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Nastaran Arfaei

@n-arfaei.bsky.social
114 followers 137 following 126 posts

Brain and behavior. PhD candidate at NYU. Here I post mostly at the intersection of science and science fiction. Images are made by myself unless otherwise specified.

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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
#WorldCup final nears, and I worry about drowning in a sea of sameness. About prescribed results. About #novels that all read as if written by the same author. About endless Hollywood remakes. We are drowning in a sea of neon-pink soccer shoes, each meant to stand out as perfectly unique.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
BUGONIA just melted my brain. Beats lock in, twists pay off, dialogue cuts, music nails the moments, and the performances wrap it all together. Feels wonderful to come out of the theater and gush with no reservations! #Bugonia #FilmSky #NowWatching #writingcommunity #review
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Reposted by Nastaran Arfaei
Shen Tao @dragons.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
They are giving away 50 copies of my debut, The Poet Empress, on goodreads! I hope you'll enter 🥰 #booksky #ThePoetEmpress
50 physical copy giveaway of The Poet Empress by Shen Tao on Goodreads, until November 3
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Reading this wonderful paper on inverse planning, with their motivation rooted in literary theory. 💙📚🪐 The fiction writer is an inverse planner, choosing every action, word and event for the objective of inducing emotions in the reader. 🧠🤖🧪 #writingcommunity #books #readersky #literary #science
dl.acm.org
Acting as Inverse Inverse Planning
Great storytellers know how to take us on a journey. They direct characters to act—not necessarily in the most rational way—but rather in a way that leads to interesting situations, and ultimately creates an impactful experience for audience members looking on.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
A literary NeuroScifi that dives into memory, consciousness and control. #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
A neuroscientist suspects an anti-technology cult murdered her friend. When pursuing them gets her in deep trouble, a powerful tech company steps in to offer her protection, if she takes a critical job: She must find and “quench” emergent sentience in supercomputers. #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Is lobotomizing a machine that has gained consciousness just routine procedure or equal to murder? Severance X Exhalation X Ishiguro #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN 💙📚🪐
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
A neuroscientist must either "quench" a nascent consciousness in a supercomputer, or save it and betray her powerful employers. As pressure mounts, she wonders if she, herself is that different from the machine; or just another expendable cog. Severance X Ishiguro #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
An anti-technology cult. Missing memories. A corporate offer she can’t refuse. A neuroscientist tries to untangle her friend’s murder while leading a team that “quenches” emergent sentience in supercomputers. Severance X A Memory Called Empire X Ishiguro #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN 💙📚🪐
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
A neuroscientist gets recruited to lead a team responsible for finding and “killing” emerging consciousness in supercomputers. A technical challenge that quickly spirals into a deep ethical conflict. Severance X Annihilation X Ishiguro #DVpit #SF #LF #A #IMM #OWN 💙📚🪐
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Natalie was dead. Her absence still lingered in the lab, in the intentional arrangement of objects on her bench, the unwashed pipettes, the unfinished notes. I remembered the Tuesday morning vividly; seared into my memory like the afterimage of a lightning against the night sky. #DVparty #SF 💙📚🪐
Abstract image. White and gold over a backdrop of crumbled black. 

Image created by the author.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Elvin Institute ID Badge Name: Vista Aetrilla Affiliation: Fellow Date of birth: 05/23/2206 City of Origin: Irem City of Residence: Avedis Area of research: Consciousness Protected under Intercity Alliance Talent Trade Treaty #DVparty #SF 💙📚🪐
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
“Beyond the molten air, shadows of harvest poles stretched long in the afternoon sun. Drops of sweat fell off my forehead. The pores in my suit pulsated, letting fresh gulps of air in and pushing the moisture away from my skin. It was still not enough.” #DVparty #SF #A #POC #sff #writersky 💙📚🪐✍️
Woman running in barren land populated with harvest poles under the hot sun.

