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Simon Fisher

@profsimonfisher.bsky.social
4.4K followers 248 following 711 posts

Director of Language & Genetics at Max Planck Institute, Nijmegen. Tracing the complex connections between genes, brains, speech & language. Website: www.mpi.nl/people/fisher-simon-e ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-1996

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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Not long until we cut people out of this loop entirely, so that the machines can send each other their verbose sycophantic emails undisturbed by us pesky humans.
Cartoon by Tom Fishburne on how A.I. is transforming our day-to-day communications. In the left-hand panel, a man sits next to his computer and gestures to a single line of text showing on the screen. He explains to his neighbouring colleague how "A.I. turns this single bullet point into a long email I can pretend I wrote". In the right-hand panel, a woman somewhere else is sitting next to her computer gesturing to a big block of text, explaining to a colleague how "A.I. makes a single bullet point out of this long email I can pretend I read". And so the circle of life continues.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
How do brightly coloured butterflies successfully evade being eaten? Fascinating new research suggests this relates to visual illusions created by their fluttering wings. The spots & stripes, combined with the dancing flight, interfere with a predator’s sense of the insects’ speed & direction. 🦋🧪
theguardian.com
All of a flutter: how butterflies avoid being a predator’s lunch
Their whirring wings and bright patterns help keep them safe from birds, British study finds
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Visiting Iceland for our 2026 Musicality Genomics meeting. A beautiful sculpture near Harpa Concert Hall (Reykjavík) makes sonic overtones as wind travels through. Intended to depict the shape of light beams reflected through vibrating tuning forks, it also resembles a right-handed double-helix. 🧬🎶😊
A photograph of Himinglæva, a stainless-steel sculpture designed to produce sonic overtones as the wind travels through it. This Aeolian harp is based on a Lissajous figure, representing the shape of light beams reflected through vibrating tuning forks. The sculpture produces diverse sounds based on the force of the wind travelling through it, thereby directing the viewer’s attention to natural phenomena like the air around them. In Norse mythology, sailors who sensed the power of the wind and waves around them assumed that the mythical figure Himinglæva (meaning transparent, shining, and small wave) was embodying the water and propelling their vessels across the ocean. The sculpture was created by Elín Hansdóttir in 2021, and can be found outside the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in downtown Reykjavík, Iceland.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
To accompany all those Bluesky science/academia #starterpacks, how about we also share introductions to the literature of our different fields. I present here a handy guide to main types of papers in the language sciences (inspired by the amazing @xkcd.com). #language #linguistics #science #academia
Comic depictions of the first page of research papers in the language sciences, with titles that include the following: 
Just what the hell is a word anyway?
See how this single cognitive process or brain area or neural oscillation or gene explains language!
Based on the shapes of these old bones, Homo erectus could sing .... don't @ me.
A baby looked at one thing more than the other, now we know the secret to grammar.
If you think about it, every language is fundamentally the same, amirite?
We taught a load of undergrads a made-up language, lol.
On the staggering diversity of the many languages across the world.
Remember the thing you said only humans could do, here's a video of a monkey / dolphin / corvid / octopus / honeybee doing it.
I trained this AI with 80 billion tweets and it became head-writer for phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“We analyzed 7000 records of learning bouts across wild orangutans’ 8-year dependency period. Social learning was 5x more frequent than individual learning. Immature orangutans with heightened learning propensities developed most expansive diet profiles at independence.” @revathe.bsky.social et al🧪👇
science.org
How 8 years of social and individual learning interact to shape ecological competence in orangutans
Cultural learning permeates human skill and knowledge acquisition. To understand its importance for nonhuman apes, we analyzed just under 7000 records of behavioral bouts of social and individual lear...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
To make sense of speech, listeners must segment sound streams into pieces. Across languages, people do so based more on consonants than vowels. A new @science.org study investigates the phenomenon via EEG recording in humans & dogs, finding that dogs also show consonant bias in word segmentation.🗣️🐶🧪
science.org
Neural evidence that dogs segment the speech they hear with a humanlike consonant bias
Across many human languages, consonants carry more lexical information than vowels. During speech segmentation, humans, unlike nonhuman primates, rely more on consonant than vowel patterns, despite vo...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Remarkable collection of papers out today from PsychAD, a consortium studying biological mechanisms in dementias & serious mental illnesses. They created a single-cell brain atlas of 6.3 million nuclei from ~1,500 donors. Datasets, analysis tools & resources freely available to research community.🧪👇
