iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 28/09/2026

Just saw this news now (looks like it is a few days old) arXiv has received private funding -- $17.2M to be distributed across the next 3-5 years to help it establish and transition to an independent not-for-profit. This is good news for the preprint server and open access resources! 🔭🧪

blog.arxiv.org

arXiv receives Multiyear Philanthropic Commitments to Support Its Launch as an Independent Nonprofit

arXiv is pleased to announce that three leading philanthropic organizations have provided multimillion-dollar support for arXiv. These new multiyear…

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The quantum measurement problem arose due to an enormous blunder by Schrödinger, argues physicist Antony Valentini today for @iai.tv. De Broglie's wave-governed particle trajectories were right, but Schrödinger needlessly wrote particles out of the story. iai.tv/articles/sch... #philsci #physics

iai.tv

Schrödinger’s blunder created the quantum measurement problem

<p><em>Quantum mechanics is seen as challenging the idea that science provides objective descriptions of reality outside of our minds. The “measurement problem” seems to suggest that the act of observ...

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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🌊 Ocean acidification has now joined the list of exceeded planetary boundaries. That makes 7 of 9. These are interconnected Earth-system pressures, collectively eroding resilience and shrinking humanity’s safe operating space. www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

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EU Science, Research & Innovation @scienceinnovation.ec.europa.eu · 22/09/2026

🌽What is driving acute food insecurity across the globe? New evidence shows that El Niño, conflict in the Middle East and reduced humanitarian funding could worsen conditions in late 2026 and into 2027. Read more at: link.europa.eu/G7mXcv #SciComm 🧪 #JRC

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mj @malthusjohn.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Mother of All Paradox gets around. The excluded middle is never as likely as people first believe. #reductionism #MOAP #1&M

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Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

“For a gov’t borrowing in its own currency, the…domestic constraint is the availability of productive resources & the possibility of inflation, not an arbitrary debt-to-GDP ratio…What refuses to die is the belief that prosperity can be restored by governments spending less. The zombie is austerity!”

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MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Physics and biology, irrevocably joined at the hip, yet intrinsically incompatible. We can explain solids, liquids, and gases — but how nonliving matter self-assembles into life remains one of science’s great mysteries. Is Life Itself a State of Matter?🧪 thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-life-itse...

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

Is Life Itself a State of Matter?

We can explain solids, liquids, and gases — but how nonliving matter self-assembles into life remains one of science’s great mysteries.

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Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

The universe seems fine-tuned for life, leading to arguments for an infinite multiverse. But physicist Jeff Shainline argues today that the universe also seems fine-tuned for technology, & this points towards a radically different sort of explanation for fine-tuning #philsci iai.tv/articles/the...

iai.tv

The universe is fine-tuned for technology, not just life

<p><em>The universe seems to be fine-tuned for life. Were nature’s constants even slightly different, life wouldn’t exist. To explain this, scientists reach for bizarre ideas, like an infinite multive...

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Eamon Duede @eduede.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Silvia De Toffoli and I wrote a guest article for Terence Tao's blog in response to the recent AI Navier-Stokes result. We argue that the 'AI has "solved" mathematics' idea rests on two assumptions, both seductive & plausible, but both wrong. #philsci #AI #math terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09/12/a...

terrytao.wordpress.com

After Math

[This is a guest post by Silvia De Toffoli and Eamon Duede. This blog post was initially written in a different file format and converted using AI. — T.] Silvia De Toffoli (University School …

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, Jon Phillips @jowiph.bsky.social looks at a new article by Alex Blum and Arnab Rai Choudhuri presenting the early history of magnetohydrodynamics. Theorists struggled for years to get a grip on MHD theory before it became the go-to tool for explaining the Sun.

aip.org

Article spotlight: Blum and Choudhuri on magnetohydrodynamics

AIP History Weekly Edition: September 25, 2026

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Springer Nature @springernature.com · 17/09/2026

A detailed structural analysis of Roman Empire’s entire road network is shared in @natcomms.nature.com, covering topographical information from nearly 300,000 km of roads. Findings highlight long-term effects of Roman roads on modern towns & transportation systems: spklr.io/63327ETj5b 🏺 🧪

spklr.io

Network science reveals the structure and lasting impact of the Roman road system - Nature Communications

A spatial analysis of nearly 300,000 km of Roman roads reveals they favoured straight routes when topography allowed, established provincial capitals as key transport hubs, and Roman roads correlate with major modern roads.

