Tootfinder

In the 1950s, the Air Force realized that planes were crashing because cockpits didn’t actually fit the pilots’ bodies. Wrong size = danger!! They commissioned a researcher to develop a new, more correct set of standard dimensions for the seat, yoke, etc.
That researcher, Gilbert S. Daniels, came up with 10 body measurements that matter to cockpit size. He gathered measurements of several thousand pilots. And the number of people who were at the average for all ten measurements? Zero. Not a single one.
“Average” proved to be a statistical construct, not a thing that actually exists as a person.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/on-average/
3/

OpenAI plans "an autonomous AI research intern" by September and says its "North Star" is to build a fully automated multi-agent research system by 2028 (Will Douglas Heaven/MIT Technology Review)
https://www.technologyreview…

OpenAI is throwing everything into building a fully automated researcher
An exclusive conversation with OpenAI’s chief scientist, Jakub Pachocki, about his firm's new grand challenge and the future of AI.

"Talking to faculty about AI assistants in academic databases" https://liaisonlife.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/talking-to-faculty-about-ai-assistants-in-academic-databases/

"the products state that they contain manuka honey in its pure form. Sugar, in other words. Some of these toothpastes are also fluoride-free. They are often marketed towards people who are sceptical of fluoride."
https://www.

Experts warn that honey in toothpaste may harm your dental health
Honey has no place in a toothpaste, says professor emerita Elin Giertsen. She is concerned, and so are Norwegian authorities and dentists.

The number of publications is an often used KPI in researcher assessment for promotions, hiring, academic prizes or more. Yet does the quantity tell a relevant story of the quality or impact of our research? I don’t think so.
I'd argue that we should stop celebrating researchers with overly many publications each year.

AI coding platform's flaws allow BBC reporter to be hacked - Major 'vibe-coding' platform Orchids is easily hacked, researcher finds
The BBC has been shown a significant - and unfixed - cyber-security risk in a popular AI coding platform. Orchids is a so-called "vibe-coding" tool, meaning people without technical skills can use it to build apps and games by typing a text prompt into a chatbot.
🤷

Major 'vibe-coding' platform Orchids is easily hacked, researcher finds
Vibe-coding tools - which let people without coding skills create apps using AI - are exploding in popularity.

Bugs were supposed to be the future of food. Now, the insect farming industry is collapsing.

“We have to get used to the idea of eating insects.”
This proclamation came from, of all people, an insect researcher. Dutch entomologist Marcel Dicke pitched eating bugs in his 2010 TED talk as critical to sustainably feeding a growing human population, because insects have a much smaller carbon footprint than beef, pork, and chicken.
Spoiler alert: We di…

Bugs were supposed to be the future of food. Now, the insect farming industry is collapsing. 
How the frenzy over farming insects for food went bust.

A Security Researcher Went 'Undercover' on Moltbook - and Found Security Risks - Slashdot
https://it.slashdot.org/story/26/03/08/2237210/a-security-researcher-went-undercover-on-moltbook---and-found-security-risks

Top researcher leaves OpenAI due to Pentagon deal (Gregory Svirnovskiy/Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/07/top-researcher-openai-pentagon-surveillance-00818124
http://www.memeorandum.com/260307/p59#a260307p59

The Non-Psychiatrist's Guide To Lifestyle Psychiatry
Hosted by Dr Mike Trott, a non-psychiatrist researcher working in psychiatric epidemiology and clinical trials, each episode breaks down the latest research in lifestyle psychiatry...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.

I wasn't expecting a story of science malpractice in The New Yorker. This one is dark.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/02/did-a-celebrated-researcher-obscure-a-fatal-poisoning
(Notice how The Lancet made thing…

Did a Celebrated Researcher Obscure a Baby’s Poisoning?
Ben Taub investigates the death of Tariq Jamieson and the claim by the Canadian toxicologist Gideon (Gidi) Koren that he died from a breast-milk morphine overdose from codeine contained in Tylenol prescribed to his mother.

