Emil Briggs
@emilbriggs.bsky.social
Physicist, dog dad and rock climber. Research interests include electronic structure methods and high performance computing.
Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ooB4aXMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ooB4aXMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Statewide probably yes. Could get interesting in the house this cycle though.
December 10, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Statewide probably yes. Could get interesting in the house this cycle though.
Looking at the Miami election yesterday it does seem something is changing big time with Latinos. And there are a lot of Latinos in Texas. Different groups in Texas and Miami of course but that was a huge swing in the latter.
December 10, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Looking at the Miami election yesterday it does seem something is changing big time with Latinos. And there are a lot of Latinos in Texas. Different groups in Texas and Miami of course but that was a huge swing in the latter.
It was never on anyone's radar here in NC in the past but either the range is expanding or awareness has increased. I got tested for it because of some odd symptoms but was negative.
December 8, 2025 at 10:58 PM
It was never on anyone's radar here in NC in the past but either the range is expanding or awareness has increased. I got tested for it because of some odd symptoms but was negative.
Not meaning to pry but if you're comfortable answering the question did you by any chance ever test negative and then later test positive for Lyme?
December 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Not meaning to pry but if you're comfortable answering the question did you by any chance ever test negative and then later test positive for Lyme?
Also I think he's still butt hurt he got dragged so hard over that shit paper he co-authored back in 2020 and want's to punish the scientific establishment over it.
December 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Also I think he's still butt hurt he got dragged so hard over that shit paper he co-authored back in 2020 and want's to punish the scientific establishment over it.
Also it's possible the dismal Republican showing in the recent elections might encourage a few senators to remember their duty to "advise and consent" when it comes time to confirm his replacement.
December 3, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Also it's possible the dismal Republican showing in the recent elections might encourage a few senators to remember their duty to "advise and consent" when it comes time to confirm his replacement.
Also most senior leaders had to have demonstrated a certain level of competence to get there. Hegseth is the antithesis of competence.
December 2, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Also most senior leaders had to have demonstrated a certain level of competence to get there. Hegseth is the antithesis of competence.
A good argument can be made it was to ensure more power for slave states (who mostly had larger rural populations). And it was a major factor leading to the Civil War since it gave slave states control over the SC who tried to preserve something a majority of the country wanted to get rid of.
December 1, 2025 at 3:36 PM
A good argument can be made it was to ensure more power for slave states (who mostly had larger rural populations). And it was a major factor leading to the Civil War since it gave slave states control over the SC who tried to preserve something a majority of the country wanted to get rid of.
Given a sufficiently large set of training data and fixed baselines this seems like an excellent application for ML. I could see problems arising if the baselines were changing in some significant way.
November 30, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Given a sufficiently large set of training data and fixed baselines this seems like an excellent application for ML. I could see problems arising if the baselines were changing in some significant way.
It still astonishes me that an unapologetic white supremacist won the Republican primary for a state legislature seat not far from where I live back in 2018. So yeah there are still some of those folks around. I won't be having Thanksgiving with any of them though.
November 27, 2025 at 9:56 PM
It still astonishes me that an unapologetic white supremacist won the Republican primary for a state legislature seat not far from where I live back in 2018. So yeah there are still some of those folks around. I won't be having Thanksgiving with any of them though.
It's actually a great place to visit if you're into outdoor recreation type activities too (not in the summer though).
November 27, 2025 at 2:27 AM
It's actually a great place to visit if you're into outdoor recreation type activities too (not in the summer though).
The difference now is that chips have permeated every sector of the economy. The impacts of a shortage reach much further in a way that just wasn't the case in the past.
November 26, 2025 at 3:37 AM
The difference now is that chips have permeated every sector of the economy. The impacts of a shortage reach much further in a way that just wasn't the case in the past.
My Dad was in the army until 1972 so I got to fly all over the place depending on where he was stationed. US gov't paid of course but I lived in Korea, Japan, Panama and a couple of places in the US. After he retired though forget about it. Just too expensive. Didn't fly again until the 80s.
