Shan Kothari
@shankothari.bsky.social
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Assistant professor at University of Alberta. Forest ecology + tree physiology. he/il
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Shan Kothari
Ben Recht
8 days ago
Since I can’t get it out of my head, I wrote up my thoughts on
@kevinbaker.bsky.social
's critique of AI-automated science and the logical end of processes that can't self-correct.
add a skeleton here at some point
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alex manley
2 days ago
there’s now a petition for the canadian government to overturn the recent legislation in AB and SK designed to strip trans youth of their rights. please sign:
www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
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Sign this Petition - Petitions
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Sign/e-7027
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我不喜欢万税爷
5 days ago
I just find it frustrating that the same people constantly pushing against ridiculous claims from AI-Luddites don't show similar frustration in response to equally ridiculous claims from the actual labs.
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Beth Popp Berman
9 days ago
this, from
@kevinbaker.bsky.social
, is a better analysis of the intersection between LLMs and academic science than 98% of what's out there.
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Context Widows
or, of GPUs, LPUs, and Goal Displacement
https://artificialbureaucracy.substack.com/p/context-widows?r=ft83&utm_medium=email
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I got the same request. I filled it out, and I was glad to do so, but the LLM-generated hypotheses were really quite bad.
add a skeleton here at some point
9 days ago
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Matthew Downhour
11 days ago
So, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified
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At least 60,000 murdered in Sudanese city, which resembles ‘a slaughterhouse’
Satellite evidence shows extent of paramilitary massacre in El Fasher
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/africa/2025/12/05/at-least-60000-murdered-in-sudanese-city-which-resembles-a-slaughterhouse/
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Senator Chris Van Hollen
17 days ago
The RSF just attacked a kindergarten, killing at least 33 children in Sudan. Meanwhile, the Trump Admin. continues to sell arms to the UAE, who are aiding these atrocities. Imagine if Trump spent as much time trying to stop the killing, as he did getting the UAE to invest in his crypto coin.
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Sudanese paramilitary drone attack kills 50, including 33 children in Kordofan, doctor group says
A drone attack by Sudanese paramilitary forces has hit a kindergarten in south-central Sudan, killing 50 people, including 33 children, according to a doctors’ group
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/06/war-sudan-kordofan-drone-rsf-children/5e8b71f2-d279-11f0-92cb-561ee4e6a771_story.html
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Michael DeMoor
27 days ago
No one of you is going to mistake this short column of mine for trenchant economic analysis. Nevertheless, here’s my attempt to explain to a popular audience why I think they should join the “raise my taxes” movement:
www.christiancourier.ca/raise-my-tax...
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maybe: leif weatherby
about 1 month ago
my interview for the Digital Theory Lab with Karen Hao
@karenhao.bsky.social
at the Remarque Institute
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpH...
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Karen Hao on Empire of AI
YouTube video by Remarque NYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpHEOGx0nU
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Katherine Drotos
about 1 month ago
Quality of life in Gaza has not improved since the "ceasefire". Most are still displaced and without food. Many are still dodging violence from Israeli attacks. Aid is still not being allowed in at anywhere near the levels required to help the population.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
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Fundraisers warn of ‘catastrophic’ drop in donations to Gaza since ceasefire
‘The world thinks Palestinians don’t need help any more,’ aid organiser says, despite desperate need as winter nears
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/nov/21/fundraisers-warn-catastrophic-drop-donations-aid-palestinians-gaza-israel-ceasefire?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu
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Alex Bozikovic
about 1 month ago
Almost everywhere in the City of Toronto has fewer people that it did 50 years ago
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Elizabeth Alsop
about 1 month ago
For the Monday morning crowd! My take on THE MASTERMIND and the politics of the heist film for
@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/rebe...
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Rebel Without a Clue | Los Angeles Review of Books
Elizabeth Alsop picks up the trail of Kelly Reichardt’s alienated art thief in “The Mastermind.”
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/rebel-without-a-clue/
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Keaton H
about 1 month ago
CBC posted a video talking about a building losing its on street parking due to bike lanes. Somehow they failed to mention the building’s TWO visitor parking lots. One of which you can even see in the video.
#yegbike
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Sam
about 1 month ago
just a reminder that the 8 Dems who folded need to vote again later in the week (thanks to dumb senate procedure, unsurprisingly) light their phones up tomorrow at 9AM
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Brittany Trang
about 2 months ago
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫
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James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
https://www.statnews.com/2025/11/07/james-watson-remembrance-from-dna-pioneer-to-pariah/
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Shan Kothari
New Phytologist
about 2 months ago
Next-generation specimen
#digitization
: capturing
#reflectance
spectra from the world's
#herbaria
for modeling plant biology across time, space, and taxa
#TansleyReview
by Jeannine Cavender-Bares, et al.
