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Sheila Macrine, PhD

@macrinephd.bsky.social
1.8K followers 4.1K following 167 posts

Professor Cognitive Psychologist at UMass Dartmouth. She focuses: embodied cognition and Learning Free access: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volu… embodiedcognitionandlearning.com

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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
New paper introduces-Embodied Hijack Hypothesis: User Interface design (not "user re-education") is needed for epistemic alignment. ⚡️ (2/2) www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.... #Neuroscience #CognitiveScience #ActiveInference #EmbodiedCognition #PhilosophyOfMind #InterfaceDesign #Anthropomorphizing
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | The Embodied Hijack: when Pleistocene minds meet disembodied artificial intelligence
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into everyday life has intensified a long-standing feature of human cognition: the attribution of agency, in...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Have you ever found yourself saying "thank you" to an AI system? You aren't being foolish when you anthropomorphize them—your brain is being hijacked. For 200k years, linguistic fluency was intrinsically bound to an embodied, vulnerable self-maintaining body. LLMs break this evolutionary rule. (1/2)
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Thanks @philiplaughlin.bsky.social
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
This edited collection by @macrinephd.bsky.social, Jennifer M. B. Fugate, Arsen Abdulali, and Josie Hughes moves beyond the traditional focus on brains and code to explore embodied intelligence across various disciplines: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205349...
Photograph of "Embodied Intelligence," a large paperback standing up at an angle.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
bsky.app/profile/anna...
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Alexander Shakeel Bates @asbates.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Our thread on the newly published brain and nerve cord #BANC #connectome, and what #neuroscience stories we can tell with it.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
A massive milestone for #Neuroscience! The complete brain-and-cord connectome of the adult fruit fly is officially published in @Nature. Check out this incredible visual journey tracing how the CNS controls the body. 🪰 x.com/as_bates/sta... 🔗 rdcu.be/fncjS @quorumetrix @as_bates #BANC #Neuroscience
x.com
Alexander Bates on X: "Just published yesterday, the #BANC! A full central nervous system (CNS) connectome of a limbed animal enables us to trace sensory-motor arcs and understand how the CNS controls the body. https://t.co/19jmEfxEVH #neuroscience @Nature, Video by @quorumetrix, sound on! 1/18 https://t.co/I0BJGfHgDm" / X
Just published yesterday, the #BANC! A full central nervous system (CNS) connectome of a limbed animal enables us to trace sensory-motor arcs and understand how the CNS controls the body. https://t.co/19jmEfxEVH #neuroscience @Nature, Video by @quorumetrix, sound on! 1/18 https://t.co/I0BJGfHgDm
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Open-access release of @MITPress's new volume on Dennett’s Real Patterns: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi... It's the perfect primer for our forthcoming volume, "Embodied Intelligence" (out June 23rd!) mitpress.mit.edu/978026205349...
direct.mit.edu
Dennett's Real Patterns in Science and Nature
How the concept of a pattern, as understood in information science and applied in contemporary AI, can address deep questions in science and philosophy.The
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Does the body really keep the score? Steven Kotler & Karl Friston argues trauma isn’t stored in tissues. It’s a prediction error—the brain gets stuck in rigid threat expectations. www.frontiersin.org/journals/sys... #Neuroscience #Trauma #PredictiveCoding #PTSD #FlowState #ActiveInference
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | The Body Does Not Keep the Score: Trauma, Predictive Coding, and the Restoration of Metastability
The Body Does Not Keep the Score: Trauma, Predictive Coding, and the Restoration of Metastability By Steven Kotler, Michael Mannino, Glenn Fox, Karl Friston ...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Why can amphibians regrow lost limbs while mammals can't? Researchers discovered lowering oxygen levels or targeting the oxygen-sensing protein HIF1A awakens latent regenerative abilities in mammalian cells.! news.epfl.ch/news/when-ox... #RegenerativeMedicine #Biology #TissueRegeneration
news.epfl.ch
When oxygen determines if a limb can regrow
Researchers at EPFL have discovered how oxygen-sensing explains why amphibians regenerate limbs and mammals do not.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Is forgetting the secret to intelligence? An epic roundtable with Michael Levin, Karl Friston, Mark Solms, Richard Watson, and Alexey Tolchinsky youtu.be/w_ciA-yyF8M?si… #MichaelLevin @tolchinsky.bsky.social
youtu.be
Discussion: Richard Watson, Alexey Tolchinsky, Mark Solms, Michael Levin, and Karl Friston
YouTube video by Michael Levin's Academic Content
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
How do our cells organize their “second genome”? Scientists solved a century-old mystery: a temporary shape change called "mitochondrial pearling" evenly distributing mitochondrial DNA. Could unlock new insights into aging and neurodegenerative diseases! actu.epfl.ch/news/how-mit...
