"Non enim solum ipsa fortuna caeca est, sed eos etiam plerumque efficit caecos, quos complexa est..." Cicero, De Amicitia, XV.54 #TuesdayThought BL Royal 20 C IV; Giovanni Boccaccio, De casibus virorum illustrium in French translation); 15th century; France; f.1r

Although classified as carnivores, wolves may sometimes follow an omnivorous diet. They can eat meat, eggs and even fruit! This time of year, pumpkins are a special treat for our ambassador wolves.🎃 #wolffact

companies make it difficult or impossible to disable ai in their products because it is an authoritarian project made from a stack of consent violations in a trenchcoat they don't give you a checkbox for "i don't want this and will never use it" because they know many people would check that box

Reposting so that I don't lose this.

I don't use AI because I'm actually fond of using my own brain.

Good morning, friends. I've got a rather busy day, so I'm afraid I must be quick with the eel post. But don't worry, friends...I won't leave you eel-less. Please enjoy this wonderful interlinear eel and heron. Perhaps they're having a conversation about the evils of lightning. 🗃️🧪

Part of resisting fascism is resisting the normalization of cruelty and lack of empathy. We are surrounded by horrific cruelty and tragedy. We can’t normalize it. We can’t blame victims without losing our own humanity.

Will happily take suggestions. I’ve tried One Tab, but I don’t like it as much, for several reasons.

Sure, that's what Big Heron wants you to believe. (Big Bird knows better.)

This is definitely a heron and not a muppet, I swear. 📷: KRT, Commodore Park/Ballard Locks

“I asked ChatGPT” well I asked the three Fates and the one with the scissors got very agitated when I told her you were using your one precious life thread talking to that cursed thing

AI doesn’t save labor; it magnifies the immiserating conditions of the labor done by those who haven’t been laid off.

I received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity.

It will soon be the Spring Equinox.... British Library Add 18856; Guyart des Moulins, Bible historiale; c.1420 CE; France, Central (Paris); f.5v

As we approach the Spring Equinox, here's what Stonehenge looked like in the 16th century. British Library Add MS 28330; Lucas De Heere, Corte Beschryvinghe van Engheland, Schotland, ende Irland; 1573 CE-1575 CE; England (London); f.36r

A toxic toy? A #Roman lead figure of a #camel, presumably a kid's toy (height 5.08cm, length 7.62cm). Dating probably 1st century AD,  from Lower #Egypt. On display at the British Museum 📷 me 🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology

Uhhh dawg? Your gyre is widening

Oh my goodness, yes, let's make today be a debate about whether thing x distracts from thing y or vice versa. We all know the real enemies of the x-distractors are the y-distractors, no other enemies that we should be focused on. Yeesh.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“Now the one who has money wants more money still” νῦν γὰρ ὁ χρήματ᾿ ἔχων ἔτι πλε[ί]ονα χρήματα/ θέλει #AnonymousDrinkingoSong

Here's your #DailyDose of medical history! COFFIN COLLARS were used to thwart bodysnatchers in early 19th century. The collar was fixed around the neck of a corpse and bolted to the bottom of a coffin. Bodysnatchers sold bodies to anatomists and medical schools. Follow me for more useless facts!

That’s that.

PLINY THE ELDER: it says here that roasted millipedes are a cure for asthma RFK Jr: correct PLINY: and boiled frogs fix whooping cough? RFK Jr: also true CATO THE ELDER: and a flock of flying birds… RFK Jr: yes, yes, can predict the shape and size of an infant’s cranium

This account is just Severance memes now. (Not my creation, if it needed saying.)

This is a sewing pattern. It is also a page from a late 14th century manuscript that is one of two primary sources for an important Icelandic saga (Sturlunga saga), but that was probably not important to the 17th century person who really needed a sewing pattern. #upcycling

Holy hell.

Fascists in particular rely on the promise of restoring a glorious national past that never actually existed. It's a house built on sand, and historical fact that illustrates the complicated truth is a threat. It can wash away that foundational narrative.

This was inevitable. (No spoilers, but the song choice makes more sense if you've watched s2e1.) www.reddit.com/r/SeveranceA...

This one feels especially timely.

<insert JLaw spit take gif>

waaaaay too many people in the middle imo

Elon Musk: Why isn’t there enough water in California? Grok (burning through an entire lake to generate an answer): Wokeness

Felt like this needed to be made (cc: @gettymuseum.bsky.social)

Rude to call me out like this.

The Save the Latin Excellence Programme Petition has now over 2,100 signatures! Continue to share and sign to support Latin in state schools in England at chng.it/tSYnmxZ4Rd

Advent Calendar of Mortality History - Door 24💀🎄: This rosary bead is carved from bone with a living head on one side and a cheery skull on the other. A reminder of fragility of life. Early 16th cent. From @londonmuseum.bsky.social #skystorians

I know academics who use AI regularly, for work and play, and I'd really like them, and universities, to tell me how they contend with AI's bottomless appetites for power and water. Is asking ChatGPT to interpret a Xmas song or making it write your syllabus worth this to you?

Sculptors chiseling each other in stone. From the 13th-century Notebook of Villard de Honnecourt, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Français, 19093

I gotta stop reading post-election takes from people whose agenda is to make sure the takes line up with their previously held agenda.

Join the Democratic Party, & you too can marry a woman way, way out of your league

The Obamas are able to perfectly both take Trump seriously and treat Trump as the small, petty man that he is.

Change the pronouns to "her" and I agree. He's the second best.

I’ve taken to saying “let AI fold proteins and model black holes and make better weather forecasts, but keep it the hell away from anything social” (as in social science)

The little black ink splots on the side of the inkpot are a simply delightful detail. A small frescoed panel of a writing set from Villa Arianna, Stabiae now on display in the gorgeous Quisisana Museum. 🏺

Pillar with an offering to Asclepios, 350-300 BC, 📸 by @porkchoppretty

Puppies

I’ll be honest, given our collective ignorance about and contempt for disability rights issues, I’m not sure this revelation about Trump saying that disabled people should die because they cost too much to keep alive is actually going to move anyone to vote against him.

An apt meme making rounds