John Trant
@trantteam.bsky.social
Assoc Prof UWindsor, Faculty of Science Research Chair; married to @shufflersunite.bsky.social
he/him/you bastard
Probably writing a grant. Big Ottawa Senators Fan.
www.trantteam.ca AND www.binarystarchem.ca.
Total scientific saturation at an epochal pace
he/him/you bastard
Probably writing a grant. Big Ottawa Senators Fan.
www.trantteam.ca AND www.binarystarchem.ca.
Total scientific saturation at an epochal pace
Democritus: "Everything is atoms"
I think I can confidently say that this is both right and useless. I propose that everything is sterics, electronics, and stereoelectronics arising from atoms playing stupid games. This is also right and useless. But it is a bit more right and a bit less useless.
I think I can confidently say that this is both right and useless. I propose that everything is sterics, electronics, and stereoelectronics arising from atoms playing stupid games. This is also right and useless. But it is a bit more right and a bit less useless.
November 19, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Democritus: "Everything is atoms"
I think I can confidently say that this is both right and useless. I propose that everything is sterics, electronics, and stereoelectronics arising from atoms playing stupid games. This is also right and useless. But it is a bit more right and a bit less useless.
I think I can confidently say that this is both right and useless. I propose that everything is sterics, electronics, and stereoelectronics arising from atoms playing stupid games. This is also right and useless. But it is a bit more right and a bit less useless.
#ChemChat
Is it possible to tell when a physical organic chemist is suffering from early stages of dementia? I find myself mumbling "its a complex interplay of sterics and electronics balancing entropic and enthalpic considerations" to myself a lot more than I probably should.
Is it possible to tell when a physical organic chemist is suffering from early stages of dementia? I find myself mumbling "its a complex interplay of sterics and electronics balancing entropic and enthalpic considerations" to myself a lot more than I probably should.
November 19, 2025 at 3:37 AM
#ChemChat
Is it possible to tell when a physical organic chemist is suffering from early stages of dementia? I find myself mumbling "its a complex interplay of sterics and electronics balancing entropic and enthalpic considerations" to myself a lot more than I probably should.
Is it possible to tell when a physical organic chemist is suffering from early stages of dementia? I find myself mumbling "its a complex interplay of sterics and electronics balancing entropic and enthalpic considerations" to myself a lot more than I probably should.
This post seems to be about AI. It clearly demonstrates the need for more AI integration in the poster's life. With enough AI integration, the Poster will learn to love the AI.
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shut the fuck up ai overview
nobody likes you
nobody likes you
November 19, 2025 at 2:42 AM
This post seems to be about AI. It clearly demonstrates the need for more AI integration in the poster's life. With enough AI integration, the Poster will learn to love the AI.
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Reposted by John Trant
November 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
I think the Stasi did this in East Germany. But they paid a lot more than $300 in relative value to their informants.
NEW: a contractor is paying random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE. They're given addresses, vehicles, told to monitor the target. That information then goes back up to ICE. These are not licensed private investigators; members of the public
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
www.404media.co/contractor-p...
Contractor Paying Random People $300 to Physically Track Immigrants for ICE
“The more I listened to it, the more I’m like, something doesn’t sound right,” a person who was briefed on the pilot plans told 404 Media.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I think the Stasi did this in East Germany. But they paid a lot more than $300 in relative value to their informants.
So...Microsoft: We can no longer support Windows 10 because security.
Also Microsoft: We are installing a tool so that it can undermine security, delete your data, change files, download stuff without consent, and generally pretend to be you. #YOLO.
Can we please stop?
Also Microsoft: We are installing a tool so that it can undermine security, delete your data, change files, download stuff without consent, and generally pretend to be you. #YOLO.
Can we please stop?
I do this ish for a living, I am an AI developer and researcher, and *I* don’t fully understand the security implications. What hope do regular users have?
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/wi...
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/wi...
Microsoft warns that Windows 11's agentic AI could install malware on your PC: "Only enable this feature if you understand the security implications"
Microsoft is pushing ahead with its plan to add agentic capabilities to Windows 11 but has issued an important security warning for anyone who is interested in trying it out.
www.windowscentral.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 PM
So...Microsoft: We can no longer support Windows 10 because security.
Also Microsoft: We are installing a tool so that it can undermine security, delete your data, change files, download stuff without consent, and generally pretend to be you. #YOLO.
Can we please stop?
Also Microsoft: We are installing a tool so that it can undermine security, delete your data, change files, download stuff without consent, and generally pretend to be you. #YOLO.
Can we please stop?
American civil society is really showing its desire to be subservient and servile. I always knew the talk of "individual liberty" and "dignity" was bullshit: any society that tolerates such incredible disparities of wealth and health makes that clear; but, I did think Americans had a backbone.
