Jacopo Bertolotti
@jacopobertolotti.com
Associated Professor of Physics at the University of Exeter.
Scientific visualizations (grouped under the hastag #PhysicsFactlet).
He/lui/on. All opinions are my own fault.
Scientific visualizations (grouped under the hastag #PhysicsFactlet).
He/lui/on. All opinions are my own fault.
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
My cartoon for this week's @newscientist.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:01 PM
My cartoon for this week's @newscientist.com
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
It is not going to be pretty, but I genuinely feel bad for the kidnappers (and anybody in a 10km radius).
It is not going to be pretty, but I genuinely feel bad for the kidnappers (and anybody in a 10km radius).
November 26, 2025 at 11:23 AM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
It is not going to be pretty, but I genuinely feel bad for the kidnappers (and anybody in a 10km radius).
It is not going to be pretty, but I genuinely feel bad for the kidnappers (and anybody in a 10km radius).
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
I stopped having a landline because of the continuous spam calls. The system have been rendered useless by a bunch of scammers and spammers.
Physical mail, land lines, now increasingly even email — I find it tragic the way we will sooner abandon a once revolutionary communication technology than regulate* its use by those who seek to sell us junk by feigning familiarity.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
*or even cease to subsidize, in some cases.
November 25, 2025 at 9:31 AM
I stopped having a landline because of the continuous spam calls. The system have been rendered useless by a bunch of scammers and spammers.
A large part of UK soft power comes through the higher education sector. Despite the level of education you can get at even the most prestigious UK Uni being sort of average when compared to EU Unus, getting a degree in the UK still carries some prestige.
So they decided to kill it 🤷🏻♂️
So they decided to kill it 🤷🏻♂️
A 6% levy on international student fees was proposed in the Immigration White Paper. The impact is about £600 million, though very unevenly spread across institutions.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM
A large part of UK soft power comes through the higher education sector. Despite the level of education you can get at even the most prestigious UK Uni being sort of average when compared to EU Unus, getting a degree in the UK still carries some prestige.
So they decided to kill it 🤷🏻♂️
So they decided to kill it 🤷🏻♂️
Genuine question (and no shade on the OP, who clearly intended it as a joke): where does the "no one understands magnets" trope come from?
Magnets are not even particularly hard to understand. Like with all topics there is a rabbit hole to fall into if you want, but the basic idea is easy 🤔
Magnets are not even particularly hard to understand. Like with all topics there is a rabbit hole to fall into if you want, but the basic idea is easy 🤔
Well what you say may be true, but "no one understands magnets"
November 22, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Genuine question (and no shade on the OP, who clearly intended it as a joke): where does the "no one understands magnets" trope come from?
Magnets are not even particularly hard to understand. Like with all topics there is a rabbit hole to fall into if you want, but the basic idea is easy 🤔
Magnets are not even particularly hard to understand. Like with all topics there is a rabbit hole to fall into if you want, but the basic idea is easy 🤔
I really tried to like #LiesOfP, but it just doesn't work for me.
It is not the difficulty (#Nioh2 is significantly harder), but a long list of stuff that annoys me.
1/
#videogames #rant
It is not the difficulty (#Nioh2 is significantly harder), but a long list of stuff that annoys me.
1/
#videogames #rant
November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
I really tried to like #LiesOfP, but it just doesn't work for me.
It is not the difficulty (#Nioh2 is significantly harder), but a long list of stuff that annoys me.
1/
#videogames #rant
It is not the difficulty (#Nioh2 is significantly harder), but a long list of stuff that annoys me.
1/
#videogames #rant
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
Incremental science is important, and it would be better if we didn't look down on it for funding & paper decisions
Anyway, probably 95+% of papers and proposals that claim big breakthroughs are actually incremental
Anyway, probably 95+% of papers and proposals that claim big breakthroughs are actually incremental
It's sad that AI conference reviewers use "incremental" as reason to reject a paper -- e.g., "the contribution of this paper is incremental; reject". Where do they think most progress in science comes from, and what eventually fuels big discoveries?
November 20, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Incremental science is important, and it would be better if we didn't look down on it for funding & paper decisions
Anyway, probably 95+% of papers and proposals that claim big breakthroughs are actually incremental
Anyway, probably 95+% of papers and proposals that claim big breakthroughs are actually incremental
The Firefox extension for @nordpass.bsky.social has decided I am offline (which is obviously false), and thus refuses to let me log in and access all of my passwords 🤦♂️
Fun times.
Fun times.
November 19, 2025 at 9:25 AM
The Firefox extension for @nordpass.bsky.social has decided I am offline (which is obviously false), and thus refuses to let me log in and access all of my passwords 🤦♂️
Fun times.
Fun times.
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
November 17, 2025 at 6:37 AM
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Me: Doctor I don't feel well and I haven't felt well for 2 weeks.
Doctor: Are you literally coughing blood?
Me: No...
Doctor: Then it will pass in 3 weeks. Don't bother us until then.
