Paul Konstant
progpk.bsky.social
Paul Konstant
@progpk.bsky.social
Retired scientist/ technologist. Diverse interests, few of them mainstream, fewer overlap. I like to follow specialists. Rational, romantic, mystic, cynical, idealist. He/him.
📍València, España
Pinned
New folks on Bluesky, I *beg* you to fill out your profiles with enough info we can tell you're a real person.

I get dozens of new followers a day. At least half are scams and bots.

If your avatar isn't personalized, you never post, but follow thousands, you're getting blocked.
Reposted by Paul Konstant
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.

Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
The NSF social sciences program has funded some of the best research I’ve seen, especially at the PhD level. There really isn’t another country in the world with the equivalent funding capacity to fill this gap, and the damage from this choice will be felt for a long time.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.

Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
On the Factor Fexcectorn and autism bicycle AI slop study: I got an answer from Springer Nature this morning that this scientific paper will be retracted! 🧪

Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...
Riding the Autism Bicycle to Retraction Town
Does anyone *really* know their Factor Fexcectorn?
nobreakthroughs.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Reposted by Paul Konstant
#TalDíaComoHoy nos dejaba Mary Somerville. Matemática, astrónoma y científica escocesa autodidacta. Motivó la acuñación de la palabra «científico/a» en vez de «hombre de ciencia» , además de ser la tutora de Ada Lovelace.

#WomenInSTEM
November 28, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Spider-Man star Danny Seagren died aged 81

https://www.europesays.com/ie/204559/

Danny Seagren, the first live-action Spider-Man and a former Sesame Street puppeteer, has died at the age of…
Spider-Man star Danny Seagren died aged 81 - Ireland
Danny Seagren, the first live-action Spider-Man and a former Sesame Street puppeteer, has died at the age of 81, his family has announced.
www.europesays.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
November 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.

Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise

bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Amazon heads: hey what if instead of dealing with problems like toxic air...we made things even worse for people:

"the biggest single factor in the city’s failure to end its dependence on fossil fuels: energy-hungry datacentres."

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal
As Mumbai sees increased energy demand from new datacenters, particularly from Amazon, the filthiest neighbourhood in one of India’s largest cities must keep its major coal plants
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Keep passing this on
November 27, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Putin has been very consistent throughout the war: Ukraine belongs to him, the Ukrainians don't get a say in that, and the only peace Russia is open to is that of Ukraine's forced surrender and Russia's successful conquest.
Only outsiders are pretending otherwise, which makes themselves feel better.
"President Vladimir Putin has doubled down on his core demands for ending the war in Ukraine, stating that Russia will lay down arms only if Kyiv's troops withdraw from territory claimed by Moscow."
@bbcnews-world-rss.bsky.social
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Putin doubles down on demands for Ukrainian territory ahead of talks with US
The Russian president confirmed a US delegation is expected for talks in Moscow next week.
www.bbc.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
On Monday Nov 24th, the White House quietly published a signed EO handing ALL "FEDERAL SCIENTIFIC DATASETS" to the tech broligarchs to pursue their AI pipedream. This newsletter puts it in perspective & links to EO. I shudder to think how bad this is going to be.
www.mind-war.com/p/strange-at...
Strange Attractor: The PayPal Mafia’s “Manhattan Project”
What are they building? And for whom?
www.mind-war.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Here's a gift article so everyone can read it. Trumps brain is mush.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Shorter Days, Signs of Fatigue: Trump Faces Realities of Aging in Office
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
What does it mean to understand language? We argue that the brain’s core language system is limited, and that *deeply* understanding language requires EXPORTING info to other brain regions.
w/ @neuranna.bsky.social @evfedorenko.bsky.social @nancykanwisher.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2511.19757
1/n🧵👇
What does it mean to understand language?
Language understanding entails not just extracting the surface-level meaning of the linguistic input, but constructing rich mental models of the situation it describes. Here we propose that because pr...
arxiv.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
"Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere."
-- Steve Witkoff, in his call to Putin aide Yuri Ushakov

Read the whole transcript of the Oct 14 call. It's amazing.

Gift link (for 7 days) ⤵️

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Witkoff Discusses Ukraine Plans With Key Putin Aide: Transcript
The following is a transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call lasting just over 5 minutes between Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, and Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s most senio...
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Tapping the sign again
November 25, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Russia welcomes ‘aspects’ of new US plan to end Ukraine war: Moscow also accused Europe of “meddling” with the peace process
Russia welcomes ‘aspects’ of new US plan to end Ukraine war
Moscow also accused Europe of “meddling” with the peace process
dlvr.it
November 26, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
An Amazon spokesperson noted “that the drone had completed its package delivery.” 🤦🏿‍♂️
Amazon faces FAA probe after delivery drone snaps internet cable in Texas
The probe comes as Amazon faces stiffer competition from Walmart, which has also begun drone deliveries.
www.cnbc.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
“There were some cells in there that were very messed up”

In a technological tour-de-force, researchers have sequenced the whole genomes of more than 100 individual cells from one 74-year-old man
go.nature.com/44yj4MN
We are all mosaics: vast genetic diversity found between cells in a single person
Technical advances allow researchers to trace the genetic changes that occur over time.
go.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Anyway I already talked about how stupid this is. www.podbean.com/ep/pb-uwifh-...
November 26, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
In newly leaked audio, Peter Thiel admits he urged JD Vance to ignore Pope Leo XIV on moral questions — including the ethical development of AI.

He goes even further, branding Leo “the woke American pope” and suggesting he’s a tool of the Antichrist.
NEW: JD Vance’s Top Donor Suggests Pope Leo XIV is Antichrist
In a leaked lecture, Peter Thiel says he’s urged Vance to ignore the pope on moral questions — and simply pray for him.
www.thelettersfromleo.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
The anti-vaccine movement is a death cult
A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:

“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”

s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
November 26, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Reposted by Paul Konstant
Efficacy, Immunogenicity, and Safety of Modified mRNA Influenza Vaccine

Yes, safe and effective! mRNA may be able to closely match influenza variant and vaccine.

www.nejm.org/doi/ful...
1/8
Efficacy, Immunogenicity, and Safety of Modified mRNA Influenza Vaccine | NEJM
Influenza remains a major health burden despite the use of licensed vaccines. Nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (modRNA) influenza vaccines have shown promising immunogenicity against influenza and...
www.nejm.org
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 AM