Image created by the author.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
An anti-tech cult. Missing memories. A corporate offer she can’t refuse. A neuroscientist tries to untangle her friend’s murder while leading a team that “quenches” emergent sentience in supercomputers. Severance X Martian X Ishiguro #preDV #A #SF #SP #POC #writingcommunity #sff 💙📚🪐✍️
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
In a future of chaotic climate and isolated nation cities, a neuroscientist must decide whether to “quench” a nascent consciousness found in a supercomputer, or try save it and betray her powerful employers, and potentially the entire human race. Severance X Ishiguro #preDV #A #SF #SP #POC 💙📚🪐✍️
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Vista, an immigrant neuroscientist, gets recruited to lead a team to find and “kill” consciousness if it emerges in supercomputers. A technical challenge that quickly spirals into a deep ethical conflict. Severance X Martian X Ishiguro #preDV #A #SF #SP #POC #OWN #writingcommunity #sff 💙📚🪐✍️
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Academic institutes have long been under way stricter regulations from independent ethical committees. We need the same for corporations.🧠🤖🧪 Neural data protection may sound like science fiction, but we are at the beginning of a neurotechnology era. We need better regulations. 💙📚🪐 #tech
newsnationnow.com
States move to protect neural data as tech advances
Several states have passed or are considering laws that either amend or add to the state’s current consumer privacy laws.
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Reposted by Nastaran Arfaei
Hakhamanesh Mostafavi @hakha.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
I'm thrilled that my lab at NYU is now supported by an NIH MIRA grant! I'm looking to hire 1-2 senior lab members (outstanding postdoc candidates or experienced staff scientists) with expertise in computational or statistical methods in human genetics or genomics. Please share!
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Hi fellow conference goers!! Let’s connect here on Bluesky! 💙📚 #NEWENGLANDWW #writingcommunity
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
#Literature only! ✈️ Well played United…. Well played…. Now can someone explain what “counts” as literature these days? 💙📚✍️ #writersky #writingcommunity #readerSky #books #reading #sff #travel #mood #photography
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
There was a time people couldn’t get enough blue light! (And had way cooler sense of fashion)
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Reposted by Nastaran Arfaei
Hakhamanesh Mostafavi @hakha.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
A brief musical note: I’m very excited to share that my brilliant wife, a pianist and composer, has just released her debut album featuring works by Iranian women composers, including one of her own. Here is the link in case you’d like to take a listen: www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv67...
navonarecords.com
Nahoft – Navona Records
Drawing its name from a melodic motif found in Iranian music, NAHOFT is the culmination of pianist Ava Nazar’s collaboration with the Iranian Female Composers Association, showcasing six woman compose...
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
✏️Book recommendation hack: 1. Find a #LiteraryAgent representing books you like 2. Go to their wishlist and see what other books they have praised 3. Make a list out of those and get reading 📝 Sure way to find highly selected books to your taste 💙📚✍️ #writingcommunity #reading #books #readersky
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Would you get an EEG tattoo if it meant you could type with your mind?🧠🤖 Temporary EEG tattoo printed on the scalp sounds sci-fi right? Better quality EEG with less prep time, can mean, scalable, noninvasive Brain Computer Interfaces. But…would you get one?💙📚🪐🧪 #writingcommunity #neuroscifi #STS
sciencealert.com
These Temporary Electronic Tattoos Can Measure Your Brain Activity
Non-invasive brain imaging is usually handled with electrodes, sticky gels, and wires: it's an ugly, uncomfortable, and time-consuming setup.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
#Bluepit was a blast! Thanks everyone! 💙 As I promised by the end of it, I’m starting a series of posts on the space between the brain, tech and ethics. Here is the first:
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Who owns a machine after it merges with one’s mind? A woman got an implant for epilepsy in clinical trial, then was forced to have it explanted when the company recalled it. But after 6 years, wasn’t the implant part of her self? Not scifi. Really happened.🧠🤖📚 #FutureTech #BCI #SciFiNow #Booksky
X-ray of deep brain stimulation in OCD by Jmarchn, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
#Bluepit made me realize some people here might like content about Neuro-ethics, Neuro-technology and the choices we have to make about them. So I’ve decided to post more about these, linking to the scientific sources. So let’s stay in touch if that’s up your alley! #BluePitHype 🧪👨‍🎤💙📚
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
Is lobotomizing a machine that has gained consciousness just a routine procedure or equal to murder? #Bluepit📖 #Q #A #SF #SP #POC #writercommunity #writersky #writers #AmQuerying #BluePitHype 🧪👨‍🎤💙📚
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
A neuroscientist is recruited to lead a team to find and “quench” consciousness if it emerges in supercomputers. A technical challenge that quickly spirals into a deep ethical conflict. Severance X Martian X Ishiguro #Bluepit 📖 #Q #A #SF #SP #POC #writercommunity #writersky #writers #AmQuerying
Closeup of an eye behind the wings of an electronic firefly. (Image created by myself)
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
#BluePitHype second day! Here is an image from a scene in ch7 “Shadows of the harvest poles stretched long in the low afternoon sun. Far, far before her eyes were fields, poles spread on a hexagonal grid, absorbing light and wind and temperature differences.” #WriteSky #WriterCommunity
Harvest poles on barren land.
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Hi #BluePitHype! I’m Nasta. Neuroscientist by day, karate enthusiast by night, and VR tinkerer whenever I get the chance. I just finished writing a grounded, literary neuro-scifi that dives into memory, consciousness, and control. Can’t wait to share it with you all! #WriteSky #WritingCommunity
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Nastaran Arfaei @n-arfaei.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Wow! Feels like being back at the pre human-engineering era of social media! Let’s see if we get it right this time
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