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🎙️ We're joined by Gabriela Moreira @bugarela, CEO at @quint_lang, about why formal specification languages like TLA+ are essential for catching system design flaws before writing code, how Quint brings developer-friendly syntax and executability to formal methods, and the ways trace validation and model-based testing can verify AI-generated code against real-world production data.
stackoverflow.blog/2026/10/1…
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"Why is formal verification exploding NOW?"
1. Cost of proofs is going DOWN (as AI gets more capable)
2. Cost of exploits is going UP (as AI gets more dangerous)
3. Proofs exterminate exploits
4. Bonus: proof checking = perfect math/coding RL reward
The rest is economics
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Artificial Intelligence is the next evolution of machines, not of human beings. It will bring more comfort and convenience, but it will not enhance human beings in any way. If human consciousness evolves faster than technology, AI could be a tremendous boon for humanity. If it does not, it will cost us something very serious – something we may not be able to recover from. –Sg
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“A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things.” — Grace Hopper
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The late MIT prof. Patrick Winston explains how to speak & get your ideas valued & accepted.
The famous lecture in full: tinyurl.com/2p592kya
v/@MITOCW
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“The value of a prototype is in the education it gives you, not in the code itself.” — Alan Cooper
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“Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.” — Alan Perlis
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Left: MIT computer scientist Katie Bouman w/stacks of hard drives of black hole image data.
Right: MIT computer scientist Margaret Hamilton w/the code she wrote that helped put a man on the moon.
(image credit @floragraham)
#EHTblackhole #BlackHoleDay #BlackHole
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Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton passed away at 90 on Sep. 30th. Considered an icon at MIT, she designed the flight software for the Apollo missions to the moon.
More on her groundbreaking work: bit.ly/4zegcS8
Video v/MAKERS
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"The purpose of software engineering is to control complexity, not to create it." – Pamela Zave
More true now than ever.
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“We had to find a way and we did. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.” —Margaret Hamilton
Rest in peace, Margaret. Your trailblazing work leading the development of the on-board flight software for the Apollo spacecraft will forever be remembered. 🫡
Margaret Hamilton was the first woman programmer on Apollo, led the team that wrote its flight software, and fought for software engineering to be taken seriously.
Thank you, Margaret, for all you gave computer science and the millions of students you inspire.
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Entrevista a Margaret Hamilton, la mujer responsable del software de guíado del Apollo.
"¿Qué le enseñó su padre?
A no creer nada que no me hayan demostrado."
lavanguardia.com/lacontra/20…
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Sans Margaret H. Hamilton, la discipline du "software engineering" porterait probablement un autre nom.

ALT No Fear At the start of the Apollo program, the onboard flight software needed to land on the moon didn’t exist. Computer science wasn’t in any college curriculum. NASA turned to mathematician Margaret Hamilton, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to pioneer and direct the effort. With her colleagues, she developed the building blocks for modern “software engineering,” a term Hamilton coined. - By A.J.S. Rayl
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From making sure that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely reached the moon to helping pioneer the field of software engineering, Margaret Hamilton has been a role model for so many people in STEM—including me.
Thank you, Margaret, for encouraging us all to soar.
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We'll be spending a lot more time trying to understand the outputs of language models. A few thoughts, tips & tricks:
Writing. Something I've had success with: Ask your LLM to explain something in ASD-STE100, it's a controlled language specification originally developed for aerospace maintenance documentation. LLMs well-versed in this language and it comes with heavy constraints on clean writing style that I often find a lot more readable. Sometimes I've tried to soften it a bit e.g. ask for "80% of the way to ASD-STE100" because the spec is quite stringent. But even better:
Diagrams / images. Instead of writing, ask your LLM to create a diagram. These can be a lot easier to process, parse, and understand. But even better:
Web pages. Ask for output "in HTML" to get a beautiful, interactive webpage. LLMs are getting really good at frontend and can create beautiful experiences, animations, etc. But even better:
Explainer videos. The output format I am most bullish on is fully custom / bespoke explainer videos generated on any arbitrary topic. Experiment with things like "Create a 3b1b style video explainer on X. Use my ElevenLabs API key for audio narration". (you'd need an API key for the latter or you can ask your LLM to find you decent free alternatives that use your local compute). This is actually starting to work!
In summary:
- As LLMs get better, they will do more and more of the legwork autonomously, and a lot more of our work will rise up the abstractions into oversight and understanding.
- Luckily, LLMs can help here too because as intelligence and code are increasingly abundant, you can ask for large, custom, discardable software artifacts (e.g. web apps, video explainers) that would have never made sense to create before. Push the boundaries here and you'll be surprised.
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With so many great session proposals, reviewers are sought to help choose the best for #CSTA2027. Become a reviewer and help build the conference you want to attend!
Learn more: buff.ly/BBbL8k2
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Saw a cool horse build and had to recreate it with the Nezha Sport Kit 🐴⚙️
Same idea, different build. 😎
What should we recreate next?
#ELECFREAKS #STEM #microbit
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Rapid advances in science and technology are changing the skills students will need for their futures. The launch of the new @nationalstemed responds to the need for more qualified STEM teachers across the nation.
Learn more: buff.ly/r48DgdH























