iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 19/09/2026

I'll admit I'm a little intrigued as to how Meta AI intends to convert a photo of my thesis into a tarot card. But not intrigued enough to find out...

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 15/09/2026

One list I'm not unhappy to be on.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 08/09/2026

8 September 2026. The day my kitchen appliances started making veiled threats against me by email.

Two consecutive emails, from hotpoint and beko, both with the subject line "Daniel, accidents happen..."

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 07/09/2026

In arxiv.org/abs/2609.03859 @cplberry.bsky.social and myself have a look at the new things the cornucopia of new black hole collisions have taught us about the Universe and the way it works. We also have what I hope are some handy never-seen-before plots.

The primary mass spectrum of black holes. The plot shows three lines, each with an accompanying shaded region showing the line's uncertainty, plotted on axes: primary mass on the x axis and rate on the y axis. The lines are broadly similar, peaking around a value of 10, with an elbow close to 40 solar masses where the rate starts to drop off more sharply.

A timeline showing various observing runs as coloured blocks and data releases as diamonds. There are lines above the blocks which indicate the content of each data release.

The image shows three plots. On the left are two similar waveform plots, with time on the x axis of each, and whitened strain on the y axis. The upper plot shows GW150914 in blue, the lower GW250114 in green. The lines look similar, with both containing a noisy waveform, but the green, lower plot is much clearer than the blue, upper plot. On the right hand side two contour plots are overlaid, showing the posterior distribution of the primary against the secondary mass. The blue contour is much larger than the green one, but they have very similar median values.

A timeline plot showing coloured bars for each observing run. The height of the bar is proportional to the sensitivity of the detectors in that observing run. There are points marked on the plot which indicate detected candidates which are plotted against their inferred luminosity distance on the y-axis.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 21/08/2026

So Daniel, what's the best thing you've done to the flat since you bought it? Paint? New floors? No, I installed a sensor which would identify when my laundry had dried by the ambient humidity.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 02/06/2026

Not to suggest that I approve in any way of embezzlement, but there are worse things you could have bought with the money...

A list of objects purchased by Peter Murrell, including a telescope and a coffee machine.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 09/04/2026

What an excellent evening! Many thanks to the ARC at @glasgow.ac.uk for hosting and giving me the chance to geek-out about black holes. (For anyone who missed it, this is said book by the way)

A copy of Gravitation by Misner Thorne and Wheeler.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 23/03/2026

Friends fear he has written a Bayesian Scotish election prediction code.

A table of predicted seat shares for the 2026 scottish parliament elections.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 17/03/2026

I believe this is what they call erasure.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 14/03/2026

Please remember to consult your nearest Glaswegian when naming something...

A sign on an aircraft seat advertising "BAWi-Fi"

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 04/03/2026

Once again, stop tempting addicts.

An invitation from the IoP to self nominate for election as president.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 03/03/2026

Daniel, what is it you're known for?

A google AI overview result which cites daniel-williams.co.uk several times. It is a description of the number of hills in Glasgow.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28/02/2026

This is, I swear, for research purposes.

A photograph of the star Trek original series DVD box set

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 20/02/2026

I'm a white middle-aged man. I feel like this is not something you should be encouraging me to do, Substack.

A button inviting me to "start your podcast".

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 20/02/2026

My predictions, based on a hierarchical Bayesian analysis, for this weekend's six nations matches 🏉. More details and (possibly) insights here: daniel-williams.co.uk/2026/02/17/s... #rugby #six-nations #sixnations

Home Predicted score Away Predicted Winner
England 37 - 25 Ireland [England (71%)]
Wales 26 - 23 Scotland [Wales (54%)]
France 40 - 21 Italy [France (81%)]

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 10/02/2026

A letter to Martin Rhodes, my MP, regarding the recently-announced budget cuts to astronomy and other curiosity-driven science in the UK. (Full text in on my blog, apologies that I couldn't fit it all in alt text: daniel-williams.co.uk/2026/02/10/l...)

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 24/10/2025

I'm not sure that asking "are you enjoying the app which allows your work emails to intrude into the rest of your life" is going to get you an unbiased sample of opinions...

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 17/10/2025

The Glasgow Subway was famously in official mourning for Victoria until the 1970s, wearing black arm bands on their uniforms. Sometimes it's interesting to see how old traditions can be revived for our modern world.

A sign on a ticket vending machine stating that it will not accept King Charles bank notes.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 17/10/2025

I'm excited to announce that I'll be giving some talks in Wester Ross this November as part of the Wester Ross Dark Skies Festival (wrb.scot/sustainable-...)!

