Shobita Parthasarathy
@shobitap.org
Science & tech politics/policy incl patents. Author: next book on politics of inclusive innovation/tech for equity. #STS scholar. Prof & Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, U of Michigan. Expert Voices columnist, Science. shobitap.org
Pinned
Shobita Parthasarathy
@shobitap.org
· Sep 18
Beware the drive to scale technology
When it comes to technology, scalability—its capacity to be standardized and then distributed en masse and across contexts—is the ultimate goal. Scientists and engineers view scalability as the route ...
www.science.org
I am a new Expert Voices columnist @science.org and my first article just came out! In it, I argue that scaling technology has a dark side, particularly when it comes to alleviating inequality and injustice. And I suggest what scientists, engineers, and policymakers can do about it.
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan
Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Uni...
www.propublica.org
November 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Hate to be posting this on a holiday, but there's been renewed interest in the CIA-backed Zero Units in Afghanistan. Here's a good summary of @propublica.org's 2022 reporting on the units and just some of the civilian casualties they were responsible for:
Curious about the relationship between these building materials and codes and the UK Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
At Least 55 Dead in Hong Kong Apartment Fire
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Curious about the relationship between these building materials and codes and the UK Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
November 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
Tragic. This funded my dissertation research and many of the students in our program.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Tragic. This funded my dissertation research and many of the students in our program.
It's a tiny amount of money ($25K, $12K when I was a student), but the consequences are huge. e.g., Years ago, this funding enabled me to conduct my PhD research, which ultimately informed the Supreme Court litigation that prohibited patents on human genes.
Talk about undone science.
Talk about undone science.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM
It's a tiny amount of money ($25K, $12K when I was a student), but the consequences are huge. e.g., Years ago, this funding enabled me to conduct my PhD research, which ultimately informed the Supreme Court litigation that prohibited patents on human genes.
Talk about undone science.
Talk about undone science.
We should start calling these babies the Kennedy generation.
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough.
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Pertussis, best prevented with a vaccine, has killed three Kentucky babies in the last 12 months.
kentuckylantern.com/2025/11/25/t...
Third unvaccinated Kentucky baby dies of whooping cough • Kentucky Lantern
A third unvaccinated infant in Kentucky has died of pertussis as public health officials urge Kentuckians to get vaccinated against the disease.
kentuckylantern.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:14 PM
We should start calling these babies the Kennedy generation.
A Michigan appeals court ruled that the city of Detroit failed to follow *its own laws* about public oversight of surveillance tech. These laws are crucial bc "Automated license plate readers, facial recognition, body-worn cameras, drones, and the Real Time Crime Center are all active in the city."
Court ruled against Detroit in surveillance tech case. It's still dangerous. | Opinion
Detroiters filed suit after the city failed to follow its own ordinance governing surveillance tech like ShotSpotter.
www.yahoo.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:25 PM
A Michigan appeals court ruled that the city of Detroit failed to follow *its own laws* about public oversight of surveillance tech. These laws are crucial bc "Automated license plate readers, facial recognition, body-worn cameras, drones, and the Real Time Crime Center are all active in the city."
Iranian professor at University of Oklahoma, on an H1B visa, kidnapped by the US government. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-prof...
OU College of International Studies professor reportedly arrested by ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly arrested an OU professor at Will Rogers International Airport Saturday.
www.oudaily.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Iranian professor at University of Oklahoma, on an H1B visa, kidnapped by the US government. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-prof...
Wow, this is amazing!! We CAN have nice things!!!
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces transition committees
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people.
www.cbsnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Wow, this is amazing!! We CAN have nice things!!!
A sign that we are in desperate times? Delta is playing a slow instrumental/Muzak version of Despacito.
November 24, 2025 at 8:23 PM
A sign that we are in desperate times? Delta is playing a slow instrumental/Muzak version of Despacito.
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
Marco Rubio's silence on the Sunday shows is deafening.
November 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Marco Rubio's silence on the Sunday shows is deafening.
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
You can learn more about the findings, approach, and policy recommendations from the report at our webinar on December 11th from 12-1pm Eastern. Join us!! (And even if you can't make it, registering will alert you to when the recording is available!) myumi.ch/2rp9w
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The Reactor Around the Corner: Understanding Advanced Nuclear Energy Futures. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the web...
Announcing The Reactor Around the Corner: Understanding Advanced Nuclear Energy Futures, the fourth report from University of Michigan Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program's Technology Asses...
myumi.ch
November 20, 2025 at 4:15 PM
You can learn more about the findings, approach, and policy recommendations from the report at our webinar on December 11th from 12-1pm Eastern. Join us!! (And even if you can't make it, registering will alert you to when the recording is available!) myumi.ch/2rp9w
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
🚨New report!🚨 Small modular reactors are seen as neat, carbon-free solutions to the problems of energy-hungry tech like AI. But our analysis @stpp-um.bsky.social argues it will have serious environmental, social, and justice impacts and offers 12 policy recommendations across the nuclear fuel cycle.
