Alright #visionscience team: I am not on the official program for Demo Night at #VSS2026, but I have just returned from the Walgreen's with materials for an UNOFFICIAL demo. You can find me just outside the ballrooms tonight - stop by for some bonus visual phenomenology!

Getting ready for an outreach event during storytime at the local mall. I hope these kids can handle a little controversy....

More YT #scicomm videos for you, this time about the #science of #chess! I've been writing about this for a few years, but this is my first attempt at a short video on the topic. Enjoy! youtube.com/shorts/KVc58...

Blaise has another article in the local arts/indie about a movie in the Fargo Theatre's Centennial Series. This time: The General, starring Buster Keaton. hpr1.com/index.php/ar...

Leila, our late and not particularly lamented cat, famously refused to replicate the illusory contour finding and yowled angrily at the inducers instead. Will Clementine, her somewhat doofy successor, decide to sit if she fits? Or will she just knock over the tripod while investigating the camera?

For the 2-year anniversary of her blog, the kiddo's got a new essay unpacking the relationship between @alexhirsh.bsky.social's GRAVITY FALLS & David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS. These are probably her favorite pieces of media, so she's got a LOT to tell you - check it out! #FilmSky #twinpeaks #gravityfalls

The Institute of Child Development is still recruiting 2 NIMH-funded T32 Postdoctoral Training Program in Developmental Psychopathology! icd.umn.edu/employment

If you know of a graduating senior who might want to spend a gap year in @jmhenderson.bsky.social's productive, supportive, and fun lab, pass along this ad for a full-time, NIH-funded RA position! recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07601?fbc...

It's been quite a while, but I've got a new #chess post up over at Lichess! This time I'm talking about a recent paper that investigates whether or not the time players spend thinking about their next move actually reflects the value of spending more time on the position. Enjoy!

My kid has a piece out today in the local indie/arts paper on the movie Fargo, its layered relationship with the city of Fargo, and why it endures as a classic, from the perspective of someone who grew up here.

Another YT Short with an analog #visionscience demo - this time it's Akiyoshi Kitaoka's wiggly version of the Footsteps illusion! Lots of fun making the paper-and-tape version of this one look it's best (at least w/ my skill set) on camera. Enjoy! youtube.com/shorts/1af1r...

More #horrormovies writing from the kiddo! This time she's taking on the zombie lore established by the eternal classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Check it out (and subscribe to her newsletter!) for more excellent perspectives on #film and #popculture. 🧠🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️

this is Duane Watson’s kids‘ team. Come on psycholinguists— we can get this funded!

Welcome home!

As far as I know there is literally no reason for this, it is just an incredibly lucky coincidence that we get to enjoy for free

yep, my kid's life saving cystic fibrosis medications that literally correct the specific protein defects that cause CF at the cellular level are due to small molecule drugs, developed by big pharmaceutical companies, addressing targets identified by NIH research

Kids These Days Don’t Appreciate The Town’s Creepy Clown Mascot anymore is out now! The in-depth critical analysis of @adamcesare.bsky.social ‘s Clown in a Cornfield series you didn’t know you needed! buttondown.com/blaisebalas/... #horrorsky #horrorwriting #horrorblog #clowninacornfield

Good people, please fill out those Anthropic claims. Settlement is going to be around $3000 per book. "Anthropic will pay $1.5 billion plus interest into a settlement fund, equating to approximately $3,000 for each work covered by the settlement." www.susmangodfrey.com/wins/susman-....

Quick YT short about an excellent color #illusion that just came out in @pec-ipe.bsky.social - enjoy! #psychology #neuroscience #visionscience

New YouTube video on my SeeingScience channel about partnering with Fargo's Plains Art Museum on this month's Kid Quest! We worked with the Kid Quest team on incorporating #face #pareidolia into the art kids were seeing in the collection and making in the studio. Enjoy! #sciart

Attending the Ig Nobel lectures was a highlight of my year when I was a student and gave me incredibly important perspective on the nature of scientific inquiry and public communication of science. This makes me very, very sad.

