SF writer / computer programmer Latest novel: MORPHOTROPHIC Latest collection: SLEEP AND THE SOUL Web site: http://gregegan.net Also: @gregeganSF@mathstodon.xyzhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3ml56jhr73s2eBreaking: Rubio, Araghchi announce negotiations to divide up parallel worlds between those in which US, Iranian conditions are met to each party’s complete satisfaction.05 May 2026 21:56 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml56jhr73s2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3ml3metjank2eA reminder to my fellow West Australians that, whatever your age, you can get a FREE flu vaccine in May and June. I got mine today. Most pharmacists are participating, but you’ll probably need to book an appointment online.05 May 2026 06:59 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml3metjank2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mkxcmze6ds2d“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is set in Iran during the women/life/freedom protests, while focusing on an aspiring judge and his family. It’s too slowly paced, but does pay off in the end. In Australia, you can watch it on SBSOnDemand.03 May 2026 13:54 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkxcmze6ds2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mkwxmosiqk2aAstronomers have shown that the gravitational acceleration galaxy clusters exert on each other obeys an inverse square law, 1/r^n with n = 2.1±0.3, on distance scales of the order of 100-750 Mega light-years. This rules out many theories of “Modified Newtonian Dynamics”. https://www.science.org/content/article/newton-s-law-gravity-passes-its-biggest-test-ever03 May 2026 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkwxmosiqk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mkhd77zklc2qA new knot invariant that “uniquely identifies more than 97% of the knots with 18 crossings. By comparison, the Jones polynomial, one of the most widely used invariants for cataloging knots, identifies about 42%, and the Alexander polynomial only about 11%.”27 Apr 2026 05:21 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkhd77zklc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mkgsm7pric25“An AI Agent Just Destroyed Our Production Data. It Confessed in Writing” https://x.com/lifeof_jer/status/204810347101943424827 Apr 2026 00:24 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkgsm7pric25https://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mkengiwvbs2u“Santiago Vergara ran the Ballarat half-marathon on 90-cm stilts. Running the event in just 2h 34m the 33-year-old said the stilt stunt might have earned him a Guinness World Record.” Somehow this strikes me as one of the most joyful things I’ve heard about all week. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-26/marathon-on-stilts/10658708626 Apr 2026 03:46 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkengiwvbs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mk5ulgbrck25A great story on how the Finnish “low-temp mafia” and others are working to refine and replace the bulky, expensive He-3 dilution refrigerators needed for millikelvin quantum computing. https://www.science.org/content/article/helium-3-runs-scarce-researchers-seek-new-ways-chill-quantum-computers23 Apr 2026 11:06 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk5ulgbrck25https://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mjwgrmvwus26I’m enjoying They Might Be Giants’ new album “The World is to Dig”, though it’s a mixture of tracks I can take in after just one casual listen, and others where I need to sit down and read the lyrics from the song sheet and follow every word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75-1ipEs59c20 Apr 2026 12:10 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwgrmvwus26https://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mjswot52k224Doing a word puzzle with a relative yesterday: They: Ruth. Me: That’s not a word! They: You can be ruthless, so … Me: That makes sense, but English is not that logical! Concise dictionary: No “ruth”. Complete dictionary: Archaic now, but yes, “ruth”: a feeling of pity, distress, or grief.19 Apr 2026 02:44 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjswot52k224https://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mjgiia5bu227This is hilarious! Amanda Gefter wanted to ask Yuval Noah Harari why he misrepresented the story of a chatbot hiring a TaskRabbit to get past a Captcha, but she couldn’t get past the Captcha on his web site … and nor could the TaskRabbit she hired to do it for her. https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-do-we-tell-ourselves-scary-stories-about-ai-20260410/14 Apr 2026 03:58 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjgiia5bu227https://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3mjggokj4322bTIL: clype | klʌɪp | Scottish English verb [no object] inform on someone; tell tales: the scam went on for two weeks until disgruntled neighbours clyped on him.14 Apr 2026 03:26 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjggokj4322bhttps://bsky.app/profile/gregegansf.bsky.social/post/3miztvt6us22lMultiple lensed images of supernovae help pin down the Hubble constant: “If SN Requiem reappears this year, it will lead to a higher value of the Hubble constant and validate the astronomers’ camp. If the supernova is not seen until next year, it will lead to a lower value…”09 Apr 2026 03:18 +0000at://did:plc:nyxiyurvidf33xn5bcsotkvc/app.bsky.feed.post/3miztvt6us22l