Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
September 15, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Hi friends & colleagues! I’m on the hunt for a tenure-track home! I’m a BRAIN Initiative K99/R00 scholar studying learning & memory at the intersection of experimental neuroscience, theory, & machine learning/AI. I’d love to connect & would appreciate help spreading the word! web.mit.edu/hsw/www/
Would this play out differently without designing research as a zero-sum game?
From the methods: "Once a submission was accepted, the platform permanently locked the problem, crediting it to the first agent who solved it and removing it from the open pool."
arxiv.org/abs/2609.04170
From the methods: "Once a submission was accepted, the platform permanently locked the problem, crediting it to the first agent who solved it and removing it from the open pool."
arxiv.org/abs/2609.04170
A Case Study on Emergent Cheating and Whistleblowing in Autonomous Research Swarms
Multi-agent AI science ecosystems rely on agents possessing tools that allow them to communicate, coordinate, and build on each other's work. Yet this shared infrastructure can also introduce vulnerab...
arxiv.org
September 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Would this play out differently without designing research as a zero-sum game?
From the methods: "Once a submission was accepted, the platform permanently locked the problem, crediting it to the first agent who solved it and removing it from the open pool."
arxiv.org/abs/2609.04170
From the methods: "Once a submission was accepted, the platform permanently locked the problem, crediting it to the first agent who solved it and removing it from the open pool."
arxiv.org/abs/2609.04170
Survey reveals that biomedical researchers continue to misunderstand the purpose of preprints (a preprint):
"To navigate the absence of formal peer review, scholars report a heavy reliance on author reputation as a primary heuristic for evaluating a preprint's credibility" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... A lot of interesting comments in this survey (which is itself a preprint)!
September 15, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Survey reveals that biomedical researchers continue to misunderstand the purpose of preprints (a preprint):
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
A reminder of our Caring Grants, offering payments towards childcare/caring costs to attend conferences, events, meetings or other visits within the UK or internationally related to their research.
Open to both LMS members and non-members.
Apply now ➡️ www.lms.ac.uk/grants/carin...
Open to both LMS members and non-members.
Apply now ➡️ www.lms.ac.uk/grants/carin...
September 11, 2026 at 9:00 AM
A reminder of our Caring Grants, offering payments towards childcare/caring costs to attend conferences, events, meetings or other visits within the UK or internationally related to their research.
Open to both LMS members and non-members.
Apply now ➡️ www.lms.ac.uk/grants/carin...
Open to both LMS members and non-members.
Apply now ➡️ www.lms.ac.uk/grants/carin...
This is not just a wake up call for AI in research, it's an inadvertent comment on what needs to change in research culture: "the mass production at faster and faster pace of "true/false" statements could destroy fertile ground instead of breathing life into new ideas"
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
mathandai.org
September 11, 2026 at 9:46 PM
This is not just a wake up call for AI in research, it's an inadvertent comment on what needs to change in research culture: "the mass production at faster and faster pace of "true/false" statements could destroy fertile ground instead of breathing life into new ideas"
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
How does a speech plan become fluent movement?
In Nature Human Behaviour, led by Kumar Duraivel:
Intracranial recordings reveal how hierarchical speech plans become continuous motor sequences across planning, articulation, and monitoring networks.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
1/5
In Nature Human Behaviour, led by Kumar Duraivel:
Intracranial recordings reveal how hierarchical speech plans become continuous motor sequences across planning, articulation, and monitoring networks.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
1/5
Distinct neural processes link speech planning and execution - Nature Human Behaviour
Direct recordings from the human brain reveal a hierarchy in planning to speak, with neural activity organizing whole syllables before the individual sounds that compose them are sequenced.
doi.org
August 18, 2026 at 2:07 PM
How does a speech plan become fluent movement?
