Adrian Kirwan
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adriankirwan.bsky.social
Adrian Kirwan
@adriankirwan.bsky.social
610 followers 1.8K following 160 posts
Historian of Science and Technology. Mostly talking about history of telecommunications, Irish history, radium and technology in teaching and learning. Teaches Critical Skills Maynooth University.
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adriankirwan.bsky.social
Adrian Kirwan @adriankirwan.bsky.social · Sep 19
My latest article has just been published in The Irish Journal of Medical Science

'An Irish Radium Institute: the Royal Dublin Society and the promotion of radioactive therapy in twentieth-century Ireland'

rdcu.be/eHct4
a man playing a trumpet and a man playing a guitar are standing next to each other
ALT: a man playing a trumpet and a man playing a guitar are standing next to each other
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
jathansadowski.com
Call for PhD Student!

I'm recruiting a PhD student to work with me on a project related to my Future Fellowship at Monash University on the political economy of insurance, risk technology, climate governance, and the crisis of uninsurability. Here's the overview of my fellowship.
A necessary analysis of polycrisis and its consequences must account for the industries, technologies, and policies that govern risks-and, crucially, how they engage in socio-technical processes of defining, predicting, and valuing risks. By synthesising the following objectives into a cohesive research program, this Future Fellowship aims to create essential empirical knowledge about urgent problems of insurability, which will inform new policy solutions and critical theories, all for the purpose of understanding and tackling the complex polycrisis at the nexus of insurance markets, risk technologies, and climate governance regimes. • Objective 1: Examine the design and construction of climate risk models by insurance industry and risk analytics firms to identify the assumptions, trade-offs, values, and goals built into these systems. • Objective 2: Engage directly with governments and communities at the frontlines of risk vulnerability to understand how abstract computational models and simulations connect to lived experiences and ground truth. • Objective 3: Develop new policies and frameworks for climate risk justice, which are informed by original empirical work and contribute to greater equity and security in risk governance. • Objective 4: Generate critical theoretical contributions that guide analytical and applied work about the techno-politics of risk governance in an age of global polycrisis. This fellowship advances our understanding of climate risk governance across three Workstreams. Workstream 1 will conduct ethnography at insurance industry conferences and with companies building climate risk models. Workstream 2 will engage in research with governments and communities who are managing the risks and realities of uninsurability from natural disasters. Workstream 3 will collaborate with a climate policy think tank to develop innovative policies grounded in original empirical research and conceptual analysis-that advance climate justice.
November 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
alexhanna.bsky.social
I wish Dick Cheney was alive, so he could watch this and die again from an aneurysm
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d
Trump frickin' loves this guy lmao
November 21, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
rhiggitt.bsky.social
Fabulous PhD opportunity at Queen's University Belfast and Armagh Observatory:

Observing the Heavens from the 'Periphery': Astronomy in Ireland 1640-1830

www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post... Deadline 13 Jan #histSTM #histastro
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
octobeth.bsky.social
This is such a great project!
rhiggitt.bsky.social Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 6d
Fabulous PhD opportunity at Queen's University Belfast and Armagh Observatory:

Observing the Heavens from the 'Periphery': Astronomy in Ireland 1640-1830

www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post... Deadline 13 Jan #histSTM #histastro
November 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
stevecooke.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
abeba.bsky.social
flat out lies. these tech ceos take regulators and the masses for fools
“If you want to know how a model will behave, the only way of doing it is to run it,” Mensch also suggested. “You do need to have some empirical testing, what’s happening. Knowing the input data that has been used for training is not going to tell you whether your model is going to behave well in [a healthcare use-case], for instance. You don’t really care about what’s in the training data. You do care about the empirical behaviour of the model. So you don’t need knowledge of the training data. And if you had knowledge of the training data, it wouldn’t even teach you whether the model is going to behave well or not. So this is why I’m saying it’s neither necessary nor sufficient.”
November 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
dieworkwear.bsky.social
when you wear a size 9.5 shoe but the 8.5 was on sale
November 11, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
carlzimmer.com
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
nicolecnelson.bsky.social
We're hiring in history of science at UW Madison! TT Assistant Professorship with a focus on water. Joint appointment between the History and Integrated Liberal Studies depts, and part of a university-wide hiring cluster on earth/sustainability science. jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/profess... #STS #HSMT
Professor of History - Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...
jobs.wisc.edu
November 6, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
alemanno.bsky.social
As predicted, the EU is ready to dismantle its Digital Rulebook as it did with the Green Deal.

It does so upon US administration’s demand and under Big Tech pressure.