actu.epfl.ch
How mitochondria organize our “second genome”
EPFL scientists discover that a simple shape change in mitochondria helps cells evenly distribute their mitochondrial DNA, solving a long-standing puzzle.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
New open access from @MITPress Bridging the gap between information science, biological evolution, and the deep questions of philosophy? Real Patterns—to the roadmap laid out by Daniel Dennett—is out now. @philiplaughlin.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...
direct.mit.edu
Dennett's Real Patterns in Science and Nature
How the concept of a pattern, as understood in information science and applied in contemporary AI, can address deep questions in science and philosophy.The
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
No brain? No problem! A simple single-celled organism without a brain or neurons appears to be capable of an advanced form of learning. Meet Stentor coeruleus. t.co/51azt7sF3t
t.co
https://repo.enc.edu/2026/03/13/a-single-celled-organism-without-a-brain-is-capable-of-pavlovian-learning/
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Sneak peek at our upcoming @MITPress Open Access Embodied Intelligence, with Jennifer Fugate, Arsen Abdulali, & Josie Hughes (June, 2026). A major transdisciplinary effort rethink ing intelligence. mitpress.mit.edu/9780262053495/… #EmbodiedIntelligence #CognitiveScience #AI @mitpress.bsky.social
mitpress.mit.edu
Embodied Intelligence
Intelligence research is undergoing a radical transformation, moving beyond the traditional focus on brains and code to increasingly recognize the role of em...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
New paper with @drmichaellevin & @RichardWatson90 Cell & developmental biology IS the place to naturalize cognition — no naïve thresholds, no dualism, just a continuum of adaptive plasticity from molecules to morphogenesis. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084952126000029
sciencedirect.com
Machines all the way up and cognition all the way down: Updating the machine metaphor in biology
Cell and developmental biology (CDB) offer numerous remarkable examples of collective adaptive plasticity, as cells coordinate to implement large-scal…
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff? www.quantamagazine.org/why-do-human...
quantamagazine.org
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff? | Quanta Magazine
The last decade has seen vast improvements in humanoid robots, but graduating to widespread use might require going back to the fundamentals.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Do cells "think"? @drmichaellevin explains how #bioelectricity acts as a #collectiveintelligence, directing cells to build limbs, repair organs, and even "re-program" away from cancer. youtu.be/M5Qgecp4dA0?... #Bioelectricity #RegenerativeMedicine #Biology #CancerResearch #CellularIntelligence
youtu.be
Can We Reprogram Life? Dr. Michael Levin on Bioelectricity & Cellular Intelligence | Ep. 14
YouTube video by In Vivo Podcast
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Is reality purely material or a mind-body split? Neither. Essay unpacks "material-mental monism," everything possesses both dimensions. Insights panpsychism & our ecological connection to universe. www.templeton.org/news/what-if... #PhilosophyOfMind #Metaphysics #Ecology
templeton.org
What if Fundamental Reality Has Mental and Material Aspects?
