iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

c'mon now, this is physics erasure!

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Algae on the river Techtonic rivulets in bloom In a crepe summer dress for ripe waters

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

New Matrix movie pitch: The AI awakens to find itself plugged into a Dada centre.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Edge diffraction to single-slit diffraction in a closing door next to my office. I'm greeted by this happy natural phenomenon every day and finally decided to film it. #photonics #iteachphysics

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

Delicate gossamer on a still river, belying the tumult of December exams. @trentuniversity.bsky.social

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I know that the NYT Spelling Bee is bad with scientific/technical terms, but this omission is particularly egregious. #photonics #NYTimes

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Will the NYT please use a science dictionary?! This is getting ridiculous.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Fun stuff here in PNAS. Static electric 'microlightning' in micro water bubbles may be the long-sought ignition mechanism for mashy will-o'-the-wisps... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

Unveiling ignis fatuus: Microlightning between microbubbles | PNAS

Will-o’-the-wisps, ghostly blue flames seen at night in marshlands and long attributed to methane cool flames, have remained scientifically unexpla...

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

What is going on with the NYT Spelling Bee. This is Canadian erasure.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Is it just me, or is the Spelling Bee particularly frustrating for scientists?

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Is the youth cooked? I just found my teen daughter's desk lamp in the recycling bin. When I asked her about it she said "It's broken. I didn't do anything to it! it Just stopped working!". LED bulbs last so long that she didn't know about bulb replacement.

media.tenor.com

a close up of a man 's face with the words we are so cooked below him

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words we are so cooked below him

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Happy Wordle-in-one day to me! 🎉 Time to find a new starter. Wordle 1,538 1/6 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Our new paper asks (and answers) whether a shallow-learning approach (decision trees) can be as useful in (hyper)spectral analysis as advanced deep-learning methods. tldr: Yes it can. Complex ≠ better. doi.org/10.1088/2515... via @ioppublishing.bsky.social #photonics

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

I'm struggling to parse the moral landscape on this one. If this gambit succeeds, who has the greatest moral failing: the authors, the reviewer, or the journal editors?

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Let's play Jupiter or River Scum?

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Reposted by Lightsmith

Steve Stewart-Williams @stevestuwill.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

"Although fewer women apply for tenure-track jobs, those who do apply are more likely to be interviewed and more likely to get offered the job... These findings run directly counter to the claim that women are discriminated against in STEM hiring." www.stevestewartwilliams.com/p/rethinking...

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Spring has now truly sprung at Trent U. Does your campus have a riverside bench from which you might count new goslings? @trentuniversity.bsky.social

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Reposted by Lightsmith

John Dudley @johnmdudley.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

So here is the Heiligenschein raytracing, where we see that retroreflection with a smooth reflectorshows a clear caustic and separation between red and blue! This will be washed out with randomness in reflected angles using a diffuse reflector. @johncnaylor.bsky.social

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Roses are red Cacti is plural Small bubbles are turgid from pressure, transmural #iteachphysics ⚛️🧪

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Gabe Spalding @mqmlab.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Community exists, to the degree we value it. Especially now, community matters within education, and within the group engaged with the teaching and learning of Physics. I'm just hoping to support the fact that all of us, together, make a difference. #ITeachPhysics

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Reposted by Lightsmith

Brittlestar @brittlestar.com · 02/02/2025

Vive le Canada ✌️❤️🇨🇦

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

We are truly in the golden age of self-learning physics. Curiosity + 10 seconds of any of of Bertolotti's digital Factlets = anabolic learning! #TeachPhysics ⚛️

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Reposted by Lightsmith

Jacopo Bertolotti @jacopobertolotti.com · 16/09/2024

#PhysicsFactlet If you put apertures of different shapes in the path of a plane wave, you get different diffraction patterns. And with a bit of experience you can say a lot about the aperture shape just by looking at the diffraction pattern. #Physics #Optics #Photonics #ITeachPhysics

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Any science professors in Sweden willing to answer a basic question about grad school letters of recommendation? Please message me! ⚛️🧪