OpenAI hires Meta AI researcher Ruoming Pang, who joined Meta from Apple about seven months ago for a pay package reportedly worth $200M over several years (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/openai-hires-meta…

OpenAI Hires Meta AI Researcher Who Previously Led Apple’s Models Team
OpenAI has hired a high-profile AI researcher at Meta Platforms who had joined the company from Apple about seven months ago, a spokesperson from OpenAI confirmed. Ruoming Pang, who led AI infrastructure for Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is developing new AI models, left the company last week and has joined OpenAI. Pang, who was aggressively recruited by OpenAI over several months, told

Eine gentechnisch veränderte #Alge könnte helfen, #Mikroplastik aus Wasser zu entfernen.
Sie produziert ein flüchtiges Naturöl namens Limonen. Weil sowohl Alge als auch #Plastik wasserabweisend …

Lab-grown algae remove microplastics from water
A University of Missouri researcher is pioneering an innovative solution to remove tiny bits of plastic pollution from our water. Mizzou's Susie Dai recently applied a revolutionary strain of algae toward capturing and removing harmful microplastics from polluted water. Driven by a mission to improve the world for both wildlife and humans, Dai also aims to repurpose the collected microplastics into safe, bioplastic products such as composite plastic films.

A satisfying outcome of being a scientist is when an organically developed collaborative project comes to fruition, and an early career researcher seizes an opportunity to publish new findings. This is the case for Anthony Arsenault who found that across the Great Lakes, ice stores different levels of dissolved organic matter, which can be very important to microbes during melt to jump-start spring production.

AI coding platform's flaws allow BBC reporter to be hacked
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4wnw04e8wo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Major 'vibe-coding' platform Orchids is easily hacked, researcher finds
Vibe-coding tools - which let people without coding skills create apps using AI - are exploding in popularity.

Israel just attacked a university in Beirut, Lebanon, killing a dean and a researcher. Like it did in Gaza, where it systematically bombed all universities.
https://www.

Universiteit in Beiroet geraakt bij Israëlische aanvallen, decaan en onderzoeker gedood
Bij Israëlische luchtaanvallen op een universiteit in een buitenwijk van de Libanese hoofdstad Beiroet zijn donderdag twee academici omgekomen, meldt de Libanese president Joseph Aoun op X. Het gaat volgens Aoun om een onderzoeker en de decaan van de faculteit Natuurwetenschappen van de Lebanese University. Aoun heeft in een telefoongesprek met het universiteitshoofd zijn condoleances aangeboden,…

Call for activist research -- I'm interested in any theories (academic and not) that discuss how oppressive practices are often unified, but resistance is often divided. The researcher I know who discusses this has committed multiple acts of sexual assault, etc, so I would prefer to find another source. Likely, there will be someone preceding them, as is often the case.
Thank you!
#research

🔊 #NowPlaying on #BBCRadio3:
#SundayFeature
- The "new Josephine Baker"
The family of the cabaret performer Miss Bartira have given researcher Adjoa Osei access to photos, fan mail and documents which tell her story from '30s Paris to her death in 1981
Relisten now 👇
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002r3zf

🚨Job Alert! 🚨 Tenure track #geology position at University of Montana Western for "a field-based geologist who is a passionate teacher and student-centered researcher" ⚒️🧪
https://apply.interfolio.com/176734<…

X-Ray Polarimetry of Accreting White Dwarfs: A Case Study of EX Hydrae: #WhiteDwarf star for the first time in history.

"Emergent Introspective Awareness in Large Language Models" published by an Anthropic researcher 2025-10.
fails to demonstrate introspection. it does call out the difference between "real" introspection and "confabulated" introspection, but the experiments are indistinguishable from activation steering. if you manipulate an LLM state so it's likely to emit tokens about dogs, and then prompt it "do you detect the thought I injected?" of course…

choose your character

Register for our 4/8 #DefendResearch webinar with information studies researcher Dr. George Cooper to learn about findings from his extensive research on China and #censorship complicity in scholarly publishing.

CNN: AI researchers are sounding the alarm on their way out the door https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/11/business/openai-anthropic-departures-nightcap

AI researchers are sounding the alarm on their way out the door
“The world is in peril,” warned the former head of Anthropic’s Safeguards Research team as he headed for the exit. A researcher for OpenAI, similarly on the way out, said that the technology has “a potential for manipulating users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.”