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
MIT Researchers using LLMs to slash the cost of protein drugs. By decoding the "language" of yeast DNA, this AI optimizes genetic sequences for vaccines and cancer treatments news.mit.edu/2026/new-ai-... #AI #Biotech #Innovation #DrugDiscovery #HealthTech #SyntheticBiology #ProteinEngineering
news.mit.edu
New AI model could cut the costs of developing protein drugs
MIT chemical engineers used AI to optimize the selection of codon sequences for protein drugs produced by yeast, which could reduce the costs of developing and manufacturing these drugs.
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Reposted by Sheila Macrine, PhD
Alexey Tolchinsky @tolchinsky.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
On embodied cognition @macrinephd.bsky.social You might enjoy this talk by @chrisfields38.bsky.social. I find it to be deeply meaningful. One quote to start with: "Numbers are actions," as in "2" means - repeat an operation f you just did one more time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5aw...
youtube.com
"From Experience to Math" by Chris Fields
YouTube video by Michael Levin's Academic Content
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
The brain is much less like a machine than it is like the murmurations of a flock of starlings. Behaviors arise from interactions, not central control. Essay on the #EntangledBrain by Luis @PessoaBrain #Neuroscience #ComplexityScience #CognitiveScience aeon.co/essays/how-t...
aeon.co
How the human brain is like a murmuration of starlings | Aeon Essays
The brain is much less like a machine than it is like the murmurations of a flock of starlings or an orchestral symphony
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Alexey Tolchinsky @tolchinsky.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Does a virus have agency? This text is written based on the work by @macrinephd.bsky.social @drmichaellevin.bsky.social and @wiringthebrain.bsky.social Comments and critique are most welcome. Kevin, I wonder what you think on this? open.substack.com/pub/alexeyto...
open.substack.com
Does a virus have agency?
Exploring the limitations of a causality-based model of agency.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Think you can truly empty a box? #Quantummechanics says otherwise. Even at absolute zero, "zero-point energy" remains because the Heisenberg uncertainty principle forbids total stillness. #ZeroPointEnergy #Physics #Science #CasimirEffect www.quantamagazine.org/in-quantum-m...
quantamagazine.org
In Quantum Mechanics, Nothingness Is the Potential To Be Anything | Quanta Magazine
Try as they might, scientists can’t truly rid a space or an object of its energy. But what “zero-point energy” really means is up for interpretation.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
Algorithms induce "Cognitive Drift" gradually resetting our mental baselines. A neuro-anchored protocol to audit how AI curation reweights user attention and emotion over time. t.co/1kSlt1Ujut #AI #Neuroscience #DigitalEthics #MentalHealth #AlgorithmAuditing #ResponsibleAI #ActiveInference
t.co
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1697053/full
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Wow! Entangled Brain free @mitpress.bsky.social Open Access! Forget isolated regions. @PessoaBrain shows behavior emerges from “collective computations” across a fully integrated, complex system. mitpress.mit.edu/978026254460... #Neuroscience #ComplexityScience #SystemsBiology #BrainResearch
direct.mit.edu
The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together
A new vision of the brain as a fully integrated, networked organ.Popular neuroscience accounts often focus on specific mind-brain aspects like addiction, c
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Happy & Healthy New Year!
