hemeltergend

in the context of sharing something uplifting every once in a while: this documentary about two brothers dipping their toes in the world of "extreme birdwatching" is so joyful, genuine and funny, and it has stunning bird footage! youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...

“Wie om veiligheid vraagt zonder macht, vraagt om bescherming in plaats van zeggenschap.”

Today, Global Voices joins with @rsf.org Avaaz and other media outlets to condemn the killing of journalists in #Gaza. Together, we call on the Israeli authorities to allow independent access for international press into Gaza immediately. #ProtectJournalistsInGaza #LetReportersIntoGaza

Our paper is out! We linked genetic and linguistic data to study how contact changes language and found consistent patterns of borrowing across contact situations @balthasarbickel.bsky.social @chiarabarbieri.bsky.social @nccrlanguage.bsky.social @isle-uzh.bsky.social doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adv7521

Crucial research by courageous Israeli journalists www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Israel is carrying out a deliberate campaign of starvation in the occupied Gaza Strip, systematically destroying the health, well-being and social fabric of Palestinian life. Read more:

A new study finds that chimpanzee babies learn vocal and visual communication patterns from their mothers. The findings may shed light on the way human babies learn from those close to them.

“The law means nothing if the world looks away.”

It comes with a nicely condensed press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

So happy that this paper lead by Joseph Mine is finally out! Was cool to be part of this project on the social learning of multi-modal communication in chimpanzees, which is slightly outside of my usual scope (and it’s my first co-authored paper too, yay!) :) journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

This is amongst the most impactful two minutes of broadcasting I’ve ever seen. By Emma Murphy, International Editor, ITV News. #Gaza

What is holding us from imposing complete sanctions on Israel immediately? Possible answers are racism, islamophobia, and giving in to illegitimate pressure from zionists. I don’t see any good reason at all. Also, use military force to let the food in (since diplomacy failed). Now!

Such a fascinating topic! I’d totally recommend his brilliant book “Bye Bye I Love You” as well, which features reflections on ritual last words and much more relating to the opening and closing of the “interaction window” at the beginning and end of the lifespan.

A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency. "Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die" Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:

and European governments continue to stand by and watch

Historian Jean-Pierre Filiu, following a month-long stay in Gaza, says Israel’s restrictions on journalists conceal devastation so severe it has profoundly fractured Gazan society and could impact the world www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

We're hiring! Join us to work at the intersection of social interaction and language technology. Postdoc and PhD positions in my Futures of Language research group, based at Radboud University in Nijmegen, NL Read more: markdingemanse.net/futures/news... #linguistics #interaction #sts #emca #hci

In past 24 hours, Israel killed 72 Palestinians in #Gaza: Ministry aje.io/jidzpe?updat...

African prisoners made sound recordings in German camps in WW1: this is what they had to say theconversation.com/african-pris...

The interaction engine: Language in social life and human evolution. New book (Open Access) by Stephen Levinson doi.org/10.1017/9781...

we're tired

The turning point that wasn't: the way the world talks about Israel's war has changed. Nothing else has | Nesrine Malik

Moeten we het nog uitspellen?

Excluding and degrading people is a choice. Erasing non-dominant languages is a choice. These choices are motivated by bigotry, not common sense. An appeal to common sense is simply how you sell your bigotry to voters.

Global language loss is not an inevitable, spontaneous process. It is the outcome of deliberate policies & practices that aim to eliminate diversity. In this sense, it is like Trump’s anti-diversity campaign, but played out in slow motion, at world scale. politicsrights.com/state-sovere...

'We doen graag alsof de morele ondergrens een natuurverschijnsel is, iets wat vanzelf opdoemt. Maar dat is niet zo: hij bestaat alleen als genoeg mensen het lef hebben hem te trekken. De meesten hebben dat niet.'

Over 80 jaar kent iedereen “Het dagboek van Rita Baroud” en vragen we ons over de hele wereld af hoe het toch godverdomme mogelijk is geweest dat we dit hebben laten gebeuren. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Vier jaar geleden voelde Floor Rusman dat politieke verandering in de lucht hing. De onvrede was zó groot, er moest wel iets gebeuren in Den Haag. Vier jaar later is er weinig over van die hoop en ziet Rusman een schizofreen kabinet. buff.ly/PjUbwBN

The #WPPh2025 Photo of the Year is ‘Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine’ by Samar Abu Elouf, for @nytimes.com. The jury was moved by this portrait of a Palestinian boy which speaks to the devastating long-term costs of war on civilians. worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2025/Samar-Abu-Elouf/1

❗Serious consequences for the Swiss economy and society – the SNSF urges the abandonment of the proposed cuts to research funding in "Relief Package 27," as they threaten the country's innovative capacity and competitiveness. ➡️

I'm hiring! 2 x PhDs and 1 x PostDoc, to work with me at Uni Zurich on a project investigating how semantic patterns differ by geographic region. Linguistic typology, data science, spatial analysis, phylogenetic methods, potential fieldwork... REPOST 🙏 www.comparativelinguistics.uzh.ch/en/jobs.html

‘Ik denk dat we onderschat hebben in hoeverre veel van onze zekerheden op zand gebouwd zijn.’

🚨New in @science.org🚨 With Simon Townsend (@nccrlanguage.bsky.social) and Martin Surbeck, we have investigated whether wild bonobos can combine calls in complex combinations, similar to how humans combine words into sentences 🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #ScienceResearch #AnimalCommunication

oh to be a Paleogene iguana

It should be obvious by now that Netanyahu won't stop until every Palestinian in #Gaza (and perhaps the West Bank) has been murdered, maimed or expelled. He wants it all. Governments like ours should cut off all military equipment, diplomatic support and other relations until the genocide ends.

great to see!

Goed interview van @majdaouhajji.bsky.social met Khalid Mourigh over straattaal. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Dutch universities go on strike - for the first time since anyone can remember. We protest the treatment and budget cuts of our extreme-right government. The strikers take turns - and Leiden university kicks off tomorrow. ✊🏼

Job: Postdoctoral Researcher in Indo-European Studies 70 - 80 % (Universität Zürich) jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie... #linguistics #pie #indoeuropean #anatolian #historicallinguistics #langsky

We are heartened by this call to action in Nature, one of the most respected journals in science. It urges the global scientific community to speak out on behalf of those being censored and support research as the US government shifts away from its historic leadership www.nature.com/articles/d41...

If even one of Tibet's minority languages is lost, it will be a victory for China in the long, slow moving conflict that began over 75 years ago when China first invaded Tibet.

Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠 sciencehomecoming.com

Just got this book, can’t wait to start it :) @michaelerard.bsky.social

New paper! doi.org/10.1098/rsos... Many of the world’s languages are endangered, but how we identify which are endangered is essentially by counting how many people speak that language. …but…

Happy Darwin Day! "The work has been turning out badly for me this morning & I am sick at heart & oh my God how I do hate species & varieties."

🚨We are facing a worldwide language rights emergency 👇

Nieuw en schandalig dieptepunt in de Nederlandse houding ten opzichte van de mensenrechten van Palestijnen en iedereen die zich daarover uitspreekt. Een agressieve en lasterlijke pro-Israëlische lobby heeft met behulp van o.a. de VVD, de uitnodiging van Albanese laten intrekken.

A thread explaining our new discovery about humpback whale song published today in Science... We found key statistical properties that characterise all human languages in another species for the first time. We have more in common with whales than we previously thought! doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Really enjoyed reading this article