Tootfinder

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.

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

A researcher details an LLM-based AI agent that "demonstrated a near-flawless ability" to bypass bot detection methods while answering online survey questions (Emanuel Maiberg/404 Media)
https://www.404media.co/a-researcher-made-

A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On
We can no longer trust that survey responses are coming from real people.”

🔀 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.

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/

iOS Developers Claim 1Password isn’t Removing Deleted Profile Pictures
The iOS developer and security researcher duo Mysk claims that after deleting their 1Password account, their profile picture was still being stored and remained publicly accessible via a URL.
🙄

iOS Developers Claim 1Password isn’t Removing Deleted Profile Pictures
The iOS developer and security researcher duo mysk claim that after deleting their 1Password account, their profile picture was still being stored and remained publicly accessible via a URL.

Source: Tencent tells staff that Yao Shunyu, an ex-OpenAI researcher who joined in September, is now its chief AI scientist, reporting to President Martin Lau (Juro Osawa/The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/tencent-name…

Tencent Names Former OpenAI Researcher Chief AI Scientist
Tencent Holdings internally announced that Yao Shunyu, a researcher who joined from OpenAI in September, is now serving as a chief AI scientist overseeing the Chinese tech giant’s large language model department as well as its newly established AI infrastructure department, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Yao’s major role, part of Tencent’s office of the CEO and president,

Security researcher fumes at low macOS bug bounty awards
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/12/02/security-researcher-fumes-at-low-macos-bug-bounty-awards

Security researcher fumes at low macOS bug bounty awards | AppleInsider
A security researcher has complained about reduced payments from discovered macOS flaws by Apple's bug bounty program, despite Apple raising the maximum for more high-profile rewards.

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.

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

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…

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.

A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On https://www.404media.co/a-researcher-made-an-ai-that-completely-breaks-the-online-surveys-scientists-rely-on/

That's not great.
"A security researcher said Home Depot exposed access to its internal systems for a year after one of its employees published a private access token online, likely by mistake. The researcher found the exposed token and tried to privately alert Home Depot to its security lapse but was ignored for several weeks."
#HomeDepot #GitHubAccessToken

Fermi-GBM Observations of GRB 230307A - An Exceptionally Bright Long-duration #GammaRayBurst with an Associated Kilonova: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae0a1d -> UAH student researcher leads discovery of fastest gamma-ray burst ever recorded: https://www.uah.edu/news/items/uah-student-researcher-leads-discovery-fastest-gamma-ray-burst-ever-recorded

I do this ish for a living, I am an AI developer and researcher, and *I* don’t fully understand the security implications. What hope do regular users have?
https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/microsoft-war…

Microsoft warns that Windows 11's agentic AI could install malware on your PC: "Only enable this feature if you understand the security implications"
Microsoft is pushing ahead with its plan to add agentic capabilities to Windows 11 but has issued an important security warning for anyone who is interested in trying it out.

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.

"Your next puffer jacket could be made from bulrushes, as carbon-storing peat farming takes off"
#Coats #Fashion #Textiles

Your next puffer jacket could be made from bulrushes, as carbon-storing peat farming takes off
A researcher explains the benefits of a relatively new farming practice called paludiculture.

Det är nu över 10 år sedan dietboksförfattare och influensers påstod att de visste hur man fixade tarmfloran och med det en rad olika hälsoproblem.
Och än idag har vi i princip ingenting konkret från vetenskapen kring tarmfloran och behandling av olika besvär utanför just tarmproblem.
The Autism-Microbiome Hypothesis Is Falling Apart

The Autism-Microbiome Hypothesis Is Falling Apart
Why this new review paper should be required reading for every microbiome researcher

Chinese researcher on US visa charged with smuggling E. coli into the country, FBI Director Kash Patel says (Rachel Wolf/Fox News)
https://www.foxnews.com/us/chinese-researcher-us-visa-charged-smuggling-e-coli-country-fbi-director-kash-patel-says
http://www.memeorandum.com/251219/p58#a251219p58

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.

