iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 9h

Playing my favourite #boardgame: The War of the Ring. With the expansion! Creepy giant spiders have entered the chat.

An in progress game of the war of the ring

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 30/09/2026

Enjoyed exploring Bayfield today. Tried my first ever Aztec mocha from Shopbike Coffee Roasters. Didn't know a mocha could be spicy. Also got Katabasis for some more #cottage reading.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 30/09/2026

This idea Jensen Huang (NVIDIA) floated of children not needing to learn essential math skills in the #AI age... is just of exceptionally huge detriment to the human race. I am not anti-AI. I have worked in the field, advancing AI. But it should never be used to the detriment of human understanding.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 28/09/2026

Arrived at the cottage with book in hand, and the whole week ahead of me. 📖🏠 #booksky

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 28/09/2026

Enjoyed a day in Stratford, Ontario. Saw Othello and a number of art exhibits. Enjoyed coffee at Revel very much in between.

A stage at the Tom Paterson Theatre in Stratford

A flat white, espresso marble loaf and iced coffee from Revel

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 26/09/2026

Vote for your favourite #quantum themed MacBook!

Three MacBooks with quantum themed stickers

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 24/09/2026

ATTENTION THE BEST THING ABOUT AUTUMN HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IT IS TIME FOR TINY DOGS IN TINY SWEATERS

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 22/09/2026

I had the opportunity to attend the International Workshop on Quantum Compilation this past weekend at Xanadu headquarters in Toronto! #quantum #compiling #iwqc

The attendees of IWQC raising their hands

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 19/09/2026

On my way to the international workshop on #quantum compiling (IWQC)!!

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 14/09/2026

Just tried out my access to academic journals through the University of Portsmouth for the first time! 📃

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 13/09/2026

So pumped to be starting part-time at the University of Portsmouth! #PhD #academia #physics #science

An email header that reads "confirmation of your place at the University of Portsmouth".

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 11/09/2026

I'm all for generative #AI, and I've worked in the field, but it should not be used at the expense of understanding. This seems like a level headed declaration. mathandai.org

mathandai.org

Declaration — Math and AI

Read the declaration and add your name.

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John Children @johnchildren.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Someone should make a Quantum Computer called the Garfield-1 that uses Cat states and uses a 3d Lasagna architecture. It will be down for maintenance on Mondays.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 10/09/2026

Big milestone for the team today! We partnered with AMD to launch Backline—an open-source platform built into PennyLane for real-time quantum-classical integration. Read more: www.globenewswire.com/news-release... #quantum #pennylane

globenewswire.com

Xanadu and AMD launch Backline to streamline CPU, GPU, FPGA integration for quantum technology

Xanadu and AMD open-source Backline, expanding PennyLane to bridge quantum processors with classical hardware engines. This open platform provides an...

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 08/09/2026

Interested in learning #quantum computing? Check out my book published with Springer Nature, on sale for $13.99! An Introduction to Quantum Computing for Computer Engineers | Springer Nature Link link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

link.springer.com

An Introduction to Quantum Computing for Computer Engineers

This book provides readers with a working knowledge of quantum mechanics without the need to readcomprehensive textbooks.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 07/09/2026

Isaac Newton famously wrote “if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Academic progress is always iterative and builds on the work of others, and a key component of academic culture is proper citation & attribution. It would be a travesty to let LLMs destroy that.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 07/09/2026

Got someone reaching out to say they are self teaching quantum computing and they really appreciate my science writing. Made my day.

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Robert McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Approximate size (depending on how you’re viewing this) of a black hole with the same mass as the Earth. Formation mechanisms that could produce such a small black hole are purely hypothetical.

A png showing a faint blue grid with a black disk in the middle. The diameter of the disk is marked as 0.7 inches. Lines across the top and left-hand sides indicate the background is 4in x 3in.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 04/09/2026

Took today off a while ago, supposed to be a #writing day for me. 📝 Unfortunately, I've been struggling with illness and neck pain this week so I am not sure it is going to be as heavenly as I had hoped. But we're still going to give it a go.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 29/08/2026

I had a conversation the other day with an unnamed someone who thinks that maintainers of complex software packages don't need text editors or IDEs anymore, and if you say you need one you're holding onto the old way of doing things. Since you can just prompt in a chat window to do everything.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 23/08/2026

Got the expansion for my #1 favourite #boardgame, The War of the Ring. Excited to try it out! #LOTR

The box of the Warriors of Middle Earth expansion for WotR

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Zlatko Minev @zlatko-minev.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A qubit doesn't just get pushed off course. It shrinks. Coherent errors rotate the arrow. Incoherent noise pulls it inward, toward the middle of the sphere — energy relaxation and dephasing. Rotations you can undo. Lost information you can't.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 21/08/2026

If you're going to use AI it should not reduce the time you study. If it does then you are not using it in a way that will benefit you. My 2 cents.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 21/08/2026

I have switched fully to #cursor as my main IDE. I do not offload my thinking or decision making to AI, however, and still code things myself, with the exception of repetitive or mindless (already figured out) tasks. The thing is that my job has relatively few of those...

