iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

An issue with links on social networks is that once you click into it, it's not easy to like/repost/comment, because you're now on a different website Might be nice for bluesky to have some sort of "catchup" feature where you get a list of links you've clicked on recently and can like/repost/etc

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I don't know why this reply thread from 10 months ago -- with some thoughts about a sense of loss from computers becoming better at humans on cognitive tasks -- started getting engagement suddenly But anyway, here it is:

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is a really cool visualization But I typed in a bunch of keywords related to my science interests and nothing shows up. So that's less cool

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A single political donation can result in basically never-ending spam, as your phone and email get passed around to all candidates within a party for all eternity It's hardly the most important issue, but it's clearly bad, and we should just ban this practice

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Neural networks this or that I'm still waiting for cellular automata to make a comeback

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I just realize that it's now possible to vibe-code any sort of rhythm game I want, including for actual musical instruments 🤔🤔

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I just looked and I have at least three decently different possible topics for seminar-length talks, and picking one feels arbitrary I think I'm going to offer the hosts to choose, like sending a menu

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

💡🧪 🧵 For an upcoming funded program, I am looking to hire a *research scientist* (postdoc also a possibility) to carry out design and simulation of semiconductor lasers based on nanophotonic structures The candidate must be a US citizen or permanent resident due to requirements from the sponsor

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Scrolling back through my group photos, and suddenly every other photo is a zoom screenshot, or everyone is wearing masks What a time that was

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Seems not great that the NSF seems to have put the congressionally-established (in 1975) Waterman Award on permanent hiatus? www.nsf.gov/honorary-awa...

nsf.gov

The Alan T. Waterman Award

This page contains information about NSF's Alan T. Waterman award.

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Deadline in less than a week!

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

My kingdom for a "seems like AI slop" button in Outlook which, after enough anonymous reports, sends the person a private note telling them that their emails are full of slop

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Because my recent paper is single-author and was not federally funded, I haven't felt the need to submit it to any journal. No APC, no losing copyright, and less hassle. I do value peer review in general, but not sure that value is enough at this point..

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

There's fear about student learning dropping off due to AI use and, indeed, I think it's critical to design classes keeping in mind that students will have access to AI tools But students in my recent undergrad and grad classes have been no less prepared than before, and just as willing to learn

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I am so allergic to claude-ish but no one around me seems to share my allergy

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Diesel price in the US is at its all-time high now gasprices.aaa.com

Diesel at 6.40 https://gasprices.aaa.com/

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The NATO alphabet really comes in handy sometimes

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Reposted by Mikhail Kats

McPherson Eye Research Institute @mcphersoneri.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Join us Tuesday, October 13th for the McPherson ERI Seminar Series! The lectures will be held in Biotech 1360 from 12-1 p.m. A pizza lunch will be provided. RSVP and directions to the venue are available here: vision.wisc.edu/current-semi...

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

We have an opening at UW-Madison for a Quantum Science Outreach Program Manager, a full-time (or, potentially, part-time) position to advance quantum education and workforce development Please send to those who might be interested! jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/quantum...

jobs.wisc.edu

Quantum Science Outreach Program Manager - Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:Academic StaffEmployment Type...

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Google scholar informed me of a citation to one of our papers from a pretty famous scientist (who is also a bit of a crank) I clicked on it, and the paper is clearly AI-written, with some modest editing

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Breaking: Judge Saylor postpones the DHS rule terminating duration of status (i.e. restricting international students to 4 years) a day before it would have taken effect. He denies the request to vacate the rule itself at this time, though. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

IV. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, plaintiffs’ motion for APA § 705 relief, a preliminary
injunction, or, in the alternative, summary judgment, is GRANTED to the extent that it seeks to
postpone the effective date of the Final Rule pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5
U.S.C. § 705. To the extent that plaintiffs seek vacatur of the Final Rule, summary judgment, or
other relief, the motion is DENIED without prejudice to its renewal.

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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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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Genuinely tricky situation (click through to the thread)

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

It would be too late for me now to seriously get into a new, competitive RTS anyway, but I do miss both Starcraft and Starcraft 2, and wish the next generation could experience competitive Starcraft as an emerging game with emerging strategies

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I was 1000 miles away, but I remember this day 25 years ago quite well...

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Interesting that at UW-Madison, undergrads start 2x more startups and raise more $ than grad students pitchbook.com/news/article... Granted there are 4x more undergrads than grad students here, but it's still surprising to me

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Given the importance of the technology and how widely ChatGPT is used, this is clear cause for congressional hearings to figure out when private information is leaking

"While unlikely, we cannot rule out that de-identified data derived from their usage of our products helped improve our models⁠."

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Ryan Moulton @moultano.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Are there any voice typing apps that are actually designed for voice typing rather than transcribing a podcast or interview or things of that nature? Gboard is making me lose my mind. I want something that expects me to pause, enter punctuation, and choose my words carefully.

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Given the importance of the technology and how widely ChatGPT is used, this is clear cause for congressional hearings to figure out when private information is leaking

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Just catching up after a long day... so what exactly is the Navier-Stokes situation? This is all confusing

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Wisc-Satellite @wisc-satellite.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

During the ongoing eruption of #Krakatau in Indonesia, 10-minute JMA Himawari-9 True Color RGB images today showed a broad lower-altitude area of volcanic ash (shades of brown) along with pulses of higher-altitude volcanic clouds (a mixture of water vapor, ash and SO2).

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The bluesky UI for threads, that requires an extra click to keep reading a long thread, is super annoying One would not think that a single click would have any meaningful effect, but yet there it is

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

People say "it's such a busy time at the start of the semester", but I feel like it's a constant level of super-busy all the time The work seems in some sort of liquid or gas phase, filling any and all available time

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I'm teaching an optics/photonics grad course this semester, and on the first day I am asking students to read this excellent interactive essay on cameras and lenses ciechanow.ski/cameras-and-...

ciechanow.ski

Cameras and Lenses – Bartosz Ciechanowski

Interactive article explaining how cameras and lenses work.

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This (see thread) continues to be my biggest near-term concern about Claude/ChatGPT/etc At least when these tools search the internet, they return a response with links. But they have a bunch of baked-in knowledge and skills and the provenance and credit for that knowledge is missing

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Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🧪⚛️ 2/7 This is dire, if like me you are a supporter of the agency and its vital role in the US research ecosystem. Perhaps even more distressing, the NSF is on track to underspend its FY26 budget appropriation (congressionally approved, presidentially signed) by between $1.25-1.5B, or 15-18%.

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UW–Madison @uwmadison.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

You can’t spell Wisconsin Welcome without… well, you know 👐 Say cheese, #UWMadison Class of 2030!

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Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The (alleged) dimethylmercury incident at MIT: thoughts based on whywe know so far:

science.org

The Alleged Dimethylmercury Incident

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