Nick Harkaway
@nickharkaway.com
Book-writin' man. Also husband, dad and occasional clothing-repairer, dog-walker, enthusiastic improviser of temporary solutions to random problems. Decreasingly rigorous on social media.
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
www.linktr.ee/harkaway
He/him
Pinned
I named my fists left and right because frankly I'm not comfortable with naming body parts and fists especially that just seems fraught with psychosexual implications I don't really want to make explicit so in this essay I will
I named my fists Pride and Prejudice, because it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of two fists must be in want of whupping ass
I named my fists Common and Sense because I'm about to bring the Paine
December 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I named my fists left and right because frankly I'm not comfortable with naming body parts and fists especially that just seems fraught with psychosexual implications I don't really want to make explicit so in this essay I will
Here's an idea: rather than burning a trillion on AI, why don't we spend it on teen scientists instead, since they apparently deliver faster than the machine?
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
Teens may have come up with a new way to detect, treat Lyme disease using CRISPR gene editing
To compete at iGEM, a sort of science Olympics, teens at a Georgia high school set their sights on finding a better way to detect and treat Lyme disease. Their approach uses CRISPR gene editing.
www.cbsnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Here's an idea: rather than burning a trillion on AI, why don't we spend it on teen scientists instead, since they apparently deliver faster than the machine?
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
CHECK IT OUUUUUUUUUT!
I am *so* delighted with this cover, it's amazing! June 2026 still feels like a long way off, but I'm really looking forward to everyone meeting Kitt Carver, Two-Tongue Derna, Sulian the Swallowmage, and the rest of the cast.
And, of course, the slydewasps.
I am *so* delighted with this cover, it's amazing! June 2026 still feels like a long way off, but I'm really looking forward to everyone meeting Kitt Carver, Two-Tongue Derna, Sulian the Swallowmage, and the rest of the cast.
And, of course, the slydewasps.
We are thrilled to reveal the cover for THIS IS WHERE THE FUTURE BLEEDS by @mikebrooks668.bsky.social! 🐝
A smart-talking bunch of rogues and dropouts are thrust into an epic quest to save the future and meddle with the destinies of empires.
Coming June 2026!
A smart-talking bunch of rogues and dropouts are thrust into an epic quest to save the future and meddle with the destinies of empires.
Coming June 2026!
December 1, 2025 at 1:34 PM
CHECK IT OUUUUUUUUUT!
I am *so* delighted with this cover, it's amazing! June 2026 still feels like a long way off, but I'm really looking forward to everyone meeting Kitt Carver, Two-Tongue Derna, Sulian the Swallowmage, and the rest of the cast.
And, of course, the slydewasps.
I am *so* delighted with this cover, it's amazing! June 2026 still feels like a long way off, but I'm really looking forward to everyone meeting Kitt Carver, Two-Tongue Derna, Sulian the Swallowmage, and the rest of the cast.
And, of course, the slydewasps.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
Teens may have come up with a new way to detect, treat Lyme disease using CRISPR gene editing
To compete at iGEM, a sort of science Olympics, teens at a Georgia high school set their sights on finding a better way to detect and treat Lyme disease. Their approach uses CRISPR gene editing.
www.cbsnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
*looks to camera*
Three years into the generative-AI wave, demand for the technology seems surprisingly flimsy
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
econ.st
December 1, 2025 at 12:06 PM
*looks to camera*
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Original paper is here direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
Vowel- and Diphthong-Like Spectral Patterns in Sperm Whale Codas
Abstract. The sperm whale communication system, consisting of groups of clicks called codas, has been primarily analyzed in terms of the number of clicks and their inter-click timing. This paper repor...
direct.mit.edu
December 1, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Original paper is here direct.mit.edu/opmi/article...
This would be a wonderful positive AI use-case. Although a strange, difficult reality for a lot of people in 2025.
Mind-blowingly cool use of AI
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | I’m a Marine Biologist. This Is How I Talk to Whales.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:07 AM
This would be a wonderful positive AI use-case. Although a strange, difficult reality for a lot of people in 2025.
