New work by Héloïse Athéa and Guillaume Montagnac on memory definitions and concepts. From their abstract (and relevant to me): --We argue that cellular memory is heuristically productive and can be understood as a “definition as a hypothesis.”--

Matthew Sims@philosobio.bsky.social · 4d ago

Interesting new paper on cellular memory - link.springer.com/article/10.1...

If anyone is interested in what data centers, this work provides first- and second-hand experiences of it, along with historical, social, and political context for the building of AI infrastructure:

jen liu@uilnej.bsky.social · 2d ago

In re: to recent news about the Meta data center, Sheila Tahir and I are sharing our zine, "Ghosts in the Cloud: A Southern Gothic Approach to Studying AI Infrastructure" based on a trip to the hypderscaler construction site in spring 2026.

The syllabus for my course Philosophy of Scientific Communication is now available here. Please share to anyone who might be interested in teaching a course like this (and kindly give me an acknowledgment if you use it): drive.google.com/file/d/1LDKY...

David Colaço@davidcolaco.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Several people seemed interested in my Philosophy of Scientific Communication course, so here is my schedule of readings. Thanks to everyone for their help; I hope to get to additional topics mentioned using these as the anchors:

My @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social colleauges have launched a new diamond open access journal, The Journal of Mathematical Philosophy: mathematicalphilosophy.org/mathphil/abo... If you have work in areas of mathematical philosophy (broadly understood), consider submitting:

I had a good time speaking as an MCMP fellow on metabolism, cognition, and computation. The Summer School Students have things to say about cognition, computation, and computationalism. #philsci, #cogsci, #philsky

Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy@lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · last wk.

We had a wonderful 2026 Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy at @lmu.de! Many thanks to the terrific participants from all over the world and to the fantastic lecturers Dunja Šešelja [Bochum], Xueyin (Snow) Zhang [Berkeley], and @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social [@tum.de]!

Philosophers of the PSA #philsci @philsci.bsky.social: 2 reminders of deadlines on August 1st from the PSA Outreach and Engagement Committee! PSA Outreach & Engagement Prize, and AAAS | SciLine Workshop!... 1/4

October 9th, I will give the closing lecture at the 3rd International Symposium on the Connection Between Physics and Metabolism in Brain Functions. It will take place in Barcelona. Registration is open. Junior scholars can apply for travel scholarships #philsci, #cogsci, #neuroskyence, #philsky

International Symposium on the Connection Between Physics and Metabolism in Brain Functions

Discover emerging research on quantum biology, mechanobiology and cognition through expert-led sessions connecting science, medicine and innovation.

formacion.sjdhospitalbarcelona.org

For those interested in memory transfer (the topic of my book): #16mmfilmography (avgeeks.bsky.social) hosts The Way Out Men, a documentary that features James V. McConnell studying his cannibal worms (featured at 9:45): 16mmfilmography.org/film/the-way... #hps #philsky

This Friday, I will be helping with the @lmu-mcmp.bsky.social Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy. I will speak on "Thinking about metabolism when modeling cognition":

More works coming out about the relation between brain energy efficiency and AI. @meganakpeters.bsky.social is also a contributor to quite a nice commentary for @phaueis.eurosky.social and my BBS target article on "Metabolic considerations for cognitive modeling".

megan peters 🧠@meganakpeters.bsky.social · 2w ago

I am *thrilled* to share this review in @currentbiology.bsky.social out today, by yours truly, @myoo.bsky.social, @michalk.bsky.social, Taro Toyoizumi, @tyrellturing.bsky.social, @taylorwwebb.bsky.social, & @hakwan.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧵👇

Congratulations to my LMU Munich colleague Alyssa Ney on her ERC Advanced Grant for MetaQ: The Nature of Reality According to Quantum Physics. A wonderful and well-deserved achievement. Looking forward to seeing the results of this exciting project! #ERC #LMU #QuantumPhysics

I am organizing a symposium accepted for #PSA26 titled: A "metabolic turn" in studying cognition and computation With: @khoudary.bsky.social @jtheriault.bsky.social Mazviita Chirimuuta Myself (presenting work with @phaueis.bsky.social) #philsci, #cogsci, #philsky See yinz in San Diego

My keynote from #IPM5, on "Conflict over and resistance to how we conceptualize memory." Taken by @sarahrobins.bsky.social

For @gershbrain.bsky.social, if you don't have it already: (I can provide more context if need be)

www.quantamagazine.org/are-memories... Next week, I will speak on some of this history at IPM5. It is weirder than you likely could imagine.

