Must-read essay by @drrebeccawinthrop.bsky.social about using AI for brainstorming. "Brainstorming is the work that’s fundamental to writing. As a researcher studying A.I.’s effects on education, I have concluded that these tools only superficially improve writing." 1/

hey, #BookSky, I know there are some of my mutuals who have mentioned having open editing slots

A network of fake academic journals masquerading as legitimate publications has published more than a hundred AI-generated papers in recent months, in some cases using the names of real professors at top universities without their knowledge.

from "Ueber den Sarcodekörper der Rhizopoden" (Haeckel 1865) From a 1864 visit to Villefranche-sur-Mer - The lost art of scientific illustration - #protistsonsky

Ok hive mind! Help me pay an artist! 💰💸🤑 I’m looking for an established fiction developmental editor. Ideally, someone familiar with campy urban fantasy. The project is ~50k words, and I’m happy to pay by word or hour at a competitive rates. Thanks 🤓

Thinking about all the Irish folktales where having a satire written about you was literally the worst thing that could happen, so no one fucked with bards

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

I don’t know much about the world, but I do know that pissing off every single artist and story teller—the people who create the common cultural narratives that guide our society— is probably a BIG MISTAKE

Life hack from a marine biologist: When your blue sea dragons need a little snack, remember that they never evolved to swim, so you have to drive the Portuguese man-o-war around and pick them up like a little bus 🎥 by me during field work :)

Molecular biologists are spooked. Why? ThermoFisher sells specialized molecules (antibodies) that are used to detect a cancer-associated protein (called P53) in an experiment called a Western Blot (WB) Not the kind of thing you want lie about in advertising… But the images below are very sus…

Some days you’re the blue sea dragon, some days you’re the Portuguese man of war. But either way you have to deal with an indescribable cosmic horror moving hour around with a stick from the sky.

Life hack from a marine biologist: When your blue sea dragons need a little snack, remember that they never evolved to swim, so you have to drive the Portuguese man-o-war around and pick them up like a little bus 🎥 by me during field work :)

If you’d told me this was painted yesterday I would have believed you Death and the Grave Digger (La Mort et le Fossoyeur) (c. 1895) by Carlos Schwabe

The backlash against artificial intelligence is growing. What do you think about its impact on science? go.nature.com/4tJWk6t

A niche question for #BookSky: if I want to self publish a book-length work, are there any realistic options beyond Amazon? I’d rather not feed the dream-eating machine, but also want a chance at an audience (It is not a serious work) In gratitude, some jellies:

One of my favourite things about visiting marine labs is peeking at their tiny cup collection

Paper nautilus octopus love to ride around the open ocean and stick to things, as this very lucky camera man learned the hard way (“they had to be peeled off the camera body and returned to the pod”) Listen with sound up for adorable bonks. 🧪🌊🐙🦑🌿 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-4J...

People say scientists are serious but marine biologists will spend hours quietly sitting around tables drawing on styrofoam cups and then tying said cups to deep sea submarines Because ocean pressure will squeeze the air from the cups And we are but human & we want tiny cup

by age 30 you should have one friend for every major animal group to spam. seen a good crab post? forward to your token crab person. bat post for the bat person. cicada post for the cicada person. bear post for the bear person. jellyfish post for the jellyfish person. and so on and so forth.

“When a human author has written a work, when there’s a unifying intelligence behind it, it’s easy for an experienced editor to work out what the problem is…When a work has been generated by AI, there *is* no unifying intelligence.”

AI produces MORE editorial labor, not less. “[To weed out slop] the journal doubled its deputy editors from 6 to 11 & nearly doubled its sr editors from roughly 30 to 60. All of this is volunteer labor, unpaid academics donating time to maintain scientific quality.“ www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

If you're on the Maryland Eastern Shore, join me, @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social, and Barbara Lockhart for a night of ocean exploration!

The beauty of squid against the waves

If only someone could have seen this coming. Like Hollywood comedy writers. Ten years ago: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0b_...

Did moleskin do the right thing by citing their use of AI? Yes. And I applaud them for it. Do consumers now have the absolute right to refuse to buy their products as a result? Absolutely also yes.

Ew Moleskine used genAI for their Lord of the Ring collection by mentioning they used it, then entirely removing the claim after some backlash. Incredibly shitty of them for a brand that claims human creativity. cjleo.com/blog/moleski...

Which technological development has had the greatest impact on your generation and why? WIRED wants you to write about it for a chance to win a full scholarship to the WIRED Summer Program, an immersive 4-week experience for college students Deadline: April 30 Enter now:

Maryland Eastern Shore folks, come to the St. Michaels Free Library on May 2 for a night of Ocean Exploration, featuring authors, explorers, and scientists!

The problem with this poll is not that most Americans DON’T have a favorite dinosaur, the problem is the lack of Parasaurolophus. If Parasaurolophus was on it, everyone would have a favorite dinosaur.

A new generation of poets rises, inspired by the same springtime that roused Dickinson and Shakespeare. A torch, passed.

Will you feel it? See it? Hear it?? If you're in coastal CA! NASA Astronauts are re-entering the atmosphere in less than an hour!

Yet more impossible beauty standards for me specifically.

Look at those EYES! I read that their retinas are a diffuse sheet (rather than a small spot like ours). Imagine the entire front of your head being eyeball

This deep sea creature is as sharp & clear as broken class, & can grow as long as your hand. This giant amphipod, (Cystisoma) only has two colored body parts: the dense orange stomach/egg pouch, & two MASSIVE eyes, which are a glittering holographic orange layer completely covering its head. 📽️ MBARI

Ctenophore Day is tomorrow! Here’s one I saw this morning 😊 #CtenophoreDay 🐙🦑

The ocean truly is a place of infinite wonder

I'm deep down the rabbit hole on FROGFISH, 60 species of anglerfish in family Antennariidae. They are deeply, utterly WEIRD & MARVELOUS. Most walk on modified fins. Others use jet propulsion. Some are capable of air-breathing. Some are "hairy", others blend perfectly in sargassum.

as an ocean account, i don't post much about politics but everyday i see national guard roaming my street, blasé in their symbol of occupation everyday i pass them & mourn the turn my country takes everyday i pray we will find the strength to turn again, back toward hope. And justice. And peace.

Brutal.

Because we all need something amazing today. #artemisII

Marg Leehane, part owner of Great Bear Lodge in Port Hardy, British Columbia, decided it was worth waking up the guests at 6 a.m. to show them two humpback whales in the bay. TT: bookofcabins

Are there any folks on here in the DC / Maryland / Virginia region that would be interested in DMV related activities? 🧪 🌊 🐙 🌿 (simulation of ocean surface current movement by NASA)

🚨 Christina Koch has officially become the farthest any woman has ever traveled from Earth

can't lie, this seriously blew my mind:

I've watched an unfortunate amount of Octonauts, but I had no idea about this!!! I know the date makes it look like a prank, but you can look it up independently and it genuinely is this weird!!!

Please remember when you swim in the ocean: 200 meters below you, there is a layer of fish that stretches all around the world. It is so dense, that when it was discovered during WWII it scared the navy so bad they bombed it. This is the ocean's thin inner shell of fish [🧵]

This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew. Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman

This is what baby eels looks like. The long trailing tail is its *stomach* (nope, we scientists have no idea why) Eels hold their mysteries close 📽️ by Fan Zhang

A beautiful little pteropod (sea butterfly)

As a proud member of A Child Who Was Left Behind club (who somehow scraped into a nerd job) I didn't know prologue and epilogue were parts of a book until my 20s. BLEW MY DAMN MIND. Take pity on us. Not all of us are stupid, just poor 😅