Miles Babbage
@milesbabbage.bsky.social
Neurobiology, genetics, molecular biology, biophysics, general mad science, and a reasonable amount of terror.
I just saw an AI video featuring Robin Williams, and I think we need to have a talk about necromancy. You know, the part of magic that deals with creation of the undead and such. 🧵
October 6, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I just saw an AI video featuring Robin Williams, and I think we need to have a talk about necromancy. You know, the part of magic that deals with creation of the undead and such. 🧵
If you need any more proof that vaccines work: health insurance companies, with their long history of putting profit ahead of any moral qualms (or basic decency) are still going to pay for vaccinations, despite RFK giving them an easy out.
Vaccines prevent costly hospitalizations.
Vaccines prevent costly hospitalizations.
September 18, 2025 at 2:18 AM
If you need any more proof that vaccines work: health insurance companies, with their long history of putting profit ahead of any moral qualms (or basic decency) are still going to pay for vaccinations, despite RFK giving them an easy out.
Vaccines prevent costly hospitalizations.
Vaccines prevent costly hospitalizations.
Reposted by Miles Babbage
Update: Civil War cancelled due to shooter being demographically uncooperative
September 12, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Update: Civil War cancelled due to shooter being demographically uncooperative
The only appropriate response today is to appreciate Kirk's commitment to the gun rights of the sniper who shot him.
September 10, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The only appropriate response today is to appreciate Kirk's commitment to the gun rights of the sniper who shot him.
This is a reminder that apps like Zelle and Venmo exist so that banks can avoid regulations and consumer protections. If anyone gets into your app and takes your money, you have pretty much no recourse.
New York sues Zelle, says security lapses led to $1 billion consumer fraud losses
Zelle was sued on Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said the electronic payment platform's refusal to adopt critical safety features enabled fraudsters to steal more than $1 billion from consumers.
www.reuters.com
August 13, 2025 at 7:25 PM
This is a reminder that apps like Zelle and Venmo exist so that banks can avoid regulations and consumer protections. If anyone gets into your app and takes your money, you have pretty much no recourse.
A thing to note: "the manosphere" is a scam that is run by "influencers" who profit from keeping their customers (single men) lonely, angry, and engaged with their "content."
i wanna try something. quote this post if you’re a man who hates the manosphere
August 2, 2025 at 3:37 AM
A thing to note: "the manosphere" is a scam that is run by "influencers" who profit from keeping their customers (single men) lonely, angry, and engaged with their "content."
Credit: TikTok user Andr3w.
July 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Credit: TikTok user Andr3w.
Reposted by Miles Babbage
As some Democrats spent the week trying to destroy Mamdani, Republicans are uniting to pass the big beautiful billionaire bill and destroy our Medicaid and add $4.5 trillion in debt to give billionaires the biggest wealth transfer in US history.
Priorities.
Priorities.
June 29, 2025 at 5:17 AM
As some Democrats spent the week trying to destroy Mamdani, Republicans are uniting to pass the big beautiful billionaire bill and destroy our Medicaid and add $4.5 trillion in debt to give billionaires the biggest wealth transfer in US history.
Priorities.
Priorities.
I know everyone is looking at Iran right now, but... Firing generals and other military staff, and then putting ultra-rich corporate executives in charge? From Meta and Palantir?
Call me alarmist, but it seems like something we should be concerned about...
Call me alarmist, but it seems like something we should be concerned about...
US Army appoints Palantir, Meta, OpenAI execs as Lt. Colonels - The Grayzone
Four senior executives at Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI have been formally appointed lieutenant colonels in the US Army following the creation of a “special” unit created for rich Big Tech mavens seeking...
thegrayzone.com
June 22, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I know everyone is looking at Iran right now, but... Firing generals and other military staff, and then putting ultra-rich corporate executives in charge? From Meta and Palantir?
Call me alarmist, but it seems like something we should be concerned about...
Call me alarmist, but it seems like something we should be concerned about...
Reposted by Miles Babbage
A major danger of LLMs is that humans are SO predisposed to attribute knowledge to any entity that uses natural language fluently. We cannot imagine that a machine that outputs natural-seeming speech/text doesn't have cognition. Brilliantly articulated by @emilymbender.bsky.social et al. (2021).
![Text generated by an LM is not grounded in communicative intent, any model of the world, or any model of the reader’s state of mind. It can’t have been, because the training data never included sharing thoughts with a listener, nor does the machine have the ability to do that. This can seem counter-intuitive given the increasingly fluent qualities of automatically generated text, but we have to account for the fact that our perception of natural language text, regardless of how it was generated, is mediated by our own linguistic competence and our predisposition to interpret communicative acts as conveying coherent meaning and intent, whether or not they do [89, 140].”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uj2g526vwfe3qnpuskjexeyp/bafkreiappchidtcrrumnegykz4uq6chvznuu6fg4pbutw5y7yjaab2iczu@jpeg)
June 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A major danger of LLMs is that humans are SO predisposed to attribute knowledge to any entity that uses natural language fluently. We cannot imagine that a machine that outputs natural-seeming speech/text doesn't have cognition. Brilliantly articulated by @emilymbender.bsky.social et al. (2021).
Phthalates are chemicals that are widely used in a bunch of products (soaps, detergents, vinyl flooring). A new study in Nature confirms previous results, showing that phthalate exposure in newborns and infants disrupts critical parts of brain metabolism. (Thread, 1/6)
Impact of prenatal phthalate exposure on newborn metabolome and infant neurodevelopment - Nature Communications
Prenatal exposure to phthalates has been linked to metabolic and neurodevelopmental disruptions but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the authors show that prenatal phthalate exposure alters newbor...
www.nature.com
April 11, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Phthalates are chemicals that are widely used in a bunch of products (soaps, detergents, vinyl flooring). A new study in Nature confirms previous results, showing that phthalate exposure in newborns and infants disrupts critical parts of brain metabolism. (Thread, 1/6)
Blatant, shameless market manipulation.
