Spencer LaVere Smith
@spencerlaveresmith.bsky.social
Prof. @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social - Runs a lab slslab.org - Works on computation, neuroscience, behavior, vision, optics, imaging, 2p / multiphoton, optical computing, machine learning / AI - Blogs at labrigger.com - Founded @pacificoptica.bsky.social
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
I am so enormously thankful for essentially every person I know and have ever met, and for everything they have taught and given to me. The good, the bad, and the unspeakable. It all counts. The trick is to remember to pay that debt forward to everyone you meet from now on. ❤️
November 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I am so enormously thankful for essentially every person I know and have ever met, and for everything they have taught and given to me. The good, the bad, and the unspeakable. It all counts. The trick is to remember to pay that debt forward to everyone you meet from now on. ❤️
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Begging PhD programs to agree on a common app with only letters of rec that writers upload once. These inane likert scales when students are applying to 15-20 programs is destroying my soul
November 27, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Begging PhD programs to agree on a common app with only letters of rec that writers upload once. These inane likert scales when students are applying to 15-20 programs is destroying my soul
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
🎉 Mouse vs AI #NeurIPS2025 Challenge 2025
The first year was a great success:
🤖 290 submissions
👥 22 teams
🌎 7 countries
robustforaging.github.io
A huge thank you to all who participated!👏
This was our first attempt at a global competition built around real mouse behavior and visual robustness
The first year was a great success:
🤖 290 submissions
👥 22 teams
🌎 7 countries
robustforaging.github.io
A huge thank you to all who participated!👏
This was our first attempt at a global competition built around real mouse behavior and visual robustness
Robust Foraging Competition
Can your AI visually navigate better than a mouse?
robustforaging.github.io
November 26, 2025 at 7:56 PM
🎉 Mouse vs AI #NeurIPS2025 Challenge 2025
The first year was a great success:
🤖 290 submissions
👥 22 teams
🌎 7 countries
robustforaging.github.io
A huge thank you to all who participated!👏
This was our first attempt at a global competition built around real mouse behavior and visual robustness
The first year was a great success:
🤖 290 submissions
👥 22 teams
🌎 7 countries
robustforaging.github.io
A huge thank you to all who participated!👏
This was our first attempt at a global competition built around real mouse behavior and visual robustness
"I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages:
(i) This is worthless nonsense;
(ii) This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
(iii) This is true, but quite unimportant;
(iv) I always said so."
- JBS Haldane
(i) This is worthless nonsense;
(ii) This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
(iii) This is true, but quite unimportant;
(iv) I always said so."
- JBS Haldane
Turns out Mamdani's controversial proposal for government-run supermarkets isn't so novel. Other cities also are toying with the idea to bring fresh, affordable food to communities that do not have easy access to it. Good WSJ read (gift link)
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
Inside Atlanta’s First Government-Funded Supermarket
The goal is for the store to become profitable without any government subsidy within three years.
www.wsj.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
"I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages:
(i) This is worthless nonsense;
(ii) This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
(iii) This is true, but quite unimportant;
(iv) I always said so."
- JBS Haldane
(i) This is worthless nonsense;
(ii) This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view;
(iii) This is true, but quite unimportant;
(iv) I always said so."
- JBS Haldane
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Turns out Mamdani's controversial proposal for government-run supermarkets isn't so novel. Other cities also are toying with the idea to bring fresh, affordable food to communities that do not have easy access to it. Good WSJ read (gift link)
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
Inside Atlanta’s First Government-Funded Supermarket
The goal is for the store to become profitable without any government subsidy within three years.
www.wsj.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Turns out Mamdani's controversial proposal for government-run supermarkets isn't so novel. Other cities also are toying with the idea to bring fresh, affordable food to communities that do not have easy access to it. Good WSJ read (gift link)
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Looking for a postdoc to understand dynamic vision in action in freely moving mice? Get in touch!