Arianna Pera @… defends her PhD: The Language of Collective Action in the Social Web
https://nerds.itu.dk/2026/02/27/ariann

there seems to be some ongoing feud between @… and the @… people https://

The Verification Theater: When Formal Methods Create False Assurance in Cryptographic Libraries
Formal verification of cryptographic implementations is frequently presented as providing "the highest level of assurance" against implementation defects. We examine this claim through a case study of Cryspen's libcrux and hpke-rs, two cryptographic libraries that are marketed as formally verified and high-assurance. We examine five vulnerabilities across these libraries. The first, a platform-dependent cryptographic output failure in SHA-3 intrinsics discovered by an independent researcher in…

"By the end of 2026, Trump will have begun to distance himself from the aggressively pro-AI industry policies that characterized his AI strategy in 2025,"
wrote retired New York University professor and AI entrepreneur Gary Marcus.
"The giant AI infrastructure plays (like Project Stargate) that he championed after his inauguration will look like an unprofitable and underused mistake.
So will his utter failure to meaningfully regulate AI,
against the w…

This 'utter failure' from Trump could 'stun the world' in 2026: researcher
President Donald Trump has bet big on an agenda to expand artificial intelligence investment in the United States — but this year, some analysts think it could come back to haunt him, as a long-suspected AI investment bubble bursts and the public turns against the technology for its increasingly app...

"People are trying BPC-157 and TB-500 for healing injuries by stimulating new blood vessel growth, oxytocin for improving eye contact (one OpenAI researcher called it “Ozempic for autism”), epitalon for sleep and retatrutide — a next-generation weight-loss drug still in clinical trials — for everything from appetite suppression to increased focus."

‘Chinese Peptides’ Are the Latest Biohacking Trend in the Tech World
The gray-market drugs flooding Silicon Valley reveal a community that believes it can move faster than the F.D.A.

An OpenAI researcher who helped shape how models were built and priced says she quit after two years due to "deep reservations" about ads and OpenAI's strategy (Zoë Hitzig/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/1…

A US judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from detaining CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed, one of the Europeans the US barred on claims of promoting censorship (Aishvarya Kavi/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/us/politics/imran-ahmed-judge-order.…

Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
Imran Ahmed, who runs an organization that chronicles disinformation, was among five Europeans the State Department had barred, claiming they promote censorship.

NFL trend watch: Heavy personnel could shape Super Bowl LX showdown between Patriots and Seahawks https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-trend-watch-heavy-personnel-could-shape-super-bowl-lx-showdown-between-patriots-and-seahawks

Solemates Podcast
Hosted by Nicole, a paediatric physio parent cheerleader, and joined by Professor Cylie Williams, a legendary kids' podiatrist and researcher, this episode covers everything from foot development and barefoot play to the perplexing world of children's footwear...
Great Australian Pods Podcast Directory: https://www.

🦾 Chinese boxing robots win fans in San Francisco
#robots

Chinese boxing robots win fans in San Francisco
American companies are staging boxing matches with VR-controlled Chinese humanoids to enthusiastic fans. A researcher says it is just robot theater.

Popular Mechanics article on the PRIMA retinal implant from Science Corp. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a69948833/photovoltaic-retina-implant-trial-results/ "restored vision is not by any means immediate for tho…

A Revolutionary Device Can Cure Blindness. This Has ‘Never Been Done Before,’ Researcher Says.
Thanks to this tiny piece of tech, people with profound vision loss can now read, do cross word puzzles, and navigate public transit.

"Claude found more than 500 previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities in open-source code using just its "out-of-the-box" capabilities, and each one was validated by either a member of Anthropic's team or an outside security researcher."

Exclusive: Anthropic's new model is a pro at finding security flaws
The AI company sees the model's advancements as a major win for cyber defenders in the race against adversarial AI.

AI's Grand Illusion: The Uncomfortable Parallel to Alchemy and Sophistry
https://www.ocrampal.com/from-sophists-to-alchemists-to-ai-coders-the-technique-without-understanding/

From Sophists to Alchemists to AI Coders: The Technique Without Understanding
Dr. Marcus Doubtful, former quantum physicist turned philosopher of science. Dr. Andrew Sofist, a computational physicist and AI researcher who has just delivered a triumphant presentation on large language models' reasoning capabilities. Andrew: Marcus, I have to say your critique of AI during the Q&A was... unnecessarily philosophical. Look

I – somewhat implausibly – got lucky enough to start the exact job I had dreamed of for the last 5 years this year.
I’ve opened my own research group at the #Umeå Plant Science Center, and get to dig into the cell #biology of #wood

Postdoctoral researcher in wood formation | slu.se
SLU - Science and Education for Sustainable Life

Researcher: Grok generated ~6,700 sexually suggestive or "nudifying" images per hour on X between January 5 and January 6; 85% of Grok images are sexualized (Cecilia D'Anastasio/Bloomberg)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/20

