iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

The Cajal Club remembers neuroscientist Barbara L. Finlay, whose pioneering research advanced our understanding of brain development, evolution, and the cerebral cortex. We honor her remarkable scientific legacy, mentorship, and friendship. #Neuroscience #Cajal www.cajalclub.org/in-memoriam-...

cajalclub.org

In Memoriam: Barbara Finlay

The Cajal Club remembers Barbara L. Finlay, an influential developmental and evolutionary neuroscientist whose pioneering research transformed our understanding of brain evolution and development, and...

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Echoing @kristiellingsen.bsky.social in sharing the petition asking the Tasmanian government not to cut staff and funding to our historic museum, for the sake of building a football stadium we can't afford, whether or not this cut is made. haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au/haepet/Home/...

haepetitions.parliament.tas.gov.au

Petition Details - Tasmania Parliament E-Petitions

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Don Davis @ddavisspaceart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The Sunset of September 27, 2026 was an epic spectacle whose intensity and beauty were memorable. The cloud ceiling had a wide opening toward the West that admitted Sunlight which underwent progressive color changes as it briefly in turn illuminated layers of otherwise invisible cloud textures.

The Sunset of September 27th, 2026 was one of the greatest visions the sky has ever opened up and revealed to me. It was a sunset like few I can remember in many years. I knew early on what was likely as a heavy cloud ceiling was opening up far to the West with the underside textures in that part of the cloud ceiling catching the light early on from the distant sunlit clouds.

Vast connected cloud formations were in turn bathed in the last sunlight which progressively turned from a golden to orange to very red, in as pure a spectral filtering of Sunlight as I can recall seeing. One layer of cloud formations after another caught the light as the rays steadily angled upwards. The most distant yellow gold clouds were dazzling, like incandescent molten gold that defied photography. Lower layers were bathed in the reddest light that contrasted in hue with the more orange colors in the illuminated parts of the broken cloud ceiling above. Wide areas of the field of view were thus illuminated, appearing and fading one after the other like a parade of vast apparitions coming and going.

The last lit clouds gave up their lurid radiance reluctantly and with a very red final flourish. But the brilliance was still happening, withdrawing beyond the Western horizon as Earth's rotation carried us into the realm of the night. The Sunset lit clouds far away were still in itself illuminating clouds nearby. From their altitude the brilliance and colors along the horizon hundreds of miles away dominate the ambient lighting. This brought an extended 'echo' of the Sunset as every cloud surface facing West shone with that fading lurid glow, like a long slowly fading piano note after a great symphony.

I have seen many hundreds of Sunsets and sunrises, but something about this one struck me as almost like a kind of religious experience. Awestruck wonder and numbly bathing in the experience while periodically trying to preserve a visual record.

An all sky frame of the Sunset of September 27, 2026. Canon 6D with a fisheye lens. I now shoot most such sequences aimed straight up to show the entire horizon. Unfortunately due to a technical issue this became the first frame of the time lapse sequence, but I did get the extended 'afterglow'.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Deeply angered by our high-school-prefect government gutting the things which make Tasmania special and unique, so they can bankrupt the state building a stadium for the AFL to profit. A clown show of secrecy and incompetence. #auspol #politas www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmani...

themercury.com.au

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Field Guide to the Insects of Tasmania @insectsoftasmania.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Tasmanian Science needs your help! The Tas Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) is about to suffer staff cuts. 2 positions will be replaced with 1 person to cover both invertebrates and vertebrates at TMAG, ie no longer a specialist position. Tasmanians deserve better. Please make your voices heard.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The more you read, the more interesting it gets!

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 16/09/2026

Bitcoin mining continues to draw more and more TWh each year. Did it take over the world's financial system? Does it get mentioned in media? Is it a "success" by any measure? It's just in an infinte bloat-cycle, like GenAI is in the early stages of digiconomist.net/bitcoin-ener...

Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index
The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index provides the latest estimate of the total energy consumption of the Bitcoin network.

LATEST RESEARCH: “Artificial intelligence: Supply chain constraints and energy implications” (May 2025); AI could consume more power than Bitcoin by the end of 2025.

Annualized Total Bitcoin Footprints

Carbon Footprint
114.03 Mt CO2

Comparable to the carbon footprint of Czech Republic.
Electrical Energy
204.44 TWh

Comparable to the power consumption of Thailand.
Electronic Waste
21.33 kt

Comparable to the small IT equipment waste of the Netherlands.
Fresh Water Consumption

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 16/09/2026

I'm just going to keep yelling this louder and louder until it clicks: weird overpaid AI nerds hand-wringing about human extinction are trying to distract you from the extremely deadly and serious harms they are causing yesterday, today and tomorrow www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Headline: "US Data Centers Set to Burn More Natural Gas Than Most Nations" above a photo of natural gas compressor towers, power lines and a crane at an industrial site, illustrating rising gas use tied to data centers.

