Tom Radcliffe
@tjradcliffe.bsky.social
Physicist, Breakthrough Prize Laureate (SNO), poet, engineer, writer, actor, sailor, canoeist, kayaker, boat-builder, businessman, philosopher (Bayesian), executive, entrepreneur (unsuccessful), consulting scientist, inventor, husband, father, grandfather.
Pinned
Tom Radcliffe
@tjradcliffe.bsky.social
· Dec 12
Capuleft and Montaright
A sword-and-cell-phone nove-in-verse!
siduri.net
My latest book, a sword-cell-phone novel-in-verse that riffs on "Romeo and Juliet", but Romeo's friends aren't all idiots. Nobody dies, lots of people end up in bed. "A fabulous modern take on Romeo and Juliet set in a gritty urban backdrop"-Emily Thompson, ReedsyDiscovery siduri.net/books/capule...
Every country in Europe has "two tier" health care and most deliver more accessible care with better outcomes at comparable or lower cost than Canada. So "two tier" as such is no problem. How you do it is. But by obsessing about "two tier" Canadians miss that discussion, so we get the crap version.
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Every country in Europe has "two tier" health care and most deliver more accessible care with better outcomes at comparable or lower cost than Canada. So "two tier" as such is no problem. How you do it is. But by obsessing about "two tier" Canadians miss that discussion, so we get the crap version.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
I’m honestly surprised it isn’t higher. But then it probably would be, if people had more sick days to use. Instead, they just show up to infect their coworkers.
Looks like their plan to boost productivity by ushering everyone back to the office in an ongoing pandemic didn't play out as expected
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I’m honestly surprised it isn’t higher. But then it probably would be, if people had more sick days to use. Instead, they just show up to infect their coworkers.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
The Epstein scandal has reached that tipping point where material is coming out from multiple sources at different times.
Like Watergate, there’s no way to shut it all off anymore.
Like Watergate, there’s no way to shut it all off anymore.
Epstein had a tiny & ‘extremely deformed’ fruit-shaped penis, victim says
House Oversight Committee releases photos with blurred faces.
House Oversight Committee releases photos with blurred faces.
November 19, 2025 at 11:57 PM
The Epstein scandal has reached that tipping point where material is coming out from multiple sources at different times.
Like Watergate, there’s no way to shut it all off anymore.
Like Watergate, there’s no way to shut it all off anymore.
The CANDU design was great... fifty years ago. Today we know that molten salt reactors are superior in every respect, if anyone was willing to invest in development: impossible to melt down, zero steam explosion risk, 1% of the waste and 100x as much power from the same fuel due to higher burnup.
"Jean Chrétien is a former PM. Mike Harris is a former premier of Ontario. Both serve as co-chairs of Canadians for CANDU, a campaign by AtkinsRéalis to promote Candu nuclear technology"
The former SNC-Lavalin has created an astroturf group
#cdnpoli
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
The former SNC-Lavalin has created an astroturf group
#cdnpoli
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...
Opinion: Canada needs to step up. We need Candu nuclear technology
Energy security is national security, and the Candu nuclear reactor can help Canada chart its own future
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:39 AM
The CANDU design was great... fifty years ago. Today we know that molten salt reactors are superior in every respect, if anyone was willing to invest in development: impossible to melt down, zero steam explosion risk, 1% of the waste and 100x as much power from the same fuel due to higher burnup.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
Looks like their plan to boost productivity by ushering everyone back to the office in an ongoing pandemic didn't play out as expected
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
November 20, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Looks like their plan to boost productivity by ushering everyone back to the office in an ongoing pandemic didn't play out as expected
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
ottawacitizen.com/public-servi...
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
@deevybee.bsky.social and colleagues are rockstars for putting this together for international public service. 👏🧪🙌
New Neuron paper by Mitchell, Dahly, Bishop tears apart the “autism is caused by the microbiome” story. Tiny n, noisy 16S, contradictory taxa, vague “dysbiosis”. It reads like an autopsy of a hype bubble.
www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism
Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in
the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential
studies underpinning these...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:54 PM
@deevybee.bsky.social and colleagues are rockstars for putting this together for international public service. 👏🧪🙌
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
It is absolutely and entirely incorrect to suggest that it is up to potentially offending states to determine whether or not their actions are legal or not.
Anand urged to reverse 'wrong' course of letting US decide if it breached international law w boat strikes: www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Anand urged to reverse 'wrong' course of letting US decide if it breached international law w boat strikes: www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Anand urged to reverse 'wrong' course of letting U.S. decide if it breached international law with boat strikes
International law experts say that Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has erred in proclaiming that it is up to the U.S. to decide if it has violated international law.
www.hilltimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
It is absolutely and entirely incorrect to suggest that it is up to potentially offending states to determine whether or not their actions are legal or not.