A poster describing the talk for 19 November 2025 in Applecross Community Hall

A poster describing the talk in Torridon on 18 November 2025.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 19/09/2025

Unquestionably the best AI artefact I've ever encountered in real life is this calendar my mother was given this year, which, among other things, states that the first Sunday in advent should be celebrated on the Wednesday following Cyber Monday, which itself will be celebrated on a Thursday in 2025

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 14/09/2025

In 2015 I was in the right place at the right time when the first gravitational wave was detected. daniel-williams.co.uk/2025/09/14/t... #GravitationalWaves 🔭

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 12/09/2025

I like Duolingo as I can learn Gaelic in a fantasy setting.

A screenshot of Duolingo showing "Tagh fiosageachd. Gheibh thu airgead gu leòr"

Translated as "Choose Physics you will get plenty of money"

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27/08/2025

Maybe it would be faster if we got more than one man to cut all this steel, and stopped doing it on a boat which is clearly required for delivering things?

Headline reading Ian Murray to cut steel on barge that will help deliver three new Navy ships

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27/08/2025

Didn't their grannies warn them about putting their eggs all in one basket?

A headline reading "whole prehistory of fife found in one field, experts say"

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 26/08/2025

The new results we've released today contain the loudest signal we've detected so far: GW230814, louder even than the famous GW170817 neutron star merger. Read about it in the paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2508.18082

An image reading "The Universe just got louder" with an illustration of gravitational waves being produced by two black holes in the background.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 26/08/2025

128 new mergers between black holes and neutron stars. Today we're revealing the biggest ever update to our count of gravitational wave detections. New data from May 2023 to January 2024 has more than doubled the number we've seen. 🧵 1/3 @ligo.org #Virgo #KAGRA #GravitationalWaves 🔭 #GWTC-4 #O4a

An image with a black hole merger in the background. The text reads "128 new mergers revealed: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA GWTC-4.0".

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 15/08/2025

One worries that if they put all their resources into making a bread giant that they might fail to make enough normal loaves.

BBC news headline reading "Kingsmill owner to buy Hovis to make UK bread giant"

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 29/07/2025

I can't help but think this sentence places a structural burden on the English language which it is ill-equipped to bear.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham Zafar Iqbal said: "We're going to pay our last respects and homage to one of the greatest living legends of Birmingham." Osbourne died aged 76 on 22 July

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 17/07/2025

The rehearsals are done; the sound-check is done. The gravitational-wave ceilidh is the event on the horizon.

A photograph of a pamphlet displaying the steps of a ceilidh dance.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 13/07/2025

It's time to boldly go... Into the lecture theatre for @drerinmac.bsky.social's talk.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27/06/2025

We have reached the new heights of AI research where they now throw shade.

A chat GPT answer:

No — the Dr. Daniel Williams you're asking about (the astronomer based in Glasgow) is not the same Daniel Williams who competes in hill races.

The hill-running Daniel Williams (who logs Munros, Corbetts, ultramarathons, etc.) is clearly an outdoor athlete — and his blog posts mention summits like Drumochter and the Great Scottish Run
dundeeroadrunners.co.uk+10daniel-williams.co.uk+10skysports.com+10
. Meanwhile, the astronomer Daniel Williams focuses on radio data and LIGO research and has no public record as a hill runner.

So they’re two different individuals:

Dr. Daniel Williams, astrophysicist and astronomer in Glasgow — specializes in gravitational‑wave research.

Daniel Williams, endurance runner and hill/mountain racer — logs dozens of races on running sites .

Hope that clears it up! Let me know if you’d like more info on either of them.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 11/06/2025

In the time it took for me to write this we achieved what I believe to be the first ever quintuple detector lock.

A screenshot of the detector status for the gravitational wave detector network. 5 detectors (GEO600, LIGO Livingston, LIGO Hanford, Virgo, and KAGRA) are marked as observing.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 11/06/2025

We have lock! The final stretch of the fourth Gravitational Wave observing run has officially started, and will see us through to November 2025. This is the first time we'll have all five detectors working together, and as we all know from Arthur: we Get together and make things better.

A screenshot of the detector status for the gravitational wave detector network. 4 detectors (GEO600, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, and KAGRA) are observing; one is "Down": LIGO Hanford.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 11/06/2025

Fair play to ASML, I probably am the sort of person they would think about employing. However, if you think whatever that 400m track is doing in the top right hand corner is going to have me take you seriously...