This is a @erc.europa.eu postdoc in a project between us and @sinzlab.bsky.social: miniature 2-photon, rich behavior tracking, and deep learning models linking natural behavior to cortical activity|RT
This is a @erc.europa.eu postdoc in a project between us and @sinzlab.bsky.social: miniature 2-photon, rich behavior tracking, and deep learning models linking natural behavior to cortical activity|RT
🔬 Exciting PostDoc Opportunity! 🐁🧠
We - the @sinzlab.bsky.social (sinzlab.org) and @trose-neuro.bsky.social (troselab.de) Labs - are seeking an experimental postdoc to work at @unibonn.bsky.social with cutting-edge miniature 2-photon microscopy and gaze tracking in freely behaving mice.
We - the @sinzlab.bsky.social (sinzlab.org) and @trose-neuro.bsky.social (troselab.de) Labs - are seeking an experimental postdoc to work at @unibonn.bsky.social with cutting-edge miniature 2-photon microscopy and gaze tracking in freely behaving mice.
November 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Looking for a postdoc to understand dynamic vision in action in freely moving mice? Get in touch!
This is a @erc.europa.eu postdoc in a project between us and @sinzlab.bsky.social: miniature 2-photon, rich behavior tracking, and deep learning models linking natural behavior to cortical activity|RT
This is a @erc.europa.eu postdoc in a project between us and @sinzlab.bsky.social: miniature 2-photon, rich behavior tracking, and deep learning models linking natural behavior to cortical activity|RT
“Ernst has said she would rather kill the program” … Ernst is the chair of the Senate Small Business Committee. The US’s entire small business R&D grant program on hold.
More info on the existential threat to SBIR / STTR funding: www.airandspaceforces.com/sbir-contrac...
More info on the existential threat to SBIR / STTR funding: www.airandspaceforces.com/sbir-contrac...
SBIR Contracts, On Hold During Shutdown, Face Long-Term Risk | Air & Space Forces Magazine
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on re...
www.airandspaceforces.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:13 AM
“Ernst has said she would rather kill the program” … Ernst is the chair of the Senate Small Business Committee. The US’s entire small business R&D grant program on hold.
More info on the existential threat to SBIR / STTR funding: www.airandspaceforces.com/sbir-contrac...
More info on the existential threat to SBIR / STTR funding: www.airandspaceforces.com/sbir-contrac...
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Come on Konrad, why do you cave so easily? Here, let me try it for you:
1. Spikes are (to good approximation) the only events that matter.
2. Extracellular fields are one way by which spikes interact with each other.
1/2
1. Spikes are (to good approximation) the only events that matter.
2. Extracellular fields are one way by which spikes interact with each other.
1/2
As we are having a discussion on neural codes: @earlkmiller.bsky.social is entirely right that the "only spike rates matter" idea that is so prominent in neuroscience has no credible evidence. We simply do not currently know how neurons code relevant information. Oscillations are likely part of it.
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Come on Konrad, why do you cave so easily? Here, let me try it for you:
1. Spikes are (to good approximation) the only events that matter.
2. Extracellular fields are one way by which spikes interact with each other.
1/2
1. Spikes are (to good approximation) the only events that matter.
2. Extracellular fields are one way by which spikes interact with each other.
1/2
Nice! Thanks @lintianphd.bsky.social @loogerl.bsky.social @michaelzlin.bsky.social @rhodamine110.bsky.social Eric Schreiter + many other engineers for in vivo neuro.
Also: Thanks to the virus and transgenic engineers, like @hongkuizeng.bsky.social Viviana Gradinaru, Josh Huang, etc. 1/2
Also: Thanks to the virus and transgenic engineers, like @hongkuizeng.bsky.social Viviana Gradinaru, Josh Huang, etc. 1/2
Thanks to @nature.com for featuring our work in this piece on genetically-encoded sensors.
The article does a great job highlighting their importance for both basic research and translational impact, such as in our lab's research on serotonin.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The article does a great job highlighting their importance for both basic research and translational impact, such as in our lab's research on serotonin.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How genetically encoded sensors have lit up neuroscience
Tools that track specific molecules in neurons have enabled researchers to probe previously unexplored aspects of neurobiology — although important caveats remain.