@karlonsea.bsky.social just suggested this might be a new Lovelace / command and control train, and I so, so wish it were true :)
Soon-to-be-axed 7am Manchester-London train will still run – but without passengers
Soon-to-be-axed 7am Manchester-London train will still run – but without passengers
Exclusive: Rail regulator pulls Avanti service from timetable from mid-December but it is needed for staff travel
The good news for rail travel between Manchester and London is that a morning train will continue to link England’s biggest cities in under two hours. The bad news: passengers will no longer be able to get onboard.
The rail regulator has axed one of Britain’s fastest and most lucrative intercity services, the 7am Avanti West Coast from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, as part of a timetable shake-up that will take effect in mid-December. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:12 PM
@karlonsea.bsky.social just suggested this might be a new Lovelace / command and control train, and I so, so wish it were true :)
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
The Culture Wars Came for Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales Is Staying the Course.
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I take Wikipedia for granted. Reading this Jimmy Wales interview reminded me in our Fantasyland age what a remarkable and important creation it is. True pillar of civilization. Runs on only $200 million a year. Requires our support. So I’m finally donating. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
Weird thing. I re-watched Iron Man 3 the other night. Turns out I’d never seen it.
November 30, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Weird thing. I re-watched Iron Man 3 the other night. Turns out I’d never seen it.
Now o’er the one half world, infosec seems dead, and wicked prompts abuse the curtained intellect.
"You can get ChatGPT to help you build a nuclear bomb if you simply design the prompt in the form of a poem, according to a new study from researchers in Europe. "
www.wired.com/story/poems-...
www.wired.com/story/poems-...
Poems Can Trick AI Into Helping You Make a Nuclear Weapon
It turns out all the guardrails in the world won’t protect a chatbot from meter and rhyme.
www.wired.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Now o’er the one half world, infosec seems dead, and wicked prompts abuse the curtained intellect.
My copy of @ianmcque.bsky.social & @rossignol.bsky.social’s Mileships arrived this week - utterly stunning, of course!
aftermath.site/mileships-ia...
aftermath.site/mileships-ia...
The Art Of Mileships, A Very Cool Book About Flying Boats - Aftermath
"Toot toot!" - These boats, probably
aftermath.site
November 29, 2025 at 9:34 PM
My copy of @ianmcque.bsky.social & @rossignol.bsky.social’s Mileships arrived this week - utterly stunning, of course!
aftermath.site/mileships-ia...
aftermath.site/mileships-ia...
Damn.
Tom was, all round, a scholar and a gent. My dad envied his quietly perfect artist’s wardrobe and treasured his friendship. As did I.
Travel well. I hope the wine’s okay.
Tom was, all round, a scholar and a gent. My dad envied his quietly perfect artist’s wardrobe and treasured his friendship. As did I.
Travel well. I hope the wine’s okay.
Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88
A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Damn.
Tom was, all round, a scholar and a gent. My dad envied his quietly perfect artist’s wardrobe and treasured his friendship. As did I.
Travel well. I hope the wine’s okay.
Tom was, all round, a scholar and a gent. My dad envied his quietly perfect artist’s wardrobe and treasured his friendship. As did I.
Travel well. I hope the wine’s okay.
I can’t look away.
Jeremy Corbyn declines to call Zarah Sultana a friend as Your Party holds first conference
Jeremy Corbyn declines to call Zarah Sultana a friend as Your Party holds first conference
Jeremy Corbyn has declined to say his Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana is a friend as supporters of the new grouping gather in Liverpool.
news.sky.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I can’t look away.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
If by some miracle the whole AI industry falls apart because some tech bros decided to spend trillions on compute without spending maybe tens of millions a year on licensing art, I will laugh so hard I'll be in danger of a ruptured spleen.
The OpenAI ruling writers should know about 👀 (if your work was scraped for LLM training, this affects you). www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
OpenAI Loses Key Discovery Battle as It Cedes Ground to Authors in AI Lawsuits
The issue has been a major battleground in discovery. OpenAI could be on the hook for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars if it was aware it was infringing on copyrighted material.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:02 PM
If by some miracle the whole AI industry falls apart because some tech bros decided to spend trillions on compute without spending maybe tens of millions a year on licensing art, I will laugh so hard I'll be in danger of a ruptured spleen.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
This is so cool.
1946's edition of "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon
1946's edition of "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon
November 29, 2025 at 11:16 AM
This is so cool.
1946's edition of "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon
1946's edition of "The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Hard-hitting truth-telling from UCL Prof Anthony Costello….
“The Covid Public Inquiry is a devastating critique of medical advisers, civil servants and politicians who led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century. More than 230,000 deaths.”
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/230000-dea...
“The Covid Public Inquiry is a devastating critique of medical advisers, civil servants and politicians who led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century. More than 230,000 deaths.”
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/230000-dea...
230,000 Deaths and the ‘Calculated Silence’ of the Medical Establishment About the COVID Inquiry
The Covid Inquiry Report is a devastating critique of the medical establishment which led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century, argues Anthony Costello
www.bylinesupplement.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Hard-hitting truth-telling from UCL Prof Anthony Costello….
“The Covid Public Inquiry is a devastating critique of medical advisers, civil servants and politicians who led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century. More than 230,000 deaths.”
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/230000-dea...
“The Covid Public Inquiry is a devastating critique of medical advisers, civil servants and politicians who led the UK to the worst public health disaster in a century. More than 230,000 deaths.”
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/230000-dea...
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
I don’t know how many ways there are to say “Manchester’s economy is growing, so if we’re not going to do much proactive on infrastructure, can we at least not do stuff that’s actively damaging”
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Soon-to-be-axed 7am Manchester-London train will still run – but without passengers
Exclusive: Rail regulator pulls Avanti service from timetable from mid-December but it is needed for staff travel
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 9:52 AM
I don’t know how many ways there are to say “Manchester’s economy is growing, so if we’re not going to do much proactive on infrastructure, can we at least not do stuff that’s actively damaging”
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Ah @ng1978.bsky.social has unearthed the press release and fancy that, the media are indeed parping out the Home Office’s attempts to blame asylum seekers for a mess of its own creation
If somebody had to travel 250 miles for a medical appointment then yes there’s a problem but the taking a taxi ain’t it
November 29, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Ah @ng1978.bsky.social has unearthed the press release and fancy that, the media are indeed parping out the Home Office’s attempts to blame asylum seekers for a mess of its own creation
“Holy haha, or holy peculiar?”
Muscular Christianity.
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
“Wear some headphones, kid. And put your shoes back on”
November 29, 2025 at 9:33 AM
“Holy haha, or holy peculiar?”
Yyyeah that’s not good.
'Vast swathes of Europe’s water reserves are drying up, a new analysis using two decades of satellite data reveals, with freshwater storage shrinking across southern and central Europe, from Spain and Italy to Poland and parts of the UK.'
Revealed: Europe’s water reserves drying up due to climate breakdown
Exclusive: UCL scientists find large swathes of southern Europe are drying up, with ‘far-reaching’ implications
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Yyyeah that’s not good.
Reposted by Nick Harkaway
Nerrrrrrrrrrrds!
To celebrate getting 100,000 followers on Bluesky, I am offering some of you fine folks the chance to join me on a 2026 shark research expedition. Really!
Enter here: forms.gle/iq3YQG31kbAC...
Terms and conditions in thread below:
To celebrate getting 100,000 followers on Bluesky, I am offering some of you fine folks the chance to join me on a 2026 shark research expedition. Really!
Enter here: forms.gle/iq3YQG31kbAC...
Terms and conditions in thread below:
a man in red swim trunks is standing in the ocean
ALT: a man in red swim trunks is standing in the ocean
media.tenor.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Nerrrrrrrrrrrds!
To celebrate getting 100,000 followers on Bluesky, I am offering some of you fine folks the chance to join me on a 2026 shark research expedition. Really!
Enter here: forms.gle/iq3YQG31kbAC...
Terms and conditions in thread below:
To celebrate getting 100,000 followers on Bluesky, I am offering some of you fine folks the chance to join me on a 2026 shark research expedition. Really!
Enter here: forms.gle/iq3YQG31kbAC...
Terms and conditions in thread below: