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john sakon

@johnsakon.bsky.social
676 followers 406 following 391 posts

I’m a neuroscientist studying memory @ UCLA 🌌 *Were most of your stars out?* 🌌

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Reposted by john sakon
Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 10h
They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Seems like it should be part of the "are phones ruining the kids" debate that every marker of teen mental health has improved since 2021 www.cdc.gov/yrbs/youth-h...
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
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Nicole Rust @nicolecrust.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Not stated strongly enough.
Without notifying Congress or the American people, DoD has signed an interagency agreement that could give the Department access to billions of dollars that Congress provided to NIH for critical biomedical research. These funds were provided to support research to develop treatments or cures for infectious diseases such as influenza, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, Ebola, and other dangerous pathogens.
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Melanie Tschiersch @mtschiersch.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Our paper "Redundant prefrontal hemispheres adapt storage strategy to working memory demands" is finally out in Nature Communications! We combined bilateral PFC recordings, modeling and human data to ask: How do the hemispheres work together to store information?1/n www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Redundant prefrontal hemispheres adapt storage strategy to working memory demands - Nature Communications
Neural mechanisms underlying spatial working memory are not fully understood. In this manuscript, simultaneous bilateral monkey recordings and attractor networks show how weakly coupled, redundant pre...
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aaron bornstein @aaronbornstein.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Thurs AM: @shuhengguo.bsky.social "Replay Supports Both Future and Immediate Decisions by Updating a Successor Representation" with @johnsakon.bsky.social, Itzhak Fried, Mike Kahana, and Alexa Booras Extended abstract: aaron.bornstein.org/cv/pubs/2026...
aaron.bornstein.org
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char @accxrdingtochar.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
oh my god lol
fox 2 local detroit stream shows the “who won tonight’s democratic debate?” with abdul el-sayed is winning 95 vs. 5%
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Amelia Eisch 🧪🧠👩‍🔬 🐁 @eisch.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
New preprint from @sgrella.bsky.social team: silencing ventrolateral OFC (chemogenetically) blocks spatial memory-updating. Mice detect novelty fine but can’t use it to revise an existing memory. Deficit tracks w/ reduced engram reactivation in dentate gyrus. Looking forward to digging into this.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 21/07/2026
here’s my offer, The Atlantic magazine, I will read the next “reactionary pretends to give honest advice to Democrats” take if you let me write a piece where I, a DSA member, pretend to give honest advice to Republicans
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
The US built the greatest talent magnet ever, attracting the smart, skilled, and striving. They’d come to study, then stay and build things here, or leave with positive impressions and fruitful connections. Helped make the US wealthy and powerful. Then America chose to throw it away. And for what?
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The Verge @theverge.com · 18/07/2026
Dave Eggers told OpenAI staff that ChatGPT was ‘silencing an entire generation’
buff.ly
Dave Eggers told OpenAI staff that ChatGPT was ‘silencing an entire generation’
He called AI writing “pastiche nonsense.”
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Everybody in the "climate space" (which means everyone on earth...) needs to understand these mind-blowing figures. Google's "total electricity consumption jumped from 31 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 43 TWh in 2025." In ONE year. The AI corporate arms race is eating the world.
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The Space Pope @popecrocodylus.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Turning a big dial that says CHILDREN OF MEN and looking back at the audience desperately for approval.
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
www.nature.com/articles/s41... great person theory dies in the details
nature.com
The pivot penalty in research - Nature
An analysis of millions of scientific papers and patents reveals a ‘pivot penalty’ when researchers shift direction, with the impact of studies decreasing rapidly the further they move from their prev...
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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
I am baffled that my campaign slogan for New York's 12th district, "Let's Close Our Eyes and Do Everything the Same Forever and Maybe Somehow Things Will Improve?" failed to rally Democratic voters. Some said "maybe lose the question mark" but I wasn't sure I could stand behind a flat statement.
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
The amount the US spends on attacking countries that pose no threat to us and causing mass death is obscene. We could spend money on making the world a better place. Instead, we spend it on making it worse. www.politico.com/news/2026/05...
politico.com
Pentagon puts building blocks in place for Cuba invasion
The Navy’s presence in the Caribbean has not reduced despite the Iran war.
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
We have a chance to make real change happen in LA
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Norm Charlatan @normcharlatan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
lmao, get ready to learn Thunder Bay, buddy
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
fortune.com/2026/05/16/n... Important info for my NY friends
fortune.com
Mamdani's New York is coming to tax your private jet. Here's how to prepare | Fortune
Here's how Mayor Mamdani's tax agenda could reach the Teterboro ramp — and which airports, ownership structures, and strategies offer the most protection.
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Skye @simplyskye.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Mamdani: I cannot help but think of the words of our 40th president, Ronald Reagan. He famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the govt & I'm here to help'" I think nine more terrifying words are actually, "I worked all day and can't feed my family"
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
We are hiring a half time (20 hrs/wk) Research Assistant to record single neurons in the hospital at UCLA (working with epilepsy patients) to study memory. Ideal job for someone looking to gain clinical/neuroscience experience for med/grad school. Apply at the link below:
media.tenor.com
a computer generated image of a nerve cell with red lights
ALT: a computer generated image of a nerve cell with red lights
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
www.nature.com/articles/d41... 😣
nature.com
NIH staffing shortage could slash number of new grants issued this year
Some units at the US funding giant are so understaffed, they are focusing on mandated grant renewals rather than new awards.
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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
📞 Before May 22, the NIH RFI deadline is May 16. Even 2-3 sentences on one topic you care about contributes to the permanent record. Pre-drafted points by priority: bioniclab.org/news/request-for-information-nih #NIHFunding #ScienceAdvocacy
bioniclab.org
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Dems just aren’t prepared for the moment. And yet they blame whatever boogeyman they can come up with for why they’re not winning elections chasing imaginary flip voters. When they could be riling up a young, upset base eager to vote for a left populist agenda
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Ken Tremendous @kentremendous.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
McConnell denied Garland a vote nine months out under the guise that there was an election soon and then jammed through Coney Barrett a week before Biden won. They have been flipping the bird to the concepts of norms and fairness for decades and the democrats have done jack shit to fight back.
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
i don’t think you know what “muted” means @wsj.com?
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Erik Hane @erikhane.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
there's simply no adequate political response to this that isn't based on fully destroying the people and party responsible for it
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I have two daughters and I think about this all the time. I don't know how I will explain it to them when the time comes. bsky.app/profile/carn...
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Marcelo Mattar @marcelomattar.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
New Annual Review with @nathanieldaw.bsky.social: “Planning in the Brain: It's Not What You Think It Is.” We argue that the brain's 'planning' machinery is mostly used for learning from simulated experience, and that thinking prospectively at decision time is just one special case of this process.
annualreviews.org
Planning in the Brain: It's Not What You Think It Is
The neuroscience of planning has long been analogized to search algorithms in artificial intelligence (AI), which simulate future actions to guide immediate choices. We argue that advances in both neu...
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Melanie Tschiersch @mtschiersch.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
🚨Excited to share my first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social🚨 with the amazing Smith lab, @jbarbosa.org and Albert Compte who made this work possible. We show that 🐒prefrontal hemispheres combine redundancy (for precision) & weak connections (for capacity) for supporting spatial working memory (WM). 1/🧵
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Good on The Strokes for not being shy at Coachella
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Ignacio Gallup-Diaz @igallupd.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
"Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial: Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later."
nbcnews.com
Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial
Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 15/04/2026
Happy Tax Day, New York. We’re taxing the rich.
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onion person @junlper.beer · 16/04/2026
how you know zohran mamdani is doing well. the billionaires and capitalist class fucking us all over are scared
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 10/04/2026
No one likes unnecessary scaffolding. Thankfully, we have a plan — and John Wilson is here to help break it down.
youtu.be
Work in Progress: How we're tackling Sidewalk Sheds (with John Wilson)
YouTube video by NYC Mayor's Office
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Sridhar Ramesh @radishharmers.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
What do you want Democrats to do? There's nothing they can do. However, it's very important you continue to vote for them and give them money, as they continue to do nothing.
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RM @dorsalstream.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake