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Nice! Thanks @lintianphd.bsky.social @loogerl.bsky.social @michaelzlin.bsky.social @rhodamine110.bsky.social Eric Schreiter + many other engineers for in vivo neuro.
Also: Thanks to the virus and transgenic engineers, like @hongkuizeng.bsky.social Viviana Gradinaru, Josh Huang, etc. 1/2
Also: Thanks to the virus and transgenic engineers, like @hongkuizeng.bsky.social Viviana Gradinaru, Josh Huang, etc. 1/2
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
SBIR/STTR Update
The best hope is that the SBIR/STTR reauthorization is attached to the NDAA, due to be voted on in a few weeks. The clean 1-year extension would hopefully be the most "agreeable" mechanism. Stay tuned.
The best hope is that the SBIR/STTR reauthorization is attached to the NDAA, due to be voted on in a few weeks. The clean 1-year extension would hopefully be the most "agreeable" mechanism. Stay tuned.
November 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
SBIR/STTR Update
The best hope is that the SBIR/STTR reauthorization is attached to the NDAA, due to be voted on in a few weeks. The clean 1-year extension would hopefully be the most "agreeable" mechanism. Stay tuned.
The best hope is that the SBIR/STTR reauthorization is attached to the NDAA, due to be voted on in a few weeks. The clean 1-year extension would hopefully be the most "agreeable" mechanism. Stay tuned.
Imagine if an AI company CEO thinks their current situation is precarious and they want to unwind it, even if only a tiny bit. Is there a safe way they can dial back gracefully without panicking their investors?
November 21, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Imagine if an AI company CEO thinks their current situation is precarious and they want to unwind it, even if only a tiny bit. Is there a safe way they can dial back gracefully without panicking their investors?
Really? That’s a big drop in SfN attendance from last year, continuing its decline in numbers. @cianodonnell.bsky.social
Due to covid, 2020 was cancelled and 2021 was small. Other than that, it sounds like this year was the smallest attendance since at least 1999. I don’t have earlier numbers.
Due to covid, 2020 was cancelled and 2021 was small. Other than that, it sounds like this year was the smallest attendance since at least 1999. I don’t have earlier numbers.
November 20, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Really? That’s a big drop in SfN attendance from last year, continuing its decline in numbers. @cianodonnell.bsky.social
Due to covid, 2020 was cancelled and 2021 was small. Other than that, it sounds like this year was the smallest attendance since at least 1999. I don’t have earlier numbers.
Due to covid, 2020 was cancelled and 2021 was small. Other than that, it sounds like this year was the smallest attendance since at least 1999. I don’t have earlier numbers.
A washing machine that sends 3.7 GB of data a day back to HQ. Giving the lab a run for their money for data generation rate.
I wish my major appliances cared that much about me. www.tomshardware.com/networking/y...
I wish my major appliances cared that much about me. www.tomshardware.com/networking/y...
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 AM
A washing machine that sends 3.7 GB of data a day back to HQ. Giving the lab a run for their money for data generation rate.
I wish my major appliances cared that much about me. www.tomshardware.com/networking/y...
I wish my major appliances cared that much about me. www.tomshardware.com/networking/y...
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Calibrating scientific skepticism www.wiringthebrain.com/2018/07/cali... - I wrote this a few years ago in relation to claims of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans, but the issues relate equally to the kind of microbiome studies we assess in the paper linked below...
Calibrating scientific skepticism – a wider look at the field of transgenerational epigenetics
I recently wrote a blogpost examining the supposed evidence for transgenerational epigenetic inheritance (TGEI) in hu...
www.wiringthebrain.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Calibrating scientific skepticism www.wiringthebrain.com/2018/07/cali... - I wrote this a few years ago in relation to claims of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans, but the issues relate equally to the kind of microbiome studies we assess in the paper linked below...
NIH personnel are headed to San Diego for SfN, study section emails are flowing again, JIT materials are being processed, etc.
There's a lot we need to keep fighting for, but it's good to have some wheels turning again. Enjoy some scientific conversations and support each other!