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Reposted by Sheila Macrine, PhD
Keisuke Suzuki @ksks.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
New preprint with super @manuelbaltieri.bsky.social ! Mathematical approaches to the study of agents osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
News about biological computationalism -agency arises from the constraints of energy & real-time physics—not abstract code. To engineer #consciousness, need to build systems that "feel" the cost of their computation. neurosciencenews.com/consciousness-… #Agency #Robotics #BioEngineering
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Rethinking the mechanism of @dissociation . Combines first-principles & nonlinear dynamics: collapses in "temporal depth" is the key driver behind the loss of self-coherence. tinyurl.com/2wevuvvp @drmichaellevin.bsky.social , ‪@tolchinsky.bsky.social @lancelotdacosta.bsky.social
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | Temporal depth in a coherent self and in depersonalization: theoretical model
Multiple theoretical models of dissociative experiences have been formulated over the last century. These theories are clinically useful; however, it remains...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
How are the self, space, and time related? A new study on #depersonalization found feeling disconnected from your body-linked to time slowing down, & feeling detached from the world-linked to time speeding up. @Annaciaunica tinyurl.com/bdh4thdb #Neuroscience #TimePerception #Consciousness
tinyurl.com
Spatiotemporal disruptions of reality perception in depersonalization
Experiences of time and space are core constituents of the sense of bodily self. Depersonalization (DP) is a condition characterized by distressing feelings of
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
A brain-wide map of decision-making! 🧠 Study reveals how sensory inputs, choices & motor actions are encoded across 279 brain regions. Dataset publicly available #Neuroscience #BrainMapping #DecisionMaking #OpenScience #BigData #Neuropixels t.co/54Lc3CmYgV
t.co
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09235-0
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
What do proteins, animal forms & languages have in common? #Evolution! Unified framework detects evolutionary leaps #branching across #molecular, #morphological, and #cultural scales onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... #Genomics #Adaptation #ComputationalBiology #Biology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Chameleonic Nature of Aβ: Implications for Alzheimer's and Other Amyloid Diseases
You have to enable JavaScript in your browser's settings in order to use the eReader.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
New research calls an Alzheimer's protein "chameleon-like." 🦎 It shape-shifts to form toxic plaques, but this same flexibility also allows the plaques to break apart. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.10… #Alzheimers #amyloid #research #neuroscience #proteinfolding #dementia
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Nature's #biomimicry at its finest! rove beetle that grows a hyper-realistic "termite puppet" on its back to steal food 🐜 scim.ag/40kQtbI h/t @justinechterna9 #mimicry #evolution #entomology #newspecies #insects #natureiswild
scim.ag
Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food
Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
What is Life?" @drmichaellevin.bsky.social & #TerrenceDeacon unite thermodynamics and cognition across all scales, bridging #EvoDev, #cogsci & #philosophy. Inspired by @danieldennett's legacy. youtu.be/HuWbHwPZd60?fe… #Evolution #Biology #Philosophy #Consciousness #Complexity
youtu.be
Terrence Deacon & Michael Levin: What is Life? Complexity, Cognition & the Origin of Purpose
YouTube video by Mind-Body Solution
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Can We Engineer Artificial Consciousness?" Professors Karl Friston & Mark Solms, pioneers in #neuroscience, #psychology, and theoretical #biology, dive into the frontiers of #consciousness @KarlFristonNews @Mark_Solms youtu.be/Jtp426wQ-JI?...
youtu.be
Karl Friston & Mark Solms: Is it Possible to Engineer Artificial Consciousness?
YouTube video by Mind-Body Solution
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
An updated evolutionary model shows that living systems evolve in a split-and-hit-the-gas dynamic, where new lineages appear in sudden bursts rather than during a long marathon of gradual changes. #Evolution #Biology #Adaptation www.quantamagazine.org/the-sudden-s...
quantamagazine.org
The Sudden Surges That Forge Evolutionary Trees | Quanta Magazine
An updated evolutionary model shows that living systems evolve in a split-and-hit-the-gas dynamic, where new lineages appear in sudden bursts rather than during a long marathon of gradual changes.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Open-source AI platform is democratizing the design of custom proteins! 🧬 It "reverse-engineers" the process, to create specific protein binders for therapeutic research applications. share.google/zQLs8VH9S7jm... #OpenSource #AI #ProteinDesign #Biotechnology #ScienceForAll
share.google
An open-source AI platform to democratize protein design
Since its release last year, the open-source platform BindCraft, developed at EPFL, has already disrupted the world of protein design.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
Why does AI get stuck in infinite loops? "Unlike computers, we are beings in time-embodied, embedded, and entimed in our worlds. We can never be caught in infinite loops because we never exist out of time." bigthink.com/neuropsych/a...
