Philipp Markolin
@philippmarkolin.bsky.social
Science blogger and communicator:
www.protagonist-science.com
Mein investigatives Buch über die Insider-Geschichte hinter der COVID-19 Ursprungskontroverse jetzt exklusiv auf Deutsch erhältlich:
www.lab-leak-fever.com
www.protagonist-science.com
Mein investigatives Buch über die Insider-Geschichte hinter der COVID-19 Ursprungskontroverse jetzt exklusiv auf Deutsch erhältlich:
www.lab-leak-fever.com
Meanwhile in China:
- building cutting-edge research infrastructure
- populating the ecosystem with ever-more international scientists and programs for students
- offering gob-smacking financial incentives to recruit scientific expertise
They understand something fundamental about science.
- building cutting-edge research infrastructure
- populating the ecosystem with ever-more international scientists and programs for students
- offering gob-smacking financial incentives to recruit scientific expertise
They understand something fundamental about science.
November 14, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Meanwhile in China:
- building cutting-edge research infrastructure
- populating the ecosystem with ever-more international scientists and programs for students
- offering gob-smacking financial incentives to recruit scientific expertise
They understand something fundamental about science.
- building cutting-edge research infrastructure
- populating the ecosystem with ever-more international scientists and programs for students
- offering gob-smacking financial incentives to recruit scientific expertise
They understand something fundamental about science.
Good webinar from @lewan.bsky.social happening now.
Here a snapshot from what puts academics that want to resist autocratization into different personal risk buckets;
the higher the risk, the fewer the dissent options.
Learn more: www.protagonist-science.com/p/the-anti-a...
Here a snapshot from what puts academics that want to resist autocratization into different personal risk buckets;
the higher the risk, the fewer the dissent options.
Learn more: www.protagonist-science.com/p/the-anti-a...
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Good webinar from @lewan.bsky.social happening now.
Here a snapshot from what puts academics that want to resist autocratization into different personal risk buckets;
the higher the risk, the fewer the dissent options.
Learn more: www.protagonist-science.com/p/the-anti-a...
Here a snapshot from what puts academics that want to resist autocratization into different personal risk buckets;
the higher the risk, the fewer the dissent options.
Learn more: www.protagonist-science.com/p/the-anti-a...
Gotta love those friendly Canadian reviewers ❤️🔥
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Gotta love those friendly Canadian reviewers ❤️🔥
Oh, I think I do.
Bat ACE2's are quite diverse between bat species
The authors used bat cells from spanish R. ferrumequinum bats (blue); whereas BANAL viruses originally came from R. malayanus bats (red)
SC2 will most likely replicate in the "right" R.mal bat cell lines; see below:
Bat ACE2's are quite diverse between bat species
The authors used bat cells from spanish R. ferrumequinum bats (blue); whereas BANAL viruses originally came from R. malayanus bats (red)
SC2 will most likely replicate in the "right" R.mal bat cell lines; see below:
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Oh, I think I do.
Bat ACE2's are quite diverse between bat species
The authors used bat cells from spanish R. ferrumequinum bats (blue); whereas BANAL viruses originally came from R. malayanus bats (red)
SC2 will most likely replicate in the "right" R.mal bat cell lines; see below:
Bat ACE2's are quite diverse between bat species
The authors used bat cells from spanish R. ferrumequinum bats (blue); whereas BANAL viruses originally came from R. malayanus bats (red)
SC2 will most likely replicate in the "right" R.mal bat cell lines; see below:
But what I learned from many conversations is that there are good reasons for hope.
The current AI revolution presents not only a threat, but also an opportunity, to restore the foundations of democratic society in the digital age.
If we, the people, aim to seize it now.
14/
The current AI revolution presents not only a threat, but also an opportunity, to restore the foundations of democratic society in the digital age.
If we, the people, aim to seize it now.
14/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
But what I learned from many conversations is that there are good reasons for hope.
The current AI revolution presents not only a threat, but also an opportunity, to restore the foundations of democratic society in the digital age.
If we, the people, aim to seize it now.
14/
The current AI revolution presents not only a threat, but also an opportunity, to restore the foundations of democratic society in the digital age.
If we, the people, aim to seize it now.
14/
So that is the robber-mogul playbook.
If the tech moguls win their gambit, if they succeed at infrastructure capture, technological lock-in and public dispossession of our shared information ecosystem, we will have ceded more than we have bargained for 🔽
12/
If the tech moguls win their gambit, if they succeed at infrastructure capture, technological lock-in and public dispossession of our shared information ecosystem, we will have ceded more than we have bargained for 🔽
12/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
So that is the robber-mogul playbook.
If the tech moguls win their gambit, if they succeed at infrastructure capture, technological lock-in and public dispossession of our shared information ecosystem, we will have ceded more than we have bargained for 🔽
12/
If the tech moguls win their gambit, if they succeed at infrastructure capture, technological lock-in and public dispossession of our shared information ecosystem, we will have ceded more than we have bargained for 🔽
12/
Unfortunately, the AI infrastructure boom for these tech moguls isn’t about reaching AGI; winning against China, or unlocking productivity utopia and abundance for humanity.
As if any of these narcissistic wannabe sun-king egos would ever spare ambition for anybody but themselves
11/
As if any of these narcissistic wannabe sun-king egos would ever spare ambition for anybody but themselves
11/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Unfortunately, the AI infrastructure boom for these tech moguls isn’t about reaching AGI; winning against China, or unlocking productivity utopia and abundance for humanity.
As if any of these narcissistic wannabe sun-king egos would ever spare ambition for anybody but themselves
11/
As if any of these narcissistic wannabe sun-king egos would ever spare ambition for anybody but themselves
11/
Today’s AI arms race is best understood as a calculated corporate power grap: spend unprecedented sums on compute, secure strategic infrastructure along a vertical tech stack, use your investor billions to tighten the screws on society:
11/
11/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Today’s AI arms race is best understood as a calculated corporate power grap: spend unprecedented sums on compute, secure strategic infrastructure along a vertical tech stack, use your investor billions to tighten the screws on society:
11/
11/
Do I really have to point out the power differential when few will own and control the AI gatekeepers that generate the bulk of information flows at a time when billions depend on AI for cognitive navigation? Market monopoly would instill a much more powerful epistemic monopoly.
10/
10/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Do I really have to point out the power differential when few will own and control the AI gatekeepers that generate the bulk of information flows at a time when billions depend on AI for cognitive navigation? Market monopoly would instill a much more powerful epistemic monopoly.
10/
10/
But there is also something new: Owning the interface to reality
Historically, media theorists have warned that the medium shapes the message. Today, it is more like: Control the interface, control the story.
A subtler, more pervasive form of any previous censorship or propaganda system.
9/
Historically, media theorists have warned that the medium shapes the message. Today, it is more like: Control the interface, control the story.
A subtler, more pervasive form of any previous censorship or propaganda system.
9/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
But there is also something new: Owning the interface to reality
Historically, media theorists have warned that the medium shapes the message. Today, it is more like: Control the interface, control the story.
A subtler, more pervasive form of any previous censorship or propaganda system.
9/
Historically, media theorists have warned that the medium shapes the message. Today, it is more like: Control the interface, control the story.
A subtler, more pervasive form of any previous censorship or propaganda system.
9/
From enshittification to data colonialism, once users, creators, and institutions are locked in and have no real alternatives, the owners of the infrastructure can begin to systematically extract value from every layer of human activity.
8/
8/
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
From enshittification to data colonialism, once users, creators, and institutions are locked in and have no real alternatives, the owners of the infrastructure can begin to systematically extract value from every layer of human activity.
8/
8/
Technological lock-in is key because it ensures dominance of tech-turned-AI giants for generations to come.
