I had heard of the Wilson et al @science.org paper that people prefer to give themselves mild electric shocks than be alone with their own thoughts, but I'd never read it. It's wild! Anyway, back to pondering, I guess. Maybe I'll read instead. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #psych #science

Has anyone else been getting janky post-peer-review reviewer letters from @springernature.com journals? As in, I review something, and eventually I get a letter saying what the decision was...but there's no decision. Is this just me? NBD, but curious... #academia

Super depressing but very good piece on grant funding, with lots of insight from @kaytesb.bsky.social @michiganbioethics.bsky.social #academia #research

“Sea lions are thigmotactic, a scientific term for very social creatures who like to cuddle.” HARD SAME SEA LIONS

at a job interview "whats your biggest weakness?" "understanding the semantics of a question but ignoring the pragmatics" "could you give an me an example?" "yes i could"

At the end of 2024, the National Academies put out a report concluding the NIH has woefully underfunded women’s health research, and they suggested $15 B should be invested over the next 5 years. Here’s what’s happened instead. Hard to study women’s health if you can’t say “women.” wapo.st/4euUt1c

Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey.

With federal science $$ 📉, whence support for research? @kaytesb.bsky.social has a great Am. J. Bioethics piece on the promise, risk, & institutional governance of academic/industrial partnerships, w/ lessons from genetic data. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @michiganbioethics.bsky.social

WAT www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

a+++ pedantic footnote

Patent applications indicate a trend toward completely integrating artificial intelligence with drugs, whereby AI applications will be so tightly linked to drugs that the drugs could be effectively unusable without the AI go.nature.com/41u0p2R rdcu.be/fdeyM

Fackrell on Mass Joinder IP Infringement Cases Sarah Fackrell (Chicago-Kent College of Law - Illinois Institute of Technology) has posted Defendant Pinching & Pressing (104 Wash. U. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2027)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: “Schedule A” cases, in which plaintiffs bring…

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

I have gotten 5 requests for peer review in the past 48 hours. What is going on? Is this the AI flood? Are others experiencing this? #Academia

The thread that follows this is probably the funniest, dorkiest breaking of IP law that I've ever read.

Innovation and policy challenges of AI–drug hybrids - @nicholson.bsky.social @umichlaw.bsky.social go.nature.com/41u0p2R

A new article in Nature Biotechnology, by Andreas Panagopoulos, Katerina Sideri, I. Glenn Cohen, Timo Minssen, and W. Nicholson Price II, looks at the next frontier of medical technology, AI-drug hybrids: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I have a joke about missing data, but

What influences patient trust in & choice of medical AI encounters? In a conjoint survey experiment, 3000k folks picked hypothetical visits. AI performance, clinician presence, & governance all mattered. #Medsky #MedicalAI jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @jamanetworkopen.com @kaytesb.bsky.social

What actually makes patients trust an AI diagnosis? A survey of 3k adults asked people to choose between hypothetical AI diagnosis scenarios and pick a "visit" from the options presented. AI performance accuracy boosted visit preference by 32.5%, while a clinician in the loop added 18.4%. #MedSky

Read the study Factors for Patient Trust and Acceptance of Medical Artificial Intelligence by Ana Bracic, PhD; @kaytesb.bsky.social; Sophie Towle, JD; @nicholson.bsky.social; et al in @jama.com here: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

A new study from Professor @nicholson.bsky.social and others found that U.S. adults were significantly more likely to trust in medical AI in scenarios with oversight of a clinician and other protections in place. Read more: news.umich.edu/the-algorith...

Despite warnings, people use #ChatGPT to see whether they should seek care. How well does it do? Ehhhhh...not so great! One tip: don't say "my friend doesn't think it's serious"— because then it won't either. Interesting study by Ramaswamy et al in @natmed.nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ever had one of those days when you wake and find that all mimsy were the borogoves? Today is one of those days.

17 common objects you never knew were copyrighted BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BRO, THEY ARE PROTECTED BY TRADEMARK LAW go2tutors.com/17-common-ob...

#Lawprof hivemind! I'm looking to read some truly superb law review articles as inspiration. I'm seeking examples of pieces you finished reading (or writing!) and thought, "Wow. Smart, insightful, beautifully written." Any recommendations? Area-agnostic! #lawtwitter #scholarship #academy

#Lawprof hivemind! I'm looking to read some truly superb law review articles as inspiration. I'm seeking examples of pieces you finished reading (or writing!) and thought, "Wow. Smart, insightful, beautifully written." Any recommendations? Area-agnostic! #lawtwitter #scholarship #academy

Clinicians are often unavailable, ineffective, or both, Professor @nicholson.bsky.social writes in the Emory Law Journal. Alternative structures will be necessary for AI to assist, he says. Price recently answered five questions on the issue: michigan.law.umich.edu/news/5qs-pri...

