iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 25/04/2026

As I move from Germany to New Zealand and look to start a PhD in Physics, I feel grateful I had the chance to support local science journalism, grateful my former #JHU students can carry it forward. Careful, honest science is the key to understanding (and holding onto) reality. #CitizenScience 🧪🔭⚛️

Allotsego.com, Letter from Ron Bishop, Kudos for Citizen Science Column. I applaud you all at Iron String press for continuing your column series Citizen Science. I have greatly appreciated the insights of Jamie Zvirzdin these last 3 years, and now look forward to more from Roberta McLain and the other two writers taking up the baton for the next months and years.

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Reposted by Jamie Zvirzdin

Paul Naish @paulnaish.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

What Is Interesting About Conspiracy Theories? @tandfresearch.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 03/03/2026

The Sheraton Hotel in Connecticut is serving an IPA beer called "I'm Dead Inside" and it made me laugh-cry.

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Reposted by Jamie Zvirzdin

Physghoul 👻 🎃 @physgal.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

36 years ago today, 14 women, most of whom were studying engineering, were killed by an anti-feminist gun man at École Polytechnique in Montreal. I was a young graduate student studying physics at the time and I will never forget. #MontrealMassacre #NeverForget 🧪 👩‍🔬 ⚛️ 🎢 #AcademicSky 🇨🇦

Photos of the 14 victims of the Montreal massacre:

Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault and Annie Turcotte

and the rooms where they were killed.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 04/02/2026

Have a little more faith in your own neural network. Learn to write well in science. We need honest, good science writing. Doesn't have to be perfect. All slides from the workshop "Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers" are here: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... 🧪🔭⚛️

Slide from presentation by Jamie Zvirzdin, shows a white lightbulb on black background.
Our Own Neural Networks
Your brain is the ultimate multipurpose problem-solving machine:
-adaptable,
-fast (~1 exaFLOP*),
-robust,
-creative, and
-energy-efficient (20 watts vs. 20 megawatts).

Have a little faith in it when it comes to writing!

*1 exaFLOP = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 floating-point operations per second (FLOPS).

Links to NIST, PCMag, DOE, and Wikipedia

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Reposted by Jamie Zvirzdin

Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦 @watershedlab.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

After reviewing nearly 200 applications from prospective grad students and postdocs over the past few months for a couple different 🧪⚒️ postings, here are some tips, at least as they apply to North American positions. I hope they help future applicants. Share with your networks. 🧵

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 13/12/2025

I have been alive for 15,353 days today. I have reached the # of Life, the Universe, and Everything. My birthday wish is that a) you do something kind today, b) read, skim, or share something I wrote for science, and c) do a little jig. 🧪⚛️ #highenergyastro www.jamiezvirzdin.com/publications...

jamiezvirzdin.com

Publications

arXiv preprint https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2512.01638 December 1, 2025 Using 14 years of data from the Telescope Array in Utah, this study searched for ultrahigh-energy photons...

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 05/11/2025

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C7t... Jamie Zvirzdin links principles of physics with those of grammar and linguistics, adds a pinch of poetics, and serves up a tasty guide to scientific thinking and writerly writing. —Christopher Joyce, Correspondent, Science Desk, NPR www.subatomicwriting.com 🧪⚛️🔭✏️

youtube.com

Subatomic Writing Teaser Trailer

YouTube video by Jamie Zvirzdin

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 15/10/2025

Once upon a time my friends told me about a Science & Religion essay contest, that I had to do it. I wrote the damn thing in a week and won 2nd place and $5,000. At the heart of it is the symbol of the urbs quadrata, like the unit circle centered at a Cartesian origin. 🧪🔭⚛️ issues.org/shuddering-b...

issues.org

"Shuddering Before the Beautiful": Trains of Thought Across the Mormon Cosmos

If then th’ Astronomers, whereas they spie A new-found Starre, their Opticks magnifie, How brave are those, who with their Engine, can Bring man to heaven, and heaven againe to man? —John Donne If you...

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 16/09/2025

I'm reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes to my son at night. Sherlock says in "A Scandal in Bohemia" (p. 187), "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." Wise words. 🧪⚛️🔭

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 14/09/2025

The world can be grim. What sustains us? Meaningful work and kind interactions sustain me, along with good memories. Teaching my son to read is one of these. (We loved these foam letters someone gave us!) His determination still fuels me. #parenting #love #education www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNiS...

youtube.com

Happy Scrub Five, Six, Seven

YouTube video by Max Facts: The Universe Explained

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Reposted by Jamie Zvirzdin

STRUCTURES Cluster of Excellence Heidelberg @structures-hd.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

We invite you to learn about the link between topology and space engineering when it comes to solving the three-body problem! Find out in our latest blog post by Arthur Limoge: structures.uni-heidelberg.de/blog/posts/2... #threebodyproblem #math #spaceexploration #topology

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 27/08/2025

I am citable! Check it out: Zvirzdin, J. (2025, January 27). Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers. Workshop on Machine Learning for Analysis of High-Energy Cosmic Particles, University of Delaware. doi.org/10.5281/zeno... #highenergyastro #ai ⚛️🧪

doi.org

Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers

AI tools shape writing style in ways that dull clarity, variety, rhythm, and voice. Editors, publishers, grant-givers, and professors are familiar with—and tired of—the linguistic tics of the AI voice...