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Optics & Photonics News @optica-opn.org · 17/09/2026

Researchers at Kobe University created a nanostructured coating that creates vivid, glossy colors. The coating provides a uniform and long-lasting color that is unaffected by the protective layers typically used for cars, planes and architectural structures. bit.ly/3UOIx2P 💡 ⚛️ 🧪

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Hannah Harris Green @whatsitlike.me · 16/09/2026

When I got my first assignment with Scientific American, I thought it might mean I could still make a career in legacy media work, despite the ongoing chaos. The experience gave me something else entirely. www.whatsitlike.me/the-story-sc...

whatsitlike.me

The story Scientific American wouldn't let me tell

When the media institution tumbled, I wasn't about to let my reporting go with it.

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J. Doyne Farmer @doynefarmer.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

My conversation wtih Greg Lablanc at the unSILOed podcast is now online. Among other things we dicuss why complexity science has not displaced mainstream economics and how we can better understand complex economic systems #Complexity www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekEJ...

youtube.com

682. Exploring Complexity: From Physics to Economics with J. Doyne Farmer

YouTube video by unSILOed Podcast with Greg LaBlanc

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

'The decision of whether to peek into the supposed chambers, a few metres from the existing tomb, is in the hands of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. If approved, careful drilling to deploy miniature tractors equipped with cameras could start in November'.

nature.com

Exclusive: New evidence for hidden chambers beyond Tutankhamun’s tomb

Geophysical survey yields ‘tantalizing’ data that could point to Nefertiti’s burial place – but it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions.

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IOP Publishing @ioppublishing.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Could #quantum information theory explain the evolution of our Universe⚛️? It is believed that the evolution of the universe follows the second law of #thermodynamics. However, this theory is contradicted by structures low in entropy but formed in a high-entropy environment: ow.ly/X8tc50ZO3jH

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🍁 Alex Smith 🍁 @alexsmithants.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

🧪 An editorial this morning in the @theglobeandmail.com about the growing trend in Canada for professors to avoid retiring. "The grey (time) zone of academia" 🎁 link www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/c231c7b...

theglobeandmail.com

The grey (time) zone of academia

The growing cohort of aging professors is raising intergenerational tensions on campuses

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Someonaft @someonaft.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

everything we construct, including our measurement of time, is ultimately a tool for describing and understanding the universe. the tool should not automatically be identified with the structure it describes. #ПНПІ #CIFR #InformationTheory #ComplexSystems

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Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Prediction vs. Understanding? "Humans working with vehicles of understanding such as neural network models may be able to achieve greater levels of understanding." New work by @russpoldrack.org #PhilSci #Psychology

Abstract
It is commonly argued that understanding (particularly regarded in terms of intelligible explanation) and prediction are distinct and possibly competing objectives in scientific theorizing and modeling. Here I leverage Wilkenfeld’s notion of “understanding as compression” along with the link between prediction and compression from algorithmic information theory to establish that prediction and understanding are instead intimately linked. I clarify the definition of understanding as compression to address unclear aspects of Wilkenfeld’s original definition, and I propose that the oft-discussed conflict may result in part from confusion between understanding proper and vehicles of understanding (such as statistical or computational models). I exemplify the unification of prediction and understanding through compression via a discussion of the role of large neural network models as tools for understanding brain function in neuroscience.

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SE Gyges @segyges.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This idea seems to be the most infectious because it activates the same neurosis that every apocalyptic or millenarian cult does. The world is going to end, and only I and my special group of people in the know can maybe stop it. (Also, you should give me money and have sex with me.)

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Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis @stlouisfed.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

U.S. import prices rose 7.0% year over year in August, up from a 6.1% increase the previous month. Excluding fuel prices, import prices increased by 5.5% year over year bit.ly/4rcLZ34 #EconSky

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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Interesting hypothesis of firelight in the campfire as the modulator of the humans speech in the frequency space. Coevolution of biotic-cultural traits with the (local) fabricated environment. royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... 🧪⚒️ #EvoBio #Archeology #PhilSci

Firelight flicker rate quantified through high-speed video capture

The fireside niche is a dynamic light environment and social space.

