sam (tabone) rector

All about the brain; investing in Human 3 at @XEIA_VP

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

Alright people, The Great EEG Debate is happening on Friday 12/04 at 4pm PST in San Francisco.

Stay tuned for a video update on logistics, who's joining that day, the ground rules, and what the aims are, which will drop this Friday. It will be invite-only for now, but you can apply to join the live recording of the podcast by DM'ing, interacting with posts, or sending us an email.

We are also hoping someone steps up to the plate to take the side of "AI+data/we've under-explored EEG". Please tag people here. It's all in the spirit of learning from one another.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@DStrachman Wholeheartedly agree. Embrace the cringe.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@jacob_g_martin1 @SumnerLN @guillefix What part of the “controversy” seems AI-generated? Or do you mean AI-related?

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

Alright people, The Great EEG Debate is happening on Friday 12/04 at 4pm PST in San Francisco.

Stay tuned for a video update on logistics, who's joining that day, the ground rules, and what the aims are, which will drop this Friday. It will be invite-only for now, but you can apply to join the live recording of the podcast by DM'ing, interacting with posts, or sending us an email.

We are also hoping someone steps up to the plate to take the side of "AI+data/we've under-explored EEG". Please tag people here. It's all in the spirit of learning from one another.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

Epic. Proud supporter of @juliapeng__ and @AmitDeshwar.

They are ahead of the game.

[Kerna Labs @KernaLabs]

The mRNA that makes the most protein in a dish can lose its lead in the body. How can AI learn to predict that?

We built an in vivo data factory to measure protein output from hundreds of mRNAs in a single animal. Our co-founder @amitdeshwar explains how.

https://t.co/j5Wwle4seU

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@rudzinskimaciej People don’t read as much, it’s true. Quite concerning actually.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

Considering the (hopefully obvious) underlying scientific constraints of moving towards human brain augmentation in situ, it seems that the most efficient and logical optimum for this is what I'm generally going to refer to as a "HI-AI enablers" - not for the purpose of alignment per se, but for the purpose of organic enhancement.

Surely BCIs with read/write capabilities can be a "HI-AI enabler" for augmentation (people have written about this for decades; not a new idea), specifically in the case of implantable BCIs with therapeutic applications, but are non-invasive BCIs really the only other concept for this?

What about eyes as an interface?
A personalized supercomputer + a drug to enhance our ability to learn from information we receive from the the computer (audio, visual)?
Having a UI with the most intelligent and rational approximation of your own brain. A neurocloud?

The ultimate limitation, to me, is not just technology, but our collective ability as a network to agree to prioritize facts so that we can enable education beyond our collective bubble of expertise. Otherwise we will devolve into an amalgam of language and ideas with funders losing interest over time.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@Zahra_M_Aghajan Of course! Any chance you can be in SF on 12/4?

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

There are limitations to non-invasive methods that invasive methods circumvent, but looking at them in tandem is probably the ideal path forward.

We’re trying to disentangle truth from fiction by hosting a debate around an analogous topic on 12/04 (how much can AI really enhance signal from non-invasive sources?) - care to add thoughts or join?

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

We’ll release more details about the aims and actual debate orientation on Friday. It’s definitely a bit confusing because there are several debates running in tandem. We’ll anchor on one but allude to others when we drop the memo.

The problem is there are people who seem to be making claims about what specific modalities can achieve when coupled with AI that are beyond the limitations of the physics of the modality. We want to give them a chance to make their case from first principles. It isn’t just about EEG. We’ll make it clear.

[Kevin Wimer @kevinace]

I have stage 4 cancer. I thought I'd fight it alone.

I was wrong.

Since mid October, ~20 strangers on X have stepped up to help me. All for free so far:
- An NYU Langone lab offered to run my tumor data through their system to sharpen my vaccine targets
- A U Michigan lab offered to test drugs on my actual tumor cells
- A biotech ran AI analysis on my tumor RNA
- A vaccine company offered to design a second vaccine to check the first one

Scientists. Engineers. People I've never met.

Cancer has been picking us off one at a time for all of human history. It counts on us fighting it alone, scared and quiet.

Not anymore.

We have AI. We have the internet. We have each other.

Cancer, we're coming for you, bitch. Buckle up!

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@sharenarice I will read it!

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

What does HI-AI mean to you?

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@neubadah @JTRobinsonLab @mikhailshapiro @rahulchhabra07 😂

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@neubadah @JTRobinsonLab @mikhailshapiro We're trying to get @rahulchhabra07!! Jacob has confirmed his participation. Stay tuned for more info Friday.

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@Oliver__Hahn @Disney 🤯

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@faintlimits Bad take

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@Brainclinics I had no idea about this prize. Quite interesting. I’ll add this to our reading list. Thank you!

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@KirchukNicolas Would love to meet you!

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

The SF Biotech Run Club will meet next Friday in Fort Mason.

I initiate these meetups to build a community for getting to know people with shared interests without the transactional sheen of conferences or virtual meetings.

Building in bio and the life sciences is hard. We welcome those from other communities who want to learn about bio, too. I haven't yet been able to get a particular location and weekday to stick, so we hop around the city.

Next week, I'm aiming to stoke discussion on new structures in bio, including chats about Formation Bio and how OpenAI and Anthropic are embracing the life sciences.

We meet for coffee afterwards. Come be active and nerdy! If you're new to running, that's okay too! Taking inspo from Darius Fong at RTC in LA: anyone who runs faster than 8:30min/mile buys everyone coffee!

[sam (tabone) rector @samalanascience]

@SumnerLN @guillefix We need you for this!