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 26/08/2025

🧪⚛️🔭 Give back, nominate someone who helped you.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 20/08/2025

Props to @kurzgesagt.org for another fantastic and supremely important science video, this time on the benefits and costs of alcohol. Take a moment to watch it, please. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. Or others. 🧪 youtu.be/aOwmt39L2IQ?...

youtu.be

Alcohol is AMAZING

YouTube video by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 28/07/2025

Fantastic article by @rhettallain.bsky.social. I grow tired of physics problems that do not model real life. It only leads to physicists who do not know how to model real life. We need more of this, a careful examination of assumptions.⚛️

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 26/07/2025

I remotely operate sensitive cosmic-ray telescopes in the West Desert of Utah. Wild that we can pick up the light from this wildfire. Be safe, Sevier County! Select Band="Fire Temperature RGB" www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/wfo_ban... #Utah #UofU #TelescopeArray #highenergyastro 🧪

Satellite image of fire in Sevier County, Utah.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 23/07/2025

Word to the wise, this happened yesterday. I'm in Europe and move frequently for my husband's job. I value staying in touch with friends across the globe. But to be locked out of both Facebook and Instagram with NO warning made me realize I need to write down names/other contact info ASAP.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 22/07/2025

Scientists can regain public trust by a) being honest in their work and b) not being so proudly inaccessible in their writing. The best physics writing uses different kinds of stories, and I also tell my own. aeon.co/essays/to-un... @aeon.co #scicomm #writing #editing #publishing #highenergyastro ⚛️

aeon.co

To understand physics, we need to tell – and hear – stories | Aeon Essays

Don’t be intimidated by physics: it is made of stories and metaphors. Learn these and the field will open up to you

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 10/07/2025

If you research the physics ⚛️ of extreme objects/particles/environments or high/ultrahigh-energy emissions from space, sign up to post to our #Bluesky #highenergyastro feed. I moderate this feed as part of the most excellent Astrosky Ecosystem.🔭 Join us!🧪 astrosky.eco/feeds/highen... @emily.space

astrosky.eco

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Reposted by Jamie Zvirzdin

Huei Sears, PhD 🌟 @starlights.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

!!! new on work led by U.C. Berkeley postdoc, Yuhan Yao 🦖 incl. comments from @gymleadererica.bsky.social et al. "Like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, astronomers using NASA telescopes have found 'Space Jaws.'" 🧪🔭☄️ #womeninSTEM #highenergyastro science.nasa.gov/missions/hub...

science.nasa.gov

NASA's Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole - NASA Science

A sneaky black hole betrayed its presence to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in a newly identified tidal disruption event.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 24/06/2025

Hey, the PDF of my 3-hour workshop at the U. of Delaware has over 100 downloads now! Not bad! zenodo.org/records/1511... If you teach science, give your students the time and opportunity to find their own #writing voices. Textbook I wrote for my #JHU students: www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/... 🧪⚛️🔭

zenodo.org

Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 21/06/2025

And here is one of the solutions to the 3-Body Problem. There are hundreds! It is a good reminder that we often focus too much on a problem and not enough on the solutions. This is Christopher Moore's original (nontrivial) solution from 1993: youtu.be/EQ5K6KTVaQc ⚛️🧪 #highenergyastro

youtu.be

JZ 3-Body Solution Short Animation 06-21-25

YouTube video by Jamie Zvirzdin

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 21/06/2025

I find it wildly cathartic to be taking both #Chaos and #Cosmology this semester at #JHU. Insane amount of work but marvelous material (Thank you @stevenstrogatz.com and @bsryden.bsky.social for your writing styles!). Dramatic music for (melo)dramatic times. ⚛️🧪 #highenergyastro youtu.be/HGbs1mcju0Q

youtu.be

JZ 3-Body Problem Short Animation 06-21-25

YouTube video by Jamie Zvirzdin

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 05/06/2025

My Australian Shepherd is absurdly beautiful even when covered in mud after many miles of trail running with my husband. I will never get over how marvelous she is. Husband's pretty great too. 😂 #pets

Blue-merle Australian shepherd covered with mud sitting on a hiking trail.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 29/05/2025

This is Andrew being acted upon by the cat force, which is far more powerful than any other force in the universe. Dimensionally speaking, 😺 Force = (Mass of 🐈) * (Length of 🐈)/(Time the🐈decides to remain)^2 . . . * ♾️. It's a very positive force. 😹🩵 ⚛️🧪

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 27/05/2025

A room with a GREAT view. Currently waiting for lightning to clear up before we can open #UofU #TelescopeArray doors and capture ultrahigh-energy cosmic-ray particles. Also studying for #JHU graduate course, Chaos and Its Applications. Also, cat. #highenergyastro #fundscience 🧪⚛️ #particlephysics

