Timothy O'Leary
@timothyoleary.bsky.social
Professor of Engineering and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out! Offering the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy, it uncovers Schrödinger's motivations in writing it, and shows how it has shaped our current understanding of the cell
<i>What Is Life?</i> Revisited
Cambridge Core - Philosophy: General Interest - <i>What Is Life?</i> Revisited
www.cambridge.org
October 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM
My little book on Schrödinger's famous classic 'What Is Life?' is out! Offering the most comprehensive analysis ever undertaken of the book's origins, reception, impact, and legacy, it uncovers Schrödinger's motivations in writing it, and shows how it has shaped our current understanding of the cell
Anyone who has been actively recruiting STEM graduates over the last decade feels this plot in their bones.
October 31, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Anyone who has been actively recruiting STEM graduates over the last decade feels this plot in their bones.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.
October 31, 2025 at 4:08 AM
After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
If evolution, comparative #neuroskyence & #PainResearch are your thing, here's a great review from Terry Walters: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
From nociception in aneural animals to human suffering: toward a comparative biology of pain
Summary: The biology of widely shared and unusual features of human pain is informed by functional and mechanistic comparisons of nociception and pain-like aversive states across vertebrate and invert...
journals.biologists.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:06 AM
If evolution, comparative #neuroskyence & #PainResearch are your thing, here's a great review from Terry Walters: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
What problem is explainability/interpretability research trying to solve in ML, and do you have a favorite paper articulating what that problem is?
October 8, 2025 at 7:27 PM
What problem is explainability/interpretability research trying to solve in ML, and do you have a favorite paper articulating what that problem is?
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
New cures feel sudden, but the seeds were planted decades ago by basic scientists.
Which seeds will turn into cures? Unpredictable looking forward, a straight line looking back. 🧪🧬 🧵
Which seeds will turn into cures? Unpredictable looking forward, a straight line looking back. 🧪🧬 🧵
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.
www.bbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:39 AM
New cures feel sudden, but the seeds were planted decades ago by basic scientists.
Which seeds will turn into cures? Unpredictable looking forward, a straight line looking back. 🧪🧬 🧵
Which seeds will turn into cures? Unpredictable looking forward, a straight line looking back. 🧪🧬 🧵
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Interested in doing a Ph.D. to work on building models of the brain/behavior? Consider applying to graduate schools at CU Anschutz:
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
September 27, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Interested in doing a Ph.D. to work on building models of the brain/behavior? Consider applying to graduate schools at CU Anschutz:
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
1. Neuroscience www.cuanschutz.edu/graduate-pro...
2. Bioengineering engineering.ucdenver.edu/bioengineeri...
You could work with several comp neuro PIs, including me.
Bluesky needs polls:
🔘 agree
🔘 disagree
🔘 show me the results
🔘 agree
🔘 disagree
🔘 show me the results
September 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Bluesky needs polls:
🔘 agree
🔘 disagree
🔘 show me the results
🔘 agree
🔘 disagree
🔘 show me the results
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
“Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’.”
- business secretary, Peter Kyle.
What do they want knowledge for? Heaven forbid that students go to university to learn something!
- business secretary, Peter Kyle.
What do they want knowledge for? Heaven forbid that students go to university to learn something!
British students lack ‘drive’ of their American peers, says Business Secretary | LBC
The Business Secretary has defended comments he made at a meeting with investors where he said British students lack the ‘drive’ and ‘vigour’ of their American peers.
www.lbc.co.uk
September 19, 2025 at 9:54 AM
“Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’.”
- business secretary, Peter Kyle.
What do they want knowledge for? Heaven forbid that students go to university to learn something!
- business secretary, Peter Kyle.
What do they want knowledge for? Heaven forbid that students go to university to learn something!