There's a lot we need to keep fighting for, but it's good to have some wheels turning again. Enjoy some scientific conversations and support each other!
November 14, 2025 at 6:31 PM
NIH personnel are headed to San Diego for SfN, study section emails are flowing again, JIT materials are being processed, etc.
There's a lot we need to keep fighting for, but it's good to have some wheels turning again. Enjoy some scientific conversations and support each other!
There's a lot we need to keep fighting for, but it's good to have some wheels turning again. Enjoy some scientific conversations and support each other!
I read it. (pdf: amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/M...)
Part of it is redundant to protections that already exist.
It includes a mechanism so that Assistant Secretaries (political appointees) can pick people to still get $.
Part of it is redundant to protections that already exist.
It includes a mechanism so that Assistant Secretaries (political appointees) can pick people to still get $.
"Prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship & advising a foreign graduate student or postdoc. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding."
Dictators despise science.
Dictators despise science.
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I read it. (pdf: amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/M...)
Part of it is redundant to protections that already exist.
It includes a mechanism so that Assistant Secretaries (political appointees) can pick people to still get $.
Part of it is redundant to protections that already exist.
It includes a mechanism so that Assistant Secretaries (political appointees) can pick people to still get $.
Don't skip this. It's masterfully done, and many of the key points are GENERAL and apply to many other fields.
"there can sometimes just be lots of smoke"
I discuss the general case here: labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
"there can sometimes just be lots of smoke"
I discuss the general case here: labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
November 13, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Don't skip this. It's masterfully done, and many of the key points are GENERAL and apply to many other fields.
"there can sometimes just be lots of smoke"
I discuss the general case here: labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
"there can sometimes just be lots of smoke"
I discuss the general case here: labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
Reposted by Spencer LaVere Smith
Are there any socials or parties at SfN this year that would be particularly suitable for meeting 2p nerds and sharing war stories in the spirit of these Xerox technicians from the 1980s?
Wonderful read about the work ethos among 1980s Xerox service technicians and the importance of practical wisdom and storytelling. That’s what drew me to the community of multiphoton microscope tinkerers, and it explains why I find meaning in the unglamorous process of troubleshooting.
The Soul of Maintaining a New Machine - First Draft | Books in Progress
Books in Progress is what we call a “public drafting tool”: Drafts will be made available for comment from the public, allowing for direct collaboration between author and reader.
books.worksinprogress.co
November 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Are there any socials or parties at SfN this year that would be particularly suitable for meeting 2p nerds and sharing war stories in the spirit of these Xerox technicians from the 1980s?
I've tried to use LLMs like this too and have had similar experiences. There's no reliable way for the user to ensure accuracy.
Ultimately I decided that it's like Feynman's Lectures on Physics. They can be useful if you already know the material. If you're trying to learn from it, it's a disaster.
Ultimately I decided that it's like Feynman's Lectures on Physics. They can be useful if you already know the material. If you're trying to learn from it, it's a disaster.
It recalculated and then said that you would travel 0.001 AU, off by five orders of magnitude.
I asked why the average speed was not 1/20th c and it explained that under constant acceleration, you are going far below average velocity until the very end. I don’t even know what that means.
I asked why the average speed was not 1/20th c and it explained that under constant acceleration, you are going far below average velocity until the very end. I don’t even know what that means.
November 12, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I've tried to use LLMs like this too and have had similar experiences. There's no reliable way for the user to ensure accuracy.
Ultimately I decided that it's like Feynman's Lectures on Physics. They can be useful if you already know the material. If you're trying to learn from it, it's a disaster.
Ultimately I decided that it's like Feynman's Lectures on Physics. They can be useful if you already know the material. If you're trying to learn from it, it's a disaster.
