Scott McFarnell
@scottmcf.bsky.social
Assistant Headteacher. Interested in how neuroscience can support education.
#EduSky
#EduSky
Suede at Folkestone
February 1, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Suede at Folkestone
Does our sense of self ebb and flow depending on the situation?
February 1, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Does our sense of self ebb and flow depending on the situation?
Some might see this as almost sacrilegious - an AI Blade Runner musical… but I quite like it.
(From thismustbefake.ai)
(From thismustbefake.ai)
January 31, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Some might see this as almost sacrilegious - an AI Blade Runner musical… but I quite like it.
(From thismustbefake.ai)
(From thismustbefake.ai)
Can consciousness exist without uncertainty?
January 30, 2026 at 7:10 AM
Can consciousness exist without uncertainty?
Fascinating. @neddo.bsky.social tells @seanmcarroll.bsky.social that ctenophores might represent the earliest-branching animal lineage & their nervous systems rely more on electrical coupling than those of most animals, challenging assumptions about the universality of chemical synapses in neurons.
January 25, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Fascinating. @neddo.bsky.social tells @seanmcarroll.bsky.social that ctenophores might represent the earliest-branching animal lineage & their nervous systems rely more on electrical coupling than those of most animals, challenging assumptions about the universality of chemical synapses in neurons.
A fly uses a convolutional neural network to see, just like a self-driving car. Picture from Sebastian Seung.
January 24, 2026 at 9:04 AM
A fly uses a convolutional neural network to see, just like a self-driving car. Picture from Sebastian Seung.
Future ChatGPTing will depend on billions from SoftBank in Japan & MGX in Abu Dhabi to build Oracle’s Texas cloud via Stargate in Abilene, powered by Nvidia chips designed in Silicon Valley, fabricated by Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Company with machines from Veldhoven.
January 24, 2026 at 8:39 AM
Future ChatGPTing will depend on billions from SoftBank in Japan & MGX in Abu Dhabi to build Oracle’s Texas cloud via Stargate in Abilene, powered by Nvidia chips designed in Silicon Valley, fabricated by Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Company with machines from Veldhoven.
‘The Hamlet Problem’ In neuroscience & consciousness:
• Sensory data is noisy, partial & delayed
• Stakes of action are real & sometimes urgent
• Waiting for certainty may be worse than acting wrongly.
Consciousness enables action in an uncertain & constrained world. See: @smfleming.bsky.social
• Sensory data is noisy, partial & delayed
• Stakes of action are real & sometimes urgent
• Waiting for certainty may be worse than acting wrongly.
Consciousness enables action in an uncertain & constrained world. See: @smfleming.bsky.social
January 23, 2026 at 10:16 PM
‘The Hamlet Problem’ In neuroscience & consciousness:
• Sensory data is noisy, partial & delayed
• Stakes of action are real & sometimes urgent
• Waiting for certainty may be worse than acting wrongly.
Consciousness enables action in an uncertain & constrained world. See: @smfleming.bsky.social
• Sensory data is noisy, partial & delayed
• Stakes of action are real & sometimes urgent
• Waiting for certainty may be worse than acting wrongly.
Consciousness enables action in an uncertain & constrained world. See: @smfleming.bsky.social
Holographic Universe Infographic
January 17, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Holographic Universe Infographic
The future hurtles toward us.
Do inventors catch it first?
Do inventors catch it first?
January 17, 2026 at 8:46 PM
The future hurtles toward us.
Do inventors catch it first?
Do inventors catch it first?
You can’t create or destroy matter or energy.
But the universe seems to be constantly creating more and more new information.
If information is physical…
where does the extra information come from?
But the universe seems to be constantly creating more and more new information.
If information is physical…
where does the extra information come from?
January 17, 2026 at 12:51 PM
You can’t create or destroy matter or energy.
But the universe seems to be constantly creating more and more new information.
If information is physical…
where does the extra information come from?
But the universe seems to be constantly creating more and more new information.
If information is physical…
where does the extra information come from?
‘Pride & Prejudice’ isn't the ink. It isn't the paper. It isn't even the neurons firing in your brain.
It has no mass, no energy, and no location. Yet it exists.
What is the physics of fiction?
Does a story exist outside of space and time?
