Stephen Shankland
@stshank.bsky.social
Head of Content at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a company commercializing fusion energy: clean, safe, affordable, secure. Former science and technology journalist. Bird nerd. Assigned to the Conehead clique as a teenager.
Another hot job opening in the world of fusion energy — not plasma physics this time, but instead fuel cycle modeling for our ARC power plant.
jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/d7...
#JobAlert #FusionEnergy #Science
jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/d7...
#JobAlert #FusionEnergy #Science
Commonwealth Fusion Systems - Senior Multiphysics Modeler
Join the power movement as a Senior Multiphysics Modeler The Senior Multiphysics Modeler will work closely with the CFS tritium program and process engineering team to develop a fuel cycle model for t...
jobs.lever.co
December 4, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Another hot job opening in the world of fusion energy — not plasma physics this time, but instead fuel cycle modeling for our ARC power plant.
jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/d7...
#JobAlert #FusionEnergy #Science
jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/d7...
#JobAlert #FusionEnergy #Science
Another hot fusion job — this one at Google DeepMind: job-boards.greenhouse.io/deepmind/job...
Research Scientist, Fusion
London, UK
job-boards.greenhouse.io
December 4, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Another hot fusion job — this one at Google DeepMind: job-boards.greenhouse.io/deepmind/job...
“In the past technologies flowed to the global South from the West, but now more and more comes from China, especially in the clean energy area. This facilitates China’s trade and investment ties. Then, political influence follows, of course.” –Wu Xinbo, Fudan University in Shanghai
A Newly Confident China Is Jockeying for More Global Clout as Trump Pulls Back
Feeling empowered after a clash over trade, Beijing is looking to exploit America’s inward turn.
www.wsj.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:38 PM
“In the past technologies flowed to the global South from the West, but now more and more comes from China, especially in the clean energy area. This facilitates China’s trade and investment ties. Then, political influence follows, of course.” –Wu Xinbo, Fudan University in Shanghai
A trend WeWork can cash in on? www.scmp.com/news/people-...
China ‘pretend work’ firm offers office space for US$4 a day, aids personal growth
Companies drive fake job boom with make-believe interviews, charge clients up to US$7-a-day for a ‘working’ spot.
www.scmp.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A trend WeWork can cash in on? www.scmp.com/news/people-...
To the delight of any journalist who has to cover Silicon Valley, "roadmap" is approaching "road map" in popular usage. (Historically, English coins new words by squishing two commonly paired words together, e.g. "backyard.") trends.google.com/trends/explo...
Google Trends
Explore search interest for road map, roadmap by time, location and popularity on Google Trends
trends.google.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
To the delight of any journalist who has to cover Silicon Valley, "roadmap" is approaching "road map" in popular usage. (Historically, English coins new words by squishing two commonly paired words together, e.g. "backyard.") trends.google.com/trends/explo...
"If Waymo’s results are indicative of the broader future of autonomous vehicles, we may be on the path to eliminating traffic deaths as a leading cause of mortality in the United States. While many see this as a tech story, I view it as a public health breakthrough."
Opinion | The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course.
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"If Waymo’s results are indicative of the broader future of autonomous vehicles, we may be on the path to eliminating traffic deaths as a leading cause of mortality in the United States. While many see this as a tech story, I view it as a public health breakthrough."
Hot job in plasma physics (are there any other kinds of jobs in plasma physics?) at @cfs.energy: jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/da...
Commonwealth Fusion Systems - Scientist - Scenarios and Integrated Modeling
Join the power movement as a Scientist - Scenarios and Integrated Modeling Scientist - Scenarios and Integrated Modeling will develop plasma physics scenarios for SPARC and ARC based on comprehensive ...
jobs.lever.co
December 2, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Hot job in plasma physics (are there any other kinds of jobs in plasma physics?) at @cfs.energy: jobs.lever.co/cfsenergy/da...
Reposted by Stephen Shankland
3/3 Read more from @skirsner.bsky.social in his recent article about CFS for @masslive.bsky.social.
#FusionEnergy
#FusionEnergy
Can this Mass. startup solve the riddle of fusion power?
