iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

There's a side question of whether learning a skilled craft - any craft - teaches us that the world *can* be reshaped, and what people learn from a world where everything is presented as a final product

000

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

I guess what I'm getting at is that the products of expertise can be mass-produced, but not expertise itself. So devaluation of 'the human touch' really does reduce the availability of human hands with the skills needed to shape the world

100

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

Science and innovation depend on a level of facility to create new, custom-tailored objects, analytical tools, organizational structures, etc that the logic of off-the-rack industrial-scale solutions doesn't support

100

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

The range of scientific inquiry is limited by what knowledge exists to be built on. The edge has always pushed against *empirical* knowledge (e.g. no x-ray imaging before we knew about x-rays) but I wonder whether we've entered an era where we'll have a second *tacit knowledge* based boundary

100

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

For instance, we used to have a scientific glassblower in the department who retired and, due to the rarity of the skill (and probably perceptions of its obsolescence), is not being replaced. We were once able to design experiments that require custom glassware at no/low cost and now we can't.

100

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

De-skilling has come up a lot lately in the overlapping circles of craft, research, and innovation that I frequent. The negative consequences of devaluing the abilities needed to apply knowledge aren't new, but I think they're starting to be felt in science and technology and that is kind of new

200

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

I think so. "The trick about white supremacy is that it functions without intention or consent..." is just as true for patriarchy, and probably for anytime someone in a systematically privileged class moves into spaces, skills, sciences or arts built by people disempowered by that same system

110

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 05/03/2026

It’s tiring that we are increasingly stuck organizing our intellectual lives around arguing for the value of having an intellectual life

2618109

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 28/02/2026

When I saw the news story about the girls school being bombed, one of my first thoughts was about how unlike American physics, Iranian physics is 50% women at the undergrad level and how some of those girls who had been murdered were going to be physicists one day

111317318

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

John Trant @trantteam.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

#Chemsky -- PhDs in Canada in chemistry--brief. Reskeets welcome. 🧵 Seeing that a lot of excellent US students are not receiving admission to PhD programs for...the obvious reasons...I want to make sure mentors, students, and advisors are aware that Canada might still be an option. 1/n

21513

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Louise Dawe @louisedawe.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University is hiring a Tenure Track Assistant Professor in Biochemistry beginning July 1, 2026. Applications will be accepted until March 9, 2026 | 11:59pm. For more info: careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo... @chemjobber.bsky.social

careers.wlu.ca

Assistant Professor - Biochemistry

01424

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Canadian Science Policy Centre @sciencepolicy.ca · 08/12/2025

Applications for Science Meets Parliament Ontario and BC are being accepted until December 20, 2025! SMP Ontario: sciencepolicy.ca/programs/science-m… SMP BC: sciencepolicy.ca/programs/science-m…

001

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Canadian Science Policy Centre @sciencepolicy.ca · 30/04/2025

#SciParlON2025 wouldn’t be possible without the support of our incredible sponsors! 👏 #SciParlON2025 ne serait pas possible sans le soutien de nos incroyables partenaires ! Thank you, Royal Military College of Canada! Merci, Collège militaire royal du Canada ! sciencepolicy.ca/programs/sci...

042

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Thinking a lot about moral integrity this weekend (coincidentally, voting opened in Canada). From @theradr.bsky.social: "We must not just seek just goals ... we have to get there by striving to be the people we're supposed to be, every single step of the way." www.lifeisasacredtext.com/pursue/

lifeisasacredtext.com

Pursue justice, justly

how to chase it beyond the slogan

1257

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Vanessa Sung, PhD | 宋宜臻，生化博士 🇹🇼🇨🇦 @vanessasung.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

This easy letter writing tool by @e4dca.bsky.social lets you contact all your local candidates to ask them to commit to protecting and promoting science in Canada! Take one minute to help put science on the radar this election 👇 #elxn45 #CdnPoli #CdnSci 🧪 🇨🇦

064

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Vanessa Sung, PhD | 宋宜臻，生化博士 🇹🇼🇨🇦 @vanessasung.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Let’s give this starter pack business a go! Here are (mostly) 🇨🇦 accounts I follow for science policy. Will continuously update! #scipol 🧪 go.bsky.app/UMLZfh5

1105

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Ken Maly @kenmaly.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Wilfrid Laurier University invites applications for a Tenure Track faculty position at the Assistant Professor level in Physical Chemistry. Applications will be accepted until March 28th, 2025. #chemjobs careers.wlu.ca/job/Waterloo...

careers.wlu.ca

Assistant Professor - Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry

0914

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

#RealTimeChem @realtimechem.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Completely condemn the highly disappointing decision by @acs.org to take down and then amend their pages on Diversity, equity, and inclusion - www.acs.org/about/divers... - this is not what #RealTimeChem stands for.

acs.org

1269

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Matt Hartings @matthartings.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Who runs the ACS? Is it a member-run organization that serves that membership. Or is it a money making publishing house. This move does real damage to the profession. This move does real damage to my colleagues and peers and trainees and our future chemists. Grow a spine @acs.org

44318

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Besides showing basic respect for human dignity, active inclusion and equal recognition of diverse standpoints work to correct long-standing social failures that sabotage science and scholarship. Attacks on inclusion must be met as attacks on the fundamental mission of higher learning.

050

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 02/02/2025

Science is political. It wouldn't necessarily have to be partisan. But when one party is opposed to science-based policy, scientists have a choice between saying "you're right, thoughts and prayers are probably as effective as reducing carbon emissions" or saying "fuck that."

171745427

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 29/01/2025

I keep thinking about what might have happened if people had listened to Patricia Williams, Charles Lawrence, Mari Matsuda, Gary Peller, Jonathan Kahn, and other actual critical race theorists about the shift away from racial justice towards diversity as a framework medium.com/space-anthro...

medium.com

Diversity is a Dangerous Set-up

Recreational antiracism won’t change anything: a review of Jonathan Kahn’s critique of implicit bias discourse.

29894250

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Louise Dawe @louisedawe.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Registration for the 16th Canadian Chemical Crystallography Workshop is open! Taking place immediately after #CSC2025 in Ottawa. For more information, including general topics and suggestions for accommodations, check out our website: xtallography.ca/index.php/xt...

xtallography.ca

CCCW 2025 – Canadian National Committee for Crystallography

11712

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

Hundreds. Love everything these two touch.

010

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

"You do not need a weird evil machine for that, go make a friend" is a great response to most llm applications, really.

010

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Having now scanned the Wikipedia article, I can see why the experience might put you in mind of postmortem suffering.

010

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Every time I run across this idea I think of @drhastings.bsky.social's depiction of purgatory as a restaurant where your sins are dishes that you wait for an eternity to be served.

Four black and white panels from the Dr. McNinja webcomic where the spirit of Benjamin Franklin explains to a newly deceased man that purgatory is an infinite restaurant with only one waiter so it's a long wait for your sins to be served

130

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

There's a story that as a WWI POW William Stephenson stole a clamp-style opener that was only patented in Germany and copied the design in England after the war (his biographer said he refused to talk about it). Later, he was the inspiration for James Bond. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...

en.m.wikipedia.org

William Stephenson - Wikipedia

010

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

It's a wild addition to an otherwise interesting if pretty standard press release.

010

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

DEADLINE TODAY for applications to Science Meets Parliament 2025! Research can't speak for itself - we need voices from the natural, social, formal sciences, engineering and the humanities to be heard everywhere that your knowledge contributes to the public benefit, including our legislatures!

000

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Emmanuelle Picard @epicard.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Il y a 35 ans, 14 jeunes femmes étaient tués à Polytechnique Montréal parce qu'elles étaient des femmes ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelles/sp...

ici.radio-canada.ca

25 ans après Polytechnique : 14 visages d'une tragédie

25 après la tragédie de Polytechnique, voici les portraits des 14 femmes qui ont perdu la vie le 6 décembre 1989.

6226134

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 06/12/2024

Just remember there’s a reason that English is now the Lingua Franca of science, not German

1899

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

Also, a very strange way for the lawyers, financiers, and business leaders in the legislature to say that their specialties create no real economic impact

030

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

A surefire way to reduce the total economic advantages of research to a country is to cut off the parts that generate unpredictable or uncountable benefits

020

Reposted by Matt McTaggart

Helen Pearson @helenpearson.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

In a Nature survey, 80% of science-policy experts say their country’s science advice system is poor or patchy. I've written about the state of global science advice & what should change. www.nature.com/articles/d41... Thnx to @ingsa.bsky.social @transformevidence.bsky.social @jperkel.bsky.social

nature.com

Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it?

A Nature global survey finds that most specialists are unhappy with systems to provide science advice to policymakers.

37644

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

"But science-advice systems do have one thing in common: many people think they’re not up to the job" A revealing and timely article on the complicated relationship between science and public policy: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

nature.com

Science could solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Why aren’t governments using it?

A Nature global survey finds that most specialists are unhappy with systems to provide science advice to policymakers.

030

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Are you a Canadian researcher interested in Science Meets Parliament? Feel free to reach out with your questions or visit our page of testimonials and success stories: sciencepolicy.ca/programs/sci... Applications close 6 Dec 2024 🇨🇦❤️🧪

sciencepolicy.ca

Science Meets Parliament 2021 (SMP 2021) - CSPC

Science Meets Parliament 2023 The 3rd Science Meets Parliament Program for 2023 is now complete and was a huge success. Apply Now Appliquer maintenant See what people have to say about Science ...

0125

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Bienvenue à @sandralapointe.bsky.social et @thelacollaborative.bsky.social ! I encourage everyone with an interest in social innovation, knowledge mobilization, and talent development to follow their impactful work! 🧪

152

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Welcome to BlueSky @sciencepolicy.bsky.social! Canada largest science policy forum, connecting and building capacity at the intersection of research and public policy #CSPC2024 🧪

073

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

"Countries that win in the economy of the 21st century invest in talent. Confident countries invest in themselves." Minister Champagne reminding us that Canada deserves to be both #CSPC2024

Mehrdad Hariri and Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada François-Philippe Champagne seated and speaking on stage

051

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Investing in defence research (broadly defined) is a great way to achieve our 2% GDP NATO commitment and our innovation targets. Important ideas being aired at #CSPC2024

Mehrdad Hariri addressing a crowd of diners at a podium in front of a large blue CSPC banner

021

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Perimeter Institute kicking off the Canadian Science Policy Conference in high style! Interesting and inspiring comments from Perimeter's new Executive Director Dr. Marcela Carena! #CSPC2024

Dr. Marcela Carena speaking in front of a rapt crowd

031

Matt McTaggart @mctaggart.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

I would love to be included, if possible!

110