The fact that no one in the room stood up for her says a lot about how we got here bsky.app/profile/pale...
"Quiet! Quiet, Piggy."
November 18, 2025 at 4:28 PM
American civil society is really showing its desire to be subservient and servile. I always knew the talk of "individual liberty" and "dignity" was bullshit: any society that tolerates such incredible disparities of wealth and health makes that clear; but, I did think Americans had a backbone.
There are things that happen as a parent of a young child that you can't share because others would wonder if you are fit to be parents. God they move fast.
November 17, 2025 at 11:31 PM
There are things that happen as a parent of a young child that you can't share because others would wonder if you are fit to be parents. God they move fast.
To be fair to our PM...countries with friends and allies generally do better than the same country without friends and allies. This is a true statement since the rise of the City State around 5000 BC. So a rather safe statement to make.
Feels like something Thucydides would say.
Feels like something Thucydides would say.
Canada’s prime minister argues that countries that build new networks and pragmatic alliances will be best placed to thrive in this new age
The world is in a new age of variable geometry, says Mark Carney
Canada’s prime minister argues that countries that build new networks and pragmatic alliances will be best placed to thrive in this new age
econ.st
November 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM
To be fair to our PM...countries with friends and allies generally do better than the same country without friends and allies. This is a true statement since the rise of the City State around 5000 BC. So a rather safe statement to make.
Feels like something Thucydides would say.
Feels like something Thucydides would say.
Reposted by John Trant
Until we recognise that resilience requires inefficiency – that robust systems must have slack – we’re just optimising our way towards collapse. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
After I burned out, physics helped me understand what had happened to me – and to move on | Zahaan Bharmal
I thought hard work equalled success. I had to realise that’s not always how it works, in science or in life, says Google employee Zahaan Bharmal
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Until we recognise that resilience requires inefficiency – that robust systems must have slack – we’re just optimising our way towards collapse. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by John Trant
they gleefully announce the llm solves a difficult problem and then you find out...they use it to respond to an email, format some python, arrange two meetings in an 8 hour period.
we are going to let these people burn the planet because we are too nice to tell them they sound stupid.
we are going to let these people burn the planet because we are too nice to tell them they sound stupid.
lately i've been thinking about how LLMs must feel really amazing to use if you're a dumbass, but incredibly frustrating if you're just basically competent in life.
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
they gleefully announce the llm solves a difficult problem and then you find out...they use it to respond to an email, format some python, arrange two meetings in an 8 hour period.
we are going to let these people burn the planet because we are too nice to tell them they sound stupid.
we are going to let these people burn the planet because we are too nice to tell them they sound stupid.
On the day of Salvation
I will stand
On a hill
In ecstasy
As the smoke rises around me
From acres of flame.
A burnt offering
As the AI data centre below
Is consumed by the cleansing fires
I will stand
On a hill
In ecstasy
As the smoke rises around me
From acres of flame.
A burnt offering
As the AI data centre below
Is consumed by the cleansing fires
November 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
On the day of Salvation
I will stand
On a hill
In ecstasy
As the smoke rises around me
From acres of flame.
A burnt offering
As the AI data centre below
Is consumed by the cleansing fires
I will stand
On a hill
In ecstasy
As the smoke rises around me
From acres of flame.
A burnt offering
As the AI data centre below
Is consumed by the cleansing fires
Reposted by John Trant
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
November 13, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Aneccdotally they note the rise of number names (eleven, four, six). This is simply a proper return to the classical tradition. I wanted (never bothered proposing) naming our daughter Prima Perfecta Trant.
Broke: Lucius, Brutus
Woke: Quintus (and Gnaeus deserves more ❤️)
Broke: Lucius, Brutus
Woke: Quintus (and Gnaeus deserves more ❤️)
‘You get more attention than you would choose’: how an unusual name can shape your life – for better or worse
From Peach to Riot to Aquaman, anything goes now when it comes to kids’ names. There are even companies to help you pick one …
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Aneccdotally they note the rise of number names (eleven, four, six). This is simply a proper return to the classical tradition. I wanted (never bothered proposing) naming our daughter Prima Perfecta Trant.
Broke: Lucius, Brutus
Woke: Quintus (and Gnaeus deserves more ❤️)
Broke: Lucius, Brutus
Woke: Quintus (and Gnaeus deserves more ❤️)
Reposted by John Trant
every company in 2025
November 12, 2025 at 5:59 PM
every company in 2025
I trained as a barista before becoming a scientist. What they have in common?
Clean your fucking equipment if you want good results.
Plus, running 3 × 2-station espresso machines at 7:30 AM outside the Ottawa courthouse trains multitasking and attention splitting better than anything.