Fusion power's big advantages would be that it’s a virtually limitless source of electricity that doesn’t add carbon to the atmosphere, and has lower safety risks compared to traditional nuclear react...
www.masslive.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:38 PM
3/3 Read more from @skirsner.bsky.social in his recent article about CFS for @masslive.bsky.social.
#FusionEnergy
#FusionEnergy
Happy dog in Lake Tahoe over the holiday weekend.
December 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Happy dog in Lake Tahoe over the holiday weekend.
A good list of science books if anybody is feeling intellectually malnourished.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#science
Spineless creatures, possibly the world’s oldest beer receipt and more: 2025’s best Books in brief
Bibliophile Andrew Robinson reveals 10 essential science reads from the past year.
www.nature.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
A good list of science books if anybody is feeling intellectually malnourished.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
#science
Snow crystals up close, Tahoe Rim Trail, California. Near Carnelian Bay, California. Tips are illuminated by sunlight; the bluer parts of the scene are in shadow.
#Snow #California #LakeTahoe #NaturePhotography
#Snow #California #LakeTahoe #NaturePhotography
November 27, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Snow crystals up close, Tahoe Rim Trail, California. Near Carnelian Bay, California. Tips are illuminated by sunlight; the bluer parts of the scene are in shadow.
#Snow #California #LakeTahoe #NaturePhotography
#Snow #California #LakeTahoe #NaturePhotography
DOE used to have a version of this office ~3 decades ago but morphed it into the Fusion Energy Sciences effort when it lost enthusiasm for actually working on fusion energy.
Last week, the U.S. @departmentofenergy.bsky.social (DOE) established a new Office of Fusion — a good first step in bringing a new federal focus to this critical energy source. Now we need to ensure this office is set up for success with the leadership, the mission, and the resources it needs. 1/5
November 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
DOE used to have a version of this office ~3 decades ago but morphed it into the Fusion Energy Sciences effort when it lost enthusiasm for actually working on fusion energy.
Google wants me to enable Gemini help for Chrome. But it doesn't really tell me what it offers until *after* I agree to share web page contents with Google. #AI
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Google wants me to enable Gemini help for Chrome. But it doesn't really tell me what it offers until *after* I agree to share web page contents with Google. #AI
Some meaty thinking here in this conversation about non-meaty thinking.
Setting aside AI stuff, if you don't think computers can "think" how would you define "think" in a way that at least somewhat reliably separates human from machine? (hot takes allowed, thoughtful takes preferred)
November 24, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Some meaty thinking here in this conversation about non-meaty thinking.
"How did a baby-faced novice from small-town California dupe some of academia’s brightest minds?"
Because some systems, like academia, operate with greater levels of assumed trust. Trust lowers transaction/relationship costs. Science is about truth, so lying and fakery is deeply counterproductive.
Because some systems, like academia, operate with greater levels of assumed trust. Trust lowers transaction/relationship costs. Science is about truth, so lying and fakery is deeply counterproductive.
An MIT Student Awed Top Economists With His AI Study—Then It All Fell Apart
Aidan Toner-Rodgers shot to academic fame in a field hungry for new insights and revelatory research. But a computer scientist thought something seemed off.
www.wsj.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
"How did a baby-faced novice from small-town California dupe some of academia’s brightest minds?"
Because some systems, like academia, operate with greater levels of assumed trust. Trust lowers transaction/relationship costs. Science is about truth, so lying and fakery is deeply counterproductive.
Because some systems, like academia, operate with greater levels of assumed trust. Trust lowers transaction/relationship costs. Science is about truth, so lying and fakery is deeply counterproductive.
Worth a read on standards for measuring AI. I'd like to see how the OpenAI-Microsoft contract defines AGI. www.scientificamerican.com/article/ever...
Each Time AI Gets Smarter, We Change the Definition of Intelligence
As AI systems exceed one benchmark after another, our standards for “humanlike intelligence” keep evolving
www.scientificamerican.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Worth a read on standards for measuring AI. I'd like to see how the OpenAI-Microsoft contract defines AGI. www.scientificamerican.com/article/ever...
Note the creation of the Office of Fusion in the Department of Energy re-org: www.energy.gov/articles/ene...
Energy Department Announces Organizational Realignment to Strengthen Efficiency and Unleash American Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an organizational realignment designed to strengthen DOE’s ability to execute President Trump’s bold agenda to restore American energy dominance.
www.energy.gov
November 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Note the creation of the Office of Fusion in the Department of Energy re-org: www.energy.gov/articles/ene...