By A Horse

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You  know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
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Ethan James @deuxraccoons.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
This one is a no brainer for me
Tweet that says:

genie: please no
millipede: more legs
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
very normal country
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 01/04/2026
Washington state passed a tax on millionaires. A lot of the usual suspects have been screaming & tearing their hair out & warning of apocalypse. But the actual rich people of Washington? Turns out they are mostly Democrats & they mostly support it!
seattletimes.com
The party of the rich just taxed the rich in WA. Can that hold?
About 8 in 10 of the Washington residents who will have to pay the new millionaire's income tax live in Democratic districts. Legislators there say their rich constituents are fine with it.
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Steve Fleming @smfleming.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Public communication alters private confidence - cool study from @danieljamesyon.bsky.social and team www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Public communication alters private confidence
Andreassen et al. demonstrate that confidence exhibited in public affects our private assessment of confidence.
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Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
"The way some of these other immigrants are getting treated in our country right now is a travesty and a disgrace... I think what’s going on in our country — what we’re doing to some of these amazing immigrants, is really unfortunate and it’s really sad." - Charles Barkley on CBS
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Amy Orsborn @neuroamyo.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If you're interested in emerging ideas in neural interfaces, I humbly suggest my lab's latest: www.nature.com/articles/s42... Neural interfaces create dynamic interactions between the brain & devices. This means mean we need new engineering approaches beyond typical ML to "decode" a static brain
nature.com
Computational framework to predict and shape human–machine interactions in closed-loop, co-adaptive neural interfaces - Nature Machine Intelligence
Madduri et al. introduce a computational framework grounded in control and game theory to model co-adaptation between users and decoders in neural interfaces. This framework enables a principled desig...
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 25/03/2026
Government must deliver for working people—and every dollar in our budget should work as hard as they do. That’s why I directed every agency to cut waste and help close our budget gap. Here’s some of what we found.
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john sakon @johnsakon.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Abolish TSA
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Jesse Rissman @rissman.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
🚨NEW PREPRINT (w/ Fleming Peck & Hongjing Lu) "Spontaneous emergence of context-dependent statistical learning in humans and neural networks" We are constantly predicting what will happen next. Yet the same cue can lead to different predictions depending on context. How might this work...? 🧵1/8
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Sanders: People can't afford health care. People can't afford childcare. And this guy, in addition to giving tax breaks to billionaires, now wants to spend another $200 billion on a war that should never have been fought.
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