Reminder that text extruders never have intent. Each model can emit positive or negative responses based on linguistic perturbation of the prompt. Models can have stronger biases than others, but even that is not an ideology. The epistemic nihilism is inherent to all such models.

If it’s so important for DHS to be funded while we fight foreign wars, then maybe our President should have worked with Congress to ensure DHS was funded before bombing another country.

Anyone know where we put the checks and balances?

I would like congress to bring at least half the urgency to this that I bring when the registrar makes mistakes in the schedule of classes If it’s not too much trouble

Literally the only statement from an elected official I’ve read this morning worth our time. @schumer.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @sanders.senate.gov take note!! Thank you @mayor.nyc.gov @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social CC: @hebagowayed.bsky.social

I know this feels pointless but everyone has to call their congressional reps and say they oppose war with Iran and they oppose Trump illegally starting one without congressional approval — both 5 Calls can help you make the call: 5calls.org/issue/iran-i...

I keep thinking of Stanislav Petrov. If that malfunctioning Soviet early warning system had been one of these AIs, the world would be a smoking ruin right now. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...

Timeline cleanse: Oh, to be an owl Peacefully sleeping on an Antique shop shelf. Shhhhhh.

Last week, amidst the hoopla over a new Speen, @fishfetisher.bsky.social suggested a review of naming papers in fancy journals in response to a post by @daveyfwright.bsky.social - I got bored after work and now I have (some) data! 🧵👇 #FossilFriday #CharismaticTaxaAreOverrated

This week's cover @thelancet.com

3 days notice from when this letter is dated (not when it was received) to get a new driver‘s license. The cruelty is the point.

Publicly supporting women is nice, but what really matters is what men do behind closed doors. What matters is how they hold each other accountable. The men’s hockey team shouldn’t get a pass because they were in the locker room—that’s where women need their support the most.

I wrote about "Nationalism without borders": the way patriarchal conservatism is an ideological project whose adherents are in conversation worldwide. The politics of male grievance have become an animating force globally, an international brotherhood retrenching control of "their" property.

what even is the fucking point

I’m so sad to hear that Hans Sues has passed away. He was always kind, encouraging, and jolly—with an infectious laugh. He also coined some great dinosaur names (even if they’re not all valid). He’ll be missed 💔

Posted a long-winded bit about @hanssues.bsky.social on FB. Summary here- I'm sad he's gone, glad I got to know him a little, appreciate all of his many kindnesses & encouragement, loved his humor and laugh. Just thankful for him. Will absolutely miss seeing him at SVP and in general. Few pics too

The FCC just opened public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch a million satellites to do AI compute in space. Under the current proposal, an environmental review won't be required. Please consider submitting a public comment to oppose this damaging plan. darksky.org/news/two-sat...

If you are serious about "never again" then remember: it's not about standing up to a line of tanks when the camps are already running. It's about standing up to social & professional pressure when the whole thing is just getting started, when it's not yet cool to do so. That's bravery that matters.

The administrators might have been conned by the AI hucksters, but the students, my friends, are all right. (The author is a history and economics major, I'll note.) www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2026...

Occasionally reminded that Georgia added a “post tenure review” process bc they were so certain that professors became deadweight once they had job security, and all the outcomes have proven JUST THE OPPOSITE! People work harder and in more complex ways when they feel secure in their employment.

I have my intro biostatistics students a challenge: create the ugliest graph you can given the data and your current skill set. Here are the top contenders. Warning: they are ugly. #rstats

But none of that stuff is particularly new or novel. I’m happy that there’s technology that could maybe help us figure out better ways to treat cancer or endometriosis. But none of those are LLMS.

Hurrah - it’s World Pangolin Day!

A lot of people, including me, were wondering how an IRB could ever approve this study. The answer is that no IRB did. The person who “signed off” on approval from the only ethics board that reviewed it had resigned three years earlier. His signature was used without his knowledge.

Ever wondered how your grant got cancelled? No we know. Some college dropout asked ChatGPT "is it DEI/woke"? www.techdirt.com/202...

