CAMPUS VISIT WITH THE VAMPIRE TEACHING DEMO WITH THE VAMPIRE SIT-DOWN WITH THE DEAN WITH THE VAMPIRE APOLOGETIC EMAIL THAT THE SEARCH WAS CANCELED WITH THE VAMPIRE

Happy Halloween

One thing I like about AI is how I’ll search for “ESPN” and then the browser will be like “AI Powered Search found you the website for ESPN” and I can marvel at the wonders of Tomorrowland

I feel like the engagement on this website has really fallen off.

I own a house I rent to a guy. It’s an historic home with a big yard. Today I found out he tore down half the house. He says he’s going to rebuild it with someone else’s money. For some reason he didn’t ask my permission. Is anything I can do about it?

I'm catching strays this morning.

Book writing update: I'm part way through review and I think the figures are more-or-less set, so now I'm writing alt text for each of 60 or so figs. I'm calling it "Alt Text October". I'm trying to do 5 every day, which means I'm actually doing 2-3 every third day, but I'm making progress.

Spotted at the airport

If you've ever wondered about #POGIL, I'm helping facilitate a Mini-POGIL Experience next Wednesday, October 15. Come check it out! events.pogil.org/event-6350752

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

There is a danger that we assume students are good at observation. @dave2004b.bsky.social shares ideas to hone learners’ skills throughout their education to help them see, and explain, clearly edu.rsc.org/cpd/developi... #chemed #sciteachuk

I know there are other things going on, but I can’t get over this.

Adjusted for inflation Spirited Away cost $22 million to make. The Triplets of Belleville cost $16.5 million, Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers cost $14.28 million, and Oscar winner Flow cost only $4 million. These critically acclaimed, made by real people films, cost less than this pile of actual vomit.

Y’all, they are just admitting it.

New plan: we get Obama to demand the death certificate

Finished Andor tonight. Even if you aren’t a Star Wars fan you should watch Andor. I don’t even understand how good it is.

🧵THREAD: Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ is doubling down on using a $2B tobacco settlement fund to push conservative shareholder proposals at major corporations. The state's investment board just voted 3-1 to target 10 companies in 2026. 1/8

We're all coming at this from a different place, but here is my syllabus policy on AI for General Chemistry

She doesn’t need a hero, she is the hero we need. 🤩

A.I.:

Hank Green does an excellent job of spelling out some of the challenges higher ed is experiencing. It's worth sharing, especially with those who are not as familiar with the workings of academia. #RAdminSky #Research #Science #AcademicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQwh...

Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.

I’m making a promise to my students this year. Just as I am asking them not to use AI for my class, I won’t use it either. Every class resource I provide is written by me without the use of AI.

Sometimes I really feel like I’ve messed up my “influencer” journey. I’m out here trying to convince people to use science for good in their lives when I’ve missed my true passion and calling of being a collab cookie reviewer.

Since its syllabus writing time, what are our favorite articles about the issues with things like ChatGPT? (Ethical, environmental, brain rot etc)

I can’t hear or read the word fjord without saying out loud “I won an award for that”

I think it’s simple that a person who doesn’t do a thing and instead allows a machine to do it for them can’t claim to be part of the group or history of the profession. An artist who doesn’t make the art isn’t an artist. A writer who doesn’t write is not a writer. It’s not the ideas but the making.

One thing we never talk about when we talk about NIH funded jobs is how underpaid most people are. My work has been a labor of love. I’m getting a significant pay bump as my research career ends. The world gets great research at bargain rates and we never talk about that.

“It’s just a tool! People used to hate on photoshop too.” Take away my photoshop, take away my tablets, I can still draw. Take away your plagiarism machine and what are you gonna do? Shout prompts at me?

The cashier at the grocery store told me my total for groceries was $173.34. I demanded they be fired and replaced with a cashier who will tell me I only owe $40. This is what we’re doing now, right?

Bluey's dad is a PhD archeologist? That makes so much sense. I always wondered how he could spend so much time with his kids (it's because he doesn't have a job)

In case you’re wondering. Deaths per 100,000 residents

The number of people who write to me telling me they have made an incredible discovery using ChatGPT, or proved that it is conscious, is now roughly one per day. I wish there were a resource I could send these folks to gently try to steer them away from the brink

I hate the argument that AI is being used in lots of jobs so students have to learn how to use it in school. AI is not that hard to use. Lots of jobs also use job-specific convoluted enterprise software and we don't teach them how to use those in school.

We hung Scorpius, I am in love ⭐️ I’ll take some more pics and video later once it’s fully dark. #SciArt #FrameOfReference

There are still people out here trying to do good work that helps vulnerable people and those in need, and I want y’all to remember that when the bad players seem to be winning. Good people are still spreading their medicine. They just do so with less fanfare, less spotlight. There are MANY.

Remember when the left was the place with ultra-academic and convoluted interpretations of seemingly simple stuff? Now Trump appointed Supreme Court justices are looking at “all persons born in the United States are citizens” in the literal constitution and saying, “ok, yes…but…”

What fresh hell is this

"Kids today have no idea how to do anything." Did you... teach them? Or nah?

this technology that i cant even get my own employees to use without literally threatening them is definitely going to be profitable one day

This was one of the great places in the world. First time I ever saw the canyon was through the huge plate glass windows in the lobby. Took my brain a minute to believe what I was seeing was real and not a photograph.

Everyone is acting like US scientists will just go get science jobs elsewhere and sure some will but there are not anywhere close to enough science jobs elsewhere. The end result of this will be much, much, much less science, not science happening in different places.

If you see this, post a shark that isn’t from jaws

We’re saddened by the loss of Gabor Somorjai—a pioneering chemist, world leader in catalysis, and longtime Berkeley Lab scientist. His impact spanned from the lab bench to real-world breakthroughs in medicine, agriculture, and energy. Join us in honoring his enduring impact on science and our Lab.

How disruptive are stateside/federal funding cuts/freezes, you ask? It's July 10th, and half my lab hasn't been paid and they're behind on rent and at risk of eviction. That's how disruptive. F this nonsense.

I'm not going to repost any of the insane antisemitic conspiracy bullshit that grok is spewing today, but it highlights how absolutely essentially is that we not let LLMs become a form of epistemic grounding for our society.

Awesome essay and right on point: “As a former police officer, I can tell you that my first reaction to unidentified men in masks converging on me or someone nearby would be to take cover and prepare to fight.” Gift article. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...