Scott Trager

😱

Quarter of UK university physics departments at risk of closing, survey finds Four out of five making staff cuts as physicists say findings are ‘great concern’ for UK’s leadership in important areas

“In an anonymous survey of (UK Physics) department heads by the Institute of Physics (IoP), 26% said they faced potential closure of their department within the next two years, while 60% said they expected courses to be reduced.”
www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed thr...

"Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning."
arxiv.org/abs/2506.08872

I can save you the effort.

Clippy Plagiarism Thirstwater does not suffer.

To suffer, you have to be alive, and it's not fucking alive, you daft motherfuckers.

If you're so concerned about the suffering of sentients, there's plenty of that going around that you can pour billions into alleviating.

This is the best product listing copy I’ve ever read

Former Mastodon Guitarist Brent Hinds Has Died Brent Hinds, former guitarist of Atlanta metal band Mastodon has died, aged 51. In a statement, Mastodon said: “We are in a state of unfathomable sadness and grief… last night Brent Hinds passed away ...

Brent Hinds, former guitarist and co-founder of Mastodon, has died

thequietus.com/news/brent-h...

Oh geez. Much too young. Leviathan and Blood Mountain are all-timers. RIP.

this is literally Lex Luthor shit

Apropos of several recent logo reveals. H/t @kmci.bsky.social

The Arsenal rescuing England

Ozzy Osbourne Farewell Show Was The Highest-Grossing Charity Concert Of All Time On July 5, Ozzy Osbourne put on a farewell concert, performing as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath for the last time in the band’s hometown of Birmingham, UK. Billed as the “Back To The Beginning”...

Ozzy going out after raising $190 million for sick kids and a Parkinson’s cure is metal AF.

Ozzy Osbourne visited my magic shop. He said he'd like to buy some stink bombs. How many? All of them. I had to go through drawers finding every last one. He bought 900 of them. To sign the credit card slip I handed him a shock pen, which he thought was hilarious and bought that too. RIP

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and icon of British heavy metal, dies aged 76 The singer, who later became famous on reality TV show The Osbournes, dies less than three weeks after retirement concert

The voice of my entire lifetime, or at least since I was 13.

RIP Ozzy. You deserve it.

www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

In memoriam Jaap Vreeling (1956-2025)

In memoriam Jaap Vreeling (1956-2025)

🔭

Dutch:
www.astronomie.nl/nieuws/in-me...

English:
www.astronomie.nl/nieuws/en/in...

Fucking THANK YOU.

Like, for real, I need a lot of you to dispense with the fantasies of objective, impartial tech. You are watching the intended purpose of this shit on display as we speak as Grok is hammered into compliance behind the scenes.

(It’s because we’re going back to Orkney this summer and I want to have better pictures of the puffins this year!)

I appear to have reached that “certain age” where I’m looking for telephoto lenses for my DSLR camera for birdwatching. How did it come to this?

The Wirecutter Is Wrong About The Best Plain Potato Chip - Aftermath The Wirecutter has selected the Amazon Fresh brand as their winner for the Best Plain Potato Chip. This is spiritually wrong.

The Wirecutter “recommending the Amazon Fresh Classic Potato Chips as the best plain potato chip fundamentally misunderstands the spiritual and practical place of the potato chip.”

The Wirecutter Is Wrong About The Best Plain Potato Chip - aftermath.site/the-best-pla...

CCA Pre-Doc Program Stage 1 Applications (2025)

Applications are open for our visiting grad student program (pre-doc program) at the CCA @flatironinstitute.org!

Reach out if you're a student interested in:
- Preparing for Gaia DR4
- Stellar streams
- Data-driven methods for spectroscopy
(and want to apply!)

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
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Googling for “bees in my computer”. Google AI Overview: “Bees can be present in desktop computers built after the l mid-2000s, but only at a microscopic level. These bees are a special breed of Apis Arithmeticam that perform basic computations in the CPU.”

trillion dollar industry that will revolutionize everything

i’m in a fancy hotel in DC with no power or hot water and i gotta say, feels like a heavy handed metaphor

YouTube video by acdcVEVO AC/DC - Riff Raff (Official HD Video)

Happy Bon Scott (death) day, everyone! Enjoy one of the greatest rock songs of all time: youtu.be/ErXbMB9R5-0?...

ATTENTION BAJORAN WORKERS
#STARTREK #SISKO197

Apple’s new sci-fi series “Murderbot” to make global debut May 16, 2025 Today, Apple TV+ unveiled a first look at “Murderbot,” created by Chris and Paul Weitz and starring Alexander Skarsgård

I have been so excited since I found out this would be announced today! RIP any ability for me to concentrate: www.apple.com/tv-pr/news/2...

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

as tears go by 💙peace to Marianne Faithfull

Unrelated to this specific story exactly but - CAN WE CALL IT A NAZI SALUTE BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT IS.

I've seen this "Elon Musk Salute" repeatedly and - No. Absolutely not. Nazis. Fascists. Racists. Hatemongers. We have words. We need to use them.

NP: She Moved Through the Fair (live)

Marianne Faithfull, singular icon of British pop, dies aged 78 Singer and actor overcame drug addiction and homelessness to collaborate with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Metallica to Jean-Luc Godard

RIP, oh you of magnificent voice and talent.

www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

😮 About time.

youtu.be/oGN3R49-CAE?...