Clean your fucking equipment if you want good results.
Plus, running 3 × 2-station espresso machines at 7:30 AM outside the Ottawa courthouse trains multitasking and attention splitting better than anything.
it's not that i ever doubted that being a barista was a skilled position, but my year-long effort to try to produce a half-decent latte at home has convinced me that a good barista is easily more skilled than virtually every c-suite executive on the planet
November 12, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I trained as a barista before becoming a scientist. What they have in common?
Clean your fucking equipment if you want good results.
Plus, running 3 × 2-station espresso machines at 7:30 AM outside the Ottawa courthouse trains multitasking and attention splitting better than anything.
Clean your fucking equipment if you want good results.
Plus, running 3 × 2-station espresso machines at 7:30 AM outside the Ottawa courthouse trains multitasking and attention splitting better than anything.
We are going to claim that Joyce Carol Oates' grand recent contribution to mankind is a direct result of her time here @uwindsor.bsky.social. We mentor for that kind of deep insight into the human condition. It's in our water.
#LancerImpact
Anyways, recruiting grad students for 2026.
#LancerImpact
Anyways, recruiting grad students for 2026.
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 AM
We are going to claim that Joyce Carol Oates' grand recent contribution to mankind is a direct result of her time here @uwindsor.bsky.social. We mentor for that kind of deep insight into the human condition. It's in our water.
#LancerImpact
Anyways, recruiting grad students for 2026.
#LancerImpact
Anyways, recruiting grad students for 2026.
According to the baby tonight, pictured is "Daddy Egg!"
Well played kiddo. Well played.
Well played kiddo. Well played.
November 12, 2025 at 12:19 AM
According to the baby tonight, pictured is "Daddy Egg!"
Well played kiddo. Well played.
Well played kiddo. Well played.
A reminder that co-operating with fascism is called being a fascist. See how well it worked out for Quisling and Vichy. Frankly, the ex-Nazis in Germany got off far easier than their erstwhile lickspittle collaborators in the rest of Europe. And at this point, no one is holding a literal gun to head
November 10, 2025 at 9:47 PM
A reminder that co-operating with fascism is called being a fascist. See how well it worked out for Quisling and Vichy. Frankly, the ex-Nazis in Germany got off far easier than their erstwhile lickspittle collaborators in the rest of Europe. And at this point, no one is holding a literal gun to head
Reposted by John Trant
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
IF this can scale (and have ridiculously efficient turnover), then...maybe? But scientifically, this is incredible.
From carbon dioxide to starch—no plants required.
In Science, researchers developed a cell-free method of synthesizing starch from CO2 and hydrogen using a combination of chemical catalysts and a carefully selected set of enzymes.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4hMvDtA #ScienceMagArchives
In Science, researchers developed a cell-free method of synthesizing starch from CO2 and hydrogen using a combination of chemical catalysts and a carefully selected set of enzymes.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4hMvDtA #ScienceMagArchives
Cell-free chemoenzymatic starch synthesis from carbon dioxide
A designed chemoenzymatic cascade reaction enables cell-free synthesis of starch from carbon dioxide.
scim.ag
November 7, 2025 at 9:10 PM
IF this can scale (and have ridiculously efficient turnover), then...maybe? But scientifically, this is incredible.
A PhD is not about accomplishing "a research." It is about learning how to solve problems that you have never seen before. Turning to Bullshit Machines for this (except in big data analysis) is the opposite of the skillset a PhD is all about.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
"AI is not just another research tool; it is redefining what research is, how it is done and what counts as an original contribution." Alex Sen Gupta writes in Nature how doctoral training must evolve to make the most of AI outputs. #Academicsky 🧪
PhD training needs a reboot in an AI world
As machines get better at data analysis and writing tasks, doctoral training must evolve to make the most of artificial-intelligence outputs.
go.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:36 PM
A PhD is not about accomplishing "a research." It is about learning how to solve problems that you have never seen before. Turning to Bullshit Machines for this (except in big data analysis) is the opposite of the skillset a PhD is all about.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
This is a really disingenuous headline @economist.com. I used to read you all the time as a rock solid middle of the road NEWS magazine (early 2000s). But it's become reactionary slop. Poorly funded universal childcare is bad. Well funded is good. Higher taxes, better funding, and it is AMAZING.
Its growing popularity in America is a concern
Universal child care can harm children
Its growing popularity in America is a concern
econ.st
November 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
This is a really disingenuous headline @economist.com. I used to read you all the time as a rock solid middle of the road NEWS magazine (early 2000s). But it's become reactionary slop. Poorly funded universal childcare is bad. Well funded is good. Higher taxes, better funding, and it is AMAZING.