three Nobel Laureates on quantum circuits? Here it is: ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comQuantum Josephson junction circuits and the dawn of artificial atoms - Nature PhysicsIn 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. 14018
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosRobert Garisto @robertgaristo.bsky.social · 07/10/2025Congratulations 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... 0162
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosJeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 07/10/2025I 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... 1/14jeremymberg.github.io 14298163
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 07/10/2025Anecdotally, instructors feel that the loss has negatively impacted student learning. The students have requested more contact time in their course evals. But we lack hard data. So, I thought I'd ask here to see what others can share! 3/3 110
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 07/10/2025We lost them a few years ago by administrative fiat. Can't get into specifics here, but it boils down to a belief that recitations weren't a cost-effective use of resources. 2/ 110
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 07/10/2025In ages past we had one hour per week marked as "recitation" with faculty running them (no grad TAs in our dept). Usage varied by instructor. Some used them as office hours, others as extra lecture time, and some as problem-solving sessions. 1/ 120
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Currently we have no discussion or recitation sections, hence the question. 110
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Question 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. 230
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Feeling this right now as I grade exams. Also see students mixing x and y components within the same step. I'm a big fan of data tables to make it clear what goes where (columns for x, y, and magnitude.), but few write the table on exams. 120
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 24/09/2025See for example arxiv.org/abs/1207.7214 The author list is 8+ pagesarxiv.orgObservation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHCA search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC is presented. The datasets used correspond to integrated luminosities of approximately 4.8 fb... 000
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 24/09/2025I was thinking about your comment in the top of the thread that just contributing to the non-writing part of the project should not qualify one for authorship. For these truly large collaborations we see in physics, only a few hands actually craft the paper. How do we credit everyone else? 130
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 24/09/2025Scale matters, too. I take your point, but in a field like high-energy physics, having hundreds of authors on a paper is seen as necessary to acknowledge all of those who contribute. Any idea of how to condense the author list without harming junior team members or technical staff? 020
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 21/09/2025Finally got into a CVS. Had to wait for them to restock and update their website. Thanks to everyone who passed on tips! 110
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 19/09/2025We couldn't schedule children, at least at the locations near us. Adults were okay. 100
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 19/09/2025Where can kids get a COVID shot in Pittsburgh? CVS and Walgreens turned us away. 301
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosMatthew Holden 🏳️🌈 @matthholden.bsky.social · 16/09/2025Happy 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. 1115
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosStar 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. 141326451
Reposted by Ted CorcovilosMichael 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.coma bald man is making a funny face and saying inconceivable .Alt: a bald man is making a funny face and saying inconceivable . 410015
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 11/09/2025I'm not saying we should sympathize with those who hate. But letting them speak is better that silencing them until they kill. 000
Ted Corcovilos @corcoted.bsky.social · 11/09/2025I 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. 110