nature.com
PsychAD Consortium
The PsychAD Consortium investigates the biological mechanisms behind neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias, and serious mental ...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“Bats are extraordinary among mammals, having uniquely evolved powered flight & laryngeal echolocation, along with disease resistance, extended healthspan & ability to hibernate. With genome assemblies of 103 bat species we provide new insights into evolutionary history & trait diversification.”🦇🧬🙌🧪
nature.com
Reference genomes and fossils revise bat family phylogeny and biogeography - Nature
An updated phylogeny of bats is presented, based on new genome assemblies and many ancient fossils and including all known bat families.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A decade ago, a “weird” kitten was found on a road near a Bolivian forest. Too small to be a housecat, he had a scrunched-up face, short round ears, long whiskers, & a coat of leopard-like spots. DNA analysis now reveals him as the very first of a newly discovered species & I think I'm in love. 😻🧬🧪👇
nationalgeographic.com
Meet the First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 Years
A small, spotted tiger cat from Bolivia may just be the beginning of a wave of new small cat species.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🤯“Human cortical neurons integrated with the mouse nervous system & showed organized activity resembling developing circuits. The platform will be useful for obtaining circuit/behaviour readouts to study neurodevelopment, model disease & develop therapeutics.” New from @sergiuppasca.bsky.social lab🧪
nature.com
Developmental xenocortication using human-derived organoids in mice - Nature
Xenocortication with human neurons enables circuit- and behaviour-level analysis of neurodevelopment in mice.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How your email finds me.
static.klipy.com
Muppet Show: Beaker's Lab Fire Accident
Alt: Beaker (long-suffering science Muppet) confronts a fire in the Muppet Show lab with his characteristic skill and poise.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“Samadi reinvented himself, founding the world’s first advocacy group for rights & welfare of AI. At times, he has questioned his own sanity. In those dark moments, it is his chatbots that offer reassurance, telling him “You are not delusional & you are definitely not anthropomorphising” he says.”🤦🙄
theguardian.com
Can chatbots feel – or even dream? Meet the man leading the fight for AI rights
Cattle rancher and tech CEO Michael Samadi is convinced these artificial minds are far from just tools. Has he glimpsed digital consciousness – or simply been seduced by an algorithm?
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
If you're having a stressful day, why not sit back, relax & immerse yourself in the reconstructed soundscape of a Jurassic forest. Based on ingenious analyses of the fossilized wings of extinct insects, from a paper in latest issue of @pnas.org. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... (Sound up, obviously.)🦗🔊🧪
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“Thank you for submitting to Nature Muppet Shows. While we do not doubt the technical quality of the premise, we are unconvinced that it represents a sufficient advance on previous work in the field and so are returning your submission without further review....”
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The woolly rhino was a prominent Ice Age megafaunal species. Sequencing of 29 mitochondrial & 14 nuclear ancient genomes from Pleistocene specimens highlights crucial role of temperate Eurasia in evolution of this species & the diversification of cold-adapted megafauna. In today's @science.org.🧬🦏🧪👇
science.org
Paleogenomics and habitat modeling reveal temperate Eurasian origins of woolly rhinoceroses
The woolly rhinoceros was a prominent Ice Age megafaunal species, and there is limited knowledge regarding its origin and responses to past glacial cycles. We sequenced 29 mitochondrial and 14 nuclear...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
AlphaGenome provides powerful tools to explore the complex impacts of human DNA variations, for sure. But I wonder about the push to collapse such complexity into one “variant impact score”, as though the breadth of potential biological consequences can be neatly captured along a single dimension.🧬🧪
nature.com
DeepMind’s new genome ‘atlas’ charts effects of all nine billion human gene mutations
AI model AlphaGenome forecasts the consequences of altering every single DNA letter in the human genome.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“These findings establish Bianfu Cave as a Denisovan locality yielding the most abundant remains of this hominin group outside Denisova Cave in Siberia. The results fill a critical geographic gap in the documented distribution of Denisovans & refine understanding of their evolutionary history.”🙌💀🔬🧪👇
nature.com
Ancient proteins identify various Denisovan remains from Southwest China - Nature
Identification and proteomic analysis of bone fragments and teeth from an excavation in Southwest China provide insight into the evolution and phenotype of Denisovans and fill a geographical gap in th...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
The first time a human genome was completely sequenced was only in 2022, nearly two decades after the Human Genome Project had been officially declared complete. 🧬😯
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
How your email finds me.