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#PlantScience
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Shan Kothari
Edmonton Transit Riders
about 2 months ago
Whyte Avenue is Edmonton's most vibrant main street, but that doesn't mean we have to accept noise, traffic violence, and congestion In an opinion article we submitted to the Journal, ETR Chair Daniel Witte talks about his experience spending Halloween on Whyte
edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...
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Opinion: Let's make Whyte Avenue less scary for pedestrians
We experienced the conflict between Whyte’s energy and vibrancy, with the danger and chaos perpetuated by its car-centric design.
https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-lets-make-whyte-avenue-less-scary-for-pedestrians
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Martijn Slot
about 2 months ago
New paper led by
@bposch.bsky.social
out in
@newphyt.bsky.social
. We reviewed evidence, mechanisms, and consequences of high temperature acclimation of leaf heat tolerance:
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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High‐temperature acclimation of photosystem II in land plants
The effect of high temperature on plant performance and survival is a topic of great interest given the ongoing rise in global heatwave frequency, duration, and intensity. The temperature at which ph....
https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70661
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Faine Greenwood
about 2 months ago
“Individuals on the ground sent a message that reached us Monday morning that 1,200 were dead,” Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said. “By that evening, they said 10,000. By Tuesday, we couldn’t reach them anymore. We assume our ground contacts are dead.”
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Yale lab reports mass killings in Sudan, calls for student activism
The Humanitarian Research Lab was told this week that over 10,000 people in Sudan were killed within three days.
https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/10/31/yale-lab-reports-mass-killings-in-sudan-calls-for-student-activism/
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Jared Wesley
about 2 months ago
I'm the next few days, it would be a mistake to: ❌️ limit the resistance to the teachers' demands or saving public education ❌️ make labour/workers/unions the only faces of opposition The UCP's pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause is much broader than one strike or one set of rights.
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Jared Wesley
about 2 months ago
The days ahead will be crucial. Not just in terms of public opinion, but in terms of political culture. Champions of human rights and the constitution must not only outnumber the premier's supporters. They must persuade Albertans that these positions are dominant, piercing the populist bubble.
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I gave my forestry students the 20 minute summary of modern coexistence theory as part of a quick overview of community ecology, and in retrospect I think this was probably not just useless but misleading
about 2 months ago
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Brian J. Enquist
2 months ago
Please pass along - Our CAMBIUM NSF NRT provides fellowships to support new PhD students at
@uarizona.bsky.social
To train & prepare a new generation of scientists to harness the revolution in biodiversity big data to adapt to & mitigate the impacts of climate change.
cambium.arizona.edu
🧪🌐🌾
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Shan Kothari
Brian J. Enquist
2 months ago
Please pass along, I’m recruiting PhD students to join our Macroecology Lab
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social
We study phys ecology, macroecology, biodiversity - spanning scaling, trait-based ecology, theory, comparative biology & ecoinformatics. Several avenues for funding. Please reach out if interested🧪🌐🌾
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Alain Paquette
2 months ago
📢 latest IDENT paper, in
@journalofecology.bsky.social
!
@paqlab.bsky.social
@meganedeziel.bsky.social
@ritasousasilva.bsky.social
@cavenderg9.bsky.social
@ebsearle.bsky.social
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Shan Kothari
Journal of Ecology
2 months ago
🍃 Functional traits best predict tree growth when age and leaf habit are considered–growth relationships shift over time and between deciduous and evergreen species🌿
@meganedeziel.bsky.social
@alainpaquette.bsky.social
Read more:https://buff.ly/2d9ppq9
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it's a curious thing that at least two noteworthy works of French Canadian literature—Le ciel de Bay City and L'avenir—are set in Michigan
2 months ago
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Stephen Turner
2 months ago
Lost Science is a new NYT series of accounts from scientists who have lost their jobs or funding. You can send your story to the Times here
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
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Ben Recht
5 months ago
I’m excited to announce that my new book, _The Irrational Decision_, is now available for pre-order from Princeton University Press.
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The Irrational Decision
How the computer revolution shaped our conception of rationality—and why human problems require solutions rooted in human intuition, morality, and judgment
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691272443/the-irrational-decision
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Meredith Whittaker
3 months ago
📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU. Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
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The nomination deadline for 2026
@ecologicalsociety.bsky.social
awards is coming up on November 13, 2025! This year we're accepting nominations for the inaugural Bazzaz-Pickett Award for inclusive mentorship in ecology. We'd love to see as many nominations as possible!
esa.org/about/awards/
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https://esa.org/about/awards/
3 months ago
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Steve Rathje
3 months ago
🚨 New preprint 🚨 Across 3 experiments (n = 3,285), we found that interacting with sycophantic (or overly agreeable) AI chatbots entrenched attitudes and led to inflated self-perceptions. Yet, people preferred sycophantic chatbots and viewed them as unbiased!
osf.io/preprints/ps...
