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Prof Ben Britton

@bmatb.expmicromech.com

2.8K followers 1.2K following 2.8K posts

Dyslexic atomic sorcerer @ UBC, Vancouver 🍁 (he/him & 🏳️‍🌈). 🐕 dad. Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (🔬⚛️), Clean Tech, Academic Governance (UBC Senate & Faculty Assoc.), EDI. Leads @expmicromech.com. Has too many hills to die on. Views own.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · Apr 16

Academic Freedom at #UBC has been on my mind quite a bit recently - in light of the proposed new Senate Policy - also recently due to very helpful discussions with colleagues, and the open letter that's been circulating.

Here are some of my thoughts:
bmatb.medium.com/academic-fre...

#AcademicSky

Academic Freedom @ UBC

As a tenured professor and active participant in UBC governance, I have been closely following ongoing discussions about academic freedom…

bmatb.medium.com

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Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 2h

I know it is beside the point because this administration simply wants resegregation but conferences for Black professional associations have always been open to everyone. Typically, the started as a response to white exclusion, and did not replicate that.

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 2h

Very bad: OSU unilaterally cancelled the registration of grad students attending the joint conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists. And OSU won't fund recruiting at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats

A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.

www.dispatch.com

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Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Benjamin McKean @blmckean.bsky.social · 2h

Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats

A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.

www.dispatch.com

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Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.bsky.social · 23h

you use llms to:
brainstorm an idea
summarise your lit review
analysis your data
evaluate your findings
write your paper…

a reviewer then uses llms to:
summarise your paper
assess the value of it
check for plagiarism
write-up review…

do you see how this destroys academic integrity

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 18h

Thank you! I am yet to be persuaded about the "long running" game - maybe when I have recovered...

Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 19h

Here's what today's Nobel Prize in Economics was all about: the importance of science and technology in driving economic growth, and the need for churn in companies to sustain it.
(Peter Howitt's name seems to have got massacred in subediting: will get that fixed asap)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Client Challenge

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Stu Cantrill @stuartcantrill.com · 19h

‘Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth’ by @philipcball.bsky.social in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Screenshot that reads:

The award "underlies the importance in investing in science for innovation and long-term economic growth", says economist Diane Coyle of the University of Cambridge. "It's great to see the Nobel prize recognize the importance of this topic," adds innovation policy researcher Richard Jones of the University of Manchester, UK. "It's important that economists understand the conditions that lead to technological progress," he adds. The winners, says Coyle, "have long been on people's list of potential candidates".

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 19h

Also - unrelated post.

I have some choice words for the inventor of staircases.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 19h

So yesterday - I managed to run a marathon. It's a hard & type ~2.5 activity. It wasn't helped by the cold rain, & yes, I am unsure if I will do it again.

Chosen to do because it's a thing grown people can do at a certain age & I hang out with too many runners.

A representative self at the end.

A blurry selfie with me in a space blanket

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Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 21h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 4d

Not fresh. It's the old shit backing up again...

Reposted by Prof Ben Britton

Seema Jayachandran @seema.bsky.social · 7d

We just spent 6 months to add 1 figure to this paper. Some people said, "Couples aren't prioritizing men's careers. Men just have better earnings opportunities when moving."

Earnings effects of moves for couples on the left, singles on the right. Negligible gap between single men and women.

Event study coefficients that show that men's earnings rise more than women's among couples following a cross-commuting zone move (left panels). The pattern is muted or reverses among single men and single women (right panels).

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 4d

Yep - and all of these are ~two orders of magnitude bigger than what's being raised as a point of concern

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

Yep - it's an unhelpful take on the data

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

Anyway these are the many thoughts of a neurodivergent individual recovering from an episode of acute hyperfocus.

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

And as per the article - and the major concerns raised - re ADHD and substance abuse.

That's also a complicated story - many neurodivergent people "clump together" socially, and it's more than I am willing to share on social media - let's just say I have seen this first hand 😭.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

As a "highly functional" neurodivergent individual - all of this is normal, sadly, but equally frustrating when I see it broken down.

My neurodivergence makes me very good at many aspects of my job, and life, but also the "oh why don't I eat properly/why can't I sleep properly" hits me in the face.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

I also find articles on ADHD, and related issues, quite triggering.

I say this after hyperfoccusing on something yesterday and finishing work way later than I wanted + almost not eating.

There is the: neurodivergence is a spectrum / basket of spicy traits; and also "hmm - do I have ADHD"

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

"The study says it’s estimated that 2.5 to 2.9 per cent of Canadians have ADHD."

2.5% of 100,000 = 2,500.

The article can also be how ADHD is wildly under diagnosed in a formal setting…

#TeamNeurodivergant

The Tyee @thetyee.ca · 5d

The number of British Columbians getting diagnosed with ADHD jumped from around nine people per 100,000 in 2013 to around 35 people per 100,000 in 2023.

@michellegamage.bsky.social reports. 🧠

BC’s ADHD Diagnoses Skyrocketed During and After the Pandemic | The Tyee

This concerns substance use researchers because people with ADHD are more at risk from unregulated drugs.

thetyee.ca

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 5d

Early stage - it happens too. The ranks thin a bit as you progress, and the battles diversify...

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

Oh it happens less and less often, so each day the clock resets it is memorable.

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

Days since I was assumed to be a grad student - 0.

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

Never heard of it... Is it fun?

Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

And for people who know what I am dealing with, this could be related to one of four 'big' conversations yesterday.

I am sure that at one point I moved to UBC to have a less chaotic/busy time of things 🫠

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

I texted an academic friend (they gave me an opening with some drama they have) - we shared solidarity, strategized, and laughed at how messed up these things are. Oh and the strategies are 👌

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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 6d

I tried texting a non academic friend about something and I couldn't quite translate the relative scale of my stress and how it centered on something "tiny" (how colleagues work together) but also large (the $$$ on the table)

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