Mikhail Kats
@mickeykats.bsky.social
Optics/photonics researcher, applied physicist, and faculty at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Personal account + opinions
Was @mickeykats on Twitter
Was @mickeykats on Twitter
In my experience, training people in scientific writing is a very time-intensive and individualized affair
All good scientific writing is alike, but each bad piece of scientific writing is bad in its own way?
All good scientific writing is alike, but each bad piece of scientific writing is bad in its own way?
November 11, 2025 at 7:12 AM
In my experience, training people in scientific writing is a very time-intensive and individualized affair
All good scientific writing is alike, but each bad piece of scientific writing is bad in its own way?
All good scientific writing is alike, but each bad piece of scientific writing is bad in its own way?
Made my regular donation to Wikipedia -- one of the very best things to come out of the internet era
November 11, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Made my regular donation to Wikipedia -- one of the very best things to come out of the internet era
A surprising number of people are invested in the shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I assume it's because of the song? I mean, it's a good song
Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Gordon Lightfoot
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:21 AM
A surprising number of people are invested in the shipwreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I assume it's because of the song? I mean, it's a good song
Honored to be one of the finalists for the WARF Innovation Award =)
We're counting down to the 2025 WARF Innovation Awards! Meet our third nominee, a team of engineers with a device that boosts quantum device performance by increasing light output without damaging materials. @uwmadisonece.bsky.social @mickeykats.bsky.social #WisconsinInnovates
New light-extracting structure could boost quantum device performance
Minjeong Kim, Jennifer Choy and Mikhail Kats from UW-Madison Electrical and Computer Engineering have developed a simple, low-cost structure that boosts light output from solid-state quantum materials like diamond without damaging their surface, a common issue with current light-extraction methods that reduces performance. The patterned silicon design could improve efficiency in next-gen technologies like quantum sensors, communication systems, and computers.
Music: Bensound.com/royalty-free-music
Artist: : Lunar Years
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Honored to be one of the finalists for the WARF Innovation Award =)
The Peter Principle doesn't apply directly to a lot of academia since all professor ranks (asst/assoc/full) are basically the same job, but a modified version applies just fine:
Faculty take on more and more tasks until they can no longer do any of them well
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_p...
Faculty take on more and more tasks until they can no longer do any of them well
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_p...
November 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
The Peter Principle doesn't apply directly to a lot of academia since all professor ranks (asst/assoc/full) are basically the same job, but a modified version applies just fine:
Faculty take on more and more tasks until they can no longer do any of them well
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_p...
Faculty take on more and more tasks until they can no longer do any of them well
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_p...
Fall delayed, but not canceled
November 9, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Fall delayed, but not canceled
Jurassic World Rebirth was kind of dumb, yes, but it was pretty entertaining and far better than the Pratt movies.
Pretending to be Roger Ebert: ★★★☆
Pretending to be Roger Ebert: ★★★☆
November 9, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Jurassic World Rebirth was kind of dumb, yes, but it was pretty entertaining and far better than the Pratt movies.
Pretending to be Roger Ebert: ★★★☆
Pretending to be Roger Ebert: ★★★☆
We got a robot lawnmower with the highest ratings we could find (within a price point), and it's cool in many ways, but still plenty of room for improvement
Weird to see all the $$ and public attention behind humanoid robots, when there's tons of room for innovation in all sorts of simpler robots
Weird to see all the $$ and public attention behind humanoid robots, when there's tons of room for innovation in all sorts of simpler robots
November 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
We got a robot lawnmower with the highest ratings we could find (within a price point), and it's cool in many ways, but still plenty of room for improvement
Weird to see all the $$ and public attention behind humanoid robots, when there's tons of room for innovation in all sorts of simpler robots
Weird to see all the $$ and public attention behind humanoid robots, when there's tons of room for innovation in all sorts of simpler robots
We here in Madison do not do a good job celebrating this, but we should:
![ON THE EINSTEIN PODOLSKY ROSEN PARADOX*
]. S. BELL
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
(Received 4 November 1964)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:abkp4sglznvkptyncrltve6t/bafkreihgu3mbd6tjnqqq3ef4d2fotmriylc35xolyxui6mlamg3hmr5gru@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
We here in Madison do not do a good job celebrating this, but we should:
I wonder if I can submit reference letters for the NSF GRFP later, since no one will read them anyway with the government closed..
Probably better not risk it
Probably better not risk it
November 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I wonder if I can submit reference letters for the NSF GRFP later, since no one will read them anyway with the government closed..
Probably better not risk it
Probably better not risk it
Is there a good name for a song that tells a detailed story? Like "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (below) or Bob Dylan's Hurricane
Googling shows "narrative ballad" but that sounds stuffy
Googling shows "narrative ballad" but that sounds stuffy
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot. n.pr/3JKj19D
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
n.pr
November 6, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Is there a good name for a song that tells a detailed story? Like "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (below) or Bob Dylan's Hurricane
Googling shows "narrative ballad" but that sounds stuffy
Googling shows "narrative ballad" but that sounds stuffy
Microsoft seems to have become over-the-top aggressive in pushing their Edge browser
On top of making defaults hard to change (in edge cases, like opening a link from within another app), a windows update just changed my default for opening pdfs from Adobe to Edge (?!)
On top of making defaults hard to change (in edge cases, like opening a link from within another app), a windows update just changed my default for opening pdfs from Adobe to Edge (?!)