Alright, I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded it beforehand.
You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls
RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those calls are up 2100% in one hour.
You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls
RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those calls are up 2100% in one hour.
April 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Blatant, shameless market manipulation.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but direwolves have NOT been resurrected. There are approx. 12 million base pairs different between gray wolf and direwolf genomes. Colossal Biosciences edited about 20 genes total. 1/3
No, the dire wolf has not been brought back from extinction
Colossal Biosciences claims three pups born recently are dire wolves, but they are actually grey wolves with genetic edits intended to make them resemble the lost species
www.newscientist.com
April 8, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Sorry to rain on the parade, but direwolves have NOT been resurrected. There are approx. 12 million base pairs different between gray wolf and direwolf genomes. Colossal Biosciences edited about 20 genes total. 1/3
"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."
Dr. Peter Marks, while being ousted by RFK - ex-heroin addict and brain worm carrier with zero knowledge of science or medicine. Wild.
Dr. Peter Marks, while being ousted by RFK - ex-heroin addict and brain worm carrier with zero knowledge of science or medicine. Wild.
FDA's top vaccine official forced out, decries RFK Jr.'s "misinformation and lies"
A Department of Health and Human Services official delivered an ultimatum to Dr. Peter Marks: either resign or be fired.
www.cbsnews.com
March 29, 2025 at 4:50 AM
"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."
Dr. Peter Marks, while being ousted by RFK - ex-heroin addict and brain worm carrier with zero knowledge of science or medicine. Wild.
Dr. Peter Marks, while being ousted by RFK - ex-heroin addict and brain worm carrier with zero knowledge of science or medicine. Wild.
Non-AI summary of today's most important news: "The hapless family of hamsters that runs the Democratic Party celebrates Chuck Shumer's ability to walk without a spine."
March 14, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Non-AI summary of today's most important news: "The hapless family of hamsters that runs the Democratic Party celebrates Chuck Shumer's ability to walk without a spine."
Reposted by Miles Babbage
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
March 5, 2025 at 10:34 PM
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
😄🤣🤣😄😅😐😑
At this point, the only reasonable explanation is that the leadership of the Democratic party has a humiliation fetish.
At this point, the only reasonable explanation is that the leadership of the Democratic party has a humiliation fetish.
New: Last month, a group of moderate Democratic consultants, campaign staffers, elected officials & party leaders gathered in Loudoun County, Virginia, for a retreat where they plotted their party’s comeback.
We got their takeaways. t.co/bEwlg4jbtM
We got their takeaways. t.co/bEwlg4jbtM
March 3, 2025 at 2:30 AM
😄🤣🤣😄😅😐😑
At this point, the only reasonable explanation is that the leadership of the Democratic party has a humiliation fetish.
At this point, the only reasonable explanation is that the leadership of the Democratic party has a humiliation fetish.
Reposted by Miles Babbage
democrats are once again bringing a hand job to a gun fight
February 3, 2025 at 5:56 PM
democrats are once again bringing a hand job to a gun fight
Reposted by Miles Babbage
In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server.
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
February 4, 2025 at 1:51 PM
In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server.
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding
After previously pausing all NIH and NSF communications (and thus grant reviews), the White House has now paused federal grant disbursements. This is to make sure that already approved grants align with the priorities of the administration. Farewell, independent science in the US.
thehill.com
January 28, 2025 at 7:37 AM
After previously pausing all NIH and NSF communications (and thus grant reviews), the White House has now paused federal grant disbursements. This is to make sure that already approved grants align with the priorities of the administration. Farewell, independent science in the US.
You should read this essay about how Sam Harris's friendship with Elon Musk imploded. Not for its intended point - that part is only mildly interesting, and utterly unsurprising to anyone who's been paying attention. Instead, consider Harris's surprise at Musk's behavior. 1/3
The Trouble with Elon
I didn’t set out to become an enemy of the world’s richest man, but I seem to have managed it all the same.
samharris.substack.com
January 19, 2025 at 9:10 AM
You should read this essay about how Sam Harris's friendship with Elon Musk imploded. Not for its intended point - that part is only mildly interesting, and utterly unsurprising to anyone who's been paying attention. Instead, consider Harris's surprise at Musk's behavior. 1/3
One has to admire the balanced mixture of propaganda and ass-kissing in TikTok's closing message. Well honed, mask off, harbinger of how everyone expects things to work from this point on.
You want something from daddy? Bend the knee and praise the great leader.
You want something from daddy? Bend the knee and praise the great leader.
January 19, 2025 at 7:38 AM
One has to admire the balanced mixture of propaganda and ass-kissing in TikTok's closing message. Well honed, mask off, harbinger of how everyone expects things to work from this point on.
You want something from daddy? Bend the knee and praise the great leader.
You want something from daddy? Bend the knee and praise the great leader.
A few months ago, LA reduced their firefighting budget in order to give more money to the LAPD. So, if we can somehow make the fires darker, perhaps we can get the police to go out and beat them?
January 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
A few months ago, LA reduced their firefighting budget in order to give more money to the LAPD. So, if we can somehow make the fires darker, perhaps we can get the police to go out and beat them?
Provided with no comment.
January 9, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Provided with no comment.