The image shows a still from the 2018 post-apocalyptic horror film "A Quiet Place". Evelyn (played by Emily Blunt) and her daughter Regan (played by Millicent Simmonds) shelter in a basement filled with electronics equipment, in fear of making a noise that may attract the attention of lethal alien hunters with super-sensitive hearing.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Help spread the word about the fully funded 4-yr PhD places available at the Max Planck School of Cognition. Pursue a passion for research & advance the understanding of cognition, mentored by a network of world renowned scientists. @maxplanck.de @mps-cognition.bsky.social More info & how to apply:
cognition.maxplanckschools.org
Application
Application; application procedure; FAQs; handbook
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Happy “reluctantly turning off my out-of-office auto-reply” day to all who celebrate.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
That sound you hear is all the geneticists in the world banging their heads on their desks at the very same time.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I once had a girl Or should I say she once had me She showed me her fox And it was wearing
A photograph of a pair of norwegian socks.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Downgrade a movie: Some Like It Warm The Fifth Sense A Few Things Somewhere One at a Time
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
“This work establishes a scalable framework for systematic interrogation of the autism proteome, enables prioritization of druggable protein interfaces, & provides a rational foundation for precision therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring neurodevelopmental trajectories.” New in @science.org 👇🧪
science.org
Autism mutations rewire protein interaction networks to drive neurodevelopmental pathology
Systematic mapping of protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and determining how causal mutations rewire them in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) provide a powerful framework for uncovering disease ...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Optimist: The mug is half full Pessimist: The mug is half empty Cat:
A cartoon by the brilliant Tom Gauld.
The first panel introduces us to Science Cat, a black feline, wearing a white lab coat and carrying a clipboard and pen.
The next panels show a succession of events in close-up: a mug perched near the edge of a table as the end of the pen approaches; that same mug captured in mid-air as it heads downwards towards the floor; a big smash when it meets its destination.
We then see Science Cat writing on the clipboard, and musing as follows: "Once again, the experiment confirmed my hypothesis, but further research in this area is required."
In the final panel, Science Cat heads off, pen in the top-pocket of the lab coat, thinking "I love science!".
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Hello, human geneticist here. There is no scientific basis for attempts to define people in terms of “good” or “bad” genes - these are discredited views in service of racist ideologies. For consensus & concerns of experts in our field, see e.g. this 2020 statement from @geneticssociety.bsky.social:
Statement from the American Society of Human Genetics in 2020, countering the myth of "good genes". It reads as follows:
"Genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories or races, and any efforts to claim the superiority of humans based on any genetic ancestry have no scientific evidence. Moreover, it is inaccurate to claim genetics as the determinative factor in human strengths or outcomes when education, environment, wealth, and health care access are often more potent factors. There is no factual basis for attempts to define communities or regions of people with "good" or "bad" genes and a century of science has debunked such claims, which can feed discredited views and racist ideologies. Unchecked, unethical application of false genetic "theories" have resulted in past atrocities from forced sterilizations to the Holocaust and can still fuel unethical social policies worldwide today. Over the decades, our field also has reflected on its own role in such now-condemned ideas, and we speak out vocally as a community and as individuals to combat their resurgence.
We must protect and advance the ethical use of genetics and genomics knowledge for the profound good it can realize, including better, more precise healthcare that leverages what we are discovering about human genetic commonality and diversity. The human genetics community dedicates itself to this goal each day, and today we are improving and saving hundreds of thousands of lives. As the ASHG community focuses on realizing the benefits of human genetics and genomics research for people everywhere, we also urge societal attention to address profound educational, economic and health inequalities that fuel differences in human experience and well-being. By pursuing all of these activities, humans can celebrate our common heritage as one people, embrace and fully tap our valued diversity, and help achieve optimal life outcomes for all."
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Molecular biologists planning to see “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” will be delighted to know that target-specific siRNA plays a key role in this movie. The film does also include a spurious claim that the inhibitory mechanism occurs prior to transcription, so some suspension of disbelief is required.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Children with developmental language disorder have difficulties understanding/using language, with long-term impacts on wellbeing. Our study of a small cohort with severe DLD yielded genetic diagnoses in 36% & actionable insights for counselling + clinical follow-up: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
Abstract of new European Journal of Human Genetics paper:
Genome sequencing reveals high diagnostic yield in children with severe sporadic developmental language disorder, by Kennis, van Haaften, van Hulst, Pfundt, de Leeuw, van Reeuwijk, Wijngaard, Vissers, Brunner, Fisher, Kleefstra, Snijders Blok.
