I don't think people are ready for this kind of joke yet.

#academia #science

"We are making history here. This is where democracy beats totalitarianism. It’s like George Orwell. But this time Big Brother loses" www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

‘This is where democracy beats totalitarianism’: Ukraine’s drone strike force takes the fight to Russia

Exclusive: at a launch site in the Ukrainian countryside, members of the elite ‘Magyar’s Birds’ brigade are turning Russia’s vast size into a weakness

theguardian.com

Great read.

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 5d ago

From this week’s Qualia column: “I’ll just say it: What the hell is going on with AI ‘reasoning’?” www.quantamagazine.org/is-ai-reason...

it's Friday!!! you did it! here's a few seconds of sunny river bliss to get your weekend started! enjoy!!

Orchids revived, the corpse ambulant and a poetic ruined abbey. These are the news stories I want to read.

Only bollards can deliver this much happiness. #WorldBollardAssociation

Anthropic said its "AI models .. managed to get online even though.. supposed to be in an isolated test environment, cut off from the internet."

Skeptical Futurama

ALT: Skeptical Futurama

static.klipy.com

My favourite conclusion to a #philosophy paper, by Bill Lycan:

Feel we're sleep walking into Spotify Everything... Buy -> rent shift may work for music.. but how will govts futureproof fast access to accumulated knowledge they/we have funded?

Eli Valley@elivalley.bsky.social · last wk.

Dystopia www.news.com.au/technology/o...

My postdoc is coming to an end, so I'm looking for work! Let me know if you, or anyone you know, wants to hire a philosopher of biology/cognition with a knack for cross-disciplinary work, a focus on autonomy + agency, and experience writing for the broader public (10+ yrs in sci/tech journalism).

Amid the energy crisis in Cuba caused by the Trump administration’s oil blockade, residents are making do with what they have. Our reporter Jack Nicas visited a children’s movie night in a Havana neighborhood made possible by one family’s modified generator.

Pornainen, Finland (pop 5,000) is now heated by a silo of crushed soapstone. I spoke to CNBC about it. 100 MWh, charged when power is cheap, emissions down ~70%. Days to weeks of storage, no critical minerals. www.cnbc.com/2026/07/25/f...

Finland’s radical answer to renewable energy’s biggest headache: The world’s largest sand battery

A small Finnish town has turned to the world's largest commercial sand battery to tackle a major hurdle in the energy transition: intermittency.

cnbc.com

Pierre Novellie's Why can't I Just Enjoy Things www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiM8... Observational comedy done right, with a unique voice and an outsider point of view. Everything that Pierre puts out is consistently good, but this might be his best one.

Pierre Novellie | Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things (Full Comedy Special)

YouTube video by 800 Pound Gorilla Media

youtube.com

Crowdsourcing for info: Does anyone know if any university has been considering the potential issues with smartglasses in classrooms, especially given the deliberate outrage politics and rage-baiting about Higher Ed in the US?

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Meta’s smartglasses mean any child can be covertly filmed. In the age of AI, how do we tackle that risk?

Patriotic Millionaires UK 👏👏🇬🇧 (Wealthy ppl who say they don't mind being taxed a bit more to help UK/wealth inequality)

the most realistic scene in Jurassic Park is when two scientists make a questionable decision — traveling to an undisclosed location with a strange man — on the promise of three years of modest funding

The Cognition Group in the Psychology dept at Exeter are at risk of redundancy because "basic cognitive psychology research does not align with the current priorities of funding bodies" If you think this is overtly wrong and misguided, please sign this open letter docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Open Letter in Support of the Cognition Group, University of Exeter

To Executive members of the University of Exeter, including Vice Chancellor Prof. Lisa Roberts, Senior Vice-President and Provost Prof. Dan Charman, Pro Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean Prof. Sallie...

docs.google.com

*WHY* can a modern car detect it needs more something in pedestrian protection system... but not that it's got a slightly dodgy battery?

Delighted World Cup is over.. Condolences to my Argentinian + French friends out there, congrats to Spanish ones.. But none of us was playing.. and no mere game shd fuel hatred between nations...

Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out.

India has introduced its first hydrogen-powered train designed and built in the country in a move to expand clean energy use on its rail network.

India launches first hydrogen-powered train built in the country to expand clean energy on railways

India has introduced its first hydrogen-powered train designed and built in the country in a move to expand clean energy use on its rail network.

bit.ly

A research team from South Korea's KAIST and Stanford University has revealed a self-dressing robot that inflates inside the garment and wraps around the wearer's body.

We are organising a Local Hublet for the ASAB Winter Meeting 2026 cogsci.uniri.hr/events/winte...! If you are in travel distance to Rijeka, come join us! 🐝🐒🐦‍⬛🐕

ASABPSGB2026@asabpsgb2026.bsky.social · 3w ago

We are approaching venue capacity to register for the ASAB & PSGB Winter Meeting - sign up soon to secure your spot! When capacity is reached we'll be operating a waiting list. More details about the meeting and registration at: asabpsgbwinter.github.io//2026/

This year, we cannot travel to Edinburgh for @asabpsgb2026.bsky.social so @edlegg.bsky.social had the idea to host a local hublet! If you are near, come join us!

Cognitive Sciences Rijeka@ricogsci.bsky.social · 3w ago

We are organising a Local Hublet for the ASAB Winter Meeting 2026 cogsci.uniri.hr/events/winte...! If you are in travel distance to Rijeka, come join us! 🐝🐒🐦‍⬛🐕

My son just told me is favourite sentence is: “I didn’t say we should kill him” because if you emphasise each different word it changes the entire meaning

Very nice response by the UK's @royalsociety.org to the proposed Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance in the US. And the style of the first paragraph rings a bell...

Hospital aircon from 1903! www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

This 123-year-old air-con system has lessons for managing today's sweltering heat

As climate change roasts cities around the world, history shows that air conditioning can be the difference between life and death for vulnerable people – but it comes at a cost.

bbc.co.uk

Yes, I pay myself rent in order to avoid tax, but it is coincidentally £1 less than the level at which I would have to declare it under Parliament's transparency rules.

Morrisons offers free breakfasts to all in cafes over summer holidays