Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1h

Sometimes DARPA calls for proposals sound like something out of a scifi TV show

DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office (BTO) - Smart-RBC: Smart Red Blood Cells Proposers Day on Monday, October 20, 2025!

About the Event
This event is an opportunity for potential proposers to engage directly with DARPA’s BTO to learn about Smart-RBC—a cutting-edge new program aiming to revolutionize how we support warfighter performance in extreme and dangerous environments. Recognizing the limitations of current solutions and the time required for natural acclimation, Smart-RBC is exploring innovative ways to enhance physiological resilience.

This program focuses on engineering red blood cells (RBCs) to temporarily enhance the body's natural capabilities, improving performance and survivability in challenging conditions. Safety is paramount; Smart-RBC specifically utilizes enucleated RBCs, which cannot transfer genetic material, mitigating potential risks to recipients.

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1h

It's a mood

Slack screenshot from me (mkats): "Wtf (edited)"

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 11h

I figured during the government shutdown all of my interactions with the federal government would cease, but surprisingly that has mostly not been the case

More agencies (or parts of agencies) are open than I would have expected

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

I think the ambiguity is actually useful

If there is an explicit public signal of "I endorse this person by following them", people will probably try to police follow lists

Plus there are already lists and feeds for "private-ish" follows if desired

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

A bright moon is tough for a phone's dynamic range, but the view is a bit better through thin clouds

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah the UC system cleaned up

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Nobel for Josephson junctions!

And a local connection, with Martinis being one of the founders of Madison-based company Qolab

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2d

Breaking News: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis for their work in quantum mechanics.

Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Physics

The prize was awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis.

nyti.ms

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Would be a great one

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Can only read the title due to paywall but I basically think this (reasonable) logic means not publishing in any journal that takes your copyright

Which is the logical end step anyway--it's kind of wild that taking copyright's been the norm--but it should be accelerated by the AI training situation

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

I was waiting for an Abbott and Costello "I don't even know what I'm talking about!" at the end there

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Half a million living alumni -- honestly quite impressive

Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin @uwchancellor.bsky.social · 2d

Well, Badgers, you’re each one in a (half) million — and counting! Yes, our living alums just hit the 500,000 mark! So many talented Badgers out in the world doing extraordinary things, in all 50 states and 200+ countries! 👐🦡

Half a million Badgers and counting

UW–Madison has reached the milestone of 500,000 living alumni. See how they’re spreading the Wisconsin Idea around the state, country and world.

news.wisc.edu

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Come to think of it, a growth Nobel would not be out of line either (MBE + ALD + ??)

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Was briefly thinking about what the bandgap engineering nobel would look like, and clearly Cho/MBE would need to be there. Cho/Faist/Capasso?

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah, I'm just not qualified to make any predictions there.. some sort of cosmic background stuff?

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Many old bands, really

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Is there a way on bluesky to search for posts from people you follow? Doesn't seem to be in this old post but not sure if there has been an update bsky.social/about/blog/0...

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Physics Nobel tomorrow. My guess is precision timekeeping but, of course, my preference is Federico wins for bandgap engineering and the QCL

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 6d

Time to try to predict this year's nobel prizes! My guesses:

Physics: Given recent winners (ML, optics/spectroscopy, quantum information), it's hard to guess this year. I think I'll go with optical clocks / precision timekeeping

Chemistry or Medicine: Going last year's guess -- DNA sequencing

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

I also think that would be cool

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

More of a bluesky lull than a social-media lull, I'm afraid..

A social-media lull as a whole would probably be quite healthy, but doesn't seem to be on the horizon

Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

My first reaction was 'wow that's expensive' but my second reaction is that this is kind-of impressive. Almost all parts of the image are reasonable + have a role to play

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

Yep we're in a lull

I've been waiting for an opportunity to bring photonics-y people back but I think it'll need another growth spurt for bluesky as a whole -- there hasn't been one since february bskycharts.edavis.dev/bluesky-year...

bluesky (Munin)

bskycharts.edavis.dev

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

[citation needed]

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 2d

I should mention that WARF predates Worf by about 60 years (concept) and/or about 400 years (character)

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

But is it worth it

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Mikhail Kats @mickeykats.bsky.social · 3d

'tis me

WARF (Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation) @warfnews.bsky.social · 3d

@mickeykats.bsky.social explores topics across the fields of optics and photonics, device physics, nanoscale science and quantum technologies. #WARF100 @uwchancellor.bsky.social @uwmadisonece.bsky.social https://www.warf.org/commercialize/uw-madison-inventor-profiles/kats/

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