November 6, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Microsoft seems to have become over-the-top aggressive in pushing their Edge browser
On top of making defaults hard to change (in edge cases, like opening a link from within another app), a windows update just changed my default for opening pdfs from Adobe to Edge (?!)
On top of making defaults hard to change (in edge cases, like opening a link from within another app), a windows update just changed my default for opening pdfs from Adobe to Edge (?!)
So many reference letters to write ✍️✍️✍️
November 6, 2025 at 3:13 AM
So many reference letters to write ✍️✍️✍️
Reposted by Mikhail Kats
New rule: no copy/pasting LLM output into documents or emails. If you use generated text, you have to type it out letter by letter yourself, even if you're just transcribing it without changing
I think if people do that, a lot of the cringe will go away--inevitably you'll change the tone & details
I think if people do that, a lot of the cringe will go away--inevitably you'll change the tone & details
November 4, 2025 at 5:52 PM
New rule: no copy/pasting LLM output into documents or emails. If you use generated text, you have to type it out letter by letter yourself, even if you're just transcribing it without changing
I think if people do that, a lot of the cringe will go away--inevitably you'll change the tone & details
I think if people do that, a lot of the cringe will go away--inevitably you'll change the tone & details
It has been a pleasure to be a part of Q-NEXT, based out of Argonne, over the last 5 years. Looking forward to this next phase!
The DOE National Quantum Information Science Research Centers continue their mission.
www.energy.gov/articles/ene...
www.energy.gov/articles/ene...
Energy Department Announces $625 Million to Advance the Next Phase of National Quantum Information Science Research Centers
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced $625 million in funding to renew its five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers.
www.energy.gov
November 4, 2025 at 6:53 PM
It has been a pleasure to be a part of Q-NEXT, based out of Argonne, over the last 5 years. Looking forward to this next phase!
Too many people sounds like chatgpt now
November 4, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Too many people sounds like chatgpt now
I know it's common enough now that it shouldn't feel this way anymore, the language used in version-control tools (git/github..) feels deliberately obscure
"pull request", wth is that
"pull request", wth is that
November 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I know it's common enough now that it shouldn't feel this way anymore, the language used in version-control tools (git/github..) feels deliberately obscure
"pull request", wth is that
"pull request", wth is that
Coherence in optics is a really tricky topic for people. I feel like the language around it could be better/cleaner
November 4, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Coherence in optics is a really tricky topic for people. I feel like the language around it could be better/cleaner
I think the Personal Moderator basically turns the app into a personal blog, where you can fully moderate replies to your own posts. Probably a positive development on net? The internet was a healthier place when it was all web pages and blogs
pfrazee.leaflet.pub/3m4qqzatka22...
pfrazee.leaflet.pub/3m4qqzatka22...
100% cooked - Paul's Leaflets
Some reflections on the product design discussions from the last weekend
pfrazee.leaflet.pub
November 3, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I think the Personal Moderator basically turns the app into a personal blog, where you can fully moderate replies to your own posts. Probably a positive development on net? The internet was a healthier place when it was all web pages and blogs
pfrazee.leaflet.pub/3m4qqzatka22...
pfrazee.leaflet.pub/3m4qqzatka22...
Had to look these up
November 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Had to look these up
Reposted by Mikhail Kats
Shoutout to our outstanding Badgers! 🎉 Students Sarah Stevens & Taeren Yang and educators Eduardo Romero Arvelo & Prashant Sharma are among this year’s @universitieswi.bsky.social and Alliant Energy Award honorees — celebrating excellence across Wisconsin. www.wisconsin.edu/news/archive...
November 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Shoutout to our outstanding Badgers! 🎉 Students Sarah Stevens & Taeren Yang and educators Eduardo Romero Arvelo & Prashant Sharma are among this year’s @universitieswi.bsky.social and Alliant Energy Award honorees — celebrating excellence across Wisconsin. www.wisconsin.edu/news/archive...
FYI this is no longer the case -- many disruptions are clear now, e.g., with meetings getting canceled/moved
I figured during the government shutdown all of my interactions with the federal government would cease, but surprisingly that has mostly not been the case
More agencies (or parts of agencies) are open than I would have expected
More agencies (or parts of agencies) are open than I would have expected
November 3, 2025 at 6:35 PM
FYI this is no longer the case -- many disruptions are clear now, e.g., with meetings getting canceled/moved
In dropdowns for reporting international collaborators for federal grants/contracts, "Korea, South" is usually just under "Korea, North" and I periodically get worried that I accidentally selected the wrong one
November 3, 2025 at 5:59 AM
In dropdowns for reporting international collaborators for federal grants/contracts, "Korea, South" is usually just under "Korea, North" and I periodically get worried that I accidentally selected the wrong one
Godzilla minus one getting a sequel, interesting www.thewrap.com/godzilla-min...
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’: Takashi Yamazaki's 'Minus One' Follow-Up Gets Official Title
Godzilla Minus One is getting a follow-up from director Takashi Yamazaki and it now has an official title - Godzilla Minus Zero.
www.thewrap.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Godzilla minus one getting a sequel, interesting www.thewrap.com/godzilla-min...
I wish I could be picky and thoughtful with research funding opportunities but right now I'm back to a scattershot approach similar to what I was doing in my first few years as an assistant professor
Not a great state of affairs
Not a great state of affairs
November 3, 2025 at 1:10 AM
I wish I could be picky and thoughtful with research funding opportunities but right now I'm back to a scattershot approach similar to what I was doing in my first few years as an assistant professor
Not a great state of affairs
Not a great state of affairs