iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I've always thought neutrinos were very cool (as evidenced by my livejournal circa 2000) and accordingly the IceCube Neutrino Observatory developed at UW-Madison & led by Francis Halzen, @uwmadison.bsky.social , quite well named. Congratulations to Prof. Halzen and the whole IceCube team!!

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/10/2026

From Physics Today (physicsworld.com/a/francis-ha...): ‘When asked what he will do for the rest of today, Halzen replied “I’m working on a proposal. I hope this prize will help get it approved.”’

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Dr Hannah M. Rowland @hannahmrowland.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Hope your day was better than Darwin’s, on this day 165 years ago

I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody &everything.

Charles Darwin
Letter to Charles Lyell
1st October 1861

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Super interesting article that reveals the extent of what we can know when scientists combine serious nuclear reactor modeling and simulation with a little historic curiosity! Nazi Germany had no hope of making an atomic bomb, uranium cubes reveal | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Nazi Germany had no hope of making an atomic bomb, uranium cubes reveal

Experimental reactor needed much more uranium and heavy water than the country could muster

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Mike Levin @mikelevin.org · 27/09/2026

Russ Vought is Donald Trump's budget director and the most dangerous person you've never heard of. He helped write Project 2025, and he has spent years arguing that a president should be free to ignore spending laws he doesn't like. Now he's doing exactly that.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Delightful coincidence! As I walked the DC streets for meetings today, I ran into none other than NESD, the nuclear Engineering Student Delegation! Good luck with your policy work NESD!

Group of nuclear engineering students on the streets of DC, running into me, one of their biggest fans!!!

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Had fun testifying today at senate EPW regarding used fuel management! www.epw.senate.gov/public/index...

Katy Huff selfie in a senate hearing room.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

As I assume all nuclear engineers do, I have a longtime favorite photo of Cherenkov radiation. Its creator, Taryn Simon, has a new, wild show in the Guggenheim. This article about her big project is mind-boggling. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/m...

nytimes.com

She Spent Years on a Giant Project About One Man. The Result Is Monumental.

Taryn Simon’s new show at the Guggenheim Museum is an audacious attempt to document the story of modern America through the life of one F.B.I. agent.

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ScARRRRGHy Gorgon @scarygorgon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Bye Tim Curry. You made pollution weirdly sexy and confused a lot of millennial kids with that. Sleep well.

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 25/08/2026

This is the letter kids got at the end of the imagination library. Full disclosure: I stole it from another poster who decided to caption the image with an alt text that said "sorry I'm not typing all that" which is an abuse of alt text

Dear Imagination Library Graduate,

My, how time flies. It seems it was only yesterday when your family
and friends read you your first story. You were just a baby. Now you're five years old and about to go to school. How exciting!

This may be your last book from my Imagination Library but you have
to promise me you will keep on reading. If you go to your local public
library you will find a great number of books just for kids your age. Every book is a treasure and every time you open one up you will meet new friends and take wonderful journeys to magical places.

I hope you have a great time in school. I bet your school will even have
a library where you can check out books. You and all of your friends are very special. There is no limit to what you can do or how far you can go.

Just remember the lessons my family taught me - dream big dreams; learn everything you can learn; and care for all those who care for you. You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.

You are terrific, and remember ...

I Will Always Love You,

Dolly

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Like everyone, I was always inspired by Dolly. Indeed, perhaps I shouldn't admit it, but some core pillars of my personal behavior were formed by the "no-no rules" from a movie about a little place in Texas. Honestly, I could probably quote every word in the VHS. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXHS...

youtube.com

"A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place" (Song) | The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) | TCM

YouTube video by Turner Classic Movies

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WooooOoOooOendy 👻 @wednesdaygj.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

If you are feeling like you want to DO something to honour Dolly and her exceptional life, you can donate to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Thanks to Dolly, tens of millions of children around the world received free books from birth until their 5th birthday. donate.imaginationlibrary.com

donate.imaginationlibrary.com

Home

Make a donation and support Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in communities around the world and help put more books into the hands of more children.

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 17/08/2026

US child vaccination rates have plunged since before the pandemic, with kindergarten classrooms in more than 70% of counties now lacking herd immunity against measles.

US choropleth map showing percentage change in MMR or overall vaccination rates since before the pandemic, by county. Decreases are shown in pink, increases in green.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This piece very clearly pleads for a ban against AI in higher ed classrooms. But, it ends with a Jonathan Swift reference implying (accidentally?) it may all be satire. Such an approach will surely be received with calm, rational, intellectual engagement by the famously placid readership of T.H.E.

This leads me to a modest proposal: “eat the babies” and kill AI in the classroom. Many other solutions to the AI cheating problem have been offered but, for now, I am continuing to develop instructional strategies that do not involve technology. When AI wags education, thinking atrophies.