And we know that dominant firms face little pressure to improve quality, consumer protection, or maintain reasonable prices. Instead, once we are locked in, the real squeeze can start.
7/
And we know that dominant firms face little pressure to improve quality, consumer protection, or maintain reasonable prices. Instead, once we are locked in, the real squeeze can start.
7/
November 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Technological lock-in is key because it ensures dominance of tech-turned-AI giants for generations to come.
And we know that dominant firms face little pressure to improve quality, consumer protection, or maintain reasonable prices. Instead, once we are locked in, the real squeeze can start.
7/
And we know that dominant firms face little pressure to improve quality, consumer protection, or maintain reasonable prices. Instead, once we are locked in, the real squeeze can start.
7/
Instead of owning just the bottlenecks of the digital economy, the companies now seek to build monopolies along a vertical value chain.
The business-model of AI hyperscalers is not innovation, productivity or reaching AGI, but achieving technological lock-in.
6/
The business-model of AI hyperscalers is not innovation, productivity or reaching AGI, but achieving technological lock-in.
6/
November 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Instead of owning just the bottlenecks of the digital economy, the companies now seek to build monopolies along a vertical value chain.
The business-model of AI hyperscalers is not innovation, productivity or reaching AGI, but achieving technological lock-in.
6/
The business-model of AI hyperscalers is not innovation, productivity or reaching AGI, but achieving technological lock-in.
6/
Infrastructure capture refers to the consolidation of essential systems, such as transport, energy, communications, or now AI tech stacks, under the control of a small number of private actors.
5/
5/
November 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Infrastructure capture refers to the consolidation of essential systems, such as transport, energy, communications, or now AI tech stacks, under the control of a small number of private actors.
5/
5/
I do worry about the current myths and justifications of why society should take on this risks.
And why they seem blind to the real problem:
Infrastructure capture by unaccountible big tech moguls
4/
And why they seem blind to the real problem:
Infrastructure capture by unaccountible big tech moguls
4/
November 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I do worry about the current myths and justifications of why society should take on this risks.
And why they seem blind to the real problem:
Infrastructure capture by unaccountible big tech moguls
4/
And why they seem blind to the real problem:
Infrastructure capture by unaccountible big tech moguls
4/
Are we currently in a bubble?
We’ve seen this movie before: canals, railroads, dot-coms. The AI boom is another infrastructure frenzy — vast energy use, little real productivity, and mounting systemic risk.
Yet the crash will not only destroy capital, but reshape power.
3/
We’ve seen this movie before: canals, railroads, dot-coms. The AI boom is another infrastructure frenzy — vast energy use, little real productivity, and mounting systemic risk.
Yet the crash will not only destroy capital, but reshape power.
3/
November 9, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Are we currently in a bubble?
We’ve seen this movie before: canals, railroads, dot-coms. The AI boom is another infrastructure frenzy — vast energy use, little real productivity, and mounting systemic risk.
Yet the crash will not only destroy capital, but reshape power.
3/
We’ve seen this movie before: canals, railroads, dot-coms. The AI boom is another infrastructure frenzy — vast energy use, little real productivity, and mounting systemic risk.
Yet the crash will not only destroy capital, but reshape power.
3/
The data colonialism performed by digital platforms will pale in comparison to the current AI data grap.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg...
Read my latest ⬇️
And that is just the tip of the iceberg...
Read my latest ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:55 AM
The data colonialism performed by digital platforms will pale in comparison to the current AI data grap.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg...
Read my latest ⬇️
And that is just the tip of the iceberg...
Read my latest ⬇️
This article is a first essay out of my larger research focus on building participatory democracy in the digital age: how to counteract the global authoritarian movement.
Given recent AI news and a sense of urgency, I wanted to share one idea that maybe is worth a discussion today.
2/
Given recent AI news and a sense of urgency, I wanted to share one idea that maybe is worth a discussion today.
