Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Spencer LaVere Smith @spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social · 1d

Still a few weeks left!

Marius Schneider @mariusschneider.bsky.social · 16d

🚨Our NeurIPS 2025 competition Mouse vs. AI is LIVE!

We combine a visual navigation task + large-scale mouse neural data to test what makes visual RL agents robust and brain-like.

Top teams: featured at NeurIPS + co-author our summary paper. Join the challenge!

Whitepaper: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14446

Mouse vs. AI: A Neuroethological Benchmark for Visual Robustness and Neural Alignment

Visual robustness under real-world conditions remains a critical bottleneck for modern reinforcement learning agents. In contrast, biological systems such as mice show remarkable resilience to environ...

arxiv.org

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Davi Bock @dddavi.bsky.social · 1d

I love this piece!

It shows the many ways a connectome can be put to use, AND the many complementary modalities that are needed, beyond the connectome, to answer real questions.

And it makes me feel good about having helped to generate the thing. :)

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 1d

To celebrate the first anniversary of the release of FlyWire, we asked nine neuroscientists to share how they are using connectome data in their research and what they hope is in store for the future of fly connectomics.

By @franciscorr25.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

bit.ly/3Wx5nt3

How FlyWire is redefining Drosophila research, one year in

Nine Drosophila researchers share how the connectome transformed the field and what additional new tools they would like to see.

bit.ly

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UC Santa Barbara @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social · 1d

Exciting news: #UCSB physicists John Martinis and Michel Devoret have been awarded the 2025 #NobelPrize in Physics. They were lauded for work that, according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, "revealed quantum physics in action."

Full story: https://ow.ly/TH7K50X7ULp

UCSB physics professors John Martinis and Michel Devoret win 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics

ow.ly

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eartha mae @endoeartha.bsky.social · 3d

I'm worried about getting job offers pulled by admin bc I mention how my transness informs my work. Bc they're afraid of state retribution for hiring me.

I get advice to code switch.

The farther I get from full disclosure, the less genuine it reads & becomes.

This is not a free and open society.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 3d

I was told not to teach a class on the intellectual histories of Zionism and Anti-Zionism next year - not because they doubted I could teach it fairly, but because it would attract too many politicians scrutinizing the syllabus.

A society where that is a valid fear is no longer fully democratic.

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Zoe Liberman @zoeliberman.bsky.social · 6d

Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3

UCSB Campus. Meadow in the foreground with Storke Tower and mountains in the distance

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John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 6d

thanks for speaking out @markhisted.org

Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 7d

Federal workers are speaking out on how the Trump regime is harming Americans:

"We stand here today at a moment of the greatest assault of our lifetimes on our freedoms. The US Constitution is being shredded... We are here to call on Congress to stand up and stop it."

youtu.be/uw1KwIBgrCw?...

Mark Histed, NIH Scientist *speaking in personal capacity

YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition

youtu.be

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Michael Beyeler @mbeyeler.bsky.social · 12d

👁️🧠 New preprint: We demonstrate the first data-driven neural control framework for a visual cortical implant in a blind human!

TL;DR Deep learning lets us synthesize efficient stimulation patterns that reliably evoke percepts, outperforming conventional calibration.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Diagram showing three ways to control brain activity with a visual prosthesis. The goal is to match a desired pattern of brain responses. One method uses a simple one-to-one mapping, another uses an inverse neural network, and a third uses gradient optimization. Each method produces a stimulation pattern, which is tested in both computer simulations and in the brain of a blind participant with an implant. The figure shows that the neural network and gradient methods reproduce the target brain activity more accurately than the simple mapping.

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andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · 12d

Also this disproportionately hurts first year students at unis on quarter systems that began their programs literally this week and haven't had as much time to work out their ideas with their new mentors in person.

andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · 12d

Also even if the number of awards is dropping significantly why not just let them apply? If it's about paying fewer folks to review fewer submissions I suspect many would review for free. The current plan hurts their exposure to grant systems AND discourages getting their ideas out on paper.

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andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · 12d

The *three* 2nd year graduate students in our lab who waited a year to collect prelim data and were already working on drafts are unsurprisingly upset. I get things are tough but no warning is just brutal.

Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 12d

Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry

The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded

www.science.org

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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 12d

The GRFP announcement from NSF cuts out an entire cohort of 2nd year students from consideration, without warning. This is so deeply unfair that it warrants a formal protest from the scientific community. If someone wants to work with me to craft an open letter and solicit signatures, LMK.

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 12d

New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Kosta Boskovic @kostaboskovic.bsky.social · 12d

Extremely disappointing decision from the NSF today to exclude second-year graduate students from eligibility for the GRFP. I and many other second-year grads purposely held off from applying in our first year to be able to do so now...

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Amy Boddy @amyboddy.bsky.social · 15d

🧬 Join us for an EvoChat on "How we define cancer matters"

Oct 1: 8am PST/11am EST/5pm CEST

Speakers: Carlo Maley, Lucie Laplane, Joel Brown & Benjamin Spada discuss universal cancer definitions across species and their clinical applications.

Zoom: ucsb.zoom.us/j/8313111375...