November 26, 2025 at 3:23 AM
My Dad was in the army until 1972 so I got to fly all over the place depending on where he was stationed. US gov't paid of course but I lived in Korea, Japan, Panama and a couple of places in the US. After he retired though forget about it. Just too expensive. Didn't fly again until the 80s.
Expectations vary by field. My wife used to try to get me to dress up for physics conference. Even though I was already presentable with nice pants and a button down shirt. I finally just sent her a few pics of other attendees. I've seen senior scientists who looked like homeless people.
November 24, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Expectations vary by field. My wife used to try to get me to dress up for physics conference. Even though I was already presentable with nice pants and a button down shirt. I finally just sent her a few pics of other attendees. I've seen senior scientists who looked like homeless people.
I've sometimes wondered if the reason Hawaii consistently has the longest life expectancy of any state in the Union is how laid back they are about everything.
November 24, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I've sometimes wondered if the reason Hawaii consistently has the longest life expectancy of any state in the Union is how laid back they are about everything.
Yeah any company thinking of developing high priced reserves has to deal with the reality that middle eastern countries could open the spigots and crash the price (as has happened several times already). Just not worth the risk at $200/bbl.
November 24, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Yeah any company thinking of developing high priced reserves has to deal with the reality that middle eastern countries could open the spigots and crash the price (as has happened several times already). Just not worth the risk at $200/bbl.
Yup. Occams razor states when given two differing explanations for something the simplest one that makes the fewest assumptions is most likely to be true. Though it's also true the stuff released by the judiciary committee shows that a lot of the "elites" in our society are truly terrible people.
November 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Yup. Occams razor states when given two differing explanations for something the simplest one that makes the fewest assumptions is most likely to be true. Though it's also true the stuff released by the judiciary committee shows that a lot of the "elites" in our society are truly terrible people.
I'm an academic physicist with an HPC focus. You used to be able to buy GPUs for science at reasonable prices but academia is priced out now though access is still available through govt supercomputers. If they drop the price by a factor 10 we'd be happy to buy them but that would kill NV margins.
November 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I'm an academic physicist with an HPC focus. You used to be able to buy GPUs for science at reasonable prices but academia is priced out now though access is still available through govt supercomputers. If they drop the price by a factor 10 we'd be happy to buy them but that would kill NV margins.
Sadly the form factor is probably wrong for gaming PCs and no video out.
November 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Sadly the form factor is probably wrong for gaming PCs and no video out.
Happy to be proven wrong but I think McCain was the last R who might have done it.
November 24, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Happy to be proven wrong but I think McCain was the last R who might have done it.
Obama was a better candidate than Harris. He won NC in 2008 with 0.32% of the vote while she lost in 2024 by 3.2%. He was helped by the R's presiding over the worst financial crisis in decades. Harris had no such tail wind. She had to be better to stand a chance but he was a generational talent.
November 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Obama was a better candidate than Harris. He won NC in 2008 with 0.32% of the vote while she lost in 2024 by 3.2%. He was helped by the R's presiding over the worst financial crisis in decades. Harris had no such tail wind. She had to be better to stand a chance but he was a generational talent.
Absolutely. The National party has spent way too much money on consultants which would have been better spent on local party building.
November 24, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Absolutely. The National party has spent way too much money on consultants which would have been better spent on local party building.
have an indirect effect on Presidential elections through voter suppression laws. And sure, a big enough wave election can overcome these things but it will take a tsunami to do it here.
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
have an indirect effect on Presidential elections through voter suppression laws. And sure, a big enough wave election can overcome these things but it will take a tsunami to do it here.
Yes gerrymandering is not a direct issue for presidential elections. It's brutally effective at the state level though. Here in NC dems swept G,LG,AG and SOS in 2024 but R's have near super majorities in the legislature -- even though voters cast more aggregate votes for Dem candidates. That does
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Yes gerrymandering is not a direct issue for presidential elections. It's brutally effective at the state level though. Here in NC dems swept G,LG,AG and SOS in 2024 but R's have near super majorities in the legislature -- even though voters cast more aggregate votes for Dem candidates. That does