Picture of computer monitor with cosmic ray detection software, eyeglasses and the book Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos by Steven H. Strogatz in front of the computer keyboard, Jamie's cat's head in foreground.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 09/05/2025

Students are so intent on #publishing they turn to #AI, but AI is STILL a bad writer with identifiable writing patterns editors easily see. If you're a professor/administrator, hire me to come inspire your students to find their own #sciencewriting voices! 🧪⚛️🔭 A taste: doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

doi.org

Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 05/05/2025

#Bones to Booth on the Tooth Fairy: "I don't want to teach our daughter that it is okay for a stranger to break into her room and steal discarded body parts." 😂😂😂 I totally agree. It has been great watching this show for the first time. Thanks @emilydeschanel.bsky.social & Co.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 02/05/2025

My students are the bestest. #SubatomicWriting #scicomm #grammar #JHU @hopkinspress.bsky.social rappahannockreview.com/issue-12-2/i...

Interview with Trisha Steele describing where her literary piece originated, The graduate science writing class Subatomic Writing taught by Jamie Zvirzdin

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 20/04/2025

Access my presentation for FREE. APA citation: Zvirzdin, J. (2025, January 27). Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers. Workshop on Machine Learning for Analysis of High-Energy Cosmic Particles, University of Delaware. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zeno... 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭

doi.org

Psst . . . Your AI Is Showing: How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 17/04/2025

"Excrementitious" and "nefandous" are my favorites. www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/tha...

merriam-webster.com

Better Ways to Say 'This Sucks'

Go on...make your English teacher proud.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 03/04/2025

I remember learning about Reed Smoot and his policies in 7th-grade Utah History. History doesn't repeat; it rhymes. (Check out the rhyme! My favorite line is "Smite, Smooth, smite for Ut." 😂) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Sm...

en.wikipedia.org

Reed Smoot - Wikipedia

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 16/03/2025

Finally had time today to turn a snake-mass of my old #karate belts into something I can hang on the wall. Just needed packing tape, twine, YouTube, and MacGyvery patience. Black belt is where it belongs: on me or on the shelf. I'm not really a crafter but this was worth it. #JissenKobudoJinenkan

Beginnings of braided karate belts. Packing tape and heavy objects help.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 15/03/2025

OK, I just started watching Bones (2005) for the very first time, and I freaking love it. Is that weird? Have you guys seen it? I'm super squeamish, but there's something incredibly cathartic about using science to bring about justice . . . in a time of anti-science and injustice. It's heartening. 🧪

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 11/03/2025

Proud member of AWIS, Association for Women in Science. @awisnational.bsky.social 🧪⚛️👩‍🔬

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 07/03/2025

If you're struggling right now, here is a piece I wrote for @orionmagazine.bsky.social a few years ago. We are capable of doing difficult things. orionmagazine.org/article/6-wa... 🧪🔭 #nonfiction #writing #enumerations #cnf #scicomm #parenting

orionmagazine.org

6 Ways to Calculate a Universe in Flux - Orion Magazine

On chaos and order

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 05/03/2025

Citizen Science #7 Welcome to Biasville. We all live here. If we're smart, we'll visit the Valley of Dissonance from time to time. Learn to manage uncertainty in your life. Reduce fear and distrust in yourself and among your neighbors. This is the way forward. 🧪 www.allotsego.com/citizen-scie...

allotsego.com

Citizen Science: Welcome to Biasville, Where Partiality Thrives

For fun this summer, to learn about confirmation bias, we mind-travel to the great and prosperous town of Biasville, where the people have odd names and the drama never ends. It’s not hard to find Bia...

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 07/02/2025

This whole thread is great, but this is hilarious. Watch out, finely structured alpha, I'll get you like Éowyn got the Witch-king of Angmar, mark my words. 🧪⚛️ #highenergyastro

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 05/02/2025

I know Emily. She does great work.

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Jamie Zvirzdin @jamiezvirzdin.com · 04/02/2025

Tell your children & your students that science editors/writers/people like me can identify the linguistic patterns AI uses. It's blandly boring. If you want to publish and be taken seriously, use your own voice. Be proud of it. No need to be perfect. I enjoyed giving this talk! 🧪⚛️🔭 #scicomm #EduSky

The first slide of a interdisciplinary presentation given by Jamie Zvirzdin at the University of Delaware on January 27, 2025. At the top it says Prompt: create a Google slides background image for my presentation, "Psst . . . your AI is showing." Below, against the flashy futuristic image of a circuitboard, is the attempt to replicate the title of the presentation, which uses multiple dots for the ellipses and "AI.I."instead of "AI." In a normal text box that follows is the subtitle of the presentation, "How to Put Your Own Voice in Scientific Papers." In the corner are logos from The Telescope Array Project and the University of Utah. The slide encapsulates the gist of the presentation, which is that AI is flashy and visually appealing but still cannot write well and comes off, ultimately, as unprofessional, not to mention riddled with ethical challenges.

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