Anand urged to reverse 'wrong' course of letting US decide if it breached international law w boat strikes: www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Anand urged to reverse 'wrong' course of letting US decide if it breached international law w boat strikes: www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
The universe does things on a subatomic level that would get you arrested for bank fraud if you tried the financial equivalent.
November 19, 2025 at 4:59 AM
The universe does things on a subatomic level that would get you arrested for bank fraud if you tried the financial equivalent.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
What I hope is that Carney know the private sector has no intention of putting up a dime for a new pipeline, and he's bluffing to placate Dunderhead Smith.
What I fear is that Carney will one-up Trudeau and not just buy out an existing proposal, but fully fund a pipeline with taxpayer funds.
What I fear is that Carney will one-up Trudeau and not just buy out an existing proposal, but fully fund a pipeline with taxpayer funds.
I suspect there will be a lot of people lashing out at the Carney government over the MOU that's been leaked today.
I'd encourage them to read this first. The biggest hurdle in the way of a new oil pipeline to the west coast, by far, has yet to be cleared.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/18/o...
I'd encourage them to read this first. The biggest hurdle in the way of a new oil pipeline to the west coast, by far, has yet to be cleared.
www.nationalobserver.com/2025/11/18/o...
Alberta’s pipeline math still doesn’t add up
The biggest obstacle standing between Alberta and its premier's repeated pledge to double oil production isn't the tanker ban, the emissions cap, or any other piece of federal legislation. It's realit...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
What I hope is that Carney know the private sector has no intention of putting up a dime for a new pipeline, and he's bluffing to placate Dunderhead Smith.
What I fear is that Carney will one-up Trudeau and not just buy out an existing proposal, but fully fund a pipeline with taxpayer funds.
What I fear is that Carney will one-up Trudeau and not just buy out an existing proposal, but fully fund a pipeline with taxpayer funds.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
November 19, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
International Men's Day. Guys, check in on your friends; if you need help, ask, and, importantly, remember the version of masculinity you're being sold online and by many politicians isn't masculinity, it's cruelty. Last, there's nothing unmasculine about protecting your health.
November 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
International Men's Day. Guys, check in on your friends; if you need help, ask, and, importantly, remember the version of masculinity you're being sold online and by many politicians isn't masculinity, it's cruelty. Last, there's nothing unmasculine about protecting your health.
Mega-engineering projects always look--and often are--completely nuts... but sometimes we build them and they work and then everyone is, "Oh, yes, the ultra-high-voltage Atlantic cable, haven't thought about that for years..."
A power line. Across the Atlantic.
Not as crazy as you might think, @dariussnieckus.bsky.social reports.
Not as crazy as you might think, @dariussnieckus.bsky.social reports.
Giant Canada-Europe green power line closes in on first ‘strategic investors’
The NATO-L interconnector — a 4,000km-long power line that would link Canadian Maritimes to the western EU — is progressing, with its first investors set to be announced early next year, according to ...
www.nationalobserver.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Mega-engineering projects always look--and often are--completely nuts... but sometimes we build them and they work and then everyone is, "Oh, yes, the ultra-high-voltage Atlantic cable, haven't thought about that for years..."
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
@densebreastscanada.bsky.social @onschoolsafety.bsky.social @longcovidcan-co.bsky.social @longcovidkids.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.com @popnb.bsky.social
@protectbc.bsky.social
A broad coalition of groups harmed by EBM / GRADE is linking up. Please tag more below to build out the network.
@protectbc.bsky.social
A broad coalition of groups harmed by EBM / GRADE is linking up. Please tag more below to build out the network.
If you're concerned about the assault on trans rights, pay attention to how pseudoscientific "Evidence Based Medicine" approaches are used to launder ideology into "science".
Canadians in particular should write their MPs etc and tell them to get EBM / GRADE etc out of policy.
Note this is NOT...
Canadians in particular should write their MPs etc and tell them to get EBM / GRADE etc out of policy.
Note this is NOT...
In sorting my own thoughts about the moment, I began writing about the way science is being used by bad actors under the guise of "evidence-based medicine". I also talk about the limits of our ability to fully boil down evidence into axioms that make subjectivity irrelevant.
November 19, 2025 at 1:51 PM
@densebreastscanada.bsky.social @onschoolsafety.bsky.social @longcovidcan-co.bsky.social @longcovidkids.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.com @popnb.bsky.social
@protectbc.bsky.social
A broad coalition of groups harmed by EBM / GRADE is linking up. Please tag more below to build out the network.
