Robert Low
@robjlow.bsky.social
Ex maths lecturer. Now classics postgrad (MA) @ClassicsWarwick. Also @[email protected], mostly maths there. Mostly lurking for the moment, haven't yet given up on Twitter completely.
Reposted by Robert Low
Here is a little story about the #earlymodern emoticon "<3" and the complex symbolic meaning of this typographical entity that I posted yesterday. Follow me, for catholic symbolism and some #bookhistory, dear #skystorians of the blue skies. Here we go...
June 28, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Here is a little story about the #earlymodern emoticon "<3" and the complex symbolic meaning of this typographical entity that I posted yesterday. Follow me, for catholic symbolism and some #bookhistory, dear #skystorians of the blue skies. Here we go...
Reposted by Robert Low
The Jailbreak of Ballad Reading.
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 9:44 AM
The Jailbreak of Ballad Reading.
Reposted by Robert Low
Here is a very cool object: a volume with stacked paper boards that have come apart, revealing a manuscript fragment between the print waste! (Rare Books PA2317 .E7 1546). The manuscript leaf is from a psalter 🌟
#midwestmss #medievalsky #medievalmss #manuscripts
#midwestmss #medievalsky #medievalmss #manuscripts
November 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Here is a very cool object: a volume with stacked paper boards that have come apart, revealing a manuscript fragment between the print waste! (Rare Books PA2317 .E7 1546). The manuscript leaf is from a psalter 🌟
#midwestmss #medievalsky #medievalmss #manuscripts
#midwestmss #medievalsky #medievalmss #manuscripts
Reposted by Robert Low
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:32 AM
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
Reposted by Robert Low
Musk’s Grokipedia is almost certainly even worse than you thought it would be.
thesphinxblog.com/2025/10/30/p...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/10/30/p...
Pretty Vacant
Full disclosure: I was one of those academics who, when Wikipedia first appeared, warned students against using it in no uncertain terms. To be fair, in those days most of its articles on ancient h…
thesphinxblog.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Musk’s Grokipedia is almost certainly even worse than you thought it would be.
thesphinxblog.com/2025/10/30/p...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/10/30/p...
Reposted by Robert Low
Reposted by Robert Low
You know when Terry Pratchett said 'It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works'? Yeah, he meant this.
October 28, 2025 at 8:04 AM
You know when Terry Pratchett said 'It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works'? Yeah, he meant this.
Reposted by Robert Low
It is fall break here. I asked for volunteers who happened to be on campus to test my idea for making a giant string-art cardioid. It worked pretty well, and I have some concrete ideas for improvement in version 2.0. (This circle has about a 20 ft. circumference and 239 holes.)
October 21, 2025 at 8:43 PM
It is fall break here. I asked for volunteers who happened to be on campus to test my idea for making a giant string-art cardioid. It worked pretty well, and I have some concrete ideas for improvement in version 2.0. (This circle has about a 20 ft. circumference and 239 holes.)
Reposted by Robert Low
Reposted by Robert Low
THE CALL OF CTHULHU (Palindrome)
Do glassy
bays tug
at a gutsy
abyssal god?
Do glassy
bays tug
at a gutsy
abyssal god?
October 15, 2025 at 7:51 AM
THE CALL OF CTHULHU (Palindrome)
Do glassy
bays tug
at a gutsy
abyssal god?
Do glassy
bays tug
at a gutsy
abyssal god?
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.
rm -rf ~/
rm -rf ~/
"The chancellor approved it"
October 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Robert Low
So much this (the "but" part).
New analysis of a 1-million yr old fossil skull captured worldwide media attention this week, with many headlines saying it requires a complete rewrite/rethink of human evolution. This is an intriguing study & it's brilliant to see so much public enthusiasm for deciphering our origins, but....1/n 🧪
October 2, 2025 at 10:51 AM
So much this (the "but" part).
And the rest of the world reads this and mutters 'No shit, Sherlock'.
"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits."
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
And the rest of the world reads this and mutters 'No shit, Sherlock'.
Reposted by Robert Low
The best way for a photo to catch my attention is if it looks like data.
Fig. 1. Bar plot displaying amount of storage per filing cabinet.
Fig. 1. Bar plot displaying amount of storage per filing cabinet.
September 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
The best way for a photo to catch my attention is if it looks like data.
