Julien Burcher

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom."

[CLaE @leafs_s]

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

A beautiful loop: An active inference theory of consciousness

This paper explains consciousness using active inference.

The authors argue that consciousness depends on three key features:
simulation of a world model, competition among inferences, and epistemic depth, meaning recursive sharing of beliefs across hierarchical levels.

In this view, consciousness is not located in one brain area. It emerges from recursive, hierarchical inference loops that reduce uncertainty and allow a system to model both the world and itself.

https://t.co/0SR7xpUk8X

[Paul Powlesland @paulpowlesland]

“I don’t give a shit what your system is, what does it mean for the river?”

I genuinely never thought I would have to challenge the British state in order to protect the river I love, but here we are. Massive thanks to Channel 4 for spending so much time & care in detailing the incredible work done by volunteer river guardians on the River Roding: I am going to use the description of us descending on litter like a “squadron of community-minded locusts” again!

Whilst I no longer shocked at the indifference of public bodies like the EA & local councils to the desperate plight of our rivers, it has genuinely surprised me that @EnvAgency thinks it is a good use of their powers to prosecute volunteers for doing their job for them by restoring rivers, especially when there are serious illegal sewage discharges nearby that they have done nothing about. Please withdraw your prosecution threats EA & work with us instead. The Roding could genuinely be a test case in how government & river guardians can work together to protect & restore our rivers.

https://t.co/vCBY3cPxmE

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

H/t @numenini

[EAAFP @EAAFP]

Check out these stories from the Global Flyway Network fieldwork along the Nanpu mudlfats

🐦 https://t.co/SeZEZN0CIM

🐦 https://t.co/YFieUIfBOO

🐦 https://t.co/JL5EkyPS6L

#EAAFlyway #EAAFPShorebirds

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

H/t @BarristerSecret

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

Must listen for justice wisdom seekers:
How sentencing guidelines work for child offenders including rape
custody thresholds;
Importance of non custodial sentences to both punish and rehabilitate
Clarity Queen @SarahvAtDSC KC join expert hosts @KenMacdonaldKC and @timowenkc

[Adm. Court Blog @admcourtblog]

What is a deprivation of liberty? https://t.co/K67PHXgsKF

[Philip Oldfield @SustainableTall]

Scalloped brickwork seems very much en vogue

A new office building in Reutlingen, Germany, by Riehle Koeth

Love the tone of the bricks here

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

Just heard that 1, Percy Street is empty. It’s the site of Tour Eiffel cafe in the 1900s and where modernist poetry was invented.
Wouldn’t it be fun to recreate the moment in a pop-up poetry reading!

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

🤷🤣🍸

[The Secret Barrister 🦋 @BarristerSecret]

Naturally, I am celebrating the paperback publication of #TheCutThroatTrial by being locked in a leaking courtroom all day.

If anybody is out in the world and sees the damned book on shelves or billboards or what have you, I would be delighted to receive pictures.

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

🤷😔

[Ben Goldsmith @BenGoldsmith]

The European factory fishing industry and its political sponsors now accusing *birds* of causing the collapse of fish stocks says it all really.

This is what the conservation movement is up against.

‘European fishing nations call for cormorant cull’

https://t.co/OZHbJvNZ9D

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

🥺

[UNIFIL @UNIFIL_]

A UNIFIL peacekeeper died early this morning from critical injuries sustained when mortar shells struck his position near Marjayoun, southeastern Lebanon.

Two other peacekeepers, who also sustained injuries, are being treated at a medical facility in the UNIFIL base.

[Michael Rosen 💙💙🎓🎓 NICE 爷爷 @MichaelRosenYes]

New video for pre-schoolers. Help them learn poems through repetition and fun! https://t.co/maom2oQyTS

[What're you giving me with the flying fish @RomanPBone1]

You know, I'd post more Irene Dunne (and Jean Arthur) if her publicity pics weren't so, dare I say, dull. She's lovable, charming and funny on screen. But her solo publicity portraits especially, are imo, formal and stiff, and somehow don't capture her goofy appeal.

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

🤞🏻❤️

[Mary Colwell @curlewcalls]

A very wet Oystercatcher chick. So much rain yesterday in Scotland, I hope it is ok.
Photo Daniel Hoffmann

[The Justice Gap @justicegap.bsky.social @JusticeGap]

Victims ‘feel like they have to fight the state all over again’: @CommonsPAC hear how victims of Windrush, Infected Blood, and Horizon scandals face significant barriers to compensation and ‘retraumatised by the process’ https://t.co/Y4eaqI0RiA

[Graham Appleton @GrahamFAppleton]

How quickly do juvenile birds learn to feed effciently?
Neat Black-tailed Godwit paper by Josh Nightingale, summarised as a #WaderTales blog:
https://t.co/N8HX4la990
#birds #ornithology #waders #shorebirds
#AnimalBehaviour #AnimalBehavior

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

*Matey* 👏🏻❤️

[Henry Grunwald @HCGQC]

Shared with you by a Times subscriber.

Enjoy this article for free.

https://t.co/2Hfl73Hnc7

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

*you couldn’t make it up*… @LBofHavering can 🫣

[Mr Mustard @_MrMustard]

@LBofHavering using what appear to be unauthorised words on the tarmac. Where is the Stop sign? There isn't one. Ambulances coming from the left have to comply with the 'give way' marking, what a muddle.

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

👏🏻🥳

[Big Meadow Search @bigmeadowsearch]

Bulbous buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus. Up to 40cm. Stem base expanded into tuber (hence Bulbous name). Hairy. Three-lobed leaves. Grooved flower stalk. Reflexed sepals. Flowers up to 3cm wide

[Julien Burcher @Dowellenough]

H/t @CoviLeaks

[James Melville 🚜 @JamesMelville]

The UK now hosts more than 500 active data centres (the third largest in the world). They have been rammed through despite huge local community concerns about the impact on their local landscapes and energy and water consumption.

These enormous data centres are giant industrial facilities consuming vast quantities of electricity, water and land while placing increasing pressure on the UK’s energy infrastructure.

▪️Water consumption by data centres is expected to reach 9.3 trillion litres, while CO2 emissions will rise to 399 million tons.

▪️Annual power consumption from data centres is projected to double to 945 TWh by 2030, around ‌the ⁠same as the whole of Japan’s energy consumption, with AI accounting for 40% of the total.

▪️The rise of AI is accelerating this trend. The UK Government's Compute Roadmap notes that AI data centres can devote up to 40% of their energy consumption to cooling systems.

▪️It is estimated that data-centre power and water consumption could double by 2030 due to AI growth.

▪️Emerging research suggests large AI facilities can create localised warming effects around their sites, sometimes described as a “data heat island” effect.

Numerous campaigns against these data centres are being organised by local communities. No one voted for this. If you are involved in any of these local campaigns, please DM me and I’ll try and help you amplify your campaigns.