UK guts public spending, wrecks research training, exits largest economic bloc on Earth, adds red tape to talent-based visas, wonders why it can't recruit "top AI talent" to help cut even more costs:
on.ft.com/3Kl9tBJ AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent
on.ft.com/3Kl9tBJ AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent
AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent
The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence unit spent less than half of its budget last year because of recruitment delays
on.ft.com
September 13, 2025 at 9:12 AM
UK guts public spending, wrecks research training, exits largest economic bloc on Earth, adds red tape to talent-based visas, wonders why it can't recruit "top AI talent" to help cut even more costs:
on.ft.com/3Kl9tBJ AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent
on.ft.com/3Kl9tBJ AI ‘hit squad’ set up to drive Whitehall efficiency struggles to hire top talent
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research | News | The Harvard Crimson
FlyBase lost a multimillion dollar grant when the Trump administration cut off Harvard’s federal funding in May. Now the repository is laying off staff — and researchers worldwide are worried.
www.thecrimson.com
September 9, 2025 at 10:44 AM
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research
Harvard Funding Cuts Endanger the Massive Fruit Fly Database That Powers Genetic Research
Brain chauvinists: here's the signalling, control and computation that really matters most of the time :)
Congratulations Ginny - this is not only a technical tour de force, it brings systems neuro to the rest of the body.
Congratulations Ginny - this is not only a technical tour de force, it brings systems neuro to the rest of the body.
Preprint -
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Excited to present WHOLISTIC, which extends the concept of whole-brain functional imaging to the entire body. Pioneering work by incredibly talented Virginia Ruetten @vmsruetten.bsky.social, this platform reveals whole-organism cellular dynamics in vivo.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 9, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Brain chauvinists: here's the signalling, control and computation that really matters most of the time :)
Congratulations Ginny - this is not only a technical tour de force, it brings systems neuro to the rest of the body.
Congratulations Ginny - this is not only a technical tour de force, it brings systems neuro to the rest of the body.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
BBC coverage of Reform is becoming increasingly problematic. And goes beyond the usual white noise. Continuous soft balling is not balance, it is a fundamental abdication of duty. Farage's tax issues, cranks given platforms at their conference, climate change denial. All need coverage. Most haven't.
September 8, 2025 at 6:01 AM
BBC coverage of Reform is becoming increasingly problematic. And goes beyond the usual white noise. Continuous soft balling is not balance, it is a fundamental abdication of duty. Farage's tax issues, cranks given platforms at their conference, climate change denial. All need coverage. Most haven't.
Clinical statistical meta analysis making the same grade school statistical error that the original studies make?
What do we call this? Meta effect size effect size inflation?
What do we call this? Meta effect size effect size inflation?
Vitamine D as antidepressant - a meta-analysis with the "standard error".
Fun fact: today I commented on PubPeer about a recent Vitamine D study with implausible results (SMD 2.9). So I searched for a meta-analysis and found also issues. And there would be another meta-analysis. It never ends.
Fun fact: today I commented on PubPeer about a recent Vitamine D study with implausible results (SMD 2.9). So I searched for a meta-analysis and found also issues. And there would be another meta-analysis. It never ends.
So, one more comment on PubPeer
pubpeer.com/publications...
pubpeer.com/publications...
September 8, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Clinical statistical meta analysis making the same grade school statistical error that the original studies make?
What do we call this? Meta effect size effect size inflation?
What do we call this? Meta effect size effect size inflation?
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
We're going to see a lot of bullshit in the coming days and weeks about "causes of autism", and most will be based on flawed, over-interpreted observational studies (1/n)
September 7, 2025 at 10:57 AM
We're going to see a lot of bullshit in the coming days and weeks about "causes of autism", and most will be based on flawed, over-interpreted observational studies (1/n)
Yes, the media should ask these questions. They don't. They can't. They lack the training and work inside rigid rules about how to capture attention and storytell. They have mantras for "what the public understands" that don't include science or data.
Politics runs on media, hence our world today.
Politics runs on media, hence our world today.
When reporting on these kinds of claims, the media should ask:
September 8, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Yes, the media should ask these questions. They don't. They can't. They lack the training and work inside rigid rules about how to capture attention and storytell. They have mantras for "what the public understands" that don't include science or data.
Politics runs on media, hence our world today.
Politics runs on media, hence our world today.