Deborah D. Rogers is professor of English at University of Maine.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

9) None of this matters if Congress opposes the terms of this 123 agreement. Once POTUS submits it for consideration, they'll have 90 days to pass a joint resolution opposing the 123 or it will go into effect. 10) Obviously, Congress might struggle to pass any joint resolution right now. Even this.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

7) My understanding is that (separate from this 123) the KSA has agreed to full scope safeguards (a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement) which, through IAEA enforcement, can go a long way to ensuring peaceful use. 8) But if KSA signed up for the Additional Protocol that would go much further.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

5) Enabling peaceful nuclear power through technical cooperation with the US is an opportunity to underpin nuclear energy deployment with safety, security, and nonproliferation standards. 6) But, enrichment & reprocessing technology have the potential for dual use, requiring special consideration.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

3) The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has made their interest in nuclear energy clear. 4) KSA has also been clear that they will seek to develop nuclear weapons if Iran does.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

1) Nuclear energy is pivotal to a clean energy future. 2) International cooperation on peaceful nuclear technologies must therefore be part of a clean energy future.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Fielding a lot of questions about the 123 agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since there are conflicting accounts of what's in it (actual media vs. POTUS' social media) & I haven't seen the actual text, it's tough to comment on anything except the broader principles. Here are 10 thoughts:

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

If only AI could fix the audio feedback on this #genesis livestream.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Research at universities, if not grappled by political whims, can do what other institutions can't. For example, independent, modernized impact assessments of federal work: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/c.... Congratulations to Prof. S. Philippe at @uwmadisonneep.bsky.social et al. for the effort.

nytimes.com

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Fun fact. The actor in the gif (William Sadler, who played the reaper in Bill and Ted's bogus journey) also voiced Mitch McConnell in a movie called 'Twas the Coup Before Christmas.'

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

A cute, short, 1964 video on the Advanced Test Reactor (digitized by IAEA's Lise Meitner Library) was just uploaded by @whatisnuclear.com ! It's as clever as all AEC reactor videos, but the star of this one is definitely the music. Eerie, quirky, a real 1960s sci-fi mood. youtu.be/8V0VCCXgSw8?...

youtu.be

Advanced Test Reactor (1964)

YouTube video by What is Nuclear?

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Buttons (Ashley) 🏴‍☠️#OFMDForLife🏴‍☠️ 🏳️‍🌈🤡 @sevensugars.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Since I did do my PhD in cyanobacteria growth and treatment optimization modeling AND work in the water treatment industry, I’m gonna share my theory as to what’s happening here and how to fix it. People are focusing on the painted bottom of the pool increasing residual heat, and while that 1/19

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Katie Mummah @nuclearkatie.com · 15/06/2026

It's so funny/sad to hear from senior scientists at the end of their career talking about how they regret not spending enough time with their families or on hobbies and then within a few minutes mention the importance of working nights and weekends "to get things done"

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

I feel that dichotomy. As mortals, I expect most of us just want more time for everything. If we're lucky, we thrive filling our days with too much of all of it -- working/playing, thinking/loving, ideas/people, the future / the past. For me, more of everything may never be enough.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Oh, right, I keep forgetting the era of innocent foolishness is giving way to a period of malicious intent.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Whomever decided this is certainly not aware of the institutional cluster tightness in the network graph of specialized scientific subfields.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Right! Give me something clear, like make / model of your first car!

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Why are so many security questions "Your favorite movie/restaurant/song". First of all, how can you choose? But mostly for me (and I assume every other world-appreciating person) these things are suuuper transient. My favorite song today is mostly out of rotation by next month. Next year, max.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

I've reached the age at which an hour must elapse between my morning medicine and my first cup of coffee. On travel days, this creates a narrow but exciting window during which I navigate airports despite being, from a neurological standpoint, only loosely affiliated with consciousness.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Congratulations to Antares for hitting zero power critical yesterday! (www.energy.gov/articles/dep...) This is the first step toward low and high power critical tests. So, it's a great time to review the nice thread from Nick on Low and High Power criticality.

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Alberto Muti @albertomuti.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The "shake" too! Manhattan Project lingo was kinda fun.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

That means Neanderthal is half-cognate with the term for the buffer between a critical (good, stable) and prompt supercritical (bad, runaway) nuclear reactor! "Dollar" since normal operation is a small % (# of cents) over critical. Slotin, who named it, died in a prompt supercriticality.

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Crushed @silenttakedown.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

dollar and Neanderthal are half-cognates. Thal means a dale or valley. Neanderthal/Neander Valley is where the first remains were found. a popular form of coinage in the 1500s was from Joachimsthal, and were called Joachimsthalers or thalers for short, which became dollars in English.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

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Robin Johnson @robinjohnson.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

I like that calculate and calculus come from a word for rock, because even when we're doing advanced maths it's a reminder that our monkey brains were only meant to deal with things like rocks

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Sarah Todd Taylor @sarahtoddtaylor.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Big fan of our Welsh word for Hamster - Bochdew, which comes from Boch - cheek and Tew - Fat. Fat cheeks. Perfect. Especially because Hamster itself comes from the German word for 'to hoarde'.

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Steven Lucy @slucy.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

“Vaccinated” is up there for me.

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Katy Huff @katyhuff.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

A modern example most nuclear engineers love is the 'barn' as a physical unit of (TINY) cross sectional area (1E-28 sq m). If you're a neutron, this area is huge, and therefore easy to hit, like the broad side of a barn. See related: shed & outhouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_(u...

en.wikipedia.org

Barn (unit) - Wikipedia

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Ted Underwood @tedunderwood.com · 31/05/2026

It is really necessary to publish drafts about AI instantly. If you let them sit for two months after getting readers' reports, they become historical documents and you have to revise them from scratch.

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Nick Touran @whatisnuclear.com · 29/05/2026

What does "going critical" mean? If you shoot a neutron into some uranium ore, some atoms will split by fission, but you haven't made a nuclear reactor. Too many secondary neutrons leak out or get absorbed without splitting neighboring atoms. 1/n

Chain reaction pic from Duderstadt and Hamilton

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