I hate the NHS. 🤬
(No exaggeration. I shortened the exchange a bit, but this is how it went.)
Doctor: Are you literally coughing blood?
Me: No...
Doctor: Then it will pass in 3 weeks. Don't bother us until then.
I hate the NHS. 🤬
(No exaggeration. I shortened the exchange a bit, but this is how it went.)
November 17, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Me: Doctor I don't feel well and I haven't felt well for 2 weeks.
Doctor: Are you literally coughing blood?
Me: No...
Doctor: Then it will pass in 3 weeks. Don't bother us until then.
I hate the NHS. 🤬
(No exaggeration. I shortened the exchange a bit, but this is how it went.)
Doctor: Are you literally coughing blood?
Me: No...
Doctor: Then it will pass in 3 weeks. Don't bother us until then.
I hate the NHS. 🤬
(No exaggeration. I shortened the exchange a bit, but this is how it went.)
A candidate for the IgNobel prize?
For #FossilFriday & in honor of @alinemghilardi.bsky.social & colleagues' fantastic discovery of a new Cretaceous pterosaur in Brazil in a dinosaur regurgitalite ("fossil vomit"), here's a diagram I made for my book 'Dinosaurs Without Bones' (2014) showing the physics of a puking brachiosaur. 🧪🦕🤮🪨
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
A candidate for the IgNobel prize?
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
“0% woke shit”
a black man with a physical disability leads an environmental terrorist cell trying to save the planet from mega-billionaires and you play as a cross dressing twink femdomed by two different women ending and the final boss against the gayest angel of all time
a black man with a physical disability leads an environmental terrorist cell trying to save the planet from mega-billionaires and you play as a cross dressing twink femdomed by two different women ending and the final boss against the gayest angel of all time
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
“0% woke shit”
a black man with a physical disability leads an environmental terrorist cell trying to save the planet from mega-billionaires and you play as a cross dressing twink femdomed by two different women ending and the final boss against the gayest angel of all time
a black man with a physical disability leads an environmental terrorist cell trying to save the planet from mega-billionaires and you play as a cross dressing twink femdomed by two different women ending and the final boss against the gayest angel of all time
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
Procrastinators, rejoice! The deadline to apply for #PLASMONICAschool2026 has been extended until November 16th ⏰. Bring a mate and don't be late!
Have you been living under a rock and never heard about #PLASMONICAschool2026? No worries: it's not too late to join our School on Plasmonics & Nano-Optics 💡: there is still one week left to apply ⌛. Check all the info in the 🧵 below 👇 and at 🌐 www.plasmonica.it/2026school/.
November 10, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Procrastinators, rejoice! The deadline to apply for #PLASMONICAschool2026 has been extended until November 16th ⏰. Bring a mate and don't be late!
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
The secret that #BigMaths doesn't want you to know is that real numbers are vectors, complex numbers are vectors, matrices are vectors, and even tensors are vectors.
You might ask "is there anything that is not a vector?" and the answer is "spinors". But spinors are evil.
🙃 /s
You might ask "is there anything that is not a vector?" and the answer is "spinors". But spinors are evil.
🙃 /s
November 6, 2025 at 3:29 PM
The secret that #BigMaths doesn't want you to know is that real numbers are vectors, complex numbers are vectors, matrices are vectors, and even tensors are vectors.
You might ask "is there anything that is not a vector?" and the answer is "spinors". But spinors are evil.
🙃 /s
You might ask "is there anything that is not a vector?" and the answer is "spinors". But spinors are evil.
🙃 /s
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
A halloween cartoon for @newscientist.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A halloween cartoon for @newscientist.com
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.
Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵
Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵
October 30, 2025 at 8:07 AM
JD Vance claims that diversity weakens unions, as people end up distrusting each other and not organizing.
Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵
Let me tell you two menswear stories related to this claim. 🧵
Come and listen to me blabber for a few hours about light scattering!
The first lecturer of #PLASMONICAschool2026 will be @jacopobertolotti.com from University of Exeter (UK). He is an expert of imaging through scattering media 👓 and optical computing 💻 and will teach us the fundamentals of optical wave scattering from single particles and in diffusive media 🥛.
October 30, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Come and listen to me blabber for a few hours about light scattering!
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
“Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything you’re willing to practice, you can do.”
- the great Bob Ross, who would have turned 83 today.
#RIP 🎨
- the great Bob Ross, who would have turned 83 today.
#RIP 🎨
October 29, 2025 at 11:58 AM
“Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything you’re willing to practice, you can do.”
- the great Bob Ross, who would have turned 83 today.
#RIP 🎨
- the great Bob Ross, who would have turned 83 today.
#RIP 🎨
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
obviously the real lesson here is that author lists are arbitrary anyway, defined by the field, and say nothing about quality of the research
October 26, 2025 at 12:21 PM
obviously the real lesson here is that author lists are arbitrary anyway, defined by the field, and say nothing about quality of the research
Reposted by Jacopo Bertolotti
October 22, 2025 at 3:19 PM