All welcome! 🔬

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

ucsb.zoom.us

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andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · 15d

Stoked to hear this. Congrats!!!

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Dan Levenstein @dlevenstein.bsky.social · 16d

Bet: this flavor of same-stimulus, same-task, compare-behavior, compare-physiology is the future of model testing and theory development in neuroscience.

Marius Schneider @mariusschneider.bsky.social · 16d

🚨Our NeurIPS 2025 competition Mouse vs. AI is LIVE!

We combine a visual navigation task + large-scale mouse neural data to test what makes visual RL agents robust and brain-like.

Top teams: featured at NeurIPS + co-author our summary paper. Join the challenge!

Whitepaper: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14446

Mouse vs. AI: A Neuroethological Benchmark for Visual Robustness and Neural Alignment

Visual robustness under real-world conditions remains a critical bottleneck for modern reinforcement learning agents. In contrast, biological systems such as mice show remarkable resilience to environ...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by andy alexander

Marius Schneider @mariusschneider.bsky.social · 16d

🚨Our NeurIPS 2025 competition Mouse vs. AI is LIVE!

We combine a visual navigation task + large-scale mouse neural data to test what makes visual RL agents robust and brain-like.

Top teams: featured at NeurIPS + co-author our summary paper. Join the challenge!

Whitepaper: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14446

Mouse vs. AI: A Neuroethological Benchmark for Visual Robustness and Neural Alignment

Visual robustness under real-world conditions remains a critical bottleneck for modern reinforcement learning agents. In contrast, biological systems such as mice show remarkable resilience to environ...

arxiv.org

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Mari Sosa @marisosa.bsky.social · 16d

The Sosa Lab website is now live!
www.sosaneurolab.com

We will be seeking a postdoctoral researcher to join the growing team! If you are a rodent neuroscientist and interested in doing systems neuro work in the mountains 🏔️, please check out the "Join" page.

Sosa Lab

www.sosaneurolab.com

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Nick Steinmetz @steinmetzneuro.bsky.social · 26d

Exciting opportunity here - if you have a dataset and want IBL staff to run pipelines, develop visualizations or websites, work on QC, etc - or if you want to work on the IBL dataset in a way that needs staff support - then this is for you! Check it out.

International Brain Laboratory @intlbrainlab.bsky.social · 27d

Want to collaborate with the International Brain Laboratory on your own project? We have funding to work with groups anywhere in the world to do new large-scale projects and we are looking for new partners! Learn more and apply: www.internationalbrainlab.com/ibl-core-apply

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Nina Miolane @ninamiolane.bsky.social · Sep 6

Fantastic opportunity:

Join @neuripsconf.bsky.social 's workshop @neurreps.bsky.social 's scientific committee as a reviewer.

Send me your OpenReview email if you'd like to contribute!

Symmetry and Geometry in Neural Representations @neurreps.bsky.social · Jul 8

📢 Call for Papers: NeurReps 2025 ‼️‼️‼️

🧠 Submit your research on symmetry, geometry, and topology in artificial and biological neural networks.

Two tracks: Proceedings (9 pages) and Extended Abstract (4 pages).

Deadline: Aug 22, 2025.

www.neurreps.org/call-for-pap...

NeurReps Workshop - Call for Papers

Call for Papers

www.neurreps.org

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Bence Ölveczky @olveczky.bsky.social · Aug 21

And now for an update on my office window. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard To Remove Black Lives Matter Message From Biology Professors’ Office Windows | News | The Harvard Crimson

A Harvard administrator told two professors on Tuesday that a Black Lives Matter sign displayed in their office windows would be taken down by this Saturday, describing it as a violation of the Univer...

www.thecrimson.com

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andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · Aug 20

Jeremy Wray is kind of a god though...

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Russell Epstein @russellepstein.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our new paper, “A neural compass in the human brain during naturalistic human navigation” is out in @sfnjournals.bsky.social! First-author @zhenganglu.bsky.social led the charge, with Josh Julian and collaborator @gkaguirre.com.

www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

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andy alexander @andyalexander.bsky.social · Aug 13

My favorite one yet

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Meenakshi Asokan @meenakshiasokan.bsky.social · Aug 6

Excited to share this profile + interview with Dr. Emily Jacobs! Amazing work on human precision brain imaging across hormonal fluctuations, and such an inspiring story! I had such a great time interviewing her!

Stories of WiN @storiesofwin.bsky.social · Aug 6

Our latest profile just dropped! Dr. Emily Jacobs (‪@emilyjacobs.bsky.social‬) studies how hormonal fluctuations influence the brain. Follow the link below to listen to the full interview!

www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202...

#WomenInNeuroscience #StoriesOfWiN

Dr. Emily Jacobs — Stories of WiN

studies how hormonal fluctuations influence the brain

www.storiesofwin.org

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Michael Beyeler @mbeyeler.bsky.social · Aug 2

Excited to share that I’ve been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at UCSB!

Grateful to my mentors, students, and funders who shaped this journey and to @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social for giving the Bionic Vision Lab a home!

Full post: www.linkedin.com/posts/michae...

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