As #AI spreads in #medicine, we're asking too much of "clinicians in the loop" to make sure it's working well. But clinicians lack time and training to do this well, and are too often absent. Check out this "5 Questions" from @umichlaw.bsky.social: michigan.law.umich.edu/news/5qs-pri....

So much going on right now but for those of you who care about FDA, @pzettler.bsky.social, @stevejoffe.bsky.social, @rachelsachs.bsky.social, @reshmagar.bsky.social + I have a 2 part commentary in @healthaffairs.bsky.social Forefront on the new plausible mechanism pathway. Link to Part 1 below.

An AI-powered learning health system is improving sepsis recognition. The HERACLES algorithm helps lower mortality and enhance clinical documentation through continuous, data-driven feedback. It reduced sepsis mortality from 20.54% to 15.27% in program wards. #MedSky

Nice to see @nicholson.bsky.social's work featured in this @theregreview.bsky.social piece: www.theregreview.org/2026/01/15/s... #AI

Shoutout to @nicholson.bsky.social for freeing me from the tyranny of self-imposed standards for what constitutes being "professional" in my writing.

How should we think about regulating AI? How does the use of AI in medicine or autonomous vehicles affect liability doctrines? In @nicholson.bsky.social's seminar, AI and the Law, his students dive into discussions at the frontier of legal thought: quadrangle.michigan.law.umich.edu/issues/winte...

Fantastic discussion at #AALS2026 on how contested healthcare expertise shapes FDA, drug policy, grants, vaccination, and care structures affecting disabled people—the Debating Healthcare Expertise panel w @pzettler.bsky.social @jennoliva.bsky.social @nicholson.bsky.social @doritreiss.bsky.social 🔥

Great time at #AALS2026 Section on Law, Medicine & Healthcare WIP w presenters: @drximebena.bsky.social @leahfowler.bsky.social Doni Blumfield and Tomer Pierson-Brown & comments by @katmacfarlane.bsky.social @nicholson.bsky.social Melissa Wasserman and Nancy Kim! We love supporting junior scholars 💪

I always tell students if you ask a good question the article will write itself

I would put more money on continuing to harvest infinite energy from the sun over assuming that forcing everyone to use The Machine The Lies To You is the steady basis of an entire economy

Blaszczyk on Humanism and AI Policy Matt Blaszczyk (University of Michigan Law School) has posted Confronting Empty Humanism in AI Policy on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Humanist rhetoric plays an important role in political and legal discourse and, despite appearances, it does not necessarily lead…

OK that is a VERY effective fake text. Almost got me! But if you bake cookies at @umichlaw.bsky.social, I already have your number in my phone. (But if this is @mchannon.bsky.social from a burner phone, yes, I would like cookies please.)

For #FluorescenceFriday - projection neurons from the mouse prefrontal cortex to the locus coeruleus 🔴 with Fos labeling activated cells 🟢. Image credit to the Circuits team in the Translational Neuroscience Division @lieberinstitute.bsky.social 🧠🔬🧪

What does it mean to have a human in the loop of medical AI? Here's a fun place to look: a 2022 FDA guidance that's about what *doesn't* count as a medical device! Had a blast exploring this quasi-standard, out in the Penn J of Law & Innovation: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #MedicalAI #law

Murderbot is an excellent series and this is a great opportunity to get started while supporting a good cause. If you read digitally, go get this bundle!

Have you read a good article recently? Been provoked or stimulated by another scholar's work? Did you gain new insights? Let them know! (Especially if they are someone you have not met or are outside your normal circles.)

What's going on in the world of dupes, & how do these rapid-fire copies interact with the law? Fascinating @theverge.com piece with great quotes & analysis from two top experts: @lexlanham.bsky.social & @design-law.bsky.social www.theverge.com/cs/features/... #dupes #academia #fashion

When websites say, "You've reached your monthly article limit" and that limit is zero articles.

Genomic data: neat! But also super sensitive! How can people get their own genomes analyzed without sharing stuff they don't want to? Jake Sherkow of Illinois Law presents a neat technical approach and argues that yep, patent law can enable it. At Copenhagen Law at #ATRIP25 (in dramatic light!)

What court cases are reshaping FDA? ACLA v FDA: FDA can't regulate lab-developed tests. SEC v Jarkesy: Can FDA impose civil monetary penalties re: tobacco? Corner Post: How many old FDA decisions can be challenged? Amazing #ASLME2025: @pzettler.bsky.social, @rachelsachs.bsky.social, Lewis Grossman

Two Harvard economists forecast the impact of the administration’s proposed NIH budget cuts- stunning losses in new therapies, life expectancy, and economic output with a “social cost 16 times greater than the savings the administration is attempting to achieve." jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

I could watch 8 seasons of this