Andy McCarthy

Researcher and SL @ University of the West of England (@UWEcyber). Interested in secure machine learning.

[Andy McCarthy @AndyMcCarthyUK]

Thrilled to share my latest #research. A novel contribution to #StateOfTheArt addressing machine learning vulnerabilities (adversarial learning). Published by prestigious Journal of Information Security & Applications. @dr_plegg @UWEcyber #CyberSec #ml https://t.co/tXr58wyNEe

[Alan Woodward @ProfWoodward]

A good news story - reaching young people before they are seduced by the Dark Side - worthwhile project as described by @joetidy Teen hackers tell BBC how police are helping them use their skills for good https://t.co/5wX4J7WCYn

[Alan Woodward @ProfWoodward]

From Frenzy to Freakout - a few thoughts from Ciaran Martin and me on recent AI assisted hacking https://t.co/dhIFP9YuCX

[Emmanuel Tsekleves @PhDtoProf]

PhD theses do not pass because they are impressive.

They pass because they are examinable.

I have examined over 45 doctoral theses. The ones I pass are not the cleverest in the pile. They are the easiest to defend.

[GOV.UK @GOVUK]

Erasmus+ is a programme that gives you opportunities to study, learn and work abroad. It can help you develop your personal and professional skills.

The UK will be joining the programme from 2027. 🇪🇺

Find out more at https://t.co/1nMdVSKy1o

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

University policy and students’ practical use of AI are running in different directions. Higher education needs a collaborative approach, focused on human capability, write Doug Specht and Gunter Saunders: https://t.co/9lmtcpVeEs #Highered

[Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox]

This is the result of many bad legacy decisions taken by UKRI hastily and without proper consultation, overseen by a government department that no longer exists. Surely the new @andyburnham government will want to take time to review this.

[obssnnn @0xObssnnn]

A mathematician pulls a volunteer from the audience and tells them to corrupt his data on purpose. Then he finds every flipped bit.

This is Marcus du Sautoy at the Royal Institution, 4 minutes on error-correcting codes. A grid of 0s and 1s on the screen and a live demonstration of how a machine catches a single flipped digit.

The math is Hamming's. Every hard drive, satellite link, QR code, and model checkpoint transferred between GPUs depends on it working silently.

Watch the moment the volunteer changes 1 bit and he locates it without being told where. No equations shown. The trick is the parity structure underneath.

A backend engineer I know sent it to a junior who kept asking why checksums exist and closed the question in 4 minutes.

Free on YouTube, Royal Institution stage, subtitles on.

The bits flip constantly. You just never see it happen.

[Jonathan Haidt @JonHaidt]

If your kids have TikTok accounts, or ask for them, you should sit down with them and read this report together. Share the disgust and degradation of real feeds from real kids. TikTok is wildly inappropriate for children. From @RR_research and UK orgs

https://t.co/wHxIxB160p

[University of Oxford @UniofOxford]

Prof Brian Ripley has been selected as one of five recipients of the 2026 Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics.

This award honors his contributions to the development of R, an open-source software enabling researchers to make sense of data, turning numbers into evidence.

Read more ⬇️
https://t.co/Bv7eUigNXU

[Association for Computing Machinery @TheOfficialACM]

Congratulations to Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the U.K.’s University of Southampton, on winning the prestigious Sir Frank Whittle Medal! 🏆

Only the 3rd woman in 25 years to receive the award, Dame Wendy is recognized for her pioneering work in Web science & shaping global AI strategy.

Former ACM President & current ACM Publications Board Co-Chair, she continues to advocate for safety, diversity, and societal impact in tech. 💡

Look out for her new book, AI Explained, coming out this September! 📚
https://t.co/NADm9xSlzh

#WomenInSTEM #AI #ComputerScience #TechNews

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

Teaching in a multicultural programme means serving not only as an academic but also as a host, says Raúl Martínez Flores, who offers tips on making international students feel welcome: https://t.co/Azf44vMIlP #Highered

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

Universities are overestimating how often their teaching spaces are being used, with average occupancy levels of only 20 per cent, according to findings by a group of estates experts #hybridwork #highered #estatesmanagement
https://t.co/I28MPajd76

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

Financial pressures on English higher education are advancing far quicker than predicted, with the current system “unsustainable in any plausible funding model”, according to a report that urges the sector to prioritise differentiation to secure a viable future #highered
https://t.co/gDJdovCWHe

[BBC Bristol @BBCBristol]

PC sentenced for making false allegations about boss https://t.co/xJ0ltP8HUl

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

Scrapping the UK’s science department midway through major reforms to research funding may signal Andy Burnham’s intention to entirely rethink how the Labour government tackles huge challenges facing the university sector. @jgro_the reports

[Trent Park House of Secrets @TrentParkHouse]

The secret is out. Trent Park House of Secrets has opened its doors at last and we can't wait to welcome you! Book at https://t.co/ea6QfrndAB

#SecretListeners #TrentParkHouse #HouseOfSecrets #HiddenLondon #Enfield #Museum #NowOpen #HeritageIsOpen

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

How to promote interaction, a sense of collective responsibility and reflective practices to prevent students from ‘dividing and conquering’ in group projects: https://t.co/I8YK3h4lna #Highered

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

University leaders have expressed disappointment over reports that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is likely to be abolished as part of a governmental reorganisation as Andy Burnham becomes prime minister, reports @jgro_the #DSIT #science #innovation
https://t.co/YYVmywXOhj

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

Keir Starmer out and Andy Burnham in at No. 10 Downing Street.

That makes it seven prime ministers in 10 years, which might feel unprecedented but history tells a different story and shows that there are three forces driving today's political chaos that have been with us for 200 years.

[Times Higher Education @timeshighered]

Students with modest work commitments are more likely to graduate than their unemployed and overemployed peers, and a post-Covid spike in working rates has not changed that equation, New Zealand research suggests. @JohnRoss49 reports #highered #parttimework
https://t.co/pTJDqwl17b