I don't think I've ever written an #introduction here. Now, I'm doing it elsewhere in the context of my research in the #DigitalHumanies, so, also sharing it here:
I'm a technical researcher coming from #edtech

Manoeuvre, Crui: cuts mean the country does not need universities. Bernini: it's propaganda, there are no cuts of 700 mln
The president of the Conference of Italian University Rectors, Giovanna Iannantuoni, at a hearing in the Budget Committee. "On average, an Italian citizen pays two coffees a week for the university system. This is how much the Italian university costs our state".

Roadmap: Emerging Platforms and Applications of Optical Frequency Combs and Dissipative Solitons
Dmitry Skryabin, Arne Kordts, Richard Zeltner, Ronald Holzwarth, Victor Torres-Company, Tobias Herr, Fuchuan Lei, Qi-Fan Yang, Camille-Sophie Br\`es, John F. Donegan, Hai-Zhong Weng, Delphine Marris-Morini, Adel Bousseksou, Markku Vainio, Thomas Bunel, Matteo Conforti, Arnaud Mussot, Erwan Lucas, Julien Fatome, Yuk Shan Cheng, Derryck T. Reid, Alessia Pasquazi, Marco Peccianti, M. Giudici, M. Marconi, A. Bartolo, N. Vigne, B. Chomet, A. Garnache, G. Beaudoin, I. Sagnes, Richard Burguete, Sarah Hammer, Jonathan Silver
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.18231 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2511.18231 https://arxiv.org/html/2511.18231
arXiv:2511.18231v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: The discovery of optical frequency combs (OFCs) has revolutionised science and technology by bridging electronics and photonics, driving major advances in precision measurements, atomic clocks, spectroscopy, telecommunications, and astronomy. However, current OFC systems still require further development to enable broader adoption in fields such as communication, aerospace, defence, and healthcare. There is a growing need for compact, portable OFCs that deliver high output power, robust self-referencing, and application-specific spectral coverage. On the conceptual side, progress toward such systems is hindered by an incomplete understanding of the fundamental principles governing OFC generation in emerging devices and materials, as well as evolving insights into the interplay between soliton and mode-locking effects. This roadmap presents the vision of a diverse group of academic and industry researchers and educators from Europe, along with their collaborators, on the current status and future directions of OFC science. It highlights a multidisciplinary approach that integrates novel physics, engineering innovation, and advanced researcher training. Topics include advances in soliton science as it relates to OFCs, the extension of OFC spectra into the visible and mid-infrared ranges, metrology applications and noise performance of integrated OFC sources, new fibre-based OFC modules, OFC lasers and OFC applications in astronomy.
toXiv_bot_toot

Doctoral Researcher opening: Assessment of changing trace metal fluxes in the Central and Eastern Arctic Ocean - Technische Universität Braunschweig #geology #geochemistry

I mean I'll take "Engineer" but why the fuck would you put this into your "free wireless at our location" captive portal?

This is genuinely terrifying. Google Scholar is pushing "AI Powered Scholar Search."
What's scariest about this is that it will almost certainly turn up results that feel *right* -- they'll mention relevant topics and let a researcher craft a perfectly unassailable reference list.
But what it will prevent the researcher from doing is the actual research of finding relevant publications: discovering connections, framing questions, identifying contrasts…

This fits my theory that enthusiasm for LLMs is proportional to how far are people from undestanding how it works (few researcher exceptions notwithstanding)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/22/ai-workers-tell-family-stay-away

Sources: ex-xAI researcher Eric Zelikman is raising $1B at a $5B valuation for Humans&, which aims to train AI that is better at collaborating with humans (Anna Tong/Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2025…

xAI Researcher In Talks To Raise $1 Billion For New Frontier Lab Humans&
Founded by former xAI staffer Eric Zelikman and early Googler Georges Harik, the new lab is building models that are better at interacting with humans.

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.

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.

🍻 Online discrimination fuels drinking by Hispanic college students
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-online-discrimination-fuels-hispanic-college.html

Online discrimination fuels drinking by Hispanic college students
Hispanic college students who encounter racial or ethnic discrimination on social media are more likely to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism, according to a study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher.

"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.

