iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Ezra Klein asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about AI making kids worse at math and reading. Huang’s reply: “Does it matter?” Then he said he doesn’t know his own address or phone number. “We’re going to lose some fine intellectual dexterity.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/o...

So the message of this research out of China, where you were seeing a lot of kids using A.I. to help them, was that when they were using the A.I., they were getting things done faster. But it turned out that the skills they were learning were not holding, that their actual personal performance, at least in the way we traditionally measure it, was degrading.

What do you think when you hear that?

The last part — I completely agree. Try to get a kid to do long division right now. The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter?

That’s my question for you.

Yeah. I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does.

But there must be some set of skills that matter.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe not those. We’re going to discover new ones. Just maybe not those.

There are a lot of skills that don’t matter. My first confession, I actually don’t know my address.

And I ——

I don’t really believe that to be true.

It’s completely true. Janine will tell you and Lori will tell you.

One day I had to pump gas — it was a few years ago. They needed my ZIP code, and I panicked. I didn’t know my ZIP code. I don’t know my telephone number. I forget these things. I can live with it.

But let me take the other side because I don’t want to fall into a thing where, because some skills can be safely offloaded ——

Yeah.

I also can’t get anywhere without a mapping system now. Never could, frankly. But I’m a big reader. And one of the skills I really value, one of the capacities I have that I really value is an attention span formed on physical books.

You’re a big reader. I’ve read about the kind of reading you do. And there is, prior to A.I., a lot of concern and noticing among college professors and others that the way people use the internet has probably shortened attention spans.
Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.

Some skills can be safely given away. Others are valuable. They are capacities that are needed for that flexibility, for that creative thinking, for that focus. It can’t be the case that everything can be traded off.

Yeah. Well, I think that we’re going to lose some finer intellectual dexterity, but we’re going to be better systems thinkers.

Today’s engineers are far better systems thinkers than I was when I graduated from school. But I was a much better transistor thinker.

What do you mean by systems thinker?

They think of large systems. Today’s computers have trillions, hundreds of trillions of transistors in them. When I first graduated from school, the first chip I worked on had 200 transistors. I knew every one of them by name. No engineer does that today. Most engineers now work well above the transistor, well above the functionality, and they’re cobbling things together to do things.

So you need to think much more about systems and interactions of systems. So some of the lower-level knowledge is gone.

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Daniel Peake @quizzydan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Do you like quizzes? Do you like industrial estates in Cardiff? Do you like being tortured by questions? Do you like a labyrinthine format where no-one goes home? Do you fancy seeing me scuttle shiftily around the studio? Then apply for the next series of Only Connect! www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtour...

bbc.co.uk

Only Connect | Shows and tours

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Cambridge! I will be in this science comedy show on Friday! Very excited to be back at the Junction; hope to see you there if you can make it 😊

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Maybe this chef is just fed up of cooking mushrooms all the time? (Anyone able to help Damian out?)

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Alex Elizabeth Byrne McMillan @undeniablyalex.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

0.016% of the UK has been on The Chase

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Daniel Benneworth-Gray @danielgray.com · 13/07/2026

Sam Neill on tackling depression and imposter syndrome when you’re between jobs.

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Victoria Coren Mitchell @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Out shopping for barbecue ingredients this morning, in advance of the big match? Which team will triumph? Who will sally forth towards ultimate championship? That’s right: Only Connect returns on Monday night 8pm on BBC Two

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Damian Haywood @damohaywood.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Mad fact... 42% of Labour Prime Ministers have had to fire Peter Mandelson.

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Peter Magyar has offered a template which can be used, without too much alteration, in defeating populists worldwide open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

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Bruce Lawson @brucel.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

I had some people round for dinner last night, and I tried to impress them with a sauce created from vodka, gravy and nitrous oxide. But all I've done is make myself an absolut laughing stock.

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Matt Holland Author Dot Com @gallaethamatt.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

My shower in Malaysia has an option I don't really want to try

A shower with an option for "heater" and for temperature. All pretty standard. However, there is also an option for "eels."

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Nature @nature.com · 30/03/2026

Becoming a parent is much more detrimental to women’s academic careers than it is to men’s Read the full story: go.nature.com/4v4rxmQ

IMPACT OF PARENTHOOD ON UNIVERSITY EMPLOYMENT. Line graph shows how the probability of holding a research position changes from four years before to seven years after having children.

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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

A lot of people clap and cheer at Arkell v Pressdram style legal letters. But the most deadly legal letters are calm and polite, and this one is lethal.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Looking forward to presenting in tonight's comedic symposium*! There's still time to get tickets if you would like to join 😊 *disclaimer: may be more like the ancient Greek usage of the word rather than the modern scientific one

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Joshua Reed Eakle 🗽 @joshuaeakle.com · 11/03/2026

This is hilarious. Also, completely enraging.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Goodhart’s law never dies: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure". In this case measuring the proportion of research active staff has encouraged behaviour where the non research active are no longer classified as staff.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

I wonder if Rachel could read this micro-expression? #thetraitors

Stephen from the Traitors making the most terrified face anyone's ever seen

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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

This is the saddest day of my professional life.
Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage.
I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys.
I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show,
A show that I named and helped develop over all those years.
Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry.
These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter

In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices.
Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'.
•
I chose the latter.
It broke my heart.
I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make.
I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer.
I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence.
One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.