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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 24/08/2026

What is the causal relationship between microsaccadic #eye movements & peripheral #visual sensitivity? This study shows that the motor preparation of #microsaccades causally impacts peripheral sensitivity, informing the basis of visual perception & cognition @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4wNcM7A

Foveal retinal image stabilization allows exquisite control over microsaccade directions. Four monkeys fixated a small spot in anticipation of an extrafoveal visual stimulus onset. During fixation, the authors forced a tiny, but constant, visual error between the displayed spot location (white in the magnified inset) and the instantaneous eye position (magenta). Across trials, the visual error could be in different directions relative to the direction of the upcoming extrafoveal stimulus. Bottom left: Distributions of microsaccade directions (relative to the direction of the upcoming extrafoveal visual stimulus) for all movements occurring during retinal image stabilization (colored histograms). Data across all sessions and monkeys are shown. Bottom right: Microsaccade amplitudes (on a log-polar scale) as a function of microsaccade directions in the different foveal retinal image stabilization conditions (z-axis indicates microsaccade counts per shown bin).

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LSE Philosophy @lsephilosophy.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

#LSEPhilosophy Professor Bryan Roberts has written a new paper titled "A New Origin for Entropy: Jauch’s Conservation Law and the Geometry of Thermodynamics" which he presented at the Foundations of Physics conference this summer. www.newscientist.com/article/2533... #PhilSci #Philosophy

newscientist.com

Mathematics of thermodynamics is being rewritten after 200 years | New Scientist

The laws of physics that concern heat and work could gain a firmer mathematical footing thanks to “gauge theory”, which already helps us understand quantum fields

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Matt Henderson @matthen.com · 13/09/2026

Approximating the Lorenz attractor with a chaotic leaky water wheel. The orange dot is the centre of mass of the water. It traces (a projection of) the familiar attractor as the wheel spins seemingly randomly left and right.

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Mauricio Suárez @msuarez.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Two Madrid mathematicians adverse to the use of AI on their way now to the Fields medal (the equivalent of the Nobel prize for maths): Clay Institute Won't Call Navier-Stokes Solved by OpenAI: www.implicator.ai/clay-institu... #hps #metascience #sts #philscie #philsky

implicator

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Rod Graham (The Neighborhood Sociologist) @roderickgraham.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

"Without people willing to step into that role and generate fresh ideas, public debate becomes little more than a discussion of how best to manage the world as it currently exists." #neighborhoodsociologist rodgraham.substack.com/p/the-differ...

rodgraham.substack.com

The difference between thinking critically and critically thinking

Or, the role of the critical scholar in a democracy

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Adrian Currie @adrian-currie.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Methods in the Philosophy of Science: A User's Guide, edited by the inestimable @phieveigl.bsky.social (and me!), has 27 chapters from super-cool philosophers of science explaining how they do their thing, and is now open access! Our baby is free! #philsci direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...

direct.mit.edu

Methods in the Philosophy of Science: A User's Guide

A guidebook to methods and methodology, encouraging deeper engagement across the philosophy of science and beyond.The last twenty years have seen multiple

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Marilyn Stendera @marilynstendera.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I'm very excited to share my latest paper, which has just been published (open access!) in Synthese. In "Synthetic Temporalities", I explore how using AI might impact the relationship between knowledge, agency, and time. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Synthetic temporalities – phenomenological perspectives on epistemic agency, time, and AI - Synthese

This paper will explore the kind of insights that the phenomenological tradition and its various conceptualisations of the temporalities of agency might have to offer for thinking about our increasing...

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Science Magazine @science.org · 27/07/2026

Before entering a long decline that continues into the present, humanity may have spoken far more languages, experiencing a “golden age” of linguistic diversity, with tens of thousands of languages spoken worldwide only several thousand years ago, a new Science study finds. scim.ag/4b8zW0b

scim.ag

The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene

Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...

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Alina Studenova @studenova.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

During auditory attention task, alpha power was positively correlated with mind wandering when participants had their eyes open. In contrast, when doing the task with closed eyes, participants' alpha power was negatively correlated with mind wandering. Cool but so weird!👏

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Quy Ma @quyma.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

We measure the cost of everything in dollars and almost nothing in time, attention, or energy. Which is convenient for whoever's collecting the time, attention, and energy. #econsky #philsky

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RUB History & Philosophy of Science @roto-rub.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Great new open access book by Pim Edelaar: "The Selective Organism: An Expanded Theory of Adaptive Evolution" Check it out here: academic.oup.com/book/63165?l... #HPBio #PhilSci

Front cover of the book "The selective organism: An expanded theory of adaptive evolution" by Pim Edelaar.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 26/08/2026

Living systems operate out of equilibrium to enable rich, complex behaviors. To quantify how far from equilibrium a system is, a study proposes a simple method that tracks and categorizes individual molecules’ displacements. Read more: go.aps.org/4hWqD7Q

The structure of the talin-1 protein represented as curly ribbons in red, orange, yellow, greens, and blues.