2/
November 8, 2025 at 9:47 PM
This article is a first essay out of my larger research focus on building participatory democracy in the digital age: how to counteract the global authoritarian movement.
Given recent AI news and a sense of urgency, I wanted to share one idea that maybe is worth a discussion today.
2/
Given recent AI news and a sense of urgency, I wanted to share one idea that maybe is worth a discussion today.
2/
And the downstream problem, all the interdisciplinary lines of investigations pointing to one, and only one thing:
Multiple spillovers at a wetmarket in China.
Any lab leak theory would need to be able to explain the verified data we have.
None can.
Multiple spillovers at a wetmarket in China.
Any lab leak theory would need to be able to explain the verified data we have.
None can.
November 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
And the downstream problem, all the interdisciplinary lines of investigations pointing to one, and only one thing:
Multiple spillovers at a wetmarket in China.
Any lab leak theory would need to be able to explain the verified data we have.
None can.
Multiple spillovers at a wetmarket in China.
Any lab leak theory would need to be able to explain the verified data we have.
None can.
There are two main questions the lab leak theory would have to address, one I call the "upstream" problem of how a pandemic-ready pathogen like SC2 came about; because you will not find it in a bat.
See here:
See here:
November 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
There are two main questions the lab leak theory would have to address, one I call the "upstream" problem of how a pandemic-ready pathogen like SC2 came about; because you will not find it in a bat.
See here:
See here:
I wrote a lot about this, and the problem of the lab leak theory is not Chinese obfuscation, or lack of evidence.
The problem with it that we already have an awful amount of evidence that is entirely one-sided for a zoonotic spillover and can not be explained by ANY lab leak scenario plausibly.
The problem with it that we already have an awful amount of evidence that is entirely one-sided for a zoonotic spillover and can not be explained by ANY lab leak scenario plausibly.
November 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
I wrote a lot about this, and the problem of the lab leak theory is not Chinese obfuscation, or lack of evidence.
The problem with it that we already have an awful amount of evidence that is entirely one-sided for a zoonotic spillover and can not be explained by ANY lab leak scenario plausibly.
The problem with it that we already have an awful amount of evidence that is entirely one-sided for a zoonotic spillover and can not be explained by ANY lab leak scenario plausibly.
Yes, there are endless mutually contradictory speculations, none of them is supported by evidence. 🔽
The FCS discovery is relevant because of the bad faith allegations about gain-of-function research and genetic engineering that most run with.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
The FCS discovery is relevant because of the bad faith allegations about gain-of-function research and genetic engineering that most run with.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
November 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Yes, there are endless mutually contradictory speculations, none of them is supported by evidence. 🔽
The FCS discovery is relevant because of the bad faith allegations about gain-of-function research and genetic engineering that most run with.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
The FCS discovery is relevant because of the bad faith allegations about gain-of-function research and genetic engineering that most run with.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/...
I can totally picture the biosafety-now maniacs selling their misaligned FCS insert shirts for cheap in front of the nature medicine office, still waiting from proximal origins to be retracted 😂😅
@kgandersen.bsky.social
@eddieholmes.bsky.social
@davidlrobertson.bsky.social
@kgandersen.bsky.social
@eddieholmes.bsky.social
@davidlrobertson.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 10:16 PM
I can totally picture the biosafety-now maniacs selling their misaligned FCS insert shirts for cheap in front of the nature medicine office, still waiting from proximal origins to be retracted 😂😅
@kgandersen.bsky.social
@eddieholmes.bsky.social
@davidlrobertson.bsky.social
@kgandersen.bsky.social
@eddieholmes.bsky.social
@davidlrobertson.bsky.social
This was the "polite society" way of saying what I wrote in my blog, for those who can´t see behind the StatNews paywall. 🔽
October 25, 2025 at 2:23 PM
This was the "polite society" way of saying what I wrote in my blog, for those who can´t see behind the StatNews paywall. 🔽