Nathan Couch
ngcouch.bsky.social
Nathan Couch
@ngcouch.bsky.social
Cognition, Chess, Nature
www.ngcouch.com
Pinned
This one most humbly requests: articles in which academics are surveyed about their positions on topics central to their field. I’ll give examples in replies, but anything that seeks a sense of (non-)consensus in a domain. The more niche, old, or obscure, the better!

Thank you for any help!
Reposted by Nathan Couch
Lots of folks captioning aurora photos like "for a few minutes we didn't think about politics"

guess I'm built different, every time I'm out trying to see night sky stuff I frequently think about how much light pollution is entirely preventable with just a tiny bit of regulation
November 13, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Pome season in bloom
November 13, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I’m failing to adapt to GenAI: my initial suspicion was that this was staged, based on the coyote’s strange, stumbling gait and overall confused demeanor. Commentators helpfully pointed to examples of how real roadrunners run.
Wonder why this scene looks so familiar...
#WildlifeWednesday 🐦🐕
November 6, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Nathan Couch
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Nathan Couch
This is probably gonna be ok
October 28, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Hamilcar in Autumn.
October 26, 2025 at 9:24 PM
I’m glad I stopped to take a picture here; the next pick ruptured the membrane.
October 23, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Absolutely needed but far too late. Kramnik started harassing Danya over a year ago. Kramnik should be excluded from polite society for his behavior, including chess.
Former world chess champion may face discipline for allegations against Daniel Naroditsky
Chess’s international governing body is considering disciplinary action against a Russian former world champion who persistently leveled unproven cheating allegations at Daniel Naroditsky in the year ...
apnews.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Naroditsky’s death is an incredible shock. He was always so collected and mature, it was easy to forget he wasn’t even 30. A great loss.
October 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
This admin’s good eatin’ if you crave infosec failures.
5) Months after a similar scandal, your pageant contest turned insurance lawyer turned defense attorney turned hitwoman did something very stupid on Signal.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
October 21, 2025 at 1:45 PM
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

— Keats, To Autumn
October 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Nathan Couch
I recently saw an amazing Navajo rug at the National Gallery of Art. It looks abstract at first, but it is a detailed representation of the Intel Pentium processor. Called "Replica of a Chip", it was created in 1994 by Marilou Schultz, a Navajo/Diné weaver and math teacher. 1/n
November 25, 2024 at 4:29 PM
In Chess, the active player has a mate in N if and only if the active player can win in 5 moves, even given optimal play from the opponent. Note that given *suboptimal* play, the active player can win faster,

I wrote a program exploiting this to help study deep mates.
October 16, 2025 at 3:47 PM
This is one peculiar pollinator.
October 15, 2025 at 7:31 PM
October 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM
She rests.
October 13, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Nathan Couch
October 12, 2025 at 11:32 PM
💕💕💕
October 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Eggs of an unknown species, discovered on my lemon thyme.
October 8, 2025 at 5:14 PM
The article does not mention that these horses are not native to North America, as native populations died thousands of years ago during the North American Megafauna extinction. These horses are descended from domesticated European horses.
Majestic wild horses are trampling Mono Lake’s otherworldly landscape. The feds plan a roundup
Federal officials plan to round up wild horses roaming the Eastern Sierra, citing hazards and damage. But local tribes and others seek a different outcome.
www.latimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Morning forage
October 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reminds me of this fused glass dish at the Art Institute of Chicago. Not as old as the jar (1000 years younger) but brilliant and beautiful. I gasped the first time I saw it. I always make sure to seek it out when I visit.
October 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
This man at my farmer’s market is making me reconsider my “No pictures of stranger’s rule.”

+roller blades
+ ponytail
- shirt
October 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
“This a great opportunity for skill development!”
NEVER.

That’s the unwritten rule: if it’s REALLY PAINFUL make a subordinate do it 🤣
October 4, 2025 at 11:51 AM
My Thai basil in flower.

Perfect pink ringlets ascending a slender purple stem — a water drop in slow-motion.
October 3, 2025 at 10:40 PM