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 21/08/2026

So... what's up with #DarkEnergy? 🤔 I wrote up a summary of the current status of possibly-weirdly-changing dark energy for @perimeterinstitute.bsky.social's shiny new researcher-focused newsletter; you can read the piece here:

perimeterinstitute.ca

Dynamical dark energy and the week that broke cosmology | PI News

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 19/08/2026

An interesting discussion of a study on homework and exam scores for people who do versus do not use AI. The trend is concerning, but there seems to be a caveat. "AI users who maintain similar homework completion time as non-AI users experience small learning losses" So in the end it's up to us.

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 16/08/2026

Staining our bench today. Haven't had my own outdoor space to do these types of things since moving out of my parents' so long ago. Forgot how much I enjoyed these projects.

A pine bench from Ikea after being lightly sanded

A pine bench from Ikea after wood conditioning

A pine bench from Ikea after being stained

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Ann Leckie @annleckie.com · 16/08/2026

Was having a conversation on this topic just recently. A book (or story or painting or movie or whatever) is not a puzzle with a Correct Solution. It's an experience to think about and with, to chew over and then bring to other experiences.

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Zlatko Minev @zlatko-minev.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

What is a qubit, really? Not a tiny ball. Not a 0 or 1 waiting to be read. It's an arrow on a sphere — two angles fix it completely. Every noise process you meet later is a story about that arrow.

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Alexander Jahn @physicistalex.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Big news: I'll be moving to APCTP in Pohang, South Korea, starting a new group in October! I'll be hiring two postdocs on a range of topics from high-energy to quantum information theory, collaborating across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Deadline Aug 12. More: www.apctp.org/bbs/board.ph...

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Zlatko Minev @zlatko-minev.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Google has two open research calls: early fault-tolerant algorithms, and securing the quantum computer itself — side channels, control pulses, user isolation. Not post-quantum crypto. Up to $100k, closes Aug 7. research.google/programs-an...

research.google

Google Academic Research Awards

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Alexander Schuckert @schuckert.org · 02/08/2026

I have PhD and postdoc positions available to join my group at ENS Paris, centered on designing algorithms for quantum computers in the early fault-tolerant era and sitting at the interface of theory and experiment. One position starts already in the fall of this year!

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 09/08/2026

As broken as the peer review system is, it is the best we have, and it is much better than a mere unchecked sense of urgency. By a long shot!

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 09/08/2026

Thanks to my first 3,000 readers! Check out this book if you want to learn #quantum #computing. 📚 link.springer.com/book/10.1007... #academicsky #academia #writing

A description of a textbook on quantum computing with a count of over 3,100 accesses from SpringerLink

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 09/08/2026

Weekends are for getting up a little later, and still having the time to spend #writing a little more than on a usual day, before any other responsibilities rear their heads. #booksky #author #academicsky

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 07/08/2026

Absolutely so pumped for this book "How to Build a Universe" by Dr. Katie Mack. Getting into the weeds of fundamental #physics makes me so excited! #booksky #academicsky

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 06/08/2026

The academic version of this is getting invited to be the keynote speaker at a different conference every week, for the small fee of $1,000. #academia #academicchatter

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 06/08/2026

Sometimes I don't put loads of hours into writing, but one thing I can do is consistently write at least an hour or two a day. After a year that adds up. #writing #academia

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 06/08/2026

Saw the #Hadestown pro-shot in theaters tonight and was blown away. What a moving play about the human condition, relationships and love that we can all relate to. There's more to the musical than I realized from listening to the album!

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 05/08/2026

One of the great joys of my adult life has been realizing that I can just pick up a new skill every so often, take a fun little class in it weekly for a year or two, and simply enjoy meeting people and getting medium proficient and not attempting to become professional in it at all!

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 04/08/2026

Writing a book is so weird because before it’s released there are half a dozen REALLY IMPORTANT DEADLINES for drafts & edits and each completely consumes you & is impossible to explain. “I just spent 72 hours locked in a room doing my copy edit review; I forgot what the sky looks like” “…congrats?”

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 02/08/2026

Reading A Geometric Approach to Differential Forms and enjoying it. It's written for upper undergraduate so not too difficult reading. But I am no math major so that's probably the most advanced level I could read a math text at. Seems like it was a good choice! #math #science #booksky

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 21/07/2026

1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024: The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.

arxiv.org

The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science

As a labor-augmenting technology, large language models (LLMs) have the potential to accelerate scientific activity across the research pipeline. But even if LLMs perform on par with human experts at ...

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comp_phys_marc @marcusedwards.me · 31/07/2026

This same phenomenon applies to #coding. Coding for anyone experienced is an exercise in making decisions. #Programming languages are designed so that they optimally represent the problems to you and give you expressive ways to write their solutions. Every character is a decision that you made.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/07/2026

Today's copy edit dilemma: a plum pudding is, to a modern American reader, not a pudding. Also it does not contain plums. But if I tried to call it a fruitcake I would most assuredly be haunted by the ghost of J. J. Thomson.

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