The Reactor Around the Corner: Understanding Advanced Nuclear Energy Futures
stpp.fordschool.umich.edu
November 19, 2025 at 6:47 PM
🚨New report!🚨 Small modular reactors are seen as neat, carbon-free solutions to the problems of energy-hungry tech like AI. But our analysis @stpp-um.bsky.social argues it will have serious environmental, social, and justice impacts and offers 12 policy recommendations across the nuclear fuel cycle.
I deeply resent the time I spend turning off all of these features and making sure they don't magically get turned back on.
Google has started automatically opting you in to let it read your stuff to train AI. You need to turn this off in SEVERAL places in your settings (not just for Gmail), if you want to maintain privacy and confidentiality.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Gmail can read your emails and attachments to train its AI, unless you opt out
A new Gmail update may allow Google to use your private messages and attachments for AI training. Here's how to turn it off.
www.malwarebytes.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I deeply resent the time I spend turning off all of these features and making sure they don't magically get turned back on.
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
Don't forget that John Oliver's auction on behalf of public media ends on November 24th!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknM...
Last Week Tonight
Help Public Media Company c/o Partially Important Productions, LLC spread the word about Public Media Company C/O Last Week Tonight!
e.givesmart.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Don't forget that John Oliver's auction on behalf of public media ends on November 24th!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yknM...
"Another reason to turn off Voice to Text is for privacy concerns. Some users may not want their conversations to be recorded and transcribed by Apple’s servers. Additionally, turning off Voice to Text can also help conserve battery life...." 🤔
For those of you also horrified when your iPhone starts automatically transcribing your conversations when you are speaking (and have Notes, WhatsApp, or other apps open), here's how to turn it off. And yes, it's too hard and should be opt-out.
Silencing the Mic: How to Turn Off Voice to Text on Your iPhone - SmallUsefulTips
Are you tired of your iPhone's voice-to-text feature constantly popping up and interrupting your typing flow? Do you find it more of a nuisance than a helpful
smallusefultips.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
"Another reason to turn off Voice to Text is for privacy concerns. Some users may not want their conversations to be recorded and transcribed by Apple’s servers. Additionally, turning off Voice to Text can also help conserve battery life...." 🤔
For those of you also horrified when your iPhone starts automatically transcribing your conversations when you are speaking (and have Notes, WhatsApp, or other apps open), here's how to turn it off. And yes, it's too hard and should be opt-out.
Silencing the Mic: How to Turn Off Voice to Text on Your iPhone - SmallUsefulTips
Are you tired of your iPhone's voice-to-text feature constantly popping up and interrupting your typing flow? Do you find it more of a nuisance than a helpful
smallusefultips.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
For those of you also horrified when your iPhone starts automatically transcribing your conversations when you are speaking (and have Notes, WhatsApp, or other apps open), here's how to turn it off. And yes, it's too hard and should be opt-out.
Poets strike back.
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Poets strike back.
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
This is just to say
I have prompted your LLM
with poetry
and broken it
Forgive me
it was so funny
I couldn’t not
I have prompted your LLM
with poetry
and broken it
Forgive me
it was so funny
I couldn’t not
November 21, 2025 at 12:44 AM
This is just to say
I have prompted your LLM
with poetry
and broken it
Forgive me
it was so funny
I couldn’t not
I have prompted your LLM
with poetry
and broken it
Forgive me
it was so funny
I couldn’t not
Can anyone point me to literature on the environmental/social/equity/etc impacts of large solar farms?
November 21, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Can anyone point me to literature on the environmental/social/equity/etc impacts of large solar farms?
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
MTG, now that you have advocated successfully for the release of the Epstein files, you need to get back to your advocacy for state AI regulations!! thehill.com/policy/techn...
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 AM
MTG, now that you have advocated successfully for the release of the Epstein files, you need to get back to your advocacy for state AI regulations!! thehill.com/policy/techn...
Reposted by Shobita Parthasarathy
So I asked it for an "accurate" map rather than a "fantasy" one. I'm now planning a grand tour from Madogla to Romanio.
November 20, 2025 at 10:18 AM
So I asked it for an "accurate" map rather than a "fantasy" one. I'm now planning a grand tour from Madogla to Romanio.
MTG, now that you have advocated successfully for the release of the Epstein files, you need to get back to your advocacy for state AI regulations!! thehill.com/policy/techn...
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 AM
MTG, now that you have advocated successfully for the release of the Epstein files, you need to get back to your advocacy for state AI regulations!! thehill.com/policy/techn...