@protectbc.bsky.social
A broad coalition of groups harmed by EBM / GRADE is linking up. Please tag more below to build out the network.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
To highlight Mark’s call out here, EBM acts in a way that reflects underlying colonial values labelling some types of knowledge as ‘savage’ and others as pure and holy.
When used to control information this is colonialism manifest.
Same strategy used to place Western knowledge over Indigenous.
When used to control information this is colonialism manifest.
Same strategy used to place Western knowledge over Indigenous.
...have inflated EBM, GRADE and other variants into an entire Lysenkoist pseudoscience.
Evidence from outside the EBM bubble is erased by EBM's doctrine of terra nullius - conveniently allowing those grabbing for power to claim their checklists give them the understanding to Be In Charge, but...
Evidence from outside the EBM bubble is erased by EBM's doctrine of terra nullius - conveniently allowing those grabbing for power to claim their checklists give them the understanding to Be In Charge, but...
🧵(1/n) An unfortunate example of confusion around the value of RCTs common to practitioners with limited research training. RCTs are a useful scientific method, but they are only a small part of the biomedical researcher's deep toolbox.
bsky.app/profile/mark...
bsky.app/profile/mark...
November 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM
To highlight Mark’s call out here, EBM acts in a way that reflects underlying colonial values labelling some types of knowledge as ‘savage’ and others as pure and holy.
When used to control information this is colonialism manifest.
Same strategy used to place Western knowledge over Indigenous.
When used to control information this is colonialism manifest.
Same strategy used to place Western knowledge over Indigenous.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
Can I get an amen?
Ritual as costume is a beautiful descriptor.
The rating scale assignment is immensely subjective and arbitrary by the researcher. It could be done well but can also introduce a scientific biases.
Case in point: declaring all mechanistic respirator studies low quality
Ritual as costume is a beautiful descriptor.
The rating scale assignment is immensely subjective and arbitrary by the researcher. It could be done well but can also introduce a scientific biases.
Case in point: declaring all mechanistic respirator studies low quality
“While the EBM movement has indeed contributed greatly to the push for better evidence and ever more rigorous standards for research, it has also created a plausible mechanism for opponents of scientific progress to discount enormous volumes of data using scientific language and ritual as costume.”
November 19, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Can I get an amen?
Ritual as costume is a beautiful descriptor.
The rating scale assignment is immensely subjective and arbitrary by the researcher. It could be done well but can also introduce a scientific biases.
Case in point: declaring all mechanistic respirator studies low quality
Ritual as costume is a beautiful descriptor.
The rating scale assignment is immensely subjective and arbitrary by the researcher. It could be done well but can also introduce a scientific biases.
Case in point: declaring all mechanistic respirator studies low quality
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
Engineers - if you're hearing the siren song of 'evidence-based' decision making under EBM, consider its catechism excludes all subject matter specialists as unredeemably biased.
That is horrifically antithetical to everything engineering considers ethical.
& contrary to our CDN code of ethics.
That is horrifically antithetical to everything engineering considers ethical.
& contrary to our CDN code of ethics.
OK this is ridiculous. The draft new Canadian public health guidance-development mechanism doubles down on excluding subject matter experts from voting roles, restricts membership to people from inside the EBM pseudoscience bubble, and sets up to funnel public money to McMaster-GRADE courses etc.
Draft Implementation Plan for the Renewed Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care - Canada.ca
Feedback will help ensure effective implementation of the recommendations from the External Expert Review and inform a renewed Task Force.
www.canada.ca
November 19, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Engineers - if you're hearing the siren song of 'evidence-based' decision making under EBM, consider its catechism excludes all subject matter specialists as unredeemably biased.
That is horrifically antithetical to everything engineering considers ethical.
& contrary to our CDN code of ethics.
That is horrifically antithetical to everything engineering considers ethical.
& contrary to our CDN code of ethics.
Previous trials have a major flaw: they can only ethically recruit people *who think they will do better on UBI than whatever UBI is replacing*, which is often more targeted social assistance. Unsurprisingly, people so-recruited do better! Society-wide is the question, and this will help answer it.
BREAKING: Marshall Islands becomes the first country to launch a Universal Basic Income program. Every resident (about 33,000 people) will receive $200 every 3 months. This works out to being about 11% of GDP per capita. If the US did that same percentage, the UBI would be about $770/mo.
Marshall Islands Launches Nationwide Universal Basic Income Program Using Digital Infrastructure
Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands — November 19, 2025. The Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has introduced a nationwide Universal Basic Income (UBI) program, marking the...
www.koreaittimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Previous trials have a major flaw: they can only ethically recruit people *who think they will do better on UBI than whatever UBI is replacing*, which is often more targeted social assistance. Unsurprisingly, people so-recruited do better! Society-wide is the question, and this will help answer it.