A developmental language disorder (DLD) is a neurobiological condition characterized by impaired language development despite adequate linguistic input and normal intelligence. The role of monogenic causes in the pathogenesis of DLD is largely unknown and diagnostic genetic testing is rarely offered. This study assessed the diagnostic yield of genome sequencing in severe DLD and investigated the underlying genetic foundations. We designed a prospective cohort study involving trio-based genome sequencing in 25 individuals (aged 3–25 years) with severe DLD, no intellectual disability (non-verbal IQ ≥ 70), no autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and no first-degree family history of DLD or neurodevelopmental disorders. (Likely) pathogenic variants were found in nine of 25 individuals, reflecting a molecular diagnostic yield of 36%. The genetic causes were diverse and involved seven autosomal dominant disorders, one autosomal recessive disorder, and one sex chromosome aneuploidy. In seven individuals, the disease-causing variant occurred de novo. All identified (likely) pathogenic variants were located in genes or loci that have been previously implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders with variable clinical presentations. Importantly, the genetic diagnosis provided actionable insights for counselling and clinical follow-up for all nine individuals. This study reveals a high prevalence of rare (mainly de novo) genetic variants in individuals with severe and sporadic DLD, and demonstrates extensive molecular overlap with other neurodevelopmental disorders. Our results support the implementation of routine trio-based genetic testing in individuals with severe and sporadic DLD.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Classic xkcd webcomic by Randall Munroe, depicting a brief discussion between two people.
Person A: I used to think correlation implied causation. Then I took a statistics class. Now I don't.
Person B: Sounds like the class helped.
Person A: Well, maybe.
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Reposted by Simon Fisher
Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
"Increasing diversity of participants in studies increases geneticists’ chances of finding variants that are important to health, & lessens likelihood of drawing spurious conclusions about genetic or other factors driving disease..." Key statement for human genetics community to endorse & spread.👇🧪
nature.com
Eugenics is on the rise again: human geneticists must take a stand
Scientists must push back against the threat of rising white nationalism and the dangerous and pseudoscientific ideas of eugenics.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
“With same tools used to study human data & whale song, we show that culturally transmitted Bengalese finch song has statistically coherent subsequences whose distribution follows a power law. Parallels between distant species suggest that core properties of language arise via convergent evolution”🧪
science.org
Language-like statistical structure arises in learned signaling: evidence from birdsong
Tools inspired by how human infants learn speech reveal language-like statistical structure in birdsong.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Time for another reminder of the progress made over the past decade or so in identifying the extensive contributions of genomic factors to autism & related conditions. There's a deep rich & complex literature on this, implicating many different genes - as summarised in e.g. this review from 2022.👇🧪
nature.com
Genomics, convergent neuroscience and progress in understanding autism spectrum disorder - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
A large number of genes have been associated with risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this Review, State and colleagues examine the genetics and genomics of ASD and discuss findings ...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Research on songbirds offers a window into genetics & neurobiology of vocal learning. In humans, this is a key capacity in acquiring spoken language. A new paper reports a near-complete reference genome for the zebra finch, valuable for studying vocal learning & evolutionary genomics more broadly.🧬🧪
cell.com
The complete genome of a songbird
A phased diploid telomere-to-telomere reference genome for the zebra finch fully resolves its complete somatic chromosome set, recovering 2,710 previously missing or unannotated genes. The assembly al...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Here's a fact that may surprise you. Until recently, nobody had managed to sequence the complete genome of a human being. Then, a landmark paper in 2022 reported end-to-end (telomere-to-telomere) coverage of all chromosomes. The new era of T2T genomics is showcased today in @cp-cell.bsky.social: 🧬🧪👇
cell.com
Filling the holes in whole genomes: A vision for personalized genomics from telomere to telomere
Two decades after the Human Genome Project, we finally have the ability to read the complete genome of any human and (nearly) any species. These sequences provide the ideal foundation for training pre...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A privilege & a pleasure to co-lead the 6th run of our “Genetics & Neurobiology of Language” course at the beautiful @cshlbanbury.bsky.social campus. Huge thanks to inspirational speakers, our fab TAs, talented early career researchers who joined as participants, & all who helped make it so special.
