"While this hippo-centric challenge is unique to our university, we have long prided ourselves on being trailblazers in academia, and I hope you will join me in applauding our incredible institution and its recent stewardship of the world’s third-largest land mammal."

If we're going to solve this we need to have an honest and informed conversation about the true costs of doing things 2/2 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

In a new study, Yanzhu Fan, Guangzhan Fang &co show that glutamatergic projections from the substantia nigra pars reticulata to the dorsal raphe nucleus can regulate social rank and anxiety levels in male mice, adding to our knowledge of these important circuits. 🧪 #NeuroSky #InMice

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26) Directorates to follow 1/10

Count us in! Stay tuned for more information about our March 7 event near OSU in Columbus standupforscience.net/march7 @standupforscience.bsky.social

So, early reports show someone dragged a roll of toilet paper AND a box of tissues onto the chair and took one million bites. We need more facts before we jump to conclusions

My employer has mandated that we make all our students "fluent" in ai. So, I collect images like this and show them to my students in intro neuro classes. Look at me, being compliant. And many thanks to those who call out this crap. It's a new form of scientific service that deserves recognition.

RALLY TO TAKE BACK SCIENCE! 🧪✊🔬 March 7th, 2026 in Washington, DC. We're mobilizing the fight for science and democracy. In the face of assaults on our families, freedoms, and futures, we're taking back science! Learn more at www.standupforscience.net/ma... (linked in bio)

For 15(!) years I’ve been teaching introductory #MRI to grad students, and struggled to find a textbook for a wide variety of backgrounds. I'm happy to share an online textbook I created, fully open source (including code for generating figures and plots shown): larsonlab.github.io/MRI-educatio...

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

Every week, Nature publishes yet another breathless puff piece about some AI startup, based only unpublished claims from the company and interviewing only those who work there. How can the leading scientific journal publish piece after piece that would make Kevin Roose blush? I think it's that...

"In accordance with our informal tradition of updating documents every thirty years, whether they need it or not, our university is pleased to present this updated org chart that most accurately captures our system of governance." #McSweeneysTop25of2025

Mark Blokpoel & I have maintain a living open interactive textbook “Theoretical Modeling for Cognitive Science and Psychology.” Recently, Mark updated Ch 9 & 10 so they have embedded, running and editable, code again. Check it out! ✨ computationalcognitivescience.github.io/lovelace/

From the lab fridge. Deep haiku thoughts for the weekend.

Oh Steve...

An important write up from the NYT on the funding changes at the NIH. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

New York Times article on science funding with some depressing but familiar curves with interactive graphics. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"I’ve grown a lot as an eater since then, and I’ve worked to mature my underdeveloped palate to handle anything that Aunt Linda or anyone else throws my way. Tonight, when I got to the table and saw a lineup of yams, I was able to lean on that preparation and get the job done."

On the Factor Fexcectorn and autism bicycle AI slop study: I got an answer from Springer Nature this morning that this scientific paper will be retracted! 🧪 Full story: nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/riding-the...

Hey @nature.com, have you got an explanation for how the hell THIS happened? & especially why you accepted a paper with such a bizarre piece of genAI slop in it?! & more to the point, why we should take you seriously at all going forward? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.) RTs appreciated.

"essays produced by ChatGPT are soulless, boring abominations. Words, phrases and punctuation rarely used by the average college student are pervasive." www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...

One of the best reasons to make all your data open is that it can't be stolen #OpenScience

This is misinformation by default, so if you're a journal and you use AI slop for your cover or your announcements, you're not scientific in any way and should be shamed mercilessly 🧪

Apropos of... well... I'm reviewing applications for a variety of things right now and can tell when letters are written by AI. There aren't many of them but they do exist. They are... not good. If you're an academic trainee, choose your mentors wisely.

If only the intern that picked this image had read the AI section of my course syllabus. Could have saved them and their otherwise reputable journal some serious embarrassment.

Hey, just because AI knows about those arm-organs and you don't isn't a reason to get mad 🤣

We have written two reviews providing a practical guide and fundamentals of cell migration: (1) How to select an optimal cell migration assay, (2) How to analyze cell migration data. We also added a perspective on AI methods of analysis. Coming out soon in Nature Methods.

Thousands of No Kings protesters stage peaceful demonstration at Ohio Statehouse #NoKings ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/18/t...

Just updated my AI policy for my course next spring. Added a section about using AI "to study".

Thank You MIT. Now who's next? Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

MIT Rejects the Compact! I am so proud. "The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief ...

For anyone on the neuroscience job market, our ads are up. We are looking for anyone working in systems neuroscience of animals to join us in southern Alberta 🇨🇦 #academicsky #neuroskyence #neuroethology #academicjobs #Canada neurojobs.sfn.org/job/39049/as...

💥 OpenStax just hit $3 billion in student savings! We’re proud to serve the educators and institutions that make access a reality. Let's keep making an amazing education accessible to all, together! https://openstax.org/press/openstax-surpasses-3b-in-student-savings-grows-beyond-textbooks

It's Avril Lavigne's birthday today, so we are contractually obligated to re-share this banger from our archives.

NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk

NSF GRFP solicitation is up! Eligibility has changed! Second year grad students are no longer eligible. Only first years, senior undergrads and those in between. Deadlines moved back a bit from late October to early November. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

The Biological Psychiatry family of journals is now officially on Bluesky! Follow us for the latest research in psychiatric neuroscience, cognitive neuroimaging, and global open science from our three leading journals.

HHMI adopts Plan U journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Helpy mchelperton

The NSF GRFP is an amazing opportunity for students in the first two years of a PhD or those applying to a PhD right now. Below, check out our special episode with advice for both applicants and those who write letters of support!! 🧐 Please help us spread the word 📢

Great opportunity for undergrads to flex their creativity and their neuro knowledge!

Host: There are new calls this morning for RFK Jr.'s resignation, and those calls coming from inside HHS itself. More than 1,000 current and former HHS workers are making this demand in a letter released this morning. They say his leadership has "put the health of all Americans at risk"

Do you teach: 🫀 Anatomy & Physiology 🌓 Astronomy 🧬 Biology 🩺 Clinical Nursing 🧫 Microbiology If so, join us for tomorrow's #OpenStax Assignable webinar! We'll share how to create assignments aligned with your textbook, right in your LMS! 📅 11 a.m. CDT riceuniversity.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

A show of bipartisan support for NIH. Basically flat except for ARPA-H. The President’s budget proposal basically ignored (as it should have been).

🧪 And House appropriators say: no cuts to NIH budget! House subcommittee version just came out (link below). Holds NIH flat at $48 billion. To be clear: this is far from over. But a good sign that science still matters across both sides of aisle. YOUR VOICE MATTERS!!

This Op Ed is a call to action from highly qualified experts who have served (and protected) all of us for decades. When they see the depth of the self inflicted wounds that SecDHHS’ is promulgating on all of us, they demand change. All of us should do same. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

The new NIH grant review format and the iron law of unintended consequences drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2025/08/27/t...