Vedran wins Independent Research Fund Denmark Grant!
https://nerds.itu.dk/2025/11/03/vedran-wins-dff-grant/

American Science, Shattered: A young researcher's dashed hopes | STAT https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/04/research-cut-impacts-early-career-scientists-american-science-shattered-series/

Working with monkeys was this lab tech’s dream job. Now she’s staffing an IT help desk
Trump’s reshaping of science has fueled fears researchers will leave the U.S. This lab tech's story shows it can drive people out of science altogether.

🚨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<…

In DeepSeek's first public appearance since R1's success, a senior researcher told a state-run conference he was pessimistic about AI's impact on humanity (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific

SentinelLabs' Dakota Cary linked Yu Yang and Qiu Daibing, two alleged members of the Chinese state hacking group, to participants of the 2012 Cisco Networking Academy Cup.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/11/salt_typhoon_cisco_training/

Researcher claims Salt Typhoon spies attended Cisco training scheme
: Skills gained later fed Beijing's cyber operations, according to SentinelLabs expert

Soumith Chintala, who co-created the PyTorch ML framework at Meta and left the company this month, has joined Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab (Pranav Dixit/Business Insider)
https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-soumith-chinta…

A top Meta AI researcher has joined Mira Murati's hot new startup, Thinking Machines Lab
Thinking Machines Lab, led by Mira Murati, hires Meta AI veteran Soumith Chintala as it rapidly expands its team and prepares for major funding.

An interview with Chris Gilliard on his new book Luxury Surveillance, how smart wearables could normalize pervasive surveillance, X's political shift, and more (Anika Collier Navaroli/The Tech Policy Press Podcast)
https://techpolicy.press/through-to-th

Through to Thriving: Protecting Our Privacy with Chris Gilliard | TechPolicy.Press
Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli in conversation with Critical Internet Studies Institute privacy researcher and advocate Chris Gilliard.

Martin Fleischmann @… will present in 1.5 hours at ITU, AUD 1: "Open source inside out"

"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...

Russian scientist sentenced to 21 years on treason, cyber sabotage charges
https://therecord.media/russia-sentences-physicist-treason-ddos-attacks

Russian scientist sentenced to 21 years on treason, cyber sabotage charges
Artyom Khoroshilov, a researcher at the Moscow Institute of General Physics, will spend more than 20 years in Russian prison on accusations that include treason for aid sent to Ukraine and sabotage related to a DDoS attack on the postal system.

Russian scientist sentenced to 21 years on treason, cyber sabotage charges https://therecord.media/russia-sentences-physicist-treason-ddos-attacks

🤦🏻 Golf lesson: Study shows political polarization hurts performance at work
#politics

Golf lesson: Study shows political polarization hurts performance at work
Few workers face more scrutiny than professional athletes. Every movement is measured, every outcome quantified, and every performance evaluated against objective standards. So when UC Berkeley Haas researcher Tim Sels wondered how America's deepening political polarization was affecting workers' performance, he turned to one of the most comprehensive data sets on individual human performance: the PGA Tour.

Worktrace AI, founded by ex-OpenAI product lead Angela Jiang and researcher Deepak Vasisht, launches with a $9.3M seed, and unveils a workflow automation agent (Alex Konrad/Upstarts Media)
https://www.upstartsmedia.com/p/worktrace-ai-automation-openai

OpenAI-Backed Automation Startup Worktrace AI Launches With $9M
Worktrace AI founders Angela Jiang and Deepak Vasisht are launching a workflow automation agent with $9M from Conviction, 8VC, OpenAI and prominent alumni like Mira Murati.

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

Chinese hackers exploiting React2Shell bug impacting countless websites, Amazon researchers say https://therecord.media/chinese-hackers-exploiting-react2shell-vulnerability-amazon

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)

Sources: Fluidstack, an AI cloud provider that is aiding Google's effort to expand access to its TPUs, is in talks to raise $700M led by Situational Awareness (The Information)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ai-cloud-pr…

AI Cloud Provider Aiding Google’s Chip Push Is in Talks to Raise $700 Million
Fluidstack, a cloud provider aiding Google’s AI chip push, is in talks to raise more than $700 million in new financing, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. A one-year-old investment fund started by ex-OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner is in talks to lead the financing, one ...