Science & Humanity: “Because science rejects claims to truth based on authority and depends on the criticism of established ideas, it is the enemy of autocracy. Because scientific knowledge is tentative and provisional, it is the enemy of dogma.” 1/2
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Science & Humanity: “Because science rejects claims to truth based on authority and depends on the criticism of established ideas, it is the enemy of autocracy. Because scientific knowledge is tentative and provisional, it is the enemy of dogma.” 1/2
UCSB does the letter of recommendation submission system well. No ranking games, required or otherwise. You don't even have to type your name in, like so many places require. (Which seems like authentication theatre.) Just upload the letter and get back to whatever you were doing.
November 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
UCSB does the letter of recommendation submission system well. No ranking games, required or otherwise. You don't even have to type your name in, like so many places require. (Which seems like authentication theatre.) Just upload the letter and get back to whatever you were doing.
Stanford Grad Admissions-- Drop these required questions for people writing letters of recommendation, or at least make them optional.
I agreed to provide a letter of recommendation, and I spent hours writing a thoughtful one that I hope helps your process. I did not agree to do your ranking.
I agreed to provide a letter of recommendation, and I spent hours writing a thoughtful one that I hope helps your process. I did not agree to do your ranking.
November 9, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Stanford Grad Admissions-- Drop these required questions for people writing letters of recommendation, or at least make them optional.
I agreed to provide a letter of recommendation, and I spent hours writing a thoughtful one that I hope helps your process. I did not agree to do your ranking.
I agreed to provide a letter of recommendation, and I spent hours writing a thoughtful one that I hope helps your process. I did not agree to do your ranking.
Much was written & cited this past week on the Watson & Crick DNA paper-- which was a race-to-first, rather than an isolated insight.
Who has made discoveries that have pushed science, technology, or medicine forward faster? Einstein, Curie, Nakamura, McClintock, Salk, Borlaug, etc.
Who else?
Who has made discoveries that have pushed science, technology, or medicine forward faster? Einstein, Curie, Nakamura, McClintock, Salk, Borlaug, etc.
Who else?
November 8, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Much was written & cited this past week on the Watson & Crick DNA paper-- which was a race-to-first, rather than an isolated insight.
Who has made discoveries that have pushed science, technology, or medicine forward faster? Einstein, Curie, Nakamura, McClintock, Salk, Borlaug, etc.
Who else?
Who has made discoveries that have pushed science, technology, or medicine forward faster? Einstein, Curie, Nakamura, McClintock, Salk, Borlaug, etc.
Who else?
Make your calcium imaging videos look great even on the worst projectors.
Here's a blog post with an explanation of the processing and some code for generating videos like this. labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
Here's a blog post with an explanation of the processing and some code for generating videos like this. labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
Can you tell what the mouse is thinking? (imaging and processing by Filip Tomaska) #FluorescenceFriday
November 8, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Make your calcium imaging videos look great even on the worst projectors.
Here's a blog post with an explanation of the processing and some code for generating videos like this. labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
Here's a blog post with an explanation of the processing and some code for generating videos like this. labrigger.com/blog/2025/11...
Happy bday, Marie Curie, the 1st woman to win a Nobel prize in physics.
*2-photon imaging* depends on her work, and that of the two subsequent women to win Nobel Prizes in physics: Maria Goeppert Meyer and Donna Strickland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_G... and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_S...
*2-photon imaging* depends on her work, and that of the two subsequent women to win Nobel Prizes in physics: Maria Goeppert Meyer and Donna Strickland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_G... and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_S...
(1/2) Marie Skłodowska-Curie, the first woman Nobel laureate and the only person awarded in both Chemistry and Physics, opened new frontiers in science.
Her spirit inspires researchers through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme that supports excellence and collaboration across borders 🧪
Her spirit inspires researchers through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme that supports excellence and collaboration across borders 🧪
November 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Happy bday, Marie Curie, the 1st woman to win a Nobel prize in physics.
*2-photon imaging* depends on her work, and that of the two subsequent women to win Nobel Prizes in physics: Maria Goeppert Meyer and Donna Strickland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_G... and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_S...
*2-photon imaging* depends on her work, and that of the two subsequent women to win Nobel Prizes in physics: Maria Goeppert Meyer and Donna Strickland. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_G... and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_S...