"Disadvantaged members of society might perceive experts as members of the elite that they feel alienated from and are thus less inclined to leave deliberative power in their hands." #MetaSci #AcademicSky #SciComm #SocialPsyc 🧪

Socioeconomic Status and Engagement with Science "Individuals with a more advantaged socio-economic situation are more in contact with science...than their more disadvantaged counterparts." Fascinating new work by @lucillalosi.bsky.social doi.org/10.1177/0963...

"Social media and mainstream media also play an important role in limiting the circulation of misinformation. As Australians increasingly rely on social media for news, mainstream media can provide credible information and counter misinformation through their online story posts" @acarson.bsky.social

vivid memories of playing this with my older brother when we lived in Lisbon. he would buy sets of players, repaint some and glue them. we had players with no hair, and some that due to glue accidents became really short. all up, a lot of fun when we weren't playing football out in the streets.

Seems bad for our society when you can’t make racist terrorists the villains

‘This Is Like Something Out Of A David Lynch Film,’ Says Man Driving Car With Headlights On

Autism, vaccines and paracetamol - how Trump and RFK put conspiracies at the heart of US health policy www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a... Me: "Their erosion in trust in scientific institutions is tremendously damaging."

the halcyon days when Covfefe was our greatest concern

here are two examples of expert science communication around the links between paracetamol/tylenol and autism--responding to medical myths. on the left is a good example, where the myth is raised, explained, evidence provided to explain lack of support for the myth. one on the right, not so much.

this morning I woke up in 2020

1914

This is how you write a headline for these kinds of occasions. #ScienceCommunication #SciComm

Medical ethicist Arthur Kaplan, quoted in the NYT: “The announcement on autism was the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recyling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies & dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority in the world claiming to know anything about science”

It’s raptuesday morning in Aus. Nothing to report yet

all these news clips of Trump were bugging me because they felt familiar. "Sarah, get me Superintendent Chalmers"

The AP being spot on. The only way to report on these sociopaths.

Tylenol/acetaminophen/paracetamol use in pregnancy probably doesn't give babies autism. Now unlocked for all to read gidmk.substack.com/p/tylenol-us...

Opinion | The Murdochs have been mooted as a buyer of TikTok. It shows just how far the reach of the right-wing media extends.

I’m Not a Robot, a game about solving CAPTCHAs, is out now! good luck :) > neal.fun/not-a-robot/

paracetemol is the bunk refrigerator mother theory for the MAHA cult. instead of following the science, they're just pointing fingers in all directions (mostly at decisions parents make). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrige...

there is an analogy, or several here aeon.co/videos/like-...

Here we go... Ugh. Reality: 1) No evidence to support (and evidence that counters) this take. 2) "Increase" in autism largely about reporting, awareness, & diagnosis (obviously). Trump administration set to tie Tylenol to autism risk, officials say www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Thanks to @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social for bringing up this paper. Politicians gain power by reputation. Sometimes undeserved reputation

Depression, Populism, and Presidential Approval "Building on existing work, we argue that experiencing depressive symptoms will positively correlate with supporting a populist politician and negatively correlate with supporting a nonpopulist officeholder"

Every single brain fart here is horrendous theconversation.com/bill-shorten...

Australian expert reaction: US vaccine panel meeting to consider safety of COVID-19 and other vaccines. www.scimex.org/newsfeed/exp...

another psa. watch, or rewatch, Perfect Days (2023) which has to be one of my favourite Wim Wenders films. see the beauty in every day. rewatching this with my better half (first time for her) reminded me of the wonder in films, and how being present in the now can be so fulfilling.

What is to prevent Brendan Carr from canceling the licenses of affiliates who accurately report election results unfavorable to Trump? Or a scandal involving a Trump associate? Or bad economic numbers. Unbridled authoritarianism.

BBC News captures Doctor Who himself Sylvester McCoy at the Trump protest seemingly unaware of who they're interviewing.

Many news outlets still shy away from calling Trump an authoritarian — but scholars warn that failing to name it can help normalize it and speed democratic backsliding. buff.ly/i94mMGx

New paper by a colleague.

psa I am only a few weeks into discovering the amazing talent of J Dilla (Jay Dee). this album is worth a listen imo.

"Violence has never been a distortion in American politics. It has been one of its recurring features, not an aberration but a persistent force, destructive and yet oddly creative, producing new boundaries and new regimes. The dynamic only deepened as gun ownership expanded."

T ! can you solve it?

love it! “Ha beat out the second place in last year’s world championship and another who trains for hours every night, and he only picked up the sport this year,” Kennedy said. “That is an incredible accomplishment and shows what natural talent and drive he has.”

This is dystopian. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Without media that provides a correspondence-based index into reality, AI is used to concoct one. It doesn’t matter that it’s AI. It’s the reality they think coheres with what the truth of the world is, rather than what the truth actually is. Then, by sleight of hand, it becomes “evidence”.

on a sunday elephant safari

"AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor."

Underestimating support for climate action limits political decision making, study says www.theguardian.com/environment/...

People are less likely to believe conspiracy theories when they get clear, simple, and early information from trusted sources. Using tools like “prebunking” and reaching people where they are (like on social media) can help build trust and reduce misinformation. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

If you have submitted a preprint to PsyArXiv in the last year or so and it *isn't* currently accessible, there's a good chance it's due to the document listing authors whom you haven't entered in the metadata.

I see this paper is relevant again. "death polarizes morality judgments: Moral leaders were posthumously judged as more moral while immoral leaders were posthumously judged as more immoral." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

“LLMs do not improve one’s writing ability much like taking a taxi does not improve one’s driving ability.” 🔥

"We’ve already outsourced parts of our digital learning environments. But this is different. The university is supposed to be a public good. And these companies are trying to privatise that."

A textbook case of how not to report polls. '50%? Oh my god!' 'Oh, you mean a 9-point increase'?

last night our son was chatting to his friend who told him 6 7 got banned at her primary school. I had no idea what this is! we investigated the meme… I still don't know. today I was laughing about it with my better half who's a teacher, and our son told us it is now banned at his school.

Of all the unqualified extremists Donald Trump has appointed to his cabinet, RFK Jr., as of now, poses the most direct threat to the nation.