It has no mass, no energy, and no location. Yet it exists.
What is the physics of fiction?
Does a story exist outside of space and time?
January 17, 2026 at 12:30 PM
‘Pride & Prejudice’ isn't the ink. It isn't the paper. It isn't even the neurons firing in your brain.
It has no mass, no energy, and no location. Yet it exists.
What is the physics of fiction?
Does a story exist outside of space and time?
It has no mass, no energy, and no location. Yet it exists.
What is the physics of fiction?
Does a story exist outside of space and time?
Another beautiful day
January 4, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Another beautiful day
This is an interesting paper. Thanks for sharing. @neddo.bsky.social raises a further question: does suffering require consciousness? Even if AIs cannot be conscious, can they suffer?
January 2, 2026 at 5:12 PM
This is an interesting paper. Thanks for sharing. @neddo.bsky.social raises a further question: does suffering require consciousness? Even if AIs cannot be conscious, can they suffer?
Yesterday’s sunset
January 2, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Yesterday’s sunset
Or how about
Blake’s 7 v Space: 1999
Blake’s 7 v Space: 1999
January 2, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Or how about
Blake’s 7 v Space: 1999
Blake’s 7 v Space: 1999
In honour of National Science Fiction day (2 Jan), I’m posting this.
It caused some debate in my household. Which franchise do you think is top of the ladder?
• Doctor Who
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
It caused some debate in my household. Which franchise do you think is top of the ladder?
• Doctor Who
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
January 2, 2026 at 10:19 AM
In honour of National Science Fiction day (2 Jan), I’m posting this.
It caused some debate in my household. Which franchise do you think is top of the ladder?
• Doctor Who
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
It caused some debate in my household. Which franchise do you think is top of the ladder?
• Doctor Who
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
Beautiful morning - with the cliff from Shakespeare’s King Lear in the background.
December 31, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Beautiful morning - with the cliff from Shakespeare’s King Lear in the background.
It seems to be an exciting time in AI development with Embodied Spatial Intelligence progressing from 1-dimensional Large Language Models to World Labs’ 4-dimensional Large World Models, via Dreamer’s virtual simulations & Liquid’s adaptive (C. elegans inspired) networks.
December 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM
It seems to be an exciting time in AI development with Embodied Spatial Intelligence progressing from 1-dimensional Large Language Models to World Labs’ 4-dimensional Large World Models, via Dreamer’s virtual simulations & Liquid’s adaptive (C. elegans inspired) networks.
The sun is just peeking out
December 30, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The sun is just peeking out
Science Fiction fans - what do you think of this? 😉
December 28, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Science Fiction fans - what do you think of this? 😉
Microsoft Copilot - Is it suddenly getting better?
Anyone tried it lately?
Unexpectedly seems to be keeping pace with (& sometimes outdoing) GPT-5.2 & Gemini 3.
Or have I just had a lucky run?
Anyone tried it lately?
Unexpectedly seems to be keeping pace with (& sometimes outdoing) GPT-5.2 & Gemini 3.
Or have I just had a lucky run?
December 26, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Microsoft Copilot - Is it suddenly getting better?
Anyone tried it lately?
Unexpectedly seems to be keeping pace with (& sometimes outdoing) GPT-5.2 & Gemini 3.
Or have I just had a lucky run?
Anyone tried it lately?
Unexpectedly seems to be keeping pace with (& sometimes outdoing) GPT-5.2 & Gemini 3.
Or have I just had a lucky run?
We’ve reached the point where AI reads your emails… and replies to emails written by another AI.
‘Real Genius’ (1985) saw this coming: students recording lectures on tape until even the professor was just a tape recorder.
We’re nearly at ‘no humans in the room.’
‘Real Genius’ (1985) saw this coming: students recording lectures on tape until even the professor was just a tape recorder.
We’re nearly at ‘no humans in the room.’
December 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
We’ve reached the point where AI reads your emails… and replies to emails written by another AI.
‘Real Genius’ (1985) saw this coming: students recording lectures on tape until even the professor was just a tape recorder.
We’re nearly at ‘no humans in the room.’
‘Real Genius’ (1985) saw this coming: students recording lectures on tape until even the professor was just a tape recorder.
We’re nearly at ‘no humans in the room.’