An Instagram story advertising ASML with the words "Discover sports at ASML". The picture in the background is an aerial view of a running track made of blue material; it looks normal most of the way around but the lanes in the upper right hand corner wiggle around weirdly.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27/05/2025

I can't believe they held a high mass for gravitational waves and didn't invite me.

The beginning of an email reading "Dear Colleague,

As a former student of A. Lichnerowicz, I attended to the HIGH MASS held in Paris (2015) for the centenary of gravitational waves (GW).
It was a VERY unpleasant atmosphere because EVERYBODY knew that sponsors should stop funding. Then, I started to have more "

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 13/05/2025

Day one of the @uofgravity.bsky.social AIslands meeting on the stunning Isle of Bute where we'll be discussing the ways machine learning and artificial intelligence can be used in Gravitational Wave Astronomy.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 08/05/2025

"Dear Dr Williams, we saw your research from across the room and we liked its fishy vibe."

An email from an MDPI journal
"""
Dear Dr. Williams,

Greetings from the Fishes Editorial Office.

We read your recent papers and believe that your work would be a perfect
fit for /Fishes/. In recognition of your well-respected research, you
"""

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 07/05/2025

Is the experiment to drive north on the M6?

BBC news headline claiming "experiments to dim the sun one step closer in the UK".

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 30/04/2025

Life as an academic, citing my own papers, ensuring I get the attention I deserve.

A microsoft outlook notification stating that "You mentioned yourself and you mentioned yourself" 14 minutes ago.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 08/04/2025

Imagine going from having an openly gay leader to suggesting the queers are the reason for all our ills in just half a decade.

A screenshot of a Scottish Tories tweet which depicts a black and white photograph of John Swinney against a yellow background. Above him is written "Fund Stonewall".
On the right an anonymous white man in a suit is shown in full colour against a dark blue background with "Fund public services" written above him.
The caption reads "your money should be used to fund public services, not groups promoting the SNP's n..." after which it is cut off.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 30/03/2025

I've got to hand it to the Italians. They do bus stops quite well.

A photograph looking across a road towards snow-capped mountains with a dark blue sky in the background filled with whispy clouds.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27/03/2025

In Italy, and struggling to adapt to the culture shock of not being allowed to drag my child down the stairs upside down.

A sign painted on the floor depicting a flight of stairs. An outline of a person is standing on a lower step, holding a handle which is attached to a black oval, itself balanced atop a black circle, sitting on a higher step.
The smaller object resembles an inverted version of the person.
I think it's meant to indicate that you shouldn't hold trolley bags on the escalator.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 26/03/2025

Do you study gravity? Do you want to visit an exciting and friendly city in one of the most beautiful parts of the world? Well, I've got good news. The GR-Amaldi conference will be in Glasgow this July, and you've got a second chance to submit an abstract!

A photo of Scottish mountains with a blue sky in the background. The mountains take up much of the frame, and there are several peaks visible. They start green near the bottom but they're topped with grey rock. In the distance there are more mountains but it's hard to make out details because of the haze. The photo is not relevant to the rest of the post except that it's Scotland. There's a reason I do science and not marketing.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 17/03/2025

Intrigued to have woken up and discovered I now have expertise in welding. Many thanks to MDPI for this knowledge.

An email reading

Dear Dr. Williams,

We recently invited you to submit a Feature Paper (free of charge) to the
Special Issue entitled "Advanced Welding Technology and Its Applications", to
be published in Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417, IF 2.5) if accepted after
peer review. Dr. Radoslaw Winiczenko is serving as Guest Editor for this
issue. Based on your expertise in this field, we think you could make an
excellent contribution. For more information on this Special Issue, please
visit the Special Issue website at:

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 16/03/2025

I can't help but wonder if there was a simpler way to achieve this.

A small sign stating that a shared space has been suspended and cyclists must wheel their bike.
It is held from railings above an underpass by a complex arrangement of scaffolding poles.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 14/03/2025

However, there were problems. A note stuck in the front cover indicates that problems with crossing the river Forth (which, nearer the sea is crossed by a trio of famous bridges) have led them to look further along the road at Buchlyvie. 6/

A note reading "Site at Gargunnock is no longer being considered due to problems of bridging the river Forth and possibility of flooding at certain times of the year. However a site at Buchlyvie is being considered along with the Tentsmuir site, and outline planning permission for this Buchlyvie site has been obtained. Engineering wise, Tentsmuir is clearly the better site due to the nature of the substrata."

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