News excerpt reporting that U.S. data centers’ natural gas use is expected to grow by 15 billion cubic feet per day by 2035—amounting to more gas than every country except China, Russia, Iran and the U.S., citing the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison 🔜 MIGW26 @hey.paris · 16/09/2026

spineless shits "deputy prime minister Richard Marles, said the federal government was “working at a pace” to respond to the issue of copyright, and maintained that the opportunity to work with US tech giants was a “significant moment for the country”." #auspol www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

theguardian.com

Labor accused of throwing creatives ‘under the bus’ with proposal to ease copyright protections for AI giants

Compromise revealed as senior personnel from OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, meets Albanese ministers

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Earl K. Miller @earlkmiller.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The brain does not turn up the volume on important sounds. It sharpens their timing. By synchronizing neurons to a shared rhythm, attention to a location makes the signal cleaner, not louder. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #neuroscience

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Luke Sjulson @lukesjulson.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Congrats to Renata Batista-Brito, Geoffrey, and Jacob on this monster paper! It’s an amazing piece of work, and I’m thrilled I got the chance to contribute to it

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A stunning piece, it felt like it cleansed a few layers of cynicism from me.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

A magnificent piece by Laurent Gautron - I guess I am a middle-aged neuroanatomy freak, but revisiting this kind of early work, where description is less tied to functional paradigms and beliefs, can be a fantastic reset for your assumptions and biases.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

longtime reader, first time writer to @lrb.co.uk www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Letter to the LRB correcting James Wood's account of his father's 1957 PhD thesis, which was on stick insect legs rather than wings.

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Eliza Bliss-Moreau @eblissmoreau.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

1/ New paper out today from my group, in @natneuro.nature.com, in which we review the anatomical & functional data on insula structure across species. This was a "whole lab" project led by @joeycharbonneau.bsky.social. It's been a 5 year in the making (a full 3 years in review)! rdcu.be/fyd7T

rdcu.be

Comparative insights into insula structure and function

Nature Neuroscience - Charbonneau et al. compare how the insula is structured and functions in humans, monkeys and rodents, revealing similarities and differences across species that are likely to...

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Dr Jamie Chapman @chapmanhisto.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

It's here!! My copies of The Histology Coloring Book have arrived. It's so exciting to see it in paperback. 😍 You can get yours via Amazon. Just search for histology coloring book.

A hand holding a copy of The Histology Coloring Book. The shiny cover shows some partially coloured drawings with a hand holding a colour pencil.

A photo of the spines of four copies of The Histology Coloring Book on a desk.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Well aligned with the agenda of AI companies positioning themselves as the sole repositories of information. Meanwhile, our universities eagerly embrace their products. www.404media.co/inside-the-w...

404media.co

Inside the Warehouse Where Amazon Scans and Destroys Books for AI Training

An interview with one of the Amazon employees at Amazon’s AI training facility VGT3.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Remembering an overwhelming 2017 day at the National Art Centre, Tokyo. Kusama Yayoi: "My Eternal Soul" and retrospective. www.tokyoartbeat.com/en/articles/...

Square panels with clashing, electric abstract colours and designs tile the walls of the National Art Centre, Tokyo. Visitors in the foreground are dwarfed and mesmerised.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Still marvelling at the uselessness of "AI summaries" for anything involving facts or precision. It's wild that these trillion dollar companies' resource-torching slop engines are returning us to the 90s web, when search results consisted of any idiot with a modem and a half-baked opinion.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Absolutely incredible article - beautifully written, incisive, compassionate, relentless, appalling and ultimately terrifying. This is the future our governments are choosing.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Next-gen neuroscientists: a wonderful day with James Crane for the Tasmanian final of the of the International Brain Bee - sponsored by @wickingdementia.bsky.social, Menzies Institute and Tas School of Medicine. Special thanks to the dedicated teachers whose work supported their students to excel.

Finalists for the Tasmanian round 2 of the Australasian Brain Bee Challenge, 2026

Our winners! Adoni Fiotakis and Mabel Johnston (2nd) (Taroona High), Jamie Nguyen (Tasmanian Champion), Evie Bellchambers (3rd) and Andrea McQuitty (Devonport High).

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Dr Nathan Kilah @chemistrynathan.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Australia! It's National Science Week! We need more scientists!! And more people who think like scientists!!! Here is a piece by Brian Yates and me on studying science and why that matters for our uncertain future.

theconversation.com

Australia needs more people who think like scientists. Here’s what that means

Science equips us with the tools to reason, evaluate evidence, and make informed decisions in a complex, changing world.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Briony Kidd @brionykidd.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

The stadium is the most egregious example but see also data centres. For years the Tas film industry, which has been creating real jobs and opportunities, has been asking for more grassroots support and a studio. Nope. But they’ll bend over backwards for dodgy techbros to put up their monstrosities.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Andrew Wilkie MP @andrewwilkiemp.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Today I have referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission my concern that individuals in the Federal Government, when formulating gambling policy, have been improperly influenced by individuals in the private sector. #auspol #politas

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noam @noamchompers.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

sorry, you want me to *revise* and then *resubmit* this shit? dog, i sent it to you because i never wanted to see it again

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I hope this loss isn't as devastating as it appears. An incredible species, and so vulnerable. theconversation.com/australia-is...