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British Journal for the Philosophy of Science @thebjps.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

More from the new issue: A Hierarchy of Spacetime Symmetries: Holes to Heraclitus – JB Manchak & Thomas Barrett Abstract in alt text or read it here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... #philsci #philsky

ABSTRACT. We present a hierarchy of symmetry conditions within the context of general relativity. The weakest condition captures a sense in which spacetime is free of symmetry ‘holes’ of a certain type. All standard models of general relativity satisfy the condition but we show that violations can occur if the Hausdorff assumption is dropped. On the other extreme, the strongest condition of the hierarchy is satisfied whenever a model is completely devoid of symmetries. In these ‘Heraclitus’ spacetimes, no pair of distinct points can be mapped (even locally) into one another. We prove that such spacetimes exist. We also show a sense in which Heraclitus spacetimes are completely determined by their local properties. We close with a brief comment on the prospect of using the symmetries of a spacetime as a guide to how much ‘structure’ it possesses.

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Sam @sfsutcliffe.eurosky.social · 30/08/2026

✨✅ ''After a series of meetings, we thought of forming our own publication, one that we can inoculate against corporate abuse and against the influence of money. The result was a worker/community-owned cooperative: a multi-stakeholder cooperative'' #complexity #resilience #realstories #cooperatives

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Complexity Science Hub @csh.ac.at · 24/08/2026

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻? Whether you're a journalist, a panel discussion organizer, or a decision-maker looking for expert advice, finding the right expert is crucial. Increasingly, #AI tools help with that. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁? 🧵👇🧪

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Physics World @physicsworld.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

In textbooks, protons and neutrons are bundles of three quarks. In the real world, it's turning out to be much more complicated than that.🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/protons-an...

physicsworld.com

Protons and neutrons are more than just groups of three quarks – Physics World

Comparison between theoretical models and experimental data favours alternative “baryon junctions” picture

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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The AI rollout has been the ne plus ultra of Silicon Valley arrogance. Data centers are the one thing Americans can obstruct to force Big Tech billionaires to heed the call of democratic deliberation, writes @ryanlcooper.com. prospect.org/2026/08/31/d...

prospect.org

Big Tech Crashes Headlong Into American Democracy - The American Prospect

The AI oligarchs thought they could stuff data centers down the throats of the American people. They thought wrong.

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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

So many people need to work on understanding the differences between a “stock” and a “flow”. It makes it far easier to understand things like the national debt versus an annual budget deficit. Or greenhouse gas levels in the air versus the annual emissions of pollution. And so on. And so on.

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C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

A new analysis of 113 personal care and cleaning products found phthalates in several products labeled “phthalate-free,” along with other chemicals that contradicted their label claims: cen.acs.org/business/con... #chemsky 🧪

Product labels may misrepresent what’s in the bottle.
Study finds phthalates in some ‘phthalate-free’ products, and other contradictions.
by Anirban Mukhopadhyay.
A person dispenses white lotion from a tube into their open hand. Credit: Shutterstock

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ᛕᎥᕼᗷᗴᖇᑎᗴ丅Ꭵᑕᔕ @kihbernetics.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

If universes "reproduce" and "evolve" this means they are *alive* and life on Earth is not just a "freak" accident but a "normal" progression in their "evolution" to higher complexity. If that's so what serves as the #DNA and what's the selecting #environment? www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

smithsonianmag.com

Earth's Organisms Developed Via Evolution. Some Theorists Wonder: What if the Entire Cosmos Did, Too?

The idea that universes evolve like organisms sat on the fringes of theoretical physics for decades. Then, a Substack post and a 2022 find by the James Webb Space Telescope boosted the concept

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The Donk @thedonk.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Why aliens won't come to this planet 'til were gone

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Jeremy Davis @jeremydavis.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

meanwhile every psych study I read is like "our study determined that people who are anxious and depressed report lower levels of happiness"

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