However awful the BC NDP is--and they are extremely awful--the rightwingnutjobs of Alberta are orders of magnitude worse. This is just egregious, and as has been observed of late: outside of a tiny slice of obsessed news editors and social media algos, no one wants to hurt trans kids. We just don't.
I just want to say here that Smith is not only using the notwithstanding clause to remove the charter rights of children. She's using it to remove their human rights. Human rights.
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 AM
However awful the BC NDP is--and they are extremely awful--the rightwingnutjobs of Alberta are orders of magnitude worse. This is just egregious, and as has been observed of late: outside of a tiny slice of obsessed news editors and social media algos, no one wants to hurt trans kids. We just don't.
As someone with decades of experience in machine learning, DO NOT USE anything even remotely like this. ChatGPT is a *language model* that produces *plausible strings of characters*. It's not intelligent. It can't reason. It can't think. It can however get you into DEEP trouble with the IRS.
TurboTax is about to be integrated into ChatGPT, where customers will be guided through tasks tied to their tax filings or financial profile by the AI chatbot.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
November 19, 2025 at 5:14 AM
As someone with decades of experience in machine learning, DO NOT USE anything even remotely like this. ChatGPT is a *language model* that produces *plausible strings of characters*. It's not intelligent. It can't reason. It can't think. It can however get you into DEEP trouble with the IRS.
This is an award that Canada has worked hard to earn. We've had endless opportunities from Brian Mulroney's day onward to do better. Mulroney did well on the environment, from acid rain to the ozone hole, but it's been downhill ever since. We could have been a leader. We've chosen to be a laggard.
November 19, 2025 at 5:11 AM
This is an award that Canada has worked hard to earn. We've had endless opportunities from Brian Mulroney's day onward to do better. Mulroney did well on the environment, from acid rain to the ozone hole, but it's been downhill ever since. We could have been a leader. We've chosen to be a laggard.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
One of the most upsetting articles I've read in a long time www.theargumentmag.com/p/when-grade...
UCSD report senate.ucsd.edu/media/740347...
We are failing a generation of kids.
UCSD report senate.ucsd.edu/media/740347...
We are failing a generation of kids.
When grades stop meaning anything
The UC San Diego math scandal is a warning
www.theargumentmag.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:05 AM
One of the most upsetting articles I've read in a long time www.theargumentmag.com/p/when-grade...
UCSD report senate.ucsd.edu/media/740347...
We are failing a generation of kids.
UCSD report senate.ucsd.edu/media/740347...
We are failing a generation of kids.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
This is what's at stake.
The UCP is not only dodging its responsibility to explain how Bill 9 is in any way proportionate or justifiable in a free and democratic society.
They are putting children at far greater risk of suicide.
The UCP is not only dodging its responsibility to explain how Bill 9 is in any way proportionate or justifiable in a free and democratic society.
They are putting children at far greater risk of suicide.
State-level anti-transgender laws increased incidents of past-year suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary young people by 7–72%
November 19, 2025 at 2:43 AM
This is what's at stake.
The UCP is not only dodging its responsibility to explain how Bill 9 is in any way proportionate or justifiable in a free and democratic society.
They are putting children at far greater risk of suicide.
The UCP is not only dodging its responsibility to explain how Bill 9 is in any way proportionate or justifiable in a free and democratic society.
They are putting children at far greater risk of suicide.
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
1/ Inspired by @1goodtern.bsky.social, I've been checking Canadian data. @cihica.bsky.social publicly available is useless. Stats Can is better, but only goes to 2023, because we suck at data in Canada. Nonetheless 👀
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
November 19, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Tom Radcliffe
1/ Inspired by @1goodtern.bsky.social, I've been checking Canadian data. @cihica.bsky.social publicly available is useless. Stats Can is better, but only goes to 2023, because we suck at data in Canada. Nonetheless 👀
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
November 18, 2025 at 11:47 PM
1/ Inspired by @1goodtern.bsky.social, I've been checking Canadian data. @cihica.bsky.social publicly available is useless. Stats Can is better, but only goes to 2023, because we suck at data in Canada. Nonetheless 👀
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
Did something hit in 2020 that affected our hearts?!
The idea that "Congress passed an act therefore the DOJ has to obey is" is imbecilic. I cannot take even a little bit seriously anyone who is so utterly, willfully, ignorant of the MASS of laws the trump admin has simply ignored with no penalty, or who thinks magically "This time it's different!"
November 19, 2025 at 12:50 AM
The idea that "Congress passed an act therefore the DOJ has to obey is" is imbecilic. I cannot take even a little bit seriously anyone who is so utterly, willfully, ignorant of the MASS of laws the trump admin has simply ignored with no penalty, or who thinks magically "This time it's different!"