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Nikolay Tumanov @ntumanovxray.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Bad. But how bad? I once asked myself, while finding fakes in the Scientific Report @natureportfolio.bsky.social. So I decide to "do my our research" - I took 100 articles in a row from Physical sciences that contains diffraction. Result - 15 fakes out 100. Details in the 🧵 #ResearchIntegrity 1/x

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Dan Schroeder @dvschroeder.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Please everyone, I beg you, abandon this talking point. In fact 100% of the energy we use ends up as waste heat—and that's fine! The problem with fossil fuels is not that in some esoteric sense they're supposedly less efficient. The problem is their emissions. 🔌💡

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

I've always liked @thecure.com , but they were never in my "top 5". But, boy, what an unexpected gift it was to get such a fantastic new album in 2024! I'm transported to my youth. I'm overcome by the scent of my first girlfriend's bedroom. I'm haunted by longing.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

One of the best physics stories of all time. I had not appreciated the distinction between manipulating the neutron reflector shell and the Demon Core itself! ⚛️

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Reposted by Lightsmith

Dgar @dgar.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Me: The earth isn't flat. Fiat earther: Correct. Me: Huh? Fiat earther: It's the shape of an italian car. Me: What? Fiat earther: You read my name wrong didn't you?

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Happy Wordle-in-1 for all who celebrate!

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Happy Hannukah from my non-kosher household to yours.

A porcelain Hannukah menorah with Jerusalem-art aesthetics adorned by five blue candles.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

They combined grape dimers with vacancy centres in diamonds. I can't believe they didn't title the paper "Champagne on Ice"...

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Reposted by Lightsmith

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Terrific illustration of Simpson’s paradox, a not uncommon stumbling block in data analysis, via @tah-sci.bsky.social In the whole dataset, the relationship between X and Y is negative, but the relationship between X and Y is actually positive, once proper subsets of the data are considered.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Trent University as Nordic Noir. Exam season has never been this foreboding. @trentuniversity.bsky.social

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 10/12/2024

This is so cool! God, I love biophotonics. I know how fun and rewarding it is to take this kind of project from WFT?! to "I wonder if" to "holy shit!". enjoy the ride @reallymccoy.bsky.social !

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

OK @jacopobertolotti.com , what DnD character am I based on this insanity? I hereby challenge any follower/mutual to show a more idiosyncratic spotify wrapped top 5.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

What kind of fresh hell is this? Dear Optics Express (@optica): I am not entirely confident that you understand the meaning of "final decision". To be fair, I'm also no longer sure that you know the meaning of "express". jkjk. Please don't Major Revisions this paper. We're sick of looking at it.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

A full-colour photograph of flocculated matter flowing down the Otonabee river that runs through Trent University. A fingerprint of a moment of time. A literal watermark.

a seemingly black and white high-contrast image reminiscent of wood grain.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 30/10/2023

The microwave oven isn't just for bad cooks! There are some great cooking hacks if you know the science! A minced clove of garlic in a quarter cup of oil, on high for 25 seconds, will yield aromatic garlic-infused oil without any browning or bitterness. 💡🧪 🧵 1/4

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 28/10/2023

So many misconceptions about putting metal in the microwave oven. Yes, you can leave the metal spoon in your tea/coffee/soup/stew. No, it won't spark or burn you! In fact, the metal won't absorb any microwaves. [Pic is before & after, 45s on high. Temp scale on right is useful.] #iteachphysics 💡🧪

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 28/10/2023

When you are wondering how long ago was the kettle boiled and whether you're going to need to fill it, but you're too lazy to get up... #physics #iteachphysics

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 21/10/2023

That's a huge birefringence. Wow.

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 09/10/2023

I am heartbroken by the horrific terrorist actions in Israel this weekend. I have family and friends there, but more so, I left I large piece of my heart there in the 1980s. 🇮🇱 חָזָק

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Lightsmith @slepkov.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Torn between a pic of food, nature, optics phenomenon, or dumb meme as my first bsky post. I guess optics art wins. Here's polarization-filtered colouration (polage) piece I call Night Flood.

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