junebug.net

Kylie MacFarquharson

aka: Junia Farquhar, orbitanaut

I'm a former quantum materials researcher and digital artist, now working in finance. My DPhil research at Oxford focussed on exotic magnetic states in rare-earth compounds. I am currently in the garden.

An unstructured list of topics I've been thinking about recently: Bayesian inference, topology, housing + planning policy, and optimisation.

As a generative artist publishing under the pseudonyms Junia Farquhar and orbitanaut, I create work that explores physical systems through code. My projects, published on platforms like ArtBlocks and fxhash, combine my physics background with creative coding to visualize phenomena from classical and quantum mechanics.

I was previously a competitive dinghy racer in some university and national events, in the winning (OU) team for the RYA Womens Team Racing Championship in 2019. I later started offshore racing, and in 2023 joined the Oxford University entry for the Admiral's Cup aboard Talisman, ending in a disappointing retirement from Fastnet in 42 knots of breeze. I am currently looking for a new boat to crew.

My doctoral thesis is available at /thesis

Notable Projects

Magnetometry and Thermodynamic Studies of Anisotropic Honeycomb and Hyperhoneycomb Magnets

My doctoral thesis, investigating exotic magnetic states in quantum materials.

Read it here

Admete

A superhuman, neural network based chess engine written in C++. It has achieved a 3117 Elo on CCRL blitz.

View on GitHub Play on Lichess

Dipolar

A generative art collection exploring magnetic dipole interactions in 2D, exploring themes of duality, realism vs empiricism, and discovery. Published on ArtBlocks' curated platform under the pseudonym Junia Farquhar. The sales from this project funded a substantial donation to Helen Keller International.

View Collection

Generative Art on fxhash

Series of generative art projects on fxhash exploring physical systems and mathematical abstractions. Collections include abstraction (diagrams, skeuomorphism), The Three-Body Problem (orbital dynamics), and Planets (retro graphics).

View collections on fxhash

Recent Blog Posts

Generative Ink 30 Apr 2026

Generative art is just writing down a mathematical function that takes coordinates and returns a colour. The following is one such function.

Should two-boxers say so? 22 Mar 2026

A response to the claim that publicly declaring you'd two-box is itself irrational.

Counting spins on an ESP32 27 Jan 2026

During some time off I programmed a small device to count how often I have spun around in a day.

Publications

Compass-model physics on the hyperhoneycomb lattice in the extreme spin-orbit regime

Nature Communications

View on Nature.com

Selective Synthesis and Crystal Chemistry of Candidate Rare-Earth Kitaev Materials: Honeycomb and Hyperhoneycomb Na₂PrO₃

ACS Inorganic Chemistry

View on ACS

Anisotropic magnetic interactions in a candidate Kitaev spin liquid close to a metal-insulator transition

Communications Physics

View on Nature.com

Non-collinear magnetic order in honeycomb Na₂PrO₃ revealed by single crystal torque measurements

APS March Meeting 2022

Studies on Novel Yb-based Candidate Triangular Quantum Antiferromagnets: Ba₃YbB₃O₉ and Ba₃YbB₉O₁₈

arXiv:2104.01005

View on arXiv

Revealing the coexistence of the bulk and surface electronic states by in-situ K dosing

APS March Meeting 2021

By-lines

Against the idea of 'Trans Visibility'

When I think of the last year, of my favourite moments and my proudest achievements, being trans has nothing to do with them

The Independent November 2022

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My experience as a trans woman in sport

When I competed in the women's Royal Yachting Association nationals, I never experienced animosity from the other competitors. I developed a camaraderie I've never felt elsewhere

The Independent April 2022

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FINA, Lia Thomas and how bad data drives policy

FINA's policy creates a situation where trans women are allowed to compete in name only - never fairly

The Independent June 2022

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