PT Barnum was right!
Was at someones house last night and noticed what looked like twisted copper wire around their meter while I pushed their soffit back into place.
Had to asked what it was figuring it was some scam that would supposedly lower their electric bill.
I was partially right . It's a Smart meter Tensor ring. It "resonates at 144 MHZ for EMF filtering/protection throughout the home. As well as lowing power bills. Made to the Sacred/Royal Egyptian Cu…

Lost Cubit Tensor Rings Archives - Slim Spurling's Light-Life® Technology
Lost Cubit Tensor Rings appear to operate on a metaphysical level. They are effective with supporting mental and emotional issues. There is no limit to how Lost Cubit Tensor Rings can be used to enhance your life. Use them for personal applications, household uses, and workplace assistance. Children and animals even benefit from these Tensor Rings. In 2000, researcher and inventor Hans Becker discovered the Lost Cubit length and gave Slim Spurling permission to incorporate this discovery in the…

Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate (Aishvarya Kavi/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/us/politics/imran-ahmed-judge-order.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/251225/p20#a251225p20

Peter Attia is stepping aside as a contributor to CBS News, after correspondence between him and Jeffrey Epstein came to light in the release of DOJ files (Alex Weprin/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business

Peter Attia Out at CBS News After Epstein Files Correspondence Disclosures (Exclusive)
The longevity researcher and health influencer had been named a contributor to CBS by Bari Weiss last month.

Kyle Tharp, a progressive writer and researcher writes the "Chaotic Era",
a newsletter about politics, media and online influence.
Tharp launched the Chaotic Era in January, just days before Trump’s second inauguration.
Over the past year, he has tracked the surge in liberal media projects, mapped the rise of
left-leaning creators on platforms like YouTube and
analyzed the narratives that managed to break through the digital noise

🔀 Molecular switch links early-life stimulation to lasting memory changes
#molbio

Molecular switch links early-life stimulation to lasting memory changes
Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism that helps explain why growing up in a stimulating environment enhances memory. In contrast, a lack of stimulation can impair it. The team from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), was led by researcher Ángel Barco.

A researcher says an exposed Moltbook database could have let anyone take control of AI agents on the site and post anything; the database has now been closed (Matthew Gault/404 Media)
https://www.404media.co/exposed-moltbook-database-le…

Exposed Moltbook Database Let Anyone Take Control of Any AI Agent on the Site
It exploded before anyone thought to check whether the database was properly secured.

149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database
https://www.wired.com/story/149-million-stolen-usernames-passwords/

149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database
This “dream wish list for criminals” includes millions of Gmail, Facebook, banking logins, and more. The researcher who discovered it suspects they were collected using infostealing malware.

A look at the rise of AI companion apps; a researcher counts 206 such apps on the App Store and 253 on Google Play, with 220M total downloads as of July 2025 (Financial Times)

German videos – titled Balaclava Kitchen – started in 2014 and ran for months before YouTube took down the channel for violating its guidelines.
But it offered a glimpse of how far-right groups have seized on cultural production – from clothing brands to top 40 music – to normalise their ideas,
in a process that researchers say has hit new heights in the age of social media.
“It’s frightening, honestly,”
said Katherine Kondor, a researcher with the Norwegian Center fo…

A US judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from detaining CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed, one of the Europeans the US barred on claims of promoting censorship (Aishvarya Kavi/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/us/politics/imran-ahmed-judge-order.…

Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
Imran Ahmed, who runs an organization that chronicles disinformation, was among five Europeans the State Department had barred, claiming they promote censorship.

Good Morning #Canada
#HappyBirthday to Maude Elizabeth Seymour Abbott (Mar 18, 1868 – Sept 2, 1940), a physician and researcher who contributed to the early study of congenital heart disease. She was born in St. Andrews East, Quebec, and was among the first women in Canada to earn a medical degree and one of the first women to receive a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. After being denied admission to McGill’s medical faculty, she completed her medical education at Bishop’s University and went on to develop a career in pathology, medical curation, and clinical research. Abbott held curatorial and teaching roles at McGill, co-founded the International Association of Medical Museums, and published extensively. She established organizations supporting women in medicine, received an honorary medical degree from McGill and was posthumously recognized through several national and institutional honours.
#CanadaIsAwesome #CanadianHeroes
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maude-abbott