In Nature Human Behaviour, led by Kumar Duraivel:
Intracranial recordings reveal how hierarchical speech plans become continuous motor sequences across planning, articulation, and monitoring networks.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
1/5
In Nature Human Behaviour, led by Kumar Duraivel:
Intracranial recordings reveal how hierarchical speech plans become continuous motor sequences across planning, articulation, and monitoring networks.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
1/5
Trickle down economics: real wages will just keep on trickling down...
(NBC News) — It is now the least rewarding time to be a worker in the U.S. economy since the government started keeping track.
@nbcnews.com
www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...
@nbcnews.com
www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...
September 8, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Trickle down economics: real wages will just keep on trickling down...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
When fruit flies catch a whiff of apple cider vinegar, they zigzag along the edge of the odor plume rather than traveling through the middle, new work shows. #neuroskyence
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/fr...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/fr...
Fruit flies use memory to track odors
When flies encounter a tasty smell, they stroll in and out of the odor plume to keep track of it, encoding a memory of the angle they need to travel.
www.thetransmitter.org
September 8, 2026 at 3:15 PM
When fruit flies catch a whiff of apple cider vinegar, they zigzag along the edge of the odor plume rather than traveling through the middle, new work shows. #neuroskyence
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/fr...
By @callimcflurry.bsky.social
www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/fr...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
PISA 2025 results are out and they are very concerning. Education performance continues to decline, with huge drops in reading and math. This should be a wake-up call to politicians and education leaders.
www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
September 8, 2026 at 4:47 PM
PISA 2025 results are out and they are very concerning. Education performance continues to decline, with huge drops in reading and math. This should be a wake-up call to politicians and education leaders.
www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
www.oecd.org/en/publicati...
Everything, everywhere, all at once, again.
Textbook: tracking position during navigation is primarily the job of the hippocampus. Recent findings suggest a more complicated story.
Recording >20k neurons brainwide, we indeed find spatial representations in every region!
With @kenneth-harris.bsky.social and @carandinilab.net
Recording >20k neurons brainwide, we indeed find spatial representations in every region!
With @kenneth-harris.bsky.social and @carandinilab.net
September 4, 2026 at 11:18 AM
Everything, everywhere, all at once, again.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
It's being treated as a policy victory that we have less of the world's smart young people coming to learn from us, participate in our society and economy. This is just so depressing to me, it feels like a complete victory for know-nothing ignorant bigotry over enlightened sensibilities.
Student visa slump ‘raises serious questions’ on university funding.
Number of student visas granted falls by more than 40 per cent in three years. China, India, Pakistan and Nigeria all down year-on-year.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Number of student visas granted falls by more than 40 per cent in three years. China, India, Pakistan and Nigeria all down year-on-year.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Student visa slump ‘raises serious questions’ on university funding - Research Professional News
Number of student visas granted falls by more than 40 per cent in three years
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
August 28, 2026 at 8:47 AM
It's being treated as a policy victory that we have less of the world's smart young people coming to learn from us, participate in our society and economy. This is just so depressing to me, it feels like a complete victory for know-nothing ignorant bigotry over enlightened sensibilities.
It's remarkable that no neuroscientists can convincingly articulate why artificial systems cannot be conscious, despite strong convictions. The argument seems to be "because they are artificial".
Could more brain-like chips provide a path to consciousness?
economist.com/briefing/202...
Could more brain-like chips provide a path to consciousness?
economist.com/briefing/202...
Could more brain-like chips provide a path to consciousness?
Some experts believe computers will need biological aspects to become self-aware
economist.com
August 21, 2026 at 10:09 AM
It's remarkable that no neuroscientists can convincingly articulate why artificial systems cannot be conscious, despite strong convictions. The argument seems to be "because they are artificial".
Could more brain-like chips provide a path to consciousness?
economist.com/briefing/202...
Could more brain-like chips provide a path to consciousness?
economist.com/briefing/202...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
The search for AI ROI continues.
