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Kate Cook

@eskay8

scientist, coder, public servant, gardener, potter, writer, parent, Canadian

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Latest posts by Kate Cook @eskay8

And I'd like the Premier and MPPs to be at work in Queen's Park more months of the year.

14.03.2026 03:13 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Want some warm fuzzy trans news?

Read the feelgood story of how I spent 2025 unexpectedly adopting a trans son and ended up accidentally founding a transmasc social club together πŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈπŸ₯Ή

So proud of Troy for taking the initiative to grow this into something massively important for our local community

10.03.2026 16:37 πŸ‘ 209 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Ukraine Reaches a Milestone: Making β€˜China-Free’ Drones

When I was in Ukraine in 2024, the drone-makers I met told me this indigenous Ukrainian drones without any Chinese tech β€” which was always stolen and copied by Russia β€” was their crazy, ambitious goal.

Experts said it was never gonna happen. Well, they got there. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/w...

11.03.2026 16:33 πŸ‘ 168 πŸ” 39 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 8

This is a thread about the star wars prequels

11.03.2026 15:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I think often about a substance β€œalmost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea”

11.03.2026 11:32 πŸ‘ 181 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

But then how will everyone know how smart I am

10.03.2026 22:18 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

β€˜Hey’ came before β€˜hi,’ and β€˜hi' came before β€˜hello.’

β€˜Hi’ is most likely a variant of β€˜hey.’

β€˜Hello’ is not related to either.

Goodbye.

10.03.2026 16:17 πŸ‘ 6457 πŸ” 1187 πŸ’¬ 239 πŸ“Œ 155

Look at this goofy guy

10.03.2026 13:41 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Most accurate portrait of modern culture currently available

10.03.2026 03:09 πŸ‘ 16807 πŸ” 4146 πŸ’¬ 283 πŸ“Œ 251

I'm sorry WHAT

10.03.2026 11:45 πŸ‘ 92 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 8

This puts me at 10 people released. I filed my 1st habeas petition 29 days ago. I am an incredibly small-time, nobody lawyer who knew nothing about immigration law the day I submitted that case. I barely know any more today. I had never sued the federal government and now I've beaten them 10 times.

09.03.2026 19:24 πŸ‘ 11320 πŸ” 2542 πŸ’¬ 308 πŸ“Œ 125
pan of cute biscuits decorated to look like faces

pan of cute biscuits decorated to look like faces

same pan baked, a horrific fucked up mass of evil

same pan baked, a horrific fucked up mass of evil

how it started/how it's going

04.03.2026 15:23 πŸ‘ 3213 πŸ” 747 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 94
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For a glimpse at our Gilded Age, head to Teton County, WY - the richest per capita county in the US. It's home to crumbling public schools &, thanks to billionaire largess, a shiny new private school which taxpayers will soon pay for thanks to vouchers billionaires lobbied for

09.03.2026 13:20 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

There are so many more challenging things to talk about. All the various facets of evil in the world, for a start. Two people of the same gender loving each other and being a couple is really a non issue.

09.03.2026 13:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This line of argument has always baffled me. I have a 5 year old. It was literally a 10 second conversation "Can two girls get married?" "Yep, two women can. Or two men" "Okay I'm going to marry <friend> when I'm growed up."

09.03.2026 13:52 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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I don't hate this handle. Yes the mug is big and so is the handle, but this clay shrinks a lot and I'm still working on getting the dimensions for my perfect large mug size right.

08.03.2026 15:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

But I don't think it will be easy to convey why that is so unless we have a better standard of discourse about genetics more generally. The word eugenics is rightly floated in this context, but we now understand why early ideas about eugenics were scientifically and not just ethically flawed. /3

08.03.2026 11:20 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

...is the reasons for scientific scepticism about these techniques. It's not just that it's early days and there's insufficient data; there are fundamental reasons why the effectiveness of polygenic screening for complex traits will be very limited. /2

08.03.2026 11:17 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Hoping for a β€˜perfect’ baby? Genetic testing startups lur... Fertility experts say strict UK laws are no bar to accessing a booming industry that has led to concerns about eugenics

Pretty good overview of the non-medical uses of polygenic screening in IVF - good to see comments from Peter Thompson and Sarah Norcross. The legal position is indeed now hard to enforce in the UK, as the article explains. One thing I'd like to see emphasized more...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

08.03.2026 11:15 πŸ‘ 31 πŸ” 20 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 4

we have saved daylight

but at what cost

08.03.2026 12:30 πŸ‘ 2466 πŸ” 433 πŸ’¬ 50 πŸ“Œ 25
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More from this week's firing. This is a match holder/striker based on a design by Sunshine Cobb (I forget which of their books, they're both good). You put matches in the middle bit and sand/salt in the back part to put them out in.

07.03.2026 23:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I am at a Lutheran church (for a concert) and there is nothing at all nailed to the front door and I feel cheated

07.03.2026 23:52 πŸ‘ 36 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

I have made reasonably serious decisions after having dreams about it πŸ˜…

07.03.2026 23:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Claude was so surprised by these numbers, it initially assumed the data was incomplete.

07.03.2026 00:42 πŸ‘ 12 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

FWIW the fictional governing body of the show lore, the House, was formed because rampant betting and interference/cheating by the rich accidentally caused WW I. hah haaah but that would never happen.

07.03.2026 21:59 πŸ‘ 203 πŸ” 62 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 4

I feel like this is a trap

07.03.2026 22:30 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
My photo shows a museum display with colourful Minoan pottery cups arranged on three clear shelves, one above the other. These cups, known as Kamares Ware, are from Phaistos, Crete. They were made in palace workshops, c. 1800-1700 BC. The cups range in shape and size from conic and cylindrical cups (top and middle shelves) to hemispherical and carinated shaped cups (bottom shelf). They are decorated with multi-coloured geometric motifs; with spirals and swirls painted in red and white pigment on black.

My photo shows a museum display with colourful Minoan pottery cups arranged on three clear shelves, one above the other. These cups, known as Kamares Ware, are from Phaistos, Crete. They were made in palace workshops, c. 1800-1700 BC. The cups range in shape and size from conic and cylindrical cups (top and middle shelves) to hemispherical and carinated shaped cups (bottom shelf). They are decorated with multi-coloured geometric motifs; with spirals and swirls painted in red and white pigment on black.

Sipping my coffee β˜•οΈ and thinking about these marvellous Minoan cups!

They look so modern it’s incredible to think they were made during the Bronze Age some 3,800 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. πŸ“· by me

#Archaeology

07.03.2026 12:55 πŸ‘ 1230 πŸ” 322 πŸ’¬ 33 πŸ“Œ 24

I'm incredibly jealous of my spouse who needs 1-2h less sleep than I do!

07.03.2026 14:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I think my version of that would be just not needing to sleep πŸ˜…

07.03.2026 14:28 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

Yeah this is absolutelt going to be part of an write-up on teaching "code" to graduate and post-graduate scientists in the age of agenic coding, and how we might set up silo'ed agentic LLMs for academic environments with sensitive data etc...

06.03.2026 16:30 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0