Matt Kirkcaldie
@matttkk.bsky.social
Neuroscientist obsessed with brain structure and comparative neuroanatomy.
They’re not circuits. It’s not wiring. Cortex is a resonant mesh.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt-Kirkcaldie [ image by https://mattcoyle.net ]
They’re not circuits. It’s not wiring. Cortex is a resonant mesh.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matt-Kirkcaldie [ image by https://mattcoyle.net ]
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Any comment from @ausgov.bsky.social of @vicgovau.bsky.social on this?
Your multiple, excited press releases about your collab with Moderna for vaccine tech in '24-'25 should now be defended LOUDLY. If there's no pushback to JFK's misinformation, we might as well all pack up and go home.
Your multiple, excited press releases about your collab with Moderna for vaccine tech in '24-'25 should now be defended LOUDLY. If there's no pushback to JFK's misinformation, we might as well all pack up and go home.
Moderna have announced that they won't run new phase three trials now with massive impacts for new vaccine development- why- its because of RFK Jr and his anti-vaccine campaigns and cancelling mRNA vaccine research which affect the sales the company can then make 🧪🧵 #PublicHealth
Moderna Won’t Run Phase III Vaccine Trials as Skepticism Grows in US: Bloomberg
Growing opposition to vaccines in the U.S., driven by recent government policy changes, makes it difficult to see a return on investment in vaccine development, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said this w...
www.biospace.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Any comment from @ausgov.bsky.social of @vicgovau.bsky.social on this?
Your multiple, excited press releases about your collab with Moderna for vaccine tech in '24-'25 should now be defended LOUDLY. If there's no pushback to JFK's misinformation, we might as well all pack up and go home.
Your multiple, excited press releases about your collab with Moderna for vaccine tech in '24-'25 should now be defended LOUDLY. If there's no pushback to JFK's misinformation, we might as well all pack up and go home.
Excited to discover that the renowned Prof Marian Stamp Dawkins recently released a book addressing one of my most pressing interests – consciousness in nonhuman animals – and that it's available open-access from Oxford University Press. Will read with great interest. global.oup.com/academic/pro...
January 27, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Excited to discover that the renowned Prof Marian Stamp Dawkins recently released a book addressing one of my most pressing interests – consciousness in nonhuman animals – and that it's available open-access from Oxford University Press. Will read with great interest. global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
stop using AI to do your research. it hallucinates too often. if you want an answer to something, post something arrogant on the appropriate subreddit. something like: "this item performs 10% better than everything else. only idiots deny this." this will bait nerds into doing your research for you.
January 26, 2026 at 7:53 AM
stop using AI to do your research. it hallucinates too often. if you want an answer to something, post something arrogant on the appropriate subreddit. something like: "this item performs 10% better than everything else. only idiots deny this." this will bait nerds into doing your research for you.
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
If four million pigs or chooks died on farms in a year, questions would be asked. Last year's death toll of Tas #salmon sparks calls for companies to be fined under animal welfare law, to avoid 2025 mortality rates becoming the "new normal". #politas #auspol
tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/more-th...
tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/more-th...
January 25, 2026 at 9:12 PM
If four million pigs or chooks died on farms in a year, questions would be asked. Last year's death toll of Tas #salmon sparks calls for companies to be fined under animal welfare law, to avoid 2025 mortality rates becoming the "new normal". #politas #auspol
tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/more-th...
tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/more-th...
Says everything I wanted to say, and more comprehensively!
Cytoarchitecture matters. Brodmann was right.
I made a quick post about it: labrigger.com/blog/2026/01...
and here's a quick summary thread of the quick post. (1/4)
I made a quick post about it: labrigger.com/blog/2026/01...
and here's a quick summary thread of the quick post. (1/4)
January 23, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Says everything I wanted to say, and more comprehensively!
Accessible, insightful, detailed and friendly primers on “AI” and LLMs from Prof Andy Perfors. I’ve been looking for such a thing to inform my students, but he goes above and beyond! Absolutely worth your time.
I just created a series of seven deep-dive videos about AI, which I've posted to youtube and now here. 😊
Targeted to laypeople, they explore how LLMs work, what they can do, and what impacts they have on learning, well-being, disinformation, the workplace, the economy, and the environment.
Targeted to laypeople, they explore how LLMs work, what they can do, and what impacts they have on learning, well-being, disinformation, the workplace, the economy, and the environment.
Part 1: How do LLMs work?
YouTube video by Andrew Perfors
www.youtube.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:41 AM
Accessible, insightful, detailed and friendly primers on “AI” and LLMs from Prof Andy Perfors. I’ve been looking for such a thing to inform my students, but he goes above and beyond! Absolutely worth your time.
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
I am recruiting a research assistant for a vaccine project. This will be a laboratory study that involves making viral vectors and testing in the lab.
Find my @utas.edu.au @menzies-research.bsky.social email and contact me if interested.
#WildImmunology
careers.utas.edu.au/cw/en/job/50...
Find my @utas.edu.au @menzies-research.bsky.social email and contact me if interested.
#WildImmunology
careers.utas.edu.au/cw/en/job/50...
Current Vacancies
careers.utas.edu.au
January 13, 2026 at 7:52 PM
I am recruiting a research assistant for a vaccine project. This will be a laboratory study that involves making viral vectors and testing in the lab.
Find my @utas.edu.au @menzies-research.bsky.social email and contact me if interested.
#WildImmunology
careers.utas.edu.au/cw/en/job/50...
Find my @utas.edu.au @menzies-research.bsky.social email and contact me if interested.
#WildImmunology
careers.utas.edu.au/cw/en/job/50...
