Dr Buki Fatona
@bukifatona.bsky.social
6.2K followers 140 following 160 posts
@University of Oxford, research in Philosophy of Cognitive Neuroscience & Religion: memory; imagination; action. ❤️classics, mathematics, & art❤️ https://theology.web.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-buki-fatona
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Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
iandunt.bsky.social
Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.
bukifatona.bsky.social
This week seems apt to remember Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994).

The first British woman to receive a Nobel Prize in chemistry.

❤️ Maggi Hambling's painting of Hodgkin with multiple hands working at her desk. In the corner is a structurally accurate model of insulin which she solved.

#WomenInSTEM
"The first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964, Hodgkin was able to define the structures of penicillin (1949), Vitamin B12 (1955) and insulin (1969) using x-ray crystallography, transforming their therapeutic potential. A Royal Society Fellowship scheme was established in her name, to help women who wish to be both career scientists and to raise children. Commissioned by the Gallery, and painted in Hodgkin’s study, Maggi Hambling depicts the chemist with a structural model of insulin in the foreground. Two pairs of hands convey energy and activity, which also refers to the subject’s acute arthritis, contracted when she was 28."
bukifatona.bsky.social
Good morning to coffee and coffee only
bukifatona.bsky.social
I was ordained by +Sarah and hold her in high regard indeed.
+Sarah laying hands on me at an ordination service in St Paul's Cathedral London.
bukifatona.bsky.social
First Woman appointed to be the next Archbishop of Canterbury..
The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, has been announced as the next Primate of All England
Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
dinahrose.bsky.social
For anyone who's wondering about this, particularly in the UK: yes, do email or message your Jewish friends with a word of support. It makes a huge amount of difference.
bukifatona.bsky.social
In celebration of Black History month, here is:

'Portrait of an African Woman holding a clock' (circa 1583/5).

attributed to Annibale Carracci.
A realistic depiction of a Black sitter, possibly a seamstress, who is dressed in a fine but sensible black day dress with touches of Italian luxury. She is holding a gold ornate clock in her hand.
bukifatona.bsky.social
Now live! The website for the next conference of @esssat.bsky.social - the 21st European Conference on Science & Theology (ECST XXI).

The title of the conference is 'Lost in Translation? Celebrating Language Diversity in Science and Religion'.

Leeds, UK; 19-22 August 2026

👉🏾 esssatconference.org
Picture of the conference's webpage
bukifatona.bsky.social
I appreciate you saying this! The trim was *so* hard to do, but the finished product makes it worth it!
bukifatona.bsky.social
Untitled, 2009

by Kerry James Marshall
A painting of a sitting woman with elaborately coiffured hair holding a paint brush and a paint-splattered palette which matches her dress.
Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
nicolecrust.bsky.social
The most universally agreed upon property that sets emotion/affect apart from everything else is valence: approach/avoid; pleasant/unpleasant. Here they target its computation in flies, where you can really figure out the biology. We know so little about how valence is computed by brains. Exciting!
katrinvogt.bsky.social
How is valence computed in the brain? Check out our new preprint about a single cell that integrates excitatory and inhibitory input across modalities according to valence and impacts behavioral decisions. An exciting collaboration across many labs. Enjoy reading!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A multisensory, bidirectional, valence encoder guides behavioral decisions
A key function of the brain is to categorize sensory cues as repulsive or attractive and respond accordingly. While we have some understanding of how sensory information is processed in the sensory pe...
www.biorxiv.org
bukifatona.bsky.social
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time.

"An emotional research team became tearful as they described how data shows the disease was slowed by 75% in patients."
bukifatona.bsky.social
I just got this gorgeous cake-stand only to find that it goes perfectly with an equally gorgeous tea set I discovered in a charity shop a while back.

Serendipitea (set) 😍
Handpainted gold and green cake-stand surrounded by blue and gold tea set
bukifatona.bsky.social
Nigerian Modernism exhibition soon opening at Tate Modern 🙌🏾
Tate webpage of the exhibition featuring a painting, 'Black Culture' (1986) by Benedict  Enwonwu. The painting is a surrealist-esque, S-shaped silhouette of a woman's torso against an ochre background.
bukifatona.bsky.social
...and Harry Belafonte (2023)
B/w photo of Harry Belafonte
bukifatona.bsky.social
Happy Pythagorean Triple Square Day!

3² + 4² = 5² (9/16/25)

The next one is in one hundred years!
bukifatona.bsky.social
Hope it all settles down soon and/or you can take some downtime if you need to.
bukifatona.bsky.social
emails finding me after the Summer vacation
Black and white drawing of two cats hiding under their bedclothes from the many owls looming over them.
bukifatona.bsky.social
I am a big tea drinker on every day of the week.

On Saturdays, though, I am a tea *worshipper*. There's a liturgy and everything 🙏🏽
 Picture of a teapot, milk jug, and teacup with saucer.
Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
quiteclare.bsky.social
OKAY, I'm lecturing Descartes next wk.

Do you have a favourite fun fact/tidbit about Descartes?

If I get a few nice ones, I might make a quiz about it.

(mine is how much he slept, and that he didn't like waking before midday--no wonder he's always meditating in a dressing gown etc)

#philosophy
bukifatona.bsky.social
A poignant excerpt of a letter by Voltaire to friends of Émilie du Châtelet's composed on this day, 4 September (1749)

du Châtelet died 6 days later

Her translation & commentary on Newton's 'Principia' is still regarded as one of her outstanding achievements.
Mme du Châtelet informs you that this night, being at her desk working on Newton, she felt a little call. The little call was a daughter, who appeared in an instant. She was laid on a quarto book of geometry. The mother has gone to lie down and, if she were not asleep, she would be writing to you. Émilie du Châtelet
Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
ox.ac.uk
NEW: An Oxford report warns that misleading media coverage is shaping public debate on immigration and human rights.

The study finds the ECHR is frequently misreported in deportation cases, fueling misconceptions that erode trust in the legal system.

🧵 [1/8]
Silhouettes of three people in front of a weathered British flag, with the headline: Misrepresentations around human rights and immigration fuelling calls to quit ECHR, Oxford report finds
Reposted by Dr Buki Fatona
seanmcarroll.bsky.social
First day of my Philosophy of Cosmology class! I'm interpreting "cosmology" pretty broadly. There will be three main topics: 1) Anthropics and the multiverse; 2) The arrow of time; 3) Quantum foundations, especially Many-Worlds. The idea of self-locating uncertainties will be a common thread.