Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 19h

‘Five musicians from the Vienna Philharmonic are thought to have taken their instruments to the camps or ghettos, where they played music before they were liquidated. Then there was silence.’

Thomas Laqueuer on Kate Kennedy’s ‘Cello: A Journey through Silence to Sound’
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Thomas Laqueur · A Different Life: Can cellos remember?

Cellists and violinists in particular are haunted by the musicians who played their instruments before them and those...

www.lrb.co.uk

4 10

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · 1d

How do flocks of birds move as one?

New research from Mohammad Salahshour and Iain Couzin reveals that coordination may arise directly from neural navigation systems (ring attrctr), not behavioural "rules of thumb."
->paradigm shift in understanding collective motion

#swarm
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Client Challenge

doi.org

1 2

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · 8d

I love West-Oregon. ❤️

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Suet Lee @suetl.bsky.social · 9d

Today is #alife2025 day 1! Workshops under way... We have our own workshop tmw on Cultural Evolution of Planet X, 13.30-16.30, room 4F. Exciting keynotes from James Borg and @uchiyama.bsky.social. Join us!

7 19

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Craig Reynolds @craigreynolds.bsky.social · 16d

#ALife #evolution #modeling #simulation

The Ramsey Lab @theramseylab.bsky.social · 20d

New Element in the Philosophy of Biology series—free to download until October 6! Walter Veit examines the role of models in evolutionary biology: their types, testability, and interrelations 👇📕 www.cambridge.org/core/element... #philsci #HPBio #evobio

Book cover of “Modelling Evolution” by Walter Veit, in the Cambridge Elements: The Philosophy of Biology series. Against a black background, the title is surrounded by Ernst Haeckel’s illustrations of marine organisms—radial, symmetrical forms in vivid blues, oranges, reds, and greens.

2 2

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Müge Cavdan @mugecavdan.bsky.social · 17d

🎉 Check out our new paper published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies!

🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
This work highlights the interdisciplinary efforts of the ChronoPilot project and our fruitful collaboration with partners from Konstanz. @haplab.bsky.social

Brief non-spatial signals facilitate visual search and temporal sensitivity in robot supervision

The human role in human-swarm interaction (HSI) shifts from controller to supervisor, as robots become more autonomous and require efficient search st…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 2 2

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · 27d

„I was once on a German talk show, and this woman said to me, ‘Mr. Williams, why do you think there is not so much comedy in Germany?’ And I said, ‘Did you ever think you killed all the funny people?’“
— Robin Williams

#USA #Trump #Kimmel

2

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · 27d

The obvious advantage of doing research with plants. 🌱😁
Many thanks to Eddy!

4

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

David Garzón Ramos @dgarzonramos.com · 28d

🚨 Last days to submit! 🚨

Join the Workshop on Cultural Evolution of Planet X at @alife2025.bsky.social (Kyoto, Oct 7).

We welcome abstracts on cultural evolution and emergent culture in artificial systems. Work presented elsewhere too!

📅 Deadline: Sept 20
🔗 sites.google.com/view/planetx...

1 7 7

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Sep 13

💪💪💪🇪🇺🗽

The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · Sep 13

⚡️US vows to defend 'every inch' of NATO territory after Russian drone incursion into Poland.

"The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," said acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea, addressing the 15-member Security Council.

US vows to defend 'every inch' of NATO territory after Russian drone incursion into Poland

"The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," said acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea, addressing the 15-member Security Council.

kyivindependent.com

2

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Pranav Kedia @praked.bsky.social · Sep 9

When life gives you a fish, you sail with it. 🐟⛵🤖
Our autonomous sailboat and robotic fish finally met on Lake Constance — and the footage did not disappoint. 🌊
Big thanks to @swarmdynamics.bsky.social , Hun Jang and Liang Li for making this happen.
#robotics #swarm #autonomy #maritime

1 6 27

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Sep 9

Just submitted the manuscript for the 2nd edition of Swarm Robotics: A Formal Approach 🎉

✅ ~2× the size
✅ fully updated with latest research
✅ ready4the breakthrough years ahead

Thanks to all who supported! Now in production—stay tuned.