It's hard to convey the delight of a 1944 monograph leading you to a German research paper from 1878 making reference to a Latin tract published in Prague, 1868, for the anniversary of Purkinje ... and finding out it's been scanned and preserved on the Internet Archive. @archive.org
January 13, 2026 at 6:44 AM
It's hard to convey the delight of a 1944 monograph leading you to a German research paper from 1878 making reference to a Latin tract published in Prague, 1868, for the anniversary of Purkinje ... and finding out it's been scanned and preserved on the Internet Archive. @archive.org
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
January 12, 2026 at 8:59 AM
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
A thought for communicating neuroscience: if you're talking about (e.g.) behavioural motivation, just call it that. Don't try to "neuro it up" by referring to dopamine instead; although there's a link, if you're talking about motivation then dopamine is adding jargon, and doesn't explain anything.
January 12, 2026 at 6:09 AM
A thought for communicating neuroscience: if you're talking about (e.g.) behavioural motivation, just call it that. Don't try to "neuro it up" by referring to dopamine instead; although there's a link, if you're talking about motivation then dopamine is adding jargon, and doesn't explain anything.
The more I wade through credulous opinions about "AI", the more I think this essay by @benjaminjriley.bsky.social should be mandatory reading for anyone using the term. This blog opens with others' reactions, but the essay is reprinted after that. buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/large-lang...
Large Language Mistake
Current AI models are not on the path to artificial general intelligence
buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The more I wade through credulous opinions about "AI", the more I think this essay by @benjaminjriley.bsky.social should be mandatory reading for anyone using the term. This blog opens with others' reactions, but the essay is reprinted after that. buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com/p/large-lang...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
BOLD signal changes can oppose oxygen metabolism across the human cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Using quantitative brain imaging, the authors show opposite fMRI BOLD signal to metabolic activity due to variable oxygen extraction across the human cortex. This questions the canonical interpretatio...
www.nature.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Would love to hear expert views on this paper. It appears to show that the operationalization of brain activity the field has relied on for 3 decades—the BOLD response—is not actually a sensible measure of brain activity.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
A major part of our future health & prosperity lies in medical research. There are billions of available dollars that can be used for vital medical science. Please join the campaign for our government to act urgently to fully disperse these funds: aamri.org.au/mrff/
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Most researchers miss out on innovation grants while medical fund sits on $25b
Nine in 10 Australian researchers had their “ideas grant” applications rejected last year, even as Australia’s medical investment fund sits on $5 billion more than it was designed to hold.
www.theage.com.au
January 3, 2026 at 10:22 PM
A major part of our future health & prosperity lies in medical research. There are billions of available dollars that can be used for vital medical science. Please join the campaign for our government to act urgently to fully disperse these funds: aamri.org.au/mrff/
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
December 30, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there.
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush?
I think it's that...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
anyway here's my attempted synthesis, VNO really seems to be wrapped in by a weird bone cage that sits above the bone of the roof of the mouth
December 30, 2025 at 2:15 AM
anyway here's my attempted synthesis, VNO really seems to be wrapped in by a weird bone cage that sits above the bone of the roof of the mouth
Never ceases to amaze me - debris from Mercury is pushed by the solar wind into a tail which emits yellow light from trace amounts of sodium. I haven't seen it photographed this well.
See that bright, glowing object with a tail?
That's not a comet.
That's the planet Mercury.
That's not a comet.
That's the planet Mercury.
December 29, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Never ceases to amaze me - debris from Mercury is pushed by the solar wind into a tail which emits yellow light from trace amounts of sodium. I haven't seen it photographed this well.
Another blow for the “brain lights up” believers - www.tum.de/en/news-and-...
40 percent of MRI signals misinterpreted
Interpretation of numerous MRI data may be incorrect: blood flow is not a reliable indicator of brain activity.
www.tum.de
December 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Another blow for the “brain lights up” believers - www.tum.de/en/news-and-...
That’s the good stuff!
Love it when random but intriguing results in the lab have me tracking down pre-internet periodicals at the library.
December 19, 2025 at 9:09 PM
That’s the good stuff!
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
December 16, 2025 at 11:46 PM
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Yup. Some of us want students who can think for themselves and do research for themselves.
Predicting that some universities will soon pledge to provide AI-free instruction, and that this will be an advantage in recruiting and training top students
Nothing will make you an education AI skeptic faster than grading some college take home assignments. Admins who haven’t been in a classroom in years push it as a learning tool. Students are laughing at them as they use it as a cheating tool. It’s all instructors are texting about with each other.
December 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Yup. Some of us want students who can think for themselves and do research for themselves.
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
I didn’t vote for the social media ban; the real issue has always been tech companies allowing harmful behaviour to run rampant on their platforms. But with the ban in place, the Govt mustn’t forget to ensure social media platforms also clean up their act. #auspol #politas
December 11, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Nothing like the joy of crows riding a southern squall.
December 9, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Nothing like the joy of crows riding a southern squall.
I know it’s like shouting into a hurricane, but this is a sobering read. The grotesque expediency of leaning into “AI” in the climate of “universit[ies] that no longer ask what education is for, only what it can earn.”
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
I know it’s like shouting into a hurricane, but this is a sobering read. The grotesque expediency of leaning into “AI” in the climate of “universit[ies] that no longer ask what education is for, only what it can earn.”
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
Reposted by Matt Kirkcaldie
Can all the folk who just got reminded that they’ve listened to a tonne of music on streaming this year, have a look at the music they heard and buy some on bandcamp today? 🫡🙏🏼
December 5, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Can all the folk who just got reminded that they’ve listened to a tonne of music on streaming this year, have a look at the music they heard and buy some on bandcamp today? 🫡🙏🏼