my hopes for gen z taking over the academic review process is that it will be matched for harshness, but at least more efficient

Excerpt from a video I just posted on YouTube (about the multilayer perception layers in a transformer, and how LLMs may store facts).

Good write up on embryo models nature. IMO most important quote regarding why we r discussing this is by Fredrik Lanner : [" If the models aren’t good, then they’re not useful, he says. It’s “really critical now for us to not waste time on bad models." nature.com/articles/d4158…

An amazing piece of reporting and a chilling insight into the secret world of power: theguardian.com/news/2024/sep/…

A cheap diabetes drug slows aging in male monkeys and is particularly effective at delaying the effects of aging on the brain. This study suggests that, although dying is inevitable, “ageing, the way we know it, is not”, says Nir Barzilai. For nature nature.com/articles/d4158…

I'm surprised at this. I've not changed the way I use preprints myself, and am not aware of colleagues who have... arxiv.org/abs/2409.08473

"It is not the case that “AI gathers data from the Web and learns from it.” The reality is that AI companies gather data and then optimize models to reproduce representations of that data for profit." techpolicy.press/challenging-th… Long, v. worthwhile read from Eryk Salvaggio.

Five years in prison for talking to a reporter on camera in the street - this is your answer why opinion polls in Russia should be taken with a massive pinch of salt these days:

"Doctors cured her sickle-cell disease. So why is she still in pain?" nature.com/articles/d4158… sad to learn that a cure to sickle cell disease is not a cure for the pain caused by the ravages of sickle cell disease (but also not surprised). We need to keep up the emphasis on

The opacity of academic prose arises from the epistemological imperative to operationalize disciplinary jargon, facilitating intra-specialized discourse while obfuscating heterogenous interpretive accessibility and perpetuating a recursive dialectic of erudition and exclusion.

Can Britain’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency — ARIA — create revolutionary innovations? go.nature.com/47y5jhJ

LinkedIn is now using everyone's content to train their AI tool -- they just auto opted everyone in. I recommend opting out now (AND that orgs put an end to auto opt-in, it's not cool) Opt out steps: Settings and Privacy > Data Privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement (OFF)

CERN prepares to expel Russian scientists — but won’t completely cut ties go.nature.com/3ZtdFVA

The big problem: civilisation as we know it depends on digging up fossil fuel and burning it, which is destabilising the climate which multiplies many major threats. My problem for today: dataset says Turkey in some places, Türkiye in others, and once, for variety, Tukey.

"Obesity-drug pioneers win prestigious #LaskerAward for medical science". nature Lotte Bjerre Knudsen Novo Nordisk Rockefeller University Harvard Medical School MassGeneral News #Lasker2024 nature.com/articles/d4158…

Everyone who studies misconduct agrees that management-by-metrics is an underlying driver. Question is: why do administrators not see it? Too hard to imagine alternatives?

Richard Van Noorden My impression is imagining alternatives isn't the issue. It's scaling them. Metrics appeal because they are easy, cheap, and don't involve that most precious of academic commodities: time.

90% of party conference invites…

Richard Van Noorden When China issued rules of not using "metrics" for evaluation, the strongest objection came from junior researchers. Without metrics, those from non-big name groups will have little chance to move up. Many of you who go to China often understand what "Guanxi" means (relationship)

Job opportunity: Locum features editor role (6-9 mo, maternity leave cover) at Nature - London, DC or New York. springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNature…