Tootfinder

I've noticed more Russian propaganda bots that just appear and get reported and banned within a few hours. The accounts tend to be around for a few days. They often have super obvious AI generated avatars, no posts of their own, and copy and paste replies with little to no actual content. The propaganda doesn't even seem like it's trying. Just the same painfully obviously false stuff about #Ukraine.
Meanwhile, LLMs exist that can make those types of attacks far more subtle. Has anyone seen an analysis of Russian bot behavior over time? It seems like they're getting worse, but it's hard to know if there isn't something else going on.
From my perspective, it just kind of looks like the whole machine is falling apart. It's really pathetic to see how even Russian propaganda, which is like... their main thing, seems to have collapsed. They used to try, now it seems like even the troll farms are phoning it in. At some point you gotta wonder how long Putin has left before he gets the Gaddafi treatment.

Magnetic force microscopy versus scanning quantum-vortex microscopy: Probing pinning landscape in granular niobium films
A. Yu. Aladyshkin, R. A. Hovhannisyan, S. Yu. Grebenchuk, S. A. Larionov, A. G. Shishkin, O. V. Skryabina, A. V. Samokhvalov, A. S. Mel'nikov, D. Roditchev, V. S. Stolyarov
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.05172…

Magnetic force microscopy versus scanning quantum-vortex microscopy: Probing pinning landscape in granular niobium films
We provide an overview of the methodology and fundamental principles associated with newly developed experimental technique -- scanning quantum-vortex microscopy [Hovhannisyan et al., Commun. Mater., vol. 6, 42 (2025)]. This approach appears promising for experimental studies of vortex pinning phenomena in superconducting films and nanodevices. In particular, we studied the magnetic properties of magnetron-sputtered niobium (Nb) films by low-temperature magnetic force microscopy. As the tempera…

#WaterfallWednesday, pretty much a year ago...
(Coincidentally there on the same day as @…... but didn't know)
#LandscapePhotography

I rarely leave my neighborhood these days, so when the opportunity came last weekend to visit a town about 80 km from my home, I took a little detour to visit and take photos of the town’s only national historical marker.
(Those who have been following me long enough know that documenting historical markers in #Wikidata and

Landing at Nasugbu historical marker
NHI historical marker for the landing of the American forces at Nasugbu during World War II

Trade-Offs in EuBa2Cu3Oy Films containing Artificial Pinning Centers: Higher Critical Currents yet Faster Vortex Creep
Jiangteng Liu, Masashi Miura, Daisaku Yokoe, Takeharu Kato, Akira Ibi, Teruo Izumi, Serena Eley
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.01119

Trade-Offs in EuBa2Cu3Oy Films containing Artificial Pinning Centers: Higher Critical Currents yet Faster Vortex Creep
The electromagnetic properties of type-II superconductors depend on vortices-magnetic flux lines whose motion introduces dissipation that can be mitigated by pinning from material defects. The material disorder landscape is tuned by the choice of materials growth technique and incorporation of impurities that serve as vortex pinning centers. For example, metal organic deposition (MOD) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) produce high-quality superconducting films with uncorrelated versus correlate…

Exploring Weak Turbulence of Phonon and Magnon Beams in Magneto-Acoustic Ultrathin Films
Vladimir L. Safonov, Derek A. Bas, Andrew Franson, Piyush J. Shah, Michael E. McConney, Michael Newburger, Michael R. Page
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.01903

Exploring Weak Turbulence of Phonon and Magnon Beams in Magneto-Acoustic Ultrathin Films
This study presents a simple theoretical model describing narrow envelope surface acoustic waves (phonons) and spin waves (magnons) in an ultrathin ferromagnetic film. Based on the general principles of weak wave turbulence, the model considers interactions between beams of an ideal phonon gas and a weakly non-ideal magnon gas, which represent magnetoacoustic oscillations in the system. Equations for the wave envelopes of phonons and magnons, along with their harmonics, are derived, i…

Atomic-scale mapping of interfacial phonon modes in epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-{\delta} / (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 thin films: The role of surface phonons
Joaquin E. Reyes Gonzalez, Charles Zhang, Rainni K. Chen, John Y. T. Wei, Maureen J. Lagos
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02237

Atomic-scale mapping of interfacial phonon modes in epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-δ / (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 thin films: The role of surface phonons
We investigate the behavior of phonons at the epitaxial interface between YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film and (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3 substrate using vibrational electron energy loss spectroscopy. Interfacial phonon modes with different degrees of scattering localization were identified. We find evidence that surface contributions from the surrounding environment can impose additional scattering modulation into local EELS measurements at the interface. A method to remove those contributions is then used to iso…

Vortex Pinning in Niobium covered by a thin polycrystalline Gold
Wenbin Li, Ivan Villani, Ylea Vlamidis, Matteo Carrega, Letizia Ferbel, Leonardo Sabattini, Antonio Rossi, Wen Si, Stefano Veronesi, Camilla Coletti, Sergio Pezzini, Masahiro Haze, Yukio Hasegawa, Stefan Heun
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.22515

Vortex Pinning in Niobium covered by a thin polycrystalline Gold
Owing to its superconducting properties, Niobium (Nb) is an excellent candidate material for superconducting electronics and applications in quantum technology. Here we perform scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy experiments on Nb films covered by a thin gold (Au) film. We investigate the minigap structure of the proximitized region and provide evidence for a highly transparent interface between Nb and Au, beneficial for device applications. Imaging of Abrikosov vortices in presence …