Fig. 1. Bar plot displaying amount of storage per filing cabinet.
Fig. 1. Bar plot displaying amount of storage per filing cabinet.
Looks like it's time to do more muting. Just as well I don't follow many people who post about the history of the church of Scotland...
September 11, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Looks like it's time to do more muting. Just as well I don't follow many people who post about the history of the church of Scotland...
Had a great time at #TMiP25 on Thursday and Friday: met some old friends for the first time, caught up with others and even spoke with a couple of people I didn't know previously. Oh, and there were talks and stuff too.
August 30, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Had a great time at #TMiP25 on Thursday and Friday: met some old friends for the first time, caught up with others and even spoke with a couple of people I didn't know previously. Oh, and there were talks and stuff too.
Bad Sir Brian Botany, a profound meditation on class war and social justice by A. A. Milne.
voetica.com/poem/3335
voetica.com/poem/3335
August 18, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Bad Sir Brian Botany, a profound meditation on class war and social justice by A. A. Milne.
voetica.com/poem/3335
voetica.com/poem/3335
What movie have you seen an unhealthy number of times?
August 10, 2025 at 9:03 AM
What movie have you seen an unhealthy number of times?
Reposted by Robert Low
I know it's only part time, since this is cover for Alison Cooley being made head of Warwick Institute of Advanced Studies (take it up with the powers who decide these buy outs), but there is a 3 year teaching gig at in Roman history at Warwick.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...
Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) at University of Warwick
Apply now for the Assistant Professor (Teaching Focussed) in Roman History (110578-0625) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
www.jobs.ac.uk
July 15, 2025 at 5:15 PM
I know it's only part time, since this is cover for Alison Cooley being made head of Warwick Institute of Advanced Studies (take it up with the powers who decide these buy outs), but there is a 3 year teaching gig at in Roman history at Warwick.
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX770/a...
Reposted by Robert Low
🌿✨ This full binary tree branches out over 8 levels, stitched with stem stitch and dotted with French knot leaves. Who knew recursion could look this cute? Template in bio if you want to stitch your own! 🧶 🧮 #MathSky #embroidery
July 6, 2025 at 1:06 PM
🌿✨ This full binary tree branches out over 8 levels, stitched with stem stitch and dotted with French knot leaves. Who knew recursion could look this cute? Template in bio if you want to stitch your own! 🧶 🧮 #MathSky #embroidery
This is a really lovely overview of nonstandard analysis. Might make most sense to people who have a vague idea about them anyway, but definitely worth a look even if you don't.
Please enjoy this excerpt from my book Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics on the topic of infinitesimals revisted, exploring diverse issues in nonstandard analysis. www.infinitelymore.xyz/p/infinitesi... #InfinitelyMore #PhilMaths
Infinitesimals revisited
How infinitesimal calculus became rigorous
www.infinitelymore.xyz
July 4, 2025 at 11:14 AM
This is a really lovely overview of nonstandard analysis. Might make most sense to people who have a vague idea about them anyway, but definitely worth a look even if you don't.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
June 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Well, just finished FL Lucas's 'Seneca and Elizabethan Tragedy'. Not a man scared of holding - or expressing - opinions. If you like reading the waspish comments in 19th century commentaries, you'll probably enjoy it.
#ClassicsBlueSky
#ClassicsBlueSky
June 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Well, just finished FL Lucas's 'Seneca and Elizabethan Tragedy'. Not a man scared of holding - or expressing - opinions. If you like reading the waspish comments in 19th century commentaries, you'll probably enjoy it.
#ClassicsBlueSky
#ClassicsBlueSky
#HoagieHomies alert.
The notion that the sandwich was invented in the 17th century has to be history’s biggest psyop. You’re telling me that for the first 30,000 years of bread’s existence , no-one was like ‘Huh, check this out - I put stuff between the breads!’? Nope. Not having it.
June 22, 2025 at 9:15 AM
#HoagieHomies alert.
Reposted by Robert Low
Come and work with us in Philosophy at Warwick, part II: warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...
Teaching Fellow - Philosophy (110614-0625) - University of Warwick
Title: Teaching Fellow - Philosophy (110614-0625). Application Deadline: . Position Type: Fixed Term
warwick-careers.tal.net
June 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Come and work with us in Philosophy at Warwick, part II: warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...