New Spinosaurus!! I've known about this discovery for over a year, but I'm glad everyone can witness the fun unicorn. But... the paper was coauthored by someone who is all over the Epstein files. And in the US, we're doing nothing with that info. Because everything is broken and stupid.

If the paleo community is going to be serious about Horner’s connection to Epstein, we also have to be serious about Myhrvold’s, because guess who contributed photos of animals mating to Epstein’s birthday book and has been appearing in new paleo papers this year - including the new Spinosaurus.

I mean, yes, fun dinosaur stuff is fun dinosaur stuff. But Myhrvold is mentioned in the recent batch of Epstein files over 1000 times (far more than Horner). Some of the correspondence between the two is very chummy and concerning. See: www.seattletimes.com/business/loc....

Not the kind of person you want to coauthor with or accept funding from...

ICE unlawfully arrested & detained Rümeysa Öztürk after she co-wrote a pro-Palestinian op-ed as a PhD student. Her recent op-ed reveals the trauma she faced. Cases like this led the AAUP to sue the Trump admin in AAUP v. Rubio. We won the lawsuit & protections for non-citizen students & faculty.

🧵 I once wrote a Twitter thread about misogyny as a supremacist ideology. I'm finally reposting here because of the RW/MAGA attacks on the military. We *must* begin to recognize that in a white supremacist patriarchy, your value begins & ends with your support for the white supremacist patriarchy.

a fucking pedophile sexually abused nearly every prospective and actual Olympian gymnast for over two decades, and the political discourse is hyper-fixated on the hypothetical unfairness of trans girls competing with cis girls

So we can condemn the individuals involved but we should notice all the individuals who join them in not saying something when they hear and see racist, sexist, transphobic etc comments My professional memories are full of them, and most aren’t in the Epstein files

If I’m elected, I will be the first woman with a science PhD ever elected to Congress. It’s time to listen to the science again.

Silicon Valley could really use this as a PSA. We were put on this earth to fart around and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

the Black Panthers were right

"Billionaires really like thinkers who see their exploitation of the weak as a good & natural thing." Evolutionary biologists have a responsibility to oppose the unscientific, deeply unethical, & immoral promulgations of billionaire-funded, pseudoscientific eugenics pablum glorifying exploitation

The list now has ✨ 100 ✨ women and enby people that draw prehistoric critters, in diverse amount of styles & animal groups covered 🦣 and I will keep adding more 🦤

All three of my Alma maters (BA, MA, PhD) are on this list. What do I win?

Five years after the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines started, it seems the mystery of why the Astra-Zeneca and J&J vaccines led to a rare but deadly side effect of unusual blood clots and bleeding has finally been solved. 
 It's a fascinating case of molecular mimicry that may help make vaccine safer.🧪

comms failures at all levels are destroying the ability of expert knowledge to make positive impacts on society

It snowed enough to sculpt a fat little tyrannosaurus today!

Biological Sciences 2/11

I’ve never interacted with him personally and even I knew what was up with him from friends who directly interacted/worked with him and left disgusted. I’m sick of “force of personality” people having so much power, immunity, and undeserved pedestals.

Whenever I see pseudoscientific conspiracy theories about ancient aliens or giant petrified trees or ice age satellites or whatever it drives me crazy because THE EARTH IS COOL ENOUGH JUST AS IT IS! WE DON’T NEED TO REACH FOR REASONS TO MAKE IT MORE INTERESTING! HAVE YOU SEEN A TULLY MONSTER??!!

#ScienceSky #MedSky researchers affected by Trump's CDC sabotage, please post to the tracker. $600M of CDC grants owed to CA, CO, MN, and IL getting swiped 🧪 🩺 tracking is the first important step to getting back what's owed #PublicHealth #ClimateSky

Let's celebrate #DarwinDay by reminding ourselves that everyone has moments when they feel worse for wear. Darwin wrote to Charles Lyell in 1861: "But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything." www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-L... So, hang in there, #academicsky! 🧪🌏🐵