Now it's in production – stay tuned.

#swarm #robotics #book

1 1 5

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Giovanni Reina @joefresna.bsky.social · Sep 1

Full room for Eleonora Gatti's talk at @css-conference.bsky.social, presenting our analysis on the energetic benefits of using social information, in the case study of large soaring birds 🦅 @cbehav.bsky.social #CCS2025 Siena 🇮🇹

5 10

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Giovanni Reina @joefresna.bsky.social · Sep 1

From Random Notes to Emergent Orchestras.
Lluc Bono presents at @css-conference.bsky.social our latest results on creating a robot swarm that composes & performs musical pieces. A framework to study emergence of creativity in music through artificial physical agents @cbehav.bsky.social #CCS2025

5 8

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Giovanni Reina @joefresna.bsky.social · Sep 1

Hey #CCS2025 friends, before your dinner🍝 in Siena, come to Simay Atasoy's poster to discover how many robots can be optimimally allocated to many tasks! While this problem seems computationally untractable, she found how to solve it efficiently! @cbehav.bsky.social @css-conference.bsky.social

5 6

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour @cbehav.bsky.social · Aug 29

New Episode!

What is it like being inside an egg? Can you feel your sibling eggs nearby? How do you tell your parents when you are ready to come out? Dr Gabriella Gall is here to tell us all about her research into the world of egg communication.

www.exc.uni-konstanz.de/collective-b...

1 3 4

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Cinephilia & Beyond @cinephiliabeyond.org · Aug 27

Coppola Champions Herzog at Venice Film Festival Opening Ceremony: ‘If Werner Has Limits, I Don’t Know What They Are’

www.indiewire.com/news/festiva...

Coppola Champions Herzog at Venice Film Festival Opening Ceremony: ‘If Werner Has Limits, I Don’t Know What They Are’

'If Werner [Herzog] has limits, I don't know what they are,' said the Golden Lion recipient's friend Francis Ford Coppola at the Venice opening.

www.indiewire.com

6 25

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Aug 24

Independence Day of Ukraine
Fight for freedom
Never give up

6

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Aug 16

Thomas Mann, Doktor Faustus

2

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Aug 15

❤️

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

michael chimento @mchimento.bsky.social · Aug 13

📣 Interested in cultural evolution and artificial life? Call for abstracts for our upcoming workshop at @alife2025.bsky.social. Accepted abstracts will be presented as flash talks, and are not archival. Deadline is the September 12, w/ rolling acceptance. Details: sites.google.com/view/planetx... 🧪

2 22 31

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Aug 12

Amazon deploys its 1 millionth robot!

#swarm #robotics
www.aboutamazon.com/news/operati...

Amazon launches a new AI foundation model to power its robotic fleet and deploys its 1 millionth robot

New AI technology will make the world's largest fleet of industrial mobile robots smarter and more efficient.

www.aboutamazon.com

1

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Craig Reynolds @craigreynolds.bsky.social · Aug 2

“AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower”

Overview post on “Pivot to AI” by David Gerard (pivot-to-ai.com/2025/07/11/a...) Via Anthony Bucci on LinkedIn.

Research post from METR by Joel Becker, Nate Rush, Elizabeth Barnes, and David Rein. (metr.org/blog/2025-07...)

AI coders think they’re 20% faster — but they’re actually 19% slower

Model Evaluation and Threat Research is an AI research charity that looks into the threat of AI agents! That sounds a bit AI doomsday cult, and they take funding from the AI doomsday cult organisat…

pivot-to-ai.com

9 32 83

Heiko Hamann @swarmdynamics.bsky.social · Jul 27

One of the greatest geniuses who ever lived on this planet!

Letterboxd @letterboxd.social · Jul 26

Remembering Stanley Kubrick on his birthday today🎥✨

Reposted by Heiko Hamann

Ghoul-jin Rondo @gaijinrando.bsky.social · Jul 26

Cat lover Stanley Kubrick and friend

Kubrick was BOTD in 1928

Black and white photo of Stanley Kubrick scratching the head of the cat in his lap.

11 44