The energy on the magnet factory floor is very high, ha ha ha. Here's a toroidal field magnet, all welded into its case, in one of the two cryostats we use to test these magnets to make sure they'll do their job in our SPARC fusion machine.
#FusionEnergy
#Magnets
#FusionEnergy
#Magnets
Through 62 presentations this week, researchers at CFS and our collaborators are shining a physics spotlight on our SPARC fusion demonstration machine — and how it paves the way for our ARC power plant. 1/4
#FusionEnergy
#FusionEnergy
November 19, 2025 at 12:28 AM
The energy on the magnet factory floor is very high, ha ha ha. Here's a toroidal field magnet, all welded into its case, in one of the two cryostats we use to test these magnets to make sure they'll do their job in our SPARC fusion machine.
#FusionEnergy
#Magnets
#FusionEnergy
#Magnets
These lessons from Bob about the path to fusion energy are always instructive.
#FusionEnergy
#FusionEnergy
It’s time to detail the third of the six milestones every company must reach on the way to commercial fusion energy. Our CEO Bob Mumgaard laid these out last year in an open letter — a guide for outside observers to track how well fusion energy companies are doing (cfs.energy/news-and-med...). 1/3
Building Trust in Fusion Energy
The world's largest and leading commercial fusion energy company
cfs.energy
November 14, 2025 at 11:48 PM
These lessons from Bob about the path to fusion energy are always instructive.
#FusionEnergy
#FusionEnergy
I feel a little better knowing that Paul Erdős also got the wrong answer on the Monty Hall problem the first time around. I encountered through a 1991 neural network demonstration at LANL and did not put up a fight when told I was wrong and the neural net wasn't. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_H...
Monty Hall problem - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 14, 2025 at 12:40 AM
I feel a little better knowing that Paul Erdős also got the wrong answer on the Monty Hall problem the first time around. I encountered through a 1991 neural network demonstration at LANL and did not put up a fight when told I was wrong and the neural net wasn't. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_H...
Can confirm — the block I hit on X earlier today is gone and I can use it again.
November 13, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Can confirm — the block I hit on X earlier today is gone and I can use it again.
IEA published its World Energy Outlook 2025 today: www.iea.org/reports/worl...
November 13, 2025 at 12:41 AM
IEA published its World Energy Outlook 2025 today: www.iea.org/reports/worl...
Reposted by Stephen Shankland
With a one-time investment of $10 billion, the United States has a chance to reshape its energy future for the better. A few days ago, the @fusionindustry.bsky.social detailed just how the country should put that money to work. 1/6
A one-time $10B injection of U.S. public capital into efforts and partnerships with the fusion industry would accelerate commercial deployment in the U.S… but how should the $10 billion be allocated? In a new one-pager, we break down key line items.⬇️
www.fusionindustryassociation.org/fia-publishe...
www.fusionindustryassociation.org/fia-publishe...
FIA Publishes Paper on $10 Billion for Fusion to Secure America’s Energy and AI Future - Fusion Industry Association
A one-time $10 billion injection of U.S. public capital into efforts and partnerships with the private fusion industry would accelerate the path toward commercialization…but how exactly should this $1...
www.fusionindustryassociation.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:12 PM
With a one-time investment of $10 billion, the United States has a chance to reshape its energy future for the better. A few days ago, the @fusionindustry.bsky.social detailed just how the country should put that money to work. 1/6
Reposted by Stephen Shankland
Submit them to Aurorasaurus!!! They're an NSF funded project out of University of New Mexico that takes crowdsourced aurora observations for research purposes:
www.aurorasaurus.org
www.aurorasaurus.org
Aurorasaurus - Reporting Auroras from the Ground Up
Friends, see my real-time #aurora report on the aurorasaurus.org map! Follow us on www.facebook.com/aurorasaurus.org. Reporting #northernlights and #citizenscience from the ground up since 2012!
www.aurorasaurus.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Submit them to Aurorasaurus!!! They're an NSF funded project out of University of New Mexico that takes crowdsourced aurora observations for research purposes:
www.aurorasaurus.org
www.aurorasaurus.org