Thread 🧵
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Myra Cheng
3 months ago
AI always calling your ideas “fantastic” can feel inauthentic, but what are sycophancy’s deeper harms? We find that in the common use case of seeking AI advice on interpersonal situations—specifically conflicts—sycophancy makes people feel more right & less willing to apologize.
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JP
3 months ago
All ye of little faith, behold the new Happy Beer Street separated bike lanes, (nearly) complete with jersey barriers!
#YEGbike
@yegbike.bsky.social
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Courtney Milan
3 months ago
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
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Submit a Claim
https://secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
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Shan Kothari
Alice Gauthey
3 months ago
New PhD position in tree ecophysiology at BiFoR-FACE (Uni of Birmingham) 🌳 Looking at tree carbon and water dynamics under elevated CO2 and warming 🌡️ Start Jan 2026. See more info here:
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/376950
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Doctoral Research Fellow - FutureForests - School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences - 106218 - Grade 7
Position Details School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK Fixed salary of £49,747 additional allowances may be applicable depe...
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/376950
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Florence Ashley
3 months ago
"Why would it bow to antidemocratic pressures by placing a professor on leave without their request, consent, or involvement? That any university would do this is beyond comprehension and is cause for alarm about the future of academic freedom in Canada."
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What Happened to the University’s Commitment to Free Expression? Charley Kirk, uAlberta, and Me | Centre for Free Expression
I was shocked when the University of Alberta administration informed me, one of its law professors, that I was being placed on non-disciplinary leave for my social media comments in the wake of Charli...
https://cfe.torontomu.ca/blog/2025/09/what-happened-universitys-commitment-free-expression-charley-kirk-ualberta-and-me
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Sally Aitken 🇨🇦
3 months ago
We are searching for a Forest Ecophysiologist (tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor) to join the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia Faculty of Forestry. Please share! Details are here:
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/ubcfacultyjobs
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Global Change Biology
3 months ago
We mourn the passing of our Editor-in-Chief Steve Long. His vision to establish one of the first journals dedicated to Global Change over 30 years ago was truly ahead of its time. Through GCB, researchers have demonstrated that biology and ecosystems are not simply victims of global change..
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Kim Siever
3 months ago
Alberta looks to use notwithstanding clause on its 3 transgender laws: memo
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
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Alberta looks to use notwithstanding clause on its 3 transgender laws: memo | CBC News
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's office has directed officials to invoke the Charter's notwithstanding clause in amending three laws that affect transgender people, says a leaked government memo obtai...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-transgender-legislation-1.7637890
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Chris Hayes
5 months ago
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
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This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in many American cities
3 months ago
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Diamond Yao 🌈
3 months ago
Quand même elle, l’Asiatique préférée du Québec - qui a proclamé depuis des décennies son amour pour cette province et sa population bienveillante envers la diversité - dit sur Radio-Canada qu’elle a songé à quitter le Québec pour fuir le racisme actuel…ça va très mal.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=fxX3...
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Kim Thúy au théâtre dans un Québec qu'elle ne reconnaît plus
YouTube video by Radio-Canada Info
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fxX3knt24sE
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Shan Kothari
liz ten eleven
3 months ago
as always, on the 11th of september: allende vive.
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Shan Kothari
Mehdi Hasan
3 months ago
From me, a list of Trump supporters who killed, or tried to kill, Democrats and opponents of Trump in recent years (since the right are now claiming all the political violence is from the left!) Receipts:
zeteo.com/p/charlie-ki...
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AdotSad
3 months ago
Every elected Democrat is going to say the right thing, but remember that when 2 Democratic state legislatures were assassinated, elected Republicans went on a smear campaign of disinformation blaming Tim Walz and Democrats themselves.
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literally impossible for music to sound more glamorous than this
youtu.be/GsY2dxCBMZo?...
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David Khrikuli: RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales - CLIBURN SCORE & SOUND
YouTube video by The Cliburn
https://youtu.be/GsY2dxCBMZo?si=_HVyfbh5M7RbwZ2j
4 months ago
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Kali Middleby
4 months ago
Can tropical rainforest trees keep their cool? Now out in
@globalchangebio.bsky.social
we explored whether intraspecific variation in leaf energy balance was a result of adaptation to local climate.
doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
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Local Adaptation Drives Leaf Thermoregulation in Tropical Rainforest Trees
We tested whether tropical rainforest trees adjust their leaf traits and resulting leaf temperatures across their distributions within the Australian Wet Tropics. Using field measurements from across...
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70461
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