Ioannis Kontoyiannis
@kontoyiannis.bsky.social
Information theory, probability, statistics. Churchill Professor of Mathematics of Information @UofCambridge: dpmms.cam.ac.uk/person/ik355/ 🧮 #MathSky 🧪 #Science
[used to be @yiannis_entropy at the other place]
[used to be @yiannis_entropy at the other place]
😋 A bit of fun with entropy!
"Shakespeare, Entropy and Educated Monkeys"⁉️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2512.11880
"Shakespeare, Entropy and Educated Monkeys"⁉️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2512.11880
December 19, 2025 at 9:27 AM
😋 A bit of fun with entropy!
"Shakespeare, Entropy and Educated Monkeys"⁉️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2512.11880
"Shakespeare, Entropy and Educated Monkeys"⁉️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2512.11880
What will happen to international academic conferences in the U.S.?
DNA and family history: What US authorities could demand you hand over at the border
Exclusive: US Customs and Border Protection could soon demand your DNA as part of an Esta application
www.independent.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:52 PM
What will happen to international academic conferences in the U.S.?
Nicely said <3
I am so enormously thankful for essentially every person I know and have ever met, and for everything they have taught and given to me. The good, the bad, and the unspeakable. It all counts. The trick is to remember to pay that debt forward to everyone you meet from now on. ❤️
November 27, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Nicely said <3
And so is started.
It is by now clear to everyone that academic publishing as we know it is about to change forever. It is not yet clear what form the future will take, but the the academic publishing world will be soon become different to anything we know... 👇
It is by now clear to everyone that academic publishing as we know it is about to change forever. It is not yet clear what form the future will take, but the the academic publishing world will be soon become different to anything we know... 👇
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
/1
November 27, 2025 at 7:43 PM
And so is started.
It is by now clear to everyone that academic publishing as we know it is about to change forever. It is not yet clear what form the future will take, but the the academic publishing world will be soon become different to anything we know... 👇
It is by now clear to everyone that academic publishing as we know it is about to change forever. It is not yet clear what form the future will take, but the the academic publishing world will be soon become different to anything we know... 👇
November 26, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Ioannis Kontoyiannis
Retirement is celebrated everywhere except by academics and supreme court justices, who view it as capitulation
November 24, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Retirement is celebrated everywhere except by academics and supreme court justices, who view it as capitulation
❕ Fun new work with Andreas Theocharous and Lampros Gavalakis on *Data Compression* 👨💻 🗜️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2501.101...
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2501.101...
November 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM
❕ Fun new work with Andreas Theocharous and Lampros Gavalakis on *Data Compression* 👨💻 🗜️
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2501.101...
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2501.101...
Great talk by Amos Lapidoth at @robinsoncollege.bsky.social Robinson College, University of Cambridge!
October 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Great talk by Amos Lapidoth at @robinsoncollege.bsky.social Robinson College, University of Cambridge!
Spineless and disappointing
A statement from the President of the Royal Society | Royal Society
A statement from Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, regarding threats to the values that allow science to flourish.
royalsociety.org
October 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Spineless and disappointing
🚨 Very excited about this!
Among other things, we give the first complete characterization of the case of equality in Shannon's Entropy Power Inequality
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14021
Among other things, we give the first complete characterization of the case of equality in Shannon's Entropy Power Inequality
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14021
September 24, 2025 at 12:29 PM
🚨 Very excited about this!
Among other things, we give the first complete characterization of the case of equality in Shannon's Entropy Power Inequality
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14021
Among other things, we give the first complete characterization of the case of equality in Shannon's Entropy Power Inequality
Full paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.14021
If Elon Musk is *not* removed from the Fellowship, the Royal Society should explain why it even has a Code of Conduct.
Royal Society to reconsider expelling Elon Musk - Research Professional News
“Language of violence” in address to anti-immigration rally pushes science academy to reassess billionaire’s fellowship
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
September 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
If Elon Musk is *not* removed from the Fellowship, the Royal Society should explain why it even has a Code of Conduct.
Reposted by Ioannis Kontoyiannis
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “An information-theoretic foreshadowing of mathematicians’ sudden insights.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
September 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “An information-theoretic foreshadowing of mathematicians’ sudden insights.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
Not saying I loved it, but a popular-science introduction to Markov chains that gets nearly 8 million views in six weeks is definitely something to celebrate!
The Strange Math That Predicts (Almost) Anything
YouTube video by Veritasium
www.youtube.com
September 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Not saying I loved it, but a popular-science introduction to Markov chains that gets nearly 8 million views in six weeks is definitely something to celebrate!
ICYMI: Terry Tao on Trump's science policy 👇
The world’s greatest mathematician avoided politics. Then Trump cut science funding.
