Christian Wilms @ChrisWilms23@qoto.org

New posting! This one is a #HowTo guide on how NOT to start a research group in #academia - in other words, all the things that I wish I'd done differently or that I wish I'd been more aware of when I started back in 2015. I hope that helps anyone else out there taking their first steps in this direction! (And any comments/additions very welcome). 👇

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/07/30/shutting-up-shop-a-short-guide-on-how-not-to-start-a-research-group/

We are now in the middle of "Oops"

Lord Frost seems to be remarkably ill-informed about climate. Doesn't he know that the most likely outcome is that the gulf stream will switch off, freezing Europe while rest of the world fries?
See video by Stefan Rahmstorf
https://twitter.com/i/status/1684149268855107586

@stevesilberman For that take to be true, Elon would have to have had clear goals beforehand and would have needed the necessary focus and dedication over the course of months to work towards those goals.

That seems to be vastly overestimating his abilities.

Occam's Razor says he bought a fun toy and the rest is just rich guy flailing.

Attributing malice to his incompetence is a fool's errand.

I slightly wish the media would switch its messaging from "We're all gonna die!!!" to "Here's what we need to do to stop the dying" (starting with - defund the fossil fuel companies and vote environment...)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66229065

America 👏 does 👏 not 👏 have 👏 a 👏 far-left 👏 movement.

- Our far-right are explicit, open fascists.
- Our center-right are extremist nationalists.
- Our center-left are classical conservatives.
- Our far-left are moral centrist capitalist moderates.

Any objective political compass would place politicians like Bernie Sanders, AOC, or Elizabeth Warren barely left of center.

A true far-left movement would be advocating for forced property seizure by the working class. Instead, our "far-left" is like "let's don't do a genocide on trans people today please I haven't even had brunch".

It is now painfully clear that no local government, state or federal agency, or other civic institution should be using Twitter for any purpose other than directing people to alternative platforms.

Using the platform for anything other than a last ditch backup for any kind of emergency communication is clearly a disaster waiting to happen.

New posting! This one is about the number of unpaid hours in #academia, an insight that's come from the realisation of how much time I'm still committing despite now (currently) being unemployed. To what extent is academic research sustained by the massive expenditure of unpaid labour? How much unpaid overtime do you think you're clocking? Let's lift the lid...

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/06/29/pro-bono-a-riff-on-unpaid-labour-in-academia/

#Twitter is "no longer a tool that's accelerating science. On the contrary"

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/20/scientific-community-eyes-doors-twitter

@Myndex @lambo Then go where the algorithms are. Honestly, the whole fediverse does not have to be the same. If you want your content searchable, by all means produce for an algorithm. Leave the rest of us alone.

Delighted to announce the 2023 UCL Neuropixels Course.

#Neuropixels probes are transforming #neuroscience. This free online course trains scientists to use them and process their output.

Day 1 (17 October 2023) covers the basics. Day 2 (18 October 2023) does a deep dive into 4 hot topics: the 2.0 release, the latest Kilosort, chronic recording implants, and software to track the same neurons across days.

For more info and to register:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/neuropixels/training/2023-neuropixels-course

@jkottke Jeepers, all this complicated stuff. Drizzle with good olive oil, put ’em on the barbecue next to the chops or burgers or whatever. The key technique is taking them off when they’re showing black bits & will thus be a bit crispy, but before they char.

"Dunning-Krugerand" is the best imaginable name for Bitcoin.

Very nice teaching/learning ressource on wide-field imaging: https://scientificimaging.com/topic/microscopy/

New posting! And another one dealing with me #LeavingAcademia as part of the #GreatResignation. This one has a slightly broader focus - why it's sometimes right to walk away, and that staying isn't always the best course of action. I've a feeling that #careers in #academia will struggle to stand up to scrutiny in this post-pandemic work environment. See what you think (as ever, comments always welcome!)

https://totalinternalreflectionblog.com/2023/05/14/walk-away/

Our editorial walkout at NeuroImage immortalised by @dglaucomflecken is the absolute icing on the cake 🤌😙

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoUGiS1LeKU

I don't care if BlueSky gains popularity over Mastodon. At this point, I don't wanna be on the dance floor with the cool kids, imma be in the side room with the five weirdos I like.

We need to investigate