iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 14h

Contrary opinion: universities are burning money on the wrong things 1) Use dumber tools—all that tech costs a fortune 2) Slash executive administration by 80% 3) Stockpile books, chalk, and nice smooth slate 4) Let faculty prioritize research and teaching

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It’s stinkbug season muthafukkas!!

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I really do wonder when, as a nation, we realize that these people running the federal government are enemies of the state.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Annals of Illiteracy: Nature magazine has told me we cannot expect their readers to know who Gregor Mendel was. Who else don't they know? Einstein? Newton?? Aristotle???

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

From an environmental justice POV, it's just the opposite. Global avg carbon footprint/capita: ≈4 metric tons/yr Avg American: ≈17 tons Avg African: <1 ton If we're gonna prioritize lives for everyone's good, we should start by euthanizing billionaires climatecrisis247.com/news/this-is...

climatecrisis247.com

This is Donald Trump’s Carbon Footprint

At the most fundamental level, resource consumption drives carbon emissions – and it should come as no surprise that the wealthy tend to have a larger-than-av

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

now you see? this is what we need these days more books, fewer walls

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

“Our critique of the Cloud has too often stopped at the exhaust, or more recently, at the vast amounts of freshwater consumed.” Brilliant environmental critique of data centers from Nathan Ensmenger, who’s been doing this since way before you realized it was a problem

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

By my count, @philipcball.bsky.social has published more than forty books. I haven't come across one yet that wasn't worth reading. Theory alone suggests you should get it. QED.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

1) The dark, wooded house on the street below mine with a weird tooth-and-gear trolley cart up to the house 2) Falling asleep 3) Revolution #9

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

important piece from @alondra.bsky.social on the new Polyanna research platform: basically, it’s science-by-Doordash.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I once asked a hotshot & open-minded GWAS guy what polygenic indexes were good for, if, as he agreed, they v rarely tell you anything about the biology of the trait of interest. He shrugged & answered, "Prediction." <makes "The Scream" face> Did he realize what he'd just said?

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This elegant bio sketch of Jim Watson by @matthewcobb.bsky.social is balanced, nuanced, and graciously acknowledges my work on Watson. Even more graciously, it doesn't spill the beans on the many ways my book challenges the history of the gene. Coming next fall from Basic Books!

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

y’all i’ve had some funny comments about Coyne, much appreciated, but no serious candidates for next Madman of Evolutionary Biology. Look lively ! i count on you for silly answers to life’s persistent questions!

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

excellent question. who even are the candidates? jerry coyne doesn’t rank near high enough on the madman scale

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

People, what’s happened to Swiss cheese? it’s not in the grocery store, it’s not in the sandwich shop. what gives? was there some invidious Satanic kibosh when i wasn’t looking ? it’s my favorite cheese!

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Isaac Rabinovitch @isaac32767.picknit.com · 29/08/2026

r/notmygoat

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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I've been revisiting my 2021 book How to Argue With a Racist, in light of the Cofnas situation - i didn't name him or the scientifically illiterati with who he breaks bread. But I thought these sections from the end might be of interest.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

my back door. i do not own a goat. #alt-countrylife

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

anyone out there have experience working with freelance @wikip1edia.org page editors? i’ve been approached by one and my page could indeed use a refresh any tips, experiences, pitfalls, or warnings welcome

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Haven't dived deeply into this yet, but their notion of a "contextualized archive" = v interesting & an antidote to simplistic "Eugenics is bad!"-type histories. Many folks in my circle will be interested, but I'm thinking especially of @ayahnerd.bsky.social atm. ;)

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

There are a lot these sorts of stories lately. They remind me of the early years of Facebook, when people posted nude drunk pix of themselves and learned painful lessons about teh interwebs

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I'm still baffled by how Brits use "up." OK, one goes "up" to Oxbridge, wherever one is. But I've often read of "going up" to London—even from Cambridge! How can it be uphill both ways? If you commute between them long enough, will you reach v(escape)? And where the hell is Glasgow, then?

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Amazing. This is not sugar-coated; it's carefully worded, using moderate, factual language. It makes no attempt to kow-tow or appease. It just tells it like it is. Bravo, @wikipedia.org, for setting an example.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I just sold my house of the last 17 yrs and did OK! Hence, I declare this Do-Whatever-the-Hell-You-Want-Just-Don't-Hurt-Anyone Day. Right now I want to take a nap.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

OMG the genius of this photograph restores my faith in humanity. If it turns out to be Ersatz Intelligence, I will loaw the will to live.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

If you discount the record-breaking temperatures as outliers, climate change is nowhere near what the doomsayers are saying it is.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Bumping for the daytime crowd — help me choose my dustjacket pic! Pls <3 the ones you like. @matthewcobb.bsky.social? @bschillace.brandyschillace.com ? ...???

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

🧵With trepidation, I submit the 5 portraits I've shortlisted as possible author photos for my forthcoming biography of James Watson. These can be cropped, obvs. I'd love for folks to <3 those they <3. Help me decide! Pix follow... 1/6

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

can we do breakout groups? i LOVE breakout groups

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Glaxton T. 49ersWolf @8stringandsushi.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

This war is now a Teams meeting.

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Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

"There is no science without fancy. And no art without facts". (Nabokov)

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

My quote of the day If you look at great human civilizations, from the Roman Empire to the Soviet Union, you will see that most do not fail simply due to external threats but because of internal weakness, corruption, or a failure to manifest the values and ideals they espouse. Cory Booker

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

<smh> Why have we allowed tech companies to persuade us that "just reading" is dry and boring? Guess what? Reading is actually much more engaging than passively watching a scene someone else created! It's true! Back in olden days, we called it "using your imagination."

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Today's #writing journal: 7 am wake 7:05 give up 7:30 take dog out 8-10 COFFEE, coffee, toast, jam 9-10 phone calls, emails, hate life 10-12 Succumb. Peck out few words, horiz Lunch Overcome w/ fatigue; IM TINKHING! 2:50pm <blink> ? 3-5:30 drop in; chap 6 nearly done! Walk dog, eat, zombie 10p zonk

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I did it! I downgraded my iphone from 16 to a 15. G'bye, camera button that constantly takes random pix. Bye, accursed "Action button." Welcome back, satisfying switch where when you can see at a glance that your ringer's off by the orange line! Cost me $400 but worth it #notmade4appleintelligence

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Bring back the Fairness in Broadcasting Act before we all choke each other

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

This, I suppose, would count as "AI shaming." I think it's spot on.

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Nathaniel Comfort @nccomfort.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Consistent w/ the term "AI shaming," which I heard recently for people like myself, who cruelly assert that creative work done by brains is better than that done by algorithm. To which I respond, AI IS NOT THE VICTIM HERE!

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