It’s a self-inflicted political decision putting the EU on a deregulatory turn on.ft.com/47vqFOl
EU weighs pausing parts of landmark AI act in face of US and Big Tech pressure
Brussels is set to water down part of its strict digital rule book as it aims to make bloc more competitive
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
alexandreklein.bsky.social
(Call for applications) Assistant Professor Social Studies of Medicine histoiresante.blogspot.com/2025/10/post... #medhum #histSTM
October 31, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
glynmoody.bsky.social
As ever...
davidrvetter.bsky.social Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 28d
Private Eye nailing it.
A story in Private Eye, headlined "Minority representation on TV causes outrage". The article reads: "There has been widespread support for prominent Reform MP Sarah Pochin after she complained about the over-representation of minorities on television. Said one angry viewer, "She's right. Every time you turn on the telly there's another Reform MP being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg." She added, "I respect their way of life and their strange customs, but Reform MPs comprise only 0.7 percent of the House of Commons. Yet Nigel Farage is on Question Time more than Fiona Bruce." "I'm not prejudiced. Some of my best friends are swivel-eyed loons, but enough is enough. There are too many people with angry red faces on television."
October 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
rhiggitt.bsky.social
As has rightly been pointed out to me it is, in fact, not yet 2026*

Sooo... Gulliver's Travels is 300 *next* year. What do we have planned?!

*I blame overwork plus the fact that I first mentally noted this anniversary 12 years ago, which is ages to wait!
www.theguardian.com/science/the-...
October 28, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
hypervisible.blacksky.app
This version of Total Recall sucks.
If you can’t afford a vacation, an AI app will sell you pictures of one
Always be manifesting.
www.theverge.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
abeba.bsky.social
your timely reminder that AGI is neither clearly defined/described nor amenable to scientific or engineering principles... it remains an ideology that is rooted in white supremacy, racism and eugenics
October 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
davidcolarusso.com
According to my notifications, several someones rediscovered this gem earlier today. So, I figured I'd fan the flame. ICYMI.
davidcolarusso.com David Colarusso @davidcolarusso.com · Apr 22
Pictured: The first vibe coder, Geordi La Forge, about to discover the dangers of natural language programing.
This image shows Geordi La Forge from the *Star Trek: The Next Generation* episode "Elementary, Dear Data." He is dressed in a Victorian-era suit and bowler hat as part of a holodeck simulation based on Sherlock Holmes stories. Geordi is facing a wall-mounted control panel with illuminated orange buttons, issuing a command. He wears his iconic VISOR, which allows him to see despite being blind. The subtitle reads, “Create an adversary capable of defeating Data,” marking a pivotal moment in the episode when Geordi inadvertently triggers the creation of a self-aware holodeck character, leading to unexpected consequences.
October 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
ihsa2026.bsky.social
Call for Papers – IHSA 2026 Conference at Maynooth University

The Irish History Students’ Association, with the support of the Department of History at Maynooth University, is delighted to announce the 77th Annual IHSA Conference, taking place on Saturday, 28 February 2026.
October 17, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
shiraovide.bsky.social
Just a reminder: "more personalized and more helpful" is often code for "WE WILL COLLECT ALL OF YOUR DATA."
Fry said one of the browser’s best features is memory — making the browser “more personalized and more helpful to you,” as well as an agent mode, meaning that “in Atlas, ChatGPT can now take actions for you
October 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
adriankirwan.bsky.social
Just a reminder given all the discussion of AI bubbles and stock markets. 2008 recession saw a huge spike in suicides.

www.bbc.com/news/health-...
Financial Times with headline 'Silicon Valley takes stock of the AI bubble'
October 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
tuatha.ie
The Corlea Trackway • Longford

This 2km ancient routeway was discovered beautifully preserved in the bog.
It was dated to c.148 BC.

A section of the trackway from Cloonbreany Townland was excavated and conserved, and is now on display in the Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre.

#Archaeology 🏺
Part of the Corlea Trackway on display at the Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre. This trackway is made of oak planks laid transversely on large parallel runners.
October 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
tuatha.ie
We had a fascinating talk on Corlea by Prof Aidan O'Sullivan.

In 'The Colossus of Roads', Aidan offers memories of the Corlea archaeological campaign by one then-young archaeologist, and the question of what did the Trackway mean to the people who built it?

Recording available for Tuatha Members
The preserved timbers of an ancient wooden trackway. Planks are laid horizontally and pegged into place.
October 17, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
annamillsoer.bsky.social
Really? Perplexity is explicitly advertising cheating with their agentic Comet browser? @marcwatkins.bsky.social found this video on their Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/story.php?st...

Let's put the pressure on for this to stop!
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
October 17, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
martinjohn.bsky.social
This meme made me laugh.
A meme with a character from Watchmen whose name I can’t remember, saying: It is 1982. I am one year old. Tron bombs at the box office It is 2010. I am twenty-nine years old. Tron bombs at the box office It is 2025. I am fourty-four years old. Tron bombs at the box office
October 16, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Adrian Kirwan
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
If you think that professors exist as repositories of knowledge that students ask for answers, you’re missing the entire point of a college education.

We’re here to teach students how to do research, how to analyze and argue, how to think for themselves — how to find the answers on their own.
porcupunk.bsky.social Vlad K. @porcupunk.bsky.social · Oct 16
Wow. Just wow.

"Students pay premium prices for information that AI now delivers instantly and for free. A business student can ask ChatGPT to explain supply chain optimization or generate market analysis in seconds. The traditional lecture-and-test model faces its Blockbuster moment."
When Knowledge is Free, What are Professors For?
Higher Education Must Stop Competing with AI on Information and Start Teaching What Machines Can’t Do
www.forbes.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:45 PM