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
The Reform UK conference gives a standing ovation to "special guest" Lucy Connolly, who pled guilty to stirring up racial hatred after she called for asylum hotels to be set on fire with people inside them.
September 6, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The Reform UK conference gives a standing ovation to "special guest" Lucy Connolly, who pled guilty to stirring up racial hatred after she called for asylum hotels to be set on fire with people inside them.
Why is it difficult to accept that our awareness of having made a decision can only follow in the wake of our decision-making apparatus having done its job?
And that the same order of events must therefore hold for any coherent thought?
And that the same order of events must therefore hold for any coherent thought?
September 6, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Why is it difficult to accept that our awareness of having made a decision can only follow in the wake of our decision-making apparatus having done its job?
And that the same order of events must therefore hold for any coherent thought?
And that the same order of events must therefore hold for any coherent thought?
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
Having lied to congress earlier in the week, Farage flew back to the U.K. to lie to his party conference. Populists don’t like having to deal with reality and truth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Universities ‘poisoning student minds’, says Farage
Populist leader takes aim at higher education in speech on first day of the Reform UK conference in Birmingham
www.timeshighereducation.com
September 6, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Having lied to congress earlier in the week, Farage flew back to the U.K. to lie to his party conference. Populists don’t like having to deal with reality and truth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
UK academics, be aware that what's happening to universities in the US is coming to us in a few years, in the (unfortunately quite likely) event that Reform wins.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Having lied to congress earlier in the week, Farage flew back to the U.K. to lie to his party conference. Populists don’t like having to deal with reality and truth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
Universities ‘poisoning student minds’, says Farage
Populist leader takes aim at higher education in speech on first day of the Reform UK conference in Birmingham
www.timeshighereducation.com
September 6, 2025 at 9:01 AM
UK academics, be aware that what's happening to universities in the US is coming to us in a few years, in the (unfortunately quite likely) event that Reform wins.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Yes, yes, yes. This is coming. It caught voters in the US by surprise. The same will happen in the UK. Once we dismantle institutions base decisions on evidence and reason, we lock in a culture of authority, ideology and oppression. History shows this lasts generations, or until society collapses.
UK academics, be aware that what's happening to universities in the US is coming to us in a few years, in the (unfortunately quite likely) event that Reform wins.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Labour needs to get it's act together and give people a reason to vote for them.
Having lied to congress earlier in the week, Farage flew back to the U.K. to lie to his party conference. Populists don’t like having to deal with reality and truth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
September 6, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Yes, yes, yes. This is coming. It caught voters in the US by surprise. The same will happen in the UK. Once we dismantle institutions base decisions on evidence and reason, we lock in a culture of authority, ideology and oppression. History shows this lasts generations, or until society collapses.
Extinction Rebellion using tried and tested Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique.
This gets progressively funnier with every use of the term "floppy".
![One of Britain’s most senior police officers has launched an angry tirade against Extinction Rebellion protesters going “all floppy” when they get arrested.
Sir Stephen House, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the tactic of going limp was a “flipping nuisance” as it required extra officers to drag protesters away.
House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.”
Extinction Rebellion: how successful were the latest protests?
Read more
House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away [is that it] looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7uvcqt45oqlutlrtgx7bpodq/bafkreie7yqxb4cj2t4gxftiqsno5wgk2kczb5vbtj7wh2b2u5sjtqtdrku@jpeg)
September 6, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Extinction Rebellion using tried and tested Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique.
We all know that correlation doesn't imply causation. So we took some correlations and tested if they were causal. Here's what happened:
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
An optical brain-machine interface reveals a causal role of posterior parietal cortex in goal-directed navigation
Relating neural circuitry to behavior is challenging due to closed loop interactions
between neural activity, actions, and sensations. Sorrell et al. present evidence
for a causal role of mouse PPC in...
www.cell.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:09 AM
We all know that correlation doesn't imply causation. So we took some correlations and tested if they were causal. Here's what happened:
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
www.cell.com/cell-reports...
Reposted by Timothy O'Leary
I love this! It reminds me of Maurice Sendak’s best ever fan mail:
September 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
I love this! It reminds me of Maurice Sendak’s best ever fan mail: