Nidhi Seethapathi

Slide from Tenenbaum talk

Cogsci and AI: two different approaches as articulated by Josh Tenenbaum #cogsci2025

UK cancer survival rate doubles since 1970s amid ‘golden age’, report says Half of those diagnosed will now survive for 10 years or more after advances in diagnosis and treatment

This is what the science machine does. No massive breakthrough. No single cure. Just lots and lots of cumulative knowledge that makes things better…

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Totally agree. Also, a key issue with the bitter lesson is it is by design winner-takes-all which is morally misaligned with the scientific enterprise to me. Great science happens cumulatively and in many corners.

Ugh… there’s also what I call messianic AI, the fantasy that AI will “solve” science. Treating science like a vending machine for solitons/profit & scientists as human cogs replaceable by machinery. But Science is a living culture of critical discussion, mentorship, shared community values &methods.

100%!
Universities and scientists should not cave, THE PUBLIC IS WITH US!
We much FIGHT BACK against efforts to demolish US universities and US science, two things that actually make America great.

DW25 Abstract Submission The conference will take place in Aachen, Germany (on the border with the Netherlands) from July 14 to 17, 2025. We’ll be based in one location, with easy access to three different countries! Contact:...

📢📢 Abstract submission extended 📢📢
The new deadline for your abstract submission is the 30th of April ‼️
All you need to do is submit your 1-minute video on what you'd talk about using this link: forms.gle/rk9GGtwDCPtN...

Dynamic Walking 2025 is in Aachen, Germany on the 14th - 17th of July.

🦿🦵

DW25 Abstract Submission The conference will take place in Aachen, Germany (on the border with the Netherlands) from July 14 to 17, 2025. We’ll be based in one location, with easy access to three different countries! Contact:...

It's what you've all been waiting and hoping for; the deets on Dynamic Walking 2025! 🚶🎉

The when: July 14th - 17th
The Where: Aachen (Germany, but bordering the Netherlands)
The submission process: dynamicwalking2025.org
The deadline: April 25th

🚶‍♀️Hope to see you soon <3 🚶

Woohoo! I've been waiting and hoping for this, indeed ;)

Only two weeks left to submit your video abstract for Dynamic Walking!🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️

Are you planning something creative for your video?

How likely do you think it is that someone will use the medium of interpretive dance? 💃🕺

Submission portal and details: dynamicwalking2025.org

YouTube video by Andrew Pruszynski Anila D'Mello (UT - Southwestern)

Check out the latest Superlab guest speaker. We were lucky to host @aniladmello.bsky.social who gave a fascinating presentation about the cerebellum and its relationship to autism. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzOe...

We are recruiting trainees for the Integrative Movement Sciences Summer Institute. Students will gain research experience in dynamic muscular control of movement across organizational scales from molecular mechanisms to whole-body movement in complex environments.

Learn more: tinyurl.com/5n7w6pey

my inbox tryin' to balance the calm and the crazy

Neuroethology ftw!

Massachusetts Institute of Technology to waive tuition for families making less than $200K MIT tuition was $57,986 for the 2022-2023 school year, which is higher than the average for four-year private institutions in the U.S.

Very proud of MIT for waiving tuition for any student from a family making less than $200K.
abcnews.go.com/US/massachus...

Announcing a new week-long program for young computational neuroscience/ behavior professors to talk about rigorous science, mentoring, lab management, and networking in a stunning retreat setting. Do great science as a community and have fun doing so.

JEB launches a new article type for theory and modelling studies JEB recently launched a new article type called Theory & Modelling. With this new article type, we address the need across the fields of comparative physiology and biomechanics to publish research tha...

I've noticed that journals hold theory papers to experiment-centric standards, stifling idea generation.

JEB has launched an article type for theory+modeling that will address this. A bold move and sign of thoughtful leadership -- will other journals follow?
journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

Hello to all the new Bluesky-ers!

I’m a postdoc at Harvard working to improve neural interfaces using implantable devices and neurosurgical reconstruction. I wrapped up my PhD in Robotics earlier this year, where I worked on augmenting human locomotor balance using intelligent wearable robots.

Finding Balance Outside the Box: Neuromechanics of Skilled and Impaired Movements <p>Just as the unique experiences of each individual shape the way they move, this session will recount how interdisciplinary training in biomechanics, neurophysiology, and engineering, coupled with d...

I’m giving a career talk for SfN Online this afternoon at 1pm EST. Free for members or $15. neuronline.sfn.org/scientific-r...

whoops, not sure how that happened. Here you go:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

me too please :)

Persian/islamic scientists & philosophers that I grew up reading about made their breakthroughs while searching in the space between math, alchemy, poetry, philosophy, medicine. Newton mostly worked on esoteric knowledge & collected crystals. To turn the ship around, we need paradigm shifts.

Some thoughts on the value of exploratory studies in movement science. A thread.

tl;dr Most studies in our field are exploratory, not confirmatory, and that’s okay. However, we could all benefit from rethinking how we do, report, and interpret this exploratory work.

First author Antoine De Comite and I benefited greatly from open data for this cross-species investigation, and we hope this work inspires further integration between animal, human, and robot locomotor control 🙂

We discover that an animal’s control strategy is shaped by its embodiment. E.g. for more inherently stable body mechanics (more legs, say) errors are corrected over multiple steps, with less aggressive control on each step. [see Fig 4, 5 for details] (5/6)

While movement speed is thought to determine locomotor patterns in animals (à la CPGs) our findings reveal that a significant portion of the pattern’s variability is explained by past errors in the body’s state → the essence of foot placement control. (4/6)

But, do other animals use this control strategy?

Finding shared control strategies across species could help transfer biological insights into stable walking from animals to humans + robots. We find that flies, mice, and humans all do foot placement control during walking (3/6)

What is foot placement control?
Simply put, it is the act of correcting recent errors by modifying how you step while in motion. This dynamic strategy has enjoyed real-world success in controlling legged robots e.g. in Boston Dynamics. Humans use it too! (2/6)

How do animals walk stably in the presence of intrinsic noise or external perturbations?
biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We lack a unified answer to this question across species. In this preprint, we find that legged species use a shared strategy for stable locomotion: foot placement control! (1/6)

Stunningly clear talk, watched it live -- thank you for this!!