Are Memories Transferable — or Edible? | Quanta Magazine

In the 1960s, worm-training experiments and their strange implications captivated the nation. Columnist Claire L. Evans follows the neuroscientists who attempted to recapture the magic.

quantamagazine.org

Tomorrow, I give a talk on "Metabolism and the Medium of Cognition" at this event: This is work with @phaueis.bsky.social #philsci, #cogsci, #neuroskyence, #philsky www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-...

To promote my work on the Problem of Explaining Shifting Targets (PEST), I have written a post for the New Work in Philosophy Substack. I talk about turmeric. Check it out here: #philsci #philsky

"The problem of explaining shifting targets" - David Colaço (LMU Munich)

European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2026

newworkinphilosophy.substack.com

The IPM 5 program is available to view! We're very excited for the fantastic conference that @sarahrobins.bsky.social has put together and looking forward to everyone's talks at Purdue in just a couple of weeks! www.phomo.org/event-detail...

Issues in Philosophy of Memory 5 | The Philosophy of Memory Organization

Explore how memory shapes identity

phomo.org

I will give a talk at "Beyond Neuro-computationalism: the philosophy and science of biological brains." My talk is titled "Metabolism and the Medium of Cognition" More information and registration information in the repost. Consider attending:

Marco Facchin@marcofacchin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Registrations are still open for our Beyond Neuro-compuationalism workshop in Antwerp (4/5 of June). You can check our stellar line-up of speaker and register here www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-... #philmind #philsci #philsky #philpsy #neurosky #neuroskyence

IPM5 is coming up soon, and here is a Memory Palace post about it. The program is now available through the post. My keynote talk is titled: "Conflict Over and Resistance to How We Conceptualize Memory."

The Memory Palace@philmemopalace.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Today at the Memory Palace: a preview of the 5th biennial Issues in Philosophy of Memory (IPM5) meeting - at Purdue next month! #philmemory #philsky open.substack.com/pub/thememor...

This event starts tomorrow. I speak on Wednesday. The event can be attended virtually: contact the organizers for more details: phil-mem.org/events/2026-...

David Colaço@davidcolaco.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I will speak at "Atypical Cases of Memory: From Minimal Agents to Human Development" May 13th. My talk is titled: "What type of memory should concern us? Assessing the viability of taxonomic retreat"

I had a great time presenting my work on comparing biological and artificial cognitive systems at the PAIR (Philosophy and AI Research) at FAU Erlangen Nürnberg today! Based on the joint BBS target article with @davidcolaco.bsky.social, I ask (1/2)

I have put in my proofs for my chapter in "Scientific Mistakes and Mistaken Science: Malfunction, Error, Failure," which is due out later this year. My contribution is titled: "Detecting phenomena in datasets: Is the rest noise?"

Scientific Mistakes and Mistaken Science

This book shows that the understanding of science is somewhat biased, and error, failure and mistake play a more substantial role than usually conceived

link.springer.com

I will speak at "Atypical Cases of Memory: From Minimal Agents to Human Development" May 13th. My talk is titled: "What type of memory should concern us? Assessing the viability of taxonomic retreat"

New paper in Philosophical Studies (with @stephanhartmann.bsky.social): We answer recent critiques of probabilistic measures with a coherence-based approach: explanatory power = how well the explanatory package coheres with the explanandum vs its negation. doi.org/10.1007/s110...

Coherence-based measures of explanatory power - Philosophical Studies

Philosophical Studies - Recent critiques have cast doubt on the viability of probabilistic measures of explanatory power. We respond by developing a coherence-based family of measures that...

doi.org

New work w/ Zach Kelso and @madeleinecsnyder.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Our negative results on classical conditioning in planarian flatworms. This was surprising, given the long history of work (including sensational findings of memory transfer and retention through decapitation).

Several people seemed interested in my Philosophy of Scientific Communication course, so here is my schedule of readings. Thanks to everyone for their help; I hope to get to additional topics mentioned using these as the anchors:

What are we explaining, and is it what we are trying to explain? (Available open access)

Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy@lmu-mcmp.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Newly published: "The problem of explaining shifting targets", by David Colaço, European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2026, link.springer.com/article/10.1...

🔥 This wonderful workshop on Scientific Progress via Model Transfer perfectly organized by Karim Baraghith and our own Edoardo Peruzzi started. 2 days of talks and posters that discuss the case of cultural evolution as a case of model transfer. But is it also progressive? @modeltransfer.bsky.social

Sometimes we try to explain one thing but end up explaining something else. In this paper, I address when this is a problem, which I call the “Problem of Explaining Shifting Targets” (PEST). #philsci #cogsky (Available open access)

The problem of explaining shifting targets - European Journal for Philosophy of Science

European Journal for Philosophy of Science - Sometimes we try to explain one thing but end up explaining something else. In this paper, I address when this is a problem, which I call the...

link.springer.com