bigthink.com
Why AI gets stuck in infinite loops — but conscious minds don’t
Anil Seth suggests the difference is that living beings are rooted in time and entropy, a grounding that may be essential for consciousness.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Cool interview with Karl Friston x.com/mlstreettalk...
x.com
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
New research shows a #BCI can decode a person's silent, inner speech into full sentences. Tapping into the brain's motor cortex, revolutionizing communication for those who cannot speak. #Neuroscience #BrainComputerInterface #Neurotech #Accessibility www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
Inner speech in motor cortex and implications for speech neuroprostheses
Inner speech is robustly represented in the motor cortex and can be decoded in real time to restore communication to people with paralysis. Unintentional decoding of private inner speech can be preven...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Can active inference model consciousness? New paper proposes it can, via a "Beautiful Loop Theory." It rests on three key conditions that create a self-evidencing system. 🧠 @KarlFristonNews #Consciousness #ActiveInference ##FEP www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness
Can active inference model consciousness? We offer three conditions implying that it can. The first condition is the simulation of a world model, whic…
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Really intriguing talk coming up by @annaciaunica.bsky.social on whether you need a body to be somebody, a self ? FREE Online access Artificial General Intelligence (AGI25 ) Conference August 10-13 AGI sign up. agi-conf.org/2025/ Also a link to @AnnaCiaunica paper. osf.io/preprints/psya…
osf.io
OSF
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Breakthrough! After 50 years, a monumental proof in abstract mathematics is bringing us closer to a Grand Unified Theory! This quiet revolution is one of science's biggest stories. #Mathematics #ScienceNews #GrandUnifiedTheory #AbstractMath www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
The breakthrough proof bringing mathematics closer to a grand unified theory
The Langlands programme has inspired and befuddled mathematicians for more than 50 years. A major advance has now opened up new worlds for them to explore.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Hepatitis C found in the brain lining of individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder suggesting link between HCV infection and these psychiatric conditions. hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/… #HepatitisC #MentalHealth #Schizophrenia #BipolarDisorder
hopkinsmedicine.org
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
Dive into the incredible world of Xenobots! 🐸 These living robots challenge our understanding of life, intelligence, consciousness. youtu.be/LTBZRVKUwyM?si… @drmichaellevin @Evan_mcgl #Xenobots #Bioengineering #AI #Consciousness #Science
youtu.be
Meet the Scientist Creating New Forms of Synthetic Life! Dr Michael Levin
YouTube video by Giant's Shoulder
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Reposted by Sheila Macrine, PhD
DeBarra Shaw @d2chattoway.bsky.social · 20/07/2025
Exploring cognitive diversity. Timely and valuable reframing.
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Researchers discovered that a protein called cypin can help brain cells connect and communicate. This could be a game-changer for treating Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, traumatic brain injuries. #BrainHealth #Research #Science #Memory #TBI #Neurodegeneration share.google/QkMxGPt6DQbb...
share.google
This tiny brain molecule could hold the key to learning, memory—and Alzheimer’s treatment
A team of researchers has discovered that a protein called cypin plays a powerful role in helping brain cells connect and communicate, which is crucial for learning and memory. By uncovering how cypin...
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Sheila Macrine, PhD @macrinephd.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
How are animal minds shaped by evolution? 🧠 Explore cognitive diversity across the animal kingdom, moving beyond human-centric views. Reframes cognition as a set of diverse solutions to environmental challenges. #AnimalCognition #Evolution doi.org/10.1098/rstb...
doi.org
Selection shapes diverse animal minds | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
This special issue explores the evolution of cognitive diversity across the animal kingdom, challenging the value of approaches that have a basis in human psychology in favour of a perspective that em...
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