Another excellent conversation from the #unsw Centre for Ideas with Stan Grant. I really loved Stan's perspective on #theVoice: "We know in our own lives, ‘no’ is the end of a conversation. We know that in our own lives."

https://www.centreforideas.com/article/stan-grant-queen-dead

Nice paper out recently from some #UNSW colleagues in GRL linking ENSO and synoptic weather in Australia.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL104814

#ENSO #ElNino #LaNina #Weather #climate

Listened to this panel from #UNSW Centre for Ideas on the way to work this morning. Thanks to the final questioner for echoing my surprise at one of the panellist's opinions that the world was more equitable 50 years ago 🙃 To be fair, that comment did a wonderful job of highlighting that diversity is needed in these spaces to mitigate bias in the algorithms!

#AI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxAytHKOQfI

Next was an interesting panel on #AI and translators at #UNSW with Alisa Tian, Jia Zhang, Sean Cheng, and Stephen Doherty. Translators are the tip of the spear in terms of professions being impacted by advances in AI, so these perspectives are instructive for seeing how fields grapple with potential displacement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMamnaQrveE (3/6) #automation

Next was a great talk by Phil Bernstein on #architecture in the digital age at #UNSW. Bernstein nicely lays out what the field of architecture and building is truly about, the limitations of #AI in this space, and the opportunities of incorporating technology into current workflows. There's also a good panel discussion after the talk with M. Hank Haeusler, Ivana Kuzmanovska, Jane Burry, and Mark Burry AO. Highly recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uej8CWL1ybE (7/12)

Working at the UNSW Water Research Laboratory today means a commute by bus and ferry.

I was lucky to leave in time to catch a smoke haze sunset over the Hawkesbury River.

#sunset #UNSW #australia

Perks of coming to unsw - getting to check in on my fishy friends. Rare to see one of the plecos out in the open, and she's getting so big!

#fishofmastodon #unsw

@andyjennings Here's the link to her talk at the #UNSW Centre for Ideas: https://www.centreforideas.com/article/jenny-odell-resisting-attention-economy

Next was a rigorous talk by Anna Ida Hudig on transparency in consumer #IoT devices at the #UNSW Allens Hub. Hudig and co do great work methodically logging the data requests from different devices as well as cataloguing the responses of manufacturers to data requests https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvpX_kwk0Xc (6/10) #privacy

Thank you to Bernadette Zanet and her team at Yarrangobilly Caves for supporting another fruitful research visit this week.

UNSW alumnus and data analyst Rebecca Chapman returned to explain all about her research on the hydrology at the Harrie Wood Cave. Her novel application of a statistical method called 'functional data analysis' has been submitted for publication, and there is a pre-print available here:
https://lnkd.in/gX6iSGz9

We welcome all comments and feedback.

I had the opportunity to download the latest hydrology data from the caves, now a 12-year record of water movement from the surface to the groundwater. And also help out with some questions on cave climate monitoring. And catch some wonderful views.

The pre-print is "Spatiotemporal Variation in Cave Percolation Waters: A Functional Approach" with co-authors Shawn Laffan (UNSW), Monika Markowska (MPIC) and Liza McDonough (ANSTO) and is another collaboration between UNSW and ANSTO.

#research #water #research #science #groundwater #statistics #caves #climate #rain #hydrology #datascience #UNSW #ANSTO

BIG SCIENCE NEWS: #NewSpecies of adorable #insect 🪳 found in #WudjariCountry. The pea-sized stink bug resembles the spiky leaves of its host plant (Hakea sp.). The discovery was made by entomologists from #UNSW and WA #Museum with the help of #EsperanceTjaltjraak #IndigenousRangers at a place of cultural significance to the Wudjari people of the region. #wudjariboodja #speciesdiscovery #BushBlitz #taxonomy

The Politics of COVID-19 in Australia. This looks great!

Free event hosted by Prof. Deborah Lupton, leader at the Centre for Social Research in Health and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

#COVID19 #Pandemic #AusPOL #UNSW #Australia #covid #LongCovid #NSW

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-politics-of-covid-19-in-australia-tickets-654627898667

Next was an interesting talk by @guidonld on #IoT and the #law at #UNSW. The combined physical, digital, and cloud nature of IoT makes them particularly interesting to analyze from a legal perspective, and this talk goes on a tour of a variety of issues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph5aaeVjJLM (4/11)

Next was a nice talk by Wolfgang Reif on swarm intelligence at the #UNSW #AI Institute. Reif presents a number of approaches to creating a systems engineering framework for developing self-organizing systems, along with some interesting applications https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DCRhgHAV6o (5/7)

First was a thought-provoking talk by Joe Halpern with a tour of different notions of causality at the #UNSW #AI Institute. Not only is this talk quite accessible, it provokes deep reflection on what it actually means for "A to cause B" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbmMtKXNbeM (2/7)

It was a lab day today. Our fluorescence spectrometer was put to work to analyse the dissolved organic matter in some Antarctic lakes.

Did you know that dissolved organic matter fluoresces, at wavelengths our eyes can't see, but this instrument can.

It is useful for tracing pollutants in rivers, lakes and groundwater, for characterising organic matter, and to help with engineering processes such as water and wastewater treatment.

#science #environment #water #waterquality #pollution #lakes #groundwater #rivers #UNSW #carbon #sustainability
Almost #fluorescencefriday

Next was an interesting talk by Kacper Sokol introducing a framework for explainable #AI (XAI) at the #UNSW AI Institute. This is a good grand tour of the space if you are unfamiliar with XAI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-LkoI3VpLU (5/8) #XAI

We are recruiting an Education Focused academic here at #UNSW Sydney. Please share!

The School is seeking to appoint a Lecturer (Level B academic) or Senior Lecturer (Level C) to conduct high quality teaching in courses that contribute to the Biology and Ecology study areas, particularly the subjects BIOS1101 Evolutionary and Functional Biology and BIOS1301 Ecology, Sustainability and Environmental Science. The School is interested in an appointment that can teach within the broad fields of the biological sciences, but specific fields of teaching expertise might include:

The form and function of plants, animals and microbes;

Evolutionary history of life on Earth;

Biological, ecological, and environmental problems and their effects on biodiversity.

https://external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/cw/en/job/516442/ef-academic-school-of-biological-earth-environmental-sciences

#academia #academicjobs #education #science #biology #ecology #environment

Next was an informative talk by Chris Marsden on the state of #AI regulation at the #UNSW AI Institute. While this talk dates from the fall, it's interesting to see how thinking on different regulatory regimes has developed in this short time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NV6UmCljCw (5/7) #law #AIAct #DMA #DSA

Solidarity with #UNSW #NTEU members striking today for job security, sustainable work loads, and fair pay 🙌

#union #academia #HigherEd #Australia