📢 PhD position in Developmental Language Modelling (PLZ RT) What can human language acquisition teach us about training language models? Join us as a PhD! mpi.nl/career-education/vacancies/vacancy/fully-funded-4-year-phd-position-developmental-language @carorowland.bsky.social @mpi-nl.bsky.social

In an age of multiplexes and streaming, this theater brings me a lot of joy: Iconic marquee, niche movies, film nerd employees, art deco design, best popcorn in town. We're very lucky to have this place.

Just freakin' incredible.

Just put up a new YouTube short about a classic #cogsci experiment: Our poor memory for what a penny looks like! Given that the penny is retiring, I thought it was worth talking about this great piece of #psychology history. Enjoy!

Still learning the ropes at YouTube, but I've got a new version of my Ames Room video set up as a Short now! Check out the #science of how linear perspective cues can lead you to make big errors when judging object size! #psychscisky #visionscience youtube.com/shorts/a0uPD...

Research plug: we're currently seeking (bilateraly, congenitally) blind adults & Deaf adults for a *paid* online research study (screen reader compatible) on how individuals experience words across perceptual modalities. Ping [email protected] if interested! Reposts welcome! #Blind #Deaf

Thousands of institutions abandoned programs, ended or rewrote scholarships, closed down clubs and publications, all in pre-emptive compliance. And you know why? Mostly because they wanted to do it if they thought they could blame someone else for it.

I've got a new #visionscience #scicomm video for you! In this one, I talk about one of our recent papers about face #pareidolia - enjoy! #PsychSciSky #STEMEducation

These contracts b/t AI co and universities infuriate me. Our budgets are thin and declining, we can’t invest in the people who do the work: the teaching, learning, the support. Yet we can drop millions each year to companies that already have tax breaks and are raking in profits.

The #scicomm content creation journey continues with another short #visionscience video! In this one, I take apart some upside-down goggles to show you how they flip everything you see. Enjoy (and don't forget to subscribe)! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcB9...

/tʃiɹz/ 🍻

I've got a new #visionscience video for you! Today I'm showing off how to see the hidden object in Magic Eye stereograms without worrying about getting your eyes lined up the right way. If you're interested in reading why this works... <1/2>

Fascism wants you to believe that you are alone. That you are isolated. That the feelings you have are yours and nobody else has them because everybody is too afraid to speak. But love is stronger than fascism. Community is stronger than fascism.

After a rather long delay, I've finally got a new Science of #Chess post up on lichess! This time I'm looking at a very neat #neuroscience paper (co-authored by @hansopdebeeck.bsky.social) using chess as a model for studying expertise. Enjoy! #cogneuro #PsychSciSky

There are a lot of problems I can't directly fix, but I can help some folks who can't safely go to work right now make rent. Maybe you can, too? www.wfmn.org/funds/immigr...

This profile tells some of Powers story - born into slavery near Athens, GA, Harriet learned to sew as a child, a skill that became her livelihood after emancipation - and includes an image of the original quilt as well as the only known photograph of Powers from 1901. tinyurl.com/5e2nrejv

It's exceptionally cold today, even by Minnesota-in-January standards. What brave, beautiful people.

Ben is starting a YouTube channel and if you like cool perceptual science explained clearly, you'll definitely want to subscribe.

Do you know how frickin pissed off you have to make Minnesotans for them to not only NOT help you, but HECKLE you?

We are told that police need to be allowed to kill when they get scared but that everyone else must comport themselves perfectly or else they deserve to get whacked.

Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone, and happy Stranger Things finale to all who celebrate! Coming on here to do a quick plug for my #strangerthings post from before s5 aired to celebrate this wonderful show. Check it out! #strangerthings5 #horrorsky #horrorwriting buttondown.com/blaisebalas/...

The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality. And trans lives are grounded in reality. We see y'all. No matter what. www.popsci.com/science/tran...

For your collective delectation this holiday season: Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!) loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...

This is so very close to home, literally across the street from the building my grad department was in. All my love to everyone at Brown. I don't even know what else to say.