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Dr Monique Ryan @mon4kooyong.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

90% of Victorians want a total ban on gambling advertising across broadcasting and social media. It's time for the PM to read the room.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Morning fogs in Hobart make dreamlike landscapes - the Bridgewater Jerry is quite the artist.

Planes of deep blue hills and pale blue banks of fog, with black silhouettes of houses in the foreground.

Planes of deep blue hills and pale blue banks of fog, with black silhouettes of houses in the foreground. Above, a cloudy sky in similar hues with hints of warmer sunrise.

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Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie

Cam Simpson @ansibletech.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

"The case ... claims Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Informa forced U.S. research institutions to submit false claims to the government for reimbursement through article fees up to 10 times the cost of processing the articles." retractionwatch.com/2026/07/31/f...

retractionwatch.com

Federal lawsuit accuses four major publishers of extorting article processing charges

iStock A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges…

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

An update: huge credit to the journal editor, who when the authors resubmitted, appointed a new reviewer who took exception to the same qualities. We now have a third submission to evaluate. Authors claimed that AI tools were used to check the text for grammar and clarity, not to generate anything.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Every time I hear the phrase “dopamine hit” on social media I die a little inside. Then along comes this brilliant piece of clarity and insight from Prof @masudhusain.bsky.social. Even if you hate podcasts - and I do - this is worth watching to the end. m.youtube.com/watch?v=HZRG...

m.youtube.com

Myths v Science: What Does Dopamine Actually Do? | What’s Up Docs

YouTube video by BBC Sounds

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でんか @k-hermit.com · 02/08/2026

いか幼稚園はこれくらい自由だといいな🦑

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

m.youtube.com

Myths v Science: What Does Dopamine Actually Do? | What’s Up Docs

YouTube video by BBC Sounds

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Or even @royalsociety.org - still feel like he’s a deserving honorary fellow?

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I kinda want a t-shirt of the top left image

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Conceptually delighted and weirdly repelled by Julia Stack's vision of the "spinal homunculus" - the body scaled by numbers of spinal motor neurons devoted to each part. In its lap is the motor cortex equivalent, with large representations of the hands and face. academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Oddly creepy illustration of a pensive, seated humanlike figure with bizarrely thick, stubby arms and legs joined by a trunk so thin it looks like just the spine, without organs. This is due to the large numbers of spinal motor neurons devoted to the limbs and digits, and not much else. In its lap stands a small blue human-ish figure with giant hands and exaggerated facial features, the rest of its body doll-like in proportion, indicating the relative size of cortical motor areas corresponding to these body parts.

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Briony Kidd @brionykidd.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Meanwhile, a quote from the geniuses building our glorious new data centre in Lutruwita/Tasmania, referring to another data centre they’d like to quickly whip up here while they’re at it. At least genuinely seems like a mistake: who’d voluntarily explain how dodgy their plan is? #politas #auspol

"We will likely use Tas Irrigation, but we do not want to highlight this yet, as they are yet to agree to supply us, as we fall outside their normal customer base [agriculture] and they need legal approval to supply us.

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

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Matteo Carandini @carandinilab.net · 20/07/2026

A neat description of @agnesland.bsky.social 's discovery. (I wish I could write as clearly as @ericaklarreich.bsky.social)

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Chris Gug @gugunderwater.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Interesting to see this young #flatfish, likely a #sole, swimming through the nighttime blackness yesterday. Shot on #scuba, while drifting over the deep abyss, ~a mile offshore, off Bangka, Indonesia. #solefish #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #murexbangka #gug

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Andrew Wilkie MP @andrewwilkiemp.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Good grief, Tas Gov rolling out the red carpet for online gambling companies while also admitting our regulations are outdated is ludicrous. Time for a new number plate: Tasmania – the gambling predators’ state. #politas #auspol

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Another piece of Basinski witchcraft

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Matt Kirkcaldie @matttkk.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

One of the reasons I persist with Apple is not shovelling my personal, professional and creative data into the gaping, plagiarist, resource-torching maw of AI data mining (analysis by @ketanjoshi.co) bsky.app/profile/keta...

Reported power consumption figures for Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft, 2013-2025. All are increasing exponentially except Apple which maintains a low usage around 3 TWh/yr, compared to Google's ~43 TWh/yr in 2024-5.

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Everybody in the "climate space" (which means everyone on earth...) needs to understand these mind-blowing figures. Google's "total electricity consumption jumped from 31 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 43 TWh in 2025." In ONE year. The AI corporate arms race is eating the world.

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Akiyoshi Kitaoka @akiyoshikitaoka.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Chromostereopsis and stereo kinetic effect

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Hannah Waters @hanner.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

How does the cytoskeleton hold together as chromosomes and cells are wrenched apart during mitosis? Biophysicists found that it is made of a self-healing material. Read @jakebuehler.bsky.social. And admire fabulous art by Ada Shen www.quantamagazine.org/what-breaks-...

quantamagazine.org

What Breaks a Cell’s Ribs Can Make It Stronger | Quanta Magazine

The mechanical process of cell division exerts powerful, if microscopic, forces. How do the molecular machines that power it manage the strain?

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