Greetings! I’m Yoyo (They). I spend most of my time on open science projects in the spirit of Back to the Future! My interests span physics, research-y engineering, neurotechnology and cognitive science, partially funded by microgrants e.g. 1517 Medici, and overly enthusiastic nerds! I’m also an undergraduate at Minerva University based in Tokyo for 2025 - 2026.
Befriend me! Adopt me! Just ping @c5h9no4.o on Discord or [[email protected]]
[pure vibes][projects][substack][X][resume][LinkedIn]
On this page:
Hack sprints!
Cool people and communities!
Books, short stories and media!
Places lived
Hack sprints
Recently, I’ve been collaborating on [low-cost, maskless microelectrode arrays] with my good friend [Eigenlucy]. Hopefully this infrastructure encourages more tinkering around neurons. This platform is also a part of the Mind ex Vivo accelerator that supports startups based out of Frontier Tower, San Francisco.
As I love heady and dense research papers, I built arXiv parsers to triage new literature quickly either through a simulated panel of experts debating (MCP) or [RAG]. Hit me up if you ever have a database of papers to process, APIs to beta test, want to complain about/admire papers or anything else!
Another project close to my heart has been programming trust infrastructure with [Naia]. When I was in San Francisco, I spent late nights on hack sprints: Assembling laser cutters, building and simulating swarm drones, deploying NFCs at raves, trying celestial navigation, simulating startup fails (most cursed project) and more.
My collaborative research sprints intensified in high school. My deepest dive was probably ultracold atom and photonic quantum simulators, followed by quantum computers, as well as hikikomori/youth loneliness after talking to 50+ of them throughout the world [my short story about loneliness] + companion robots for seniors; and air pollution awareness in China.
I got into neurotech after reading Friendship is Optimal: Caelum est Conterrens. I bought an OpenBCI kit with $1k and just recorded lots of EEG, EOG and EMG signals, played the chrome dino game, wrote [3 - 4 articles] until I realized I needed better equipment! and more theory! so I self-studied this [comp neuro course]. Later, I got my hands on the Neurosity crown and Muse headbands; learned a geophysics technique that upscales Earth’s resolution for human heads (full-waveform inversion), threw encryption at neural data with [Tetraslam], as well as some computational neuroscience, but I’m still kinda confused.
Inspiring individuals
[Lynn Conway] - Computer scientist and transgender rights activist
[Paul Erdős] - Prolific, sociable mathematician
[Joscha Bach] - Cognitive science. Someone who you can have funny, thoughtful discussions with.
[Nicky Case] - Indie creator, my biggest influence from teenage years to present.
[Eigenlucy] - Self-taught engineering and cybernetics.
[Naia]. Physicist. Lighting systems. Raves. Action, staying grounded, taking care of communities.
[Yuxi on the Wired] - An aspiring superintelligence.
[Felinine N-Arylation] - Chemistry.
[Guillefix] - Physics and neurotech.
[Yuliya] - Biological networks appreciator and engager of bits.
[Dunya Baradari], [Alif Jakir], [Tetraslam], Trinity Dysis - Transdisciplinary people in Harvard and MIT communities.
Cool people and communities!
After reading The Genius Trilogy I met lots of people from programming/art/open source communities. I’m proud to have friends from 50+ countries now!
Underrated communities:
[Thinking About Thinking] - for anyone who’s in-between cognitive science, neuroscience and AI. I’m reachable [[email protected]]
[Noisebridge],[Cimc.ai],[Calculus House] - SF communities.
[Ekkolapto] - See [our talk] on visualizing olfaction! [Metal oxide sensor board repository]! [scent search]! (Tho I didn’t speak very well)
Cities I lived in
Shenzhen
Waterloo
San Francisco
Tokyo
Books, short stories and media
War Games
Flowers for Algernon
Linus Pauling biography
Shape of a Life
Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey.
[Signs and symbols by Vladimir Nabokov]
[Take your time by Nicky Case]
> "We already have an experimental line of 24-hour pills, and we're currently using them internally to improve the productivity of our top scientists, who are working on a 32-hour pill…”
> My tears were floating around me, falling at 0.002% speed.
I absolutely love music, anywhere from techno, breakcore, instrumental soundtracks, indie, kpop, jpop, desi, Russian, ancient civilization sounds, and everything else etc etc.
Some interesting stuffs I have not yet deciphered:
[Unclonable polymers and no-cloning theorem in cryptography]