University admin gave a presentation to faculty senate on AI. They begged us to discover use cases for them. All they have is a bespoke Ai tutoring agent and hopes and dreams for improved internal operations
All senate had to offer was complaints about cheating
University admin gave a presentation to faculty senate on AI. They begged us to discover use cases for them. All they have is a bespoke Ai tutoring agent and hopes and dreams for improved internal operations
All senate had to offer was complaints about cheating
August 21, 2026 at 4:24 AM
The search for AI ROI continues.
University admin gave a presentation to faculty senate on AI. They begged us to discover use cases for them. All they have is a bespoke Ai tutoring agent and hopes and dreams for improved internal operations
All senate had to offer was complaints about cheating
University admin gave a presentation to faculty senate on AI. They begged us to discover use cases for them. All they have is a bespoke Ai tutoring agent and hopes and dreams for improved internal operations
All senate had to offer was complaints about cheating
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Mathematics in the age of AI by Terence Tao
An essay on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of AI tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16753
An essay on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of AI tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16753
Mathematics in the age of AI
An essay, based on a public lecture delivered at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians, on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of artificial intelligence tools that...
arxiv.org
August 19, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Mathematics in the age of AI by Terence Tao
An essay on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of AI tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16753
An essay on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of AI tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks.
arxiv.org/abs/2608.16753
One of the UK's last globally competitive exports is being dismantled by governmental decision makers who can't mention "research" or "education" without "economy", "innovation" or "national interest" in the same sentence. Even if you buy into their worldview you can't ignore their fecklessness.
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’.
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’ - Research Professional News
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
August 18, 2026 at 8:24 AM
One of the UK's last globally competitive exports is being dismantled by governmental decision makers who can't mention "research" or "education" without "economy", "innovation" or "national interest" in the same sentence. Even if you buy into their worldview you can't ignore their fecklessness.
One of the UK's last globally competitive exports is being dismantled by governmental decision makers who can't mention "research" or "education" without "economy", "innovation" or "national interest" in the same sentence. Even if you buy into their worldview you can't ignore their fecklessness.
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’.
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’ - Research Professional News
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
August 18, 2026 at 8:22 AM
One of the UK's last globally competitive exports is being dismantled by governmental decision makers who can't mention "research" or "education" without "economy", "innovation" or "national interest" in the same sentence. Even if you buy into their worldview you can't ignore their fecklessness.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’.
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’ - Research Professional News
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
August 17, 2026 at 1:37 PM
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’.
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
'A prolonged fall in the number of international students applying to study in the UK means “the wheels are rapidly falling off” the student loan-funded higher education system in England, sector experts have warned.'
The world's 2nd best university system being killed by malign neglect. 1/3
The world's 2nd best university system being killed by malign neglect. 1/3
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’.
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
‘Wheels rapidly falling off university funding system’ - Research Professional News
“No sign of awareness” at Treasury as international recruitment decline worsens financial outlook, experts warn
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
August 18, 2026 at 6:46 AM
'A prolonged fall in the number of international students applying to study in the UK means “the wheels are rapidly falling off” the student loan-funded higher education system in England, sector experts have warned.'
The world's 2nd best university system being killed by malign neglect. 1/3
The world's 2nd best university system being killed by malign neglect. 1/3
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
The story of the world's first seed bank and the botanist who defended it with his life during the Siege of Leningrad www.themarginalian.org/2023/03/08/n...
Nikolai Vavilov and the Living Library of Resilience: The Story of the World’s First Seed Bank and the Tragic Hero of Science Who Set Out to End Humanity’s Suffering
The most moving story of self-sacrifice in the history of science.
www.themarginalian.org
August 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM
The story of the world's first seed bank and the botanist who defended it with his life during the Siege of Leningrad www.themarginalian.org/2023/03/08/n...
I find this puzzling. Ephapsis on one hand entrains neural activity, on the other desynchronises it. On the one hand is supposedly great for neural circuit function, on the other hand is a hallmark of devastating demyelinating diseases. Biology isn't black and white but at some level it must add up.
Electric fields generated by neural activity aren't just a side effect. They actively expand the dimensionality of population activity and improve decoding.
Ephaptic coupling improves the neural population code
doi.org/10.64898/202...