Terence Tao, a renowned mathematician at UCLA, faced funding challenges after the Trump administration froze federal research funds.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
ICYMI: Terry Tao on Trump's science policy 👇
🚨 Is fixed step-size a good idea? A rigorous analysis, in exciting new work with Sean Meyn (@supermeyn.bsky.social) and Caio Kalil Lauand
September 5, 2025 at 1:20 PM
🚨 Is fixed step-size a good idea? A rigorous analysis, in exciting new work with Sean Meyn (@supermeyn.bsky.social) and Caio Kalil Lauand
🙋♂️❓
When did Google search stop saying how many results it found, and is it still possible to get that info?
When did Google search stop saying how many results it found, and is it still possible to get that info?
August 30, 2025 at 12:32 AM
🙋♂️❓
When did Google search stop saying how many results it found, and is it still possible to get that info?
When did Google search stop saying how many results it found, and is it still possible to get that info?
🚨 New paper -- Causal modeling and the curse of overfitting
July 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
🚨 New paper -- Causal modeling and the curse of overfitting
UK vs the US: Cultural and lifestyle differences
I decided to make a long blog post combining general sociological things I am aware of with personal observations of cultural and lifestyle differences between the UK and USA.
sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2025/07/comp...
sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2025/07/comp...
Comparisons Between Life in the UK and the USA
For most of my life I have lived in the UK, but for six years I lived in the United States of America. Somewhat erratic and unpleasant polit...
sootyempiric.blogspot.com
July 20, 2025 at 11:59 AM
UK vs the US: Cultural and lifestyle differences
"Almost 84,000 people died in Gaza between October 2023 and early January 2025 as a result of the Hamas–Israel war"
"More than half of the people killed were women aged 18–64, children or people over 65"
"More than half of the people killed were women aged 18–64, children or people over 65"
First independent survey of deaths in Gaza reports more than 80,000 fatalities
The results align with other efforts to count the number of people killed amid the ongoing conflict.
https://go.nature.com/44nH0la
The results align with other efforts to count the number of people killed amid the ongoing conflict.
https://go.nature.com/44nH0la
First independent survey of deaths in Gaza reports more than 80,000 fatalities
Results align with other efforts to count the number of people killed amid the ongoing conflict.
go.nature.com
June 27, 2025 at 3:40 PM
"Almost 84,000 people died in Gaza between October 2023 and early January 2025 as a result of the Hamas–Israel war"
"More than half of the people killed were women aged 18–64, children or people over 65"
"More than half of the people killed were women aged 18–64, children or people over 65"
Reposted by Ioannis Kontoyiannis
the ERC has added a million euro for researchers moving to Europe.
ERC to double allowance for researchers moving to EU
The European Research Council (ERC) is doubling the relocation allowance it makes to researchers coming to the EU to take up one of its grants. At present it offers third-country researchers up to €1 ...
sciencebusiness.net
April 18, 2025 at 1:56 AM
the ERC has added a million euro for researchers moving to Europe.
New entropy inequalities --
Fun new work with Rupert Li and Lampros Gavalakis just posted www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.20813 !
Fun new work with Rupert Li and Lampros Gavalakis just posted www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.20813 !
June 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
New entropy inequalities --
Fun new work with Rupert Li and Lampros Gavalakis just posted www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.20813 !
Fun new work with Rupert Li and Lampros Gavalakis just posted www.arxiv.org/abs/2506.20813 !
🚨 Breaking -- and extremely exciting -- news!
It was just announced that Frans Willem was awarded the Shannon Award!
Congratulations, Frans!
It was just announced that Frans Willem was awarded the Shannon Award!
Congratulations, Frans!
June 27, 2025 at 1:54 AM
🚨 Breaking -- and extremely exciting -- news!
It was just announced that Frans Willem was awarded the Shannon Award!
Congratulations, Frans!
It was just announced that Frans Willem was awarded the Shannon Award!
Congratulations, Frans!
In auto-reply/vacation messages that say "...if there is something urgent, please contact Blah at blah@blah...", has anyone ever urgently contacted Blah?
June 23, 2025 at 2:34 PM
In auto-reply/vacation messages that say "...if there is something urgent, please contact Blah at blah@blah...", has anyone ever urgently contacted Blah?
Hard to see how this may not be a problem 😮❗
During a Senate hearing, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, falsely described habeas corpus as the president’s “constitutional right” to deport people. nyti.ms/3H1DXXS
May 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Hard to see how this may not be a problem 😮❗
Reposted by Ioannis Kontoyiannis
Obit for Peter Lax, an applied mathematician who did pioneering work in PDEs, solitons, and computational science.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
Peter Lax, Pre-eminent Cold War Mathematician, Dies at 99
www.nytimes.com
May 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Obit for Peter Lax, an applied mathematician who did pioneering work in PDEs, solitons, and computational science.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...