I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more.
I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost".
James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice.
Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences.
I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness.
Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire.
I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal.
I am so sorry to let you down.
I hope that you can understand my reasoning.
I have to accept that I am not what the current
BBC expects of their freelance presenters.

Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not
"just a job"
I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world.
From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too.
The strawberry is dead.
Long live the strawberry. B

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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

As someone wrote on Twitter many years ago, "if someone tells you something is unclear, they are -by definition- correct"

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

That last answer is one of my all time favourites 😅 #onlyconnect

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Thought my TV was struggling with reception then realised I'm an idiot #onlyconnect

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Please tell me @quizzydan.bsky.social you made that killer sudoku impossible to annoy everyone 😅 #onlyconnect

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Opal @opalescentopal.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

In amongst his trademark wicked wit, there's a real beauty to this song that I love. Tom Lehrer, to thee we sing with our glasses raised on high - six parts gin to one part vermouth.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

#onlyconnect "I don't allow anyone to refer to me by my first name" - well quite, the correct form of address is Old Goosebump Arm.

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Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Reminds me of when I was a phd student and my advisor, who was rushing from one thing to another and eating a triangle sandwich from a vending mechine, turned to me and said, "Richard, when you too are a successful professor, you too can eat your lunch from a vending machine."

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 08/07/2025

I'm not going to repost any of the insane antisemitic conspiracy bullshit that grok is spewing today, but it highlights how absolutely essentially is that we not let LLMs become a form of epistemic grounding for our society.

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Alexis Barr @alexisbarr.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

We're recruiting junior team leaders @mrc-lms.bsky.social This time we're looking for those working in human metabolic disease. It's a great place to start your lab. Fantastic colleagues, exciting science, world class facilities. Join us! lms.mrc.ac.uk/work/vacanci...

lms.mrc.ac.uk

Programme Leader Track - MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences

We are recruiting Programme Leader Track positions focusing on 1) Metabolic Physiology using murine and/or human in vivo models and 2) Immunometabolism.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Fantastic finale to #geniusgame - in fact the run up to the end of the series has been stunning! Well worth checking out.

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

If only there was a pithy five-word phrase available to describe my surprise and delight at how well the UK entry is doing so far #Eurovision

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Baby lasagne and kaarija!!! Good to know that even if my favourites don't win they may come back anyway. #Eurovision

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Time to jinx my favourites by naming them: 1st Sweden 2nd Italy 3rd Latvia 4th Finland 5th Germany #eurovision

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

Trains. I shouldn't find it surprising by now. But it still disheartens me that I live in a country where hiring a car is cheaper, easier and more reliable than taking a "direct train".

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Jess Graves @jessgraves.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Sick of being taken advantage of by OTHER PACKAGES?! Use python package {tariff} to show those packages WHO IS BOSS. Make Reinventing The Wheel Great Again! pypi.org/project/tari...

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Dr. Jessica M. DeWitt @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.

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Adam Sharp @adamcsharp.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

This is a thread of my favourite ever literal translations, starting with this one… In Greek, the word for a protest, εύπιστος, translates literally to “anger parade”

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

If I heard right, the 8:23 to Brighton from Cambridge was just delayed 15 minutes due to the driver "taking a personal meal break".

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Jonathan Cairns @jonathancairns.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

I will absolutely refer back to today as Orange Monday. Granted, this could lead to confusion when explaining to the next generation that "Orange Wednesdays" was something very different.

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Susannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

This is research from a primary school in Barcelona, looking at how boys and girls used a space with a large football pitch in the middle. I don't really need to explain any more.

A diagram showing the movements of boys (blue) and girls (red) on a school playground with a football pitch in the centre. The boys take up the vast majority of the space, the girls are literally marginalised.

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Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Hi Skeeps, if you are in the London area and would like me to speak at your university or company, I will be in London on Thursday April 10 and Friday April 11. Looking for talks that can offer some travel/lodging reimbursement.

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Mikhail Spivakov @mspivakov.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Our new paper is finally out, showing that the same enhancer sequences - and likely the same transcription factors recruited to them - affect the activity of distal enhancers and their looping over to target gene promoters. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Genetic coupling of enhancer activity and connectivity in gene expression control - Nature Communications

Here, the authors study the effects of expression quantitative trait loci on enhancer activity and promoter contacts in primary monocytes isolated from male individuals, suggesting an inherent genetic...

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