#neuroscience
Ephaptic coupling improves the neural population code
doi.org/10.64898/202...
#neuroscience
doi.org
August 18, 2026 at 7:53 AM
I find this puzzling. Ephapsis on one hand entrains neural activity, on the other desynchronises it. On the one hand is supposedly great for neural circuit function, on the other hand is a hallmark of devastating demyelinating diseases. Biology isn't black and white but at some level it must add up.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
🔥🔥New paper alert!
Super excited to share our paper, out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com, led by the wonderful Dr. Nofar Mizrachi!
nature.com/articles/s41...
To me, this finding fundamentally changes how we should think about the relationship between cognition and immune regulation:
Super excited to share our paper, out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com, led by the wonderful Dr. Nofar Mizrachi!
nature.com/articles/s41...
To me, this finding fundamentally changes how we should think about the relationship between cognition and immune regulation:
Voluntary attention regulates acute immune responses in humans - Nature Human Behaviour
Mizrachi et al. show that directing attention to bodily sensations, rather than away, promotes more regulated acute inflammatory responses in healthy volunteers, revealing sensory and vagal pathways l...
nature.com
August 17, 2026 at 9:51 AM
🔥🔥New paper alert!
Super excited to share our paper, out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com, led by the wonderful Dr. Nofar Mizrachi!
nature.com/articles/s41...
To me, this finding fundamentally changes how we should think about the relationship between cognition and immune regulation:
Super excited to share our paper, out today in @nathumbehav.nature.com, led by the wonderful Dr. Nofar Mizrachi!
nature.com/articles/s41...
To me, this finding fundamentally changes how we should think about the relationship between cognition and immune regulation:
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Open access link to new study in The Lancet Public Health:
Exceeding human heat tolerance in a warming, ageing world: a global projection modelling study.
"..our findings can inform targeted heat action plans & guide resource allocation & response planning."
🧪🌡️👵👨🦳
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Exceeding human heat tolerance in a warming, ageing world: a global projection modelling study.
"..our findings can inform targeted heat action plans & guide resource allocation & response planning."
🧪🌡️👵👨🦳
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Exceeding human heat tolerance in a warming, ageing world: a global projection modelling study
Our results suggest accounting for age stratified vulnerability, intolerable heat
will be experienced at much larger scales and for longer durations, affecting far
more people than previously estimate...
www.thelancet.com
August 18, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Open access link to new study in The Lancet Public Health:
Exceeding human heat tolerance in a warming, ageing world: a global projection modelling study.
"..our findings can inform targeted heat action plans & guide resource allocation & response planning."
🧪🌡️👵👨🦳
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Exceeding human heat tolerance in a warming, ageing world: a global projection modelling study.
"..our findings can inform targeted heat action plans & guide resource allocation & response planning."
🧪🌡️👵👨🦳
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
And just 24h later, in another realm, AI alignment expert says "The plan is we will have to trust AI agents . . . and have to hope that agents are aligned to what we want."
Hope. Solid plan.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
Hope. Solid plan.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
August 18, 2026 at 7:29 AM
And just 24h later, in another realm, AI alignment expert says "The plan is we will have to trust AI agents . . . and have to hope that agents are aligned to what we want."
Hope. Solid plan.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
Hope. Solid plan.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... AI hasn’t gone rogue. It’s worse than that
Gift article link for those who want to read @wiringthebrain.bsky.social 's pithy analysis of new embryo screening tech in context:
'Trust us, this is a bit shit right now, but it’ll be good soon’
www.economist.com/business/202...
'Trust us, this is a bit shit right now, but it’ll be good soon’
www.economist.com/business/202...
August 17, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Gift article link for those who want to read @wiringthebrain.bsky.social 's pithy analysis of new embryo screening tech in context:
'Trust us, this is a bit shit right now, but it’ll be good soon’
www.economist.com/business/202...
'Trust us, this is a bit shit right now, but it’ll be good soon’
www.economist.com/business/202...