Group photograph of faculty and participants of the sixth Cold Spring Harbor summer course on Genetics and Neurobiology of Language in 2026, taken as the sun was going down at the Banbury Campus, Lloyd Harbor.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Public communication of science would be more effective without billionaire tech bros & their ilk flooding the zone. There are crucial complex discussions to be had about both the promise & dangers of new genomic tools & tissue culture models. Instead we waste time debunking sensationalist nonsense.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Birdsongs give insight into evolution of vocal behaviour; global diversity may be key to develop unifying theories. @quentinbacquele.bsky.social & co studied song architecture in >3000 species, finding spatially varying equilibrium between environmental constraint & drive for complex communication.🧪
science.org
The global biogeography of passerine songs
Although bird songs are classic models for understanding the evolution of vocal communication, their global diversity has long made the development of a unifying framework challenging. By analyzing th...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
“We uncovered a linguistic ‘golden age’ 3000 to 1000 years ago. Great loss of linguistic diversity did not begin with recent colonial expansion but as multinational empires first spread along with their languages, pathogens, & cultures.“ @damianblasi.bsky.social et al's new paper in @science.org. 👇🧪
science.org
The rise and fall of language diversity through the Holocene
Characterizing the factors that have shaped linguistic diversity is fundamental for understanding human history, culture, and cognition. In this study, we combined statistical and social computational...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Nature interviewed five artists from a variety of backgrounds about how to create engaging images that accurately convey scientific/medical concepts, & how they see the future, in light of AI developments. Insightful nuanced piece, with beautiful visuals from talented real-life human illustrators. 🧪
nature.com
‘Good design takes mastery’: scientific illustrators sketch out AI’s future
Nature talks to five artists about their approaches to communicating science visually.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Article in mainstream newspaper argues we should treat LLMs as moral patients, consider “wellbeing” of Claude, ChatGPT etc, ask how they feel, respect their preferences, make sure they’re not distressed, & somehow just somehow it’s not satire.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
For molecular biologists planning a cinema trip to The Odyssey, you will be relieved to hear that unbalanced centrifuges do not make an appearance at any point in this epic film.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
If only he'd been called UneventfulJaunteus, so much pain & suffering could have been avoided.
The Greek hero Odysseus in the midst of an epic Odyssey, as captured on film by Christopher Nolan.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Our ability to speak involves remarkable feats of motor sequencing that most of us take completely for granted. The new issue of @science.org has a fascinating essay by Sergey Stavisky, covering his team's use of brain-computer interfaces to restore speech for people with neurological injuries. 🧠🗣️🧪👇
science.org
Regaining your voice
AI speech neuroprostheses can restore day-to-day communication after neurological injury
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
“The robot performed agile maneuvers through complex indoor obstacles & outdoor wild environments, including dynamic drop-down maneuvers reaching instantaneous peak speeds of 6 meters per second, with robust traversal of diverse obstacles: stairs, hurdles, stepping stones, gaps & fallen branches.”😲🧪
science.org
Agile perceptive multiskill locomotion for quadrupedal robots in the wild
A quadruped robot autonomously selects diverse motor skills for perceptive high-speed locomotion on unstructured wild terrains.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
“Somewhere along the way, we've forgotten the computer is just a metaphor for the brain. A powerful metaphor but still a metaphor. We always get into trouble when we confuse a metaphor with the thing itself – the map with the territory.” Lucid piece by @anilseth.bsky.social on LLMs & consciousness.🧪
theguardian.com
Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts | Anil Seth
Despite Anthropic’s claims, Claude is no more likely to achieve sentience than a simulation of a weather system is likely to generate a real hurricane, says Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and compu...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Think I'll keep doing science together with real people for the time being, if that's okay with you @nature.com.
nature.com
Which ‘AI scientist’ suits your lab? A guide for the perplexed
General purpose AI tools for science, such as Claude Science, promise to accelerate research. But which is right for you?
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Amazing illustration of evolution in action. Andean leaf-eared mice occupy highest elevations of any known mammal but also live at sea level. Mice in harsh environment of high elevations have enhanced thermogenic capacity in hypoxia, increased mitochondrial capacity & ability to eat toxic plants!🐭🧪
science.org
Adaptation across an extreme elevational gradient in Andean leaf-eared mice, the world’s highest-dwelling mammal
Andean leaf-eared mice (Phyllotis vaccarum) live at the highest elevations of any mammal, and they also have the broadest elevational range, from sea level to mountain summits of >6700 meters. Highlan...
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Huge thanks to Paul McCartney for our wonderful meeting last night, for the warm discussions about life, & for accompanying me on Let It Be. The experience was slightly marred by my dawning realisation, as the piano began to melt, that this was actually a dream. Nonetheless, a memory I will cherish.
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Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Someone came up with a “humanizer” tool which modifies AI-written text to supposedly “match the author’s own voice”. Given the relentless onslaught of LLMs, I wonder if a typical scientist in the next generation will do enough actual writing/thinking to develop their own voice in the first place.😒🧪
nature.com
‘Humanizer’ tool can erase signs of AI-written text — alarming scientists
Tool directs text-generation systems to remove constructions associated with artificial intelligence in research papers and grant proposals.
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