It is WILD that we now live in a time where my job as an astrophysics professor has gone from "learn cool things about space" to "try to get someone to hold billionaires accountable for dropping shit on us from orbit"

My study of old #folklore gets more and more relevant to current-day affairs. Example: All of these narratives about "Things That Cause #autism " are basically recycled folk tales about #changelings . Right now, we are at the: "The child is WRONG somehow - the mother must have been careless!" […]

Great great great @joshjohnsoncomedy.bsky.social on the whole Kimmel thing and the importance of fighting for free speech. I will note that even though the first 30 minutes don't seem to be about Kimmel, they're (1) hilarious and (2) set up the Kimmel stuff... www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tYd...

This Trump–Epstein statue popped up in DC today. 🤯😅

This satirical blog post really illustrates the problem with a lot of technical writing. Amazing technical writing is so good and then everything else reads like this https://anniemueller.com/posts/how-i-a-non-developer-read-the-tutorial-you-a-developer-wrote-for-me-a-beginner

"A tenured professor turned federal scientist, she had entered public service to strengthen U.S. food security and prepare the country for climate change. But climate reports disappeared from agency websites, grant applications were frozen, and research was subjected to political review. This […]

[Running] I ran the Run Cheltenham Half Marathon yesterday to raise money for Sue Ryder and, in perfect conditions, I got my second fastest time at 1:45:47. Copious jelly babies from spectators helped! It's not too late to donate […] [Original post on scicomm.xyz]

[UKpol, immigration] This is awful from Reform - it's the Windrush scandal on steroids. So many people would have their right to remain torn away from them and likely be detained and deported, some after decades like my mother-in-law. Undoubtedly this would face challenge in the European Court […]

According to WaPo’s termination letter my post referencing Kirk’s views on Black women was not even brought up. The Post’s stated reasons are *worse*. Read the termination letter for yourself. open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

Every credible reporter and media outlet MUST refuse to comply. Boycott Trump. Cut off his media “oxygen.” Don’t need direct access to lies, anyway, to do your job. Report the truth. If you cave now, on this, professional journalism in the United States is over.

What idiotic process has led Science Direct #elsevier to think that there is anything positive about invading scientific article webpages with pop-up proposals of an inaccurate LLM "Reading assistant"? The point about reading scientific articles is the accuracy. Buffoons.

In light of @pallenberg having content about Jimmy Kimmel removed from LinkedIn, I've written about the topic of Europeans problematic use of US commercial social networks in the era of Trump […]

"I've never met Peter Mandelson" trump says to the British Press. #trump #uspol #ukpolitics #petermandelson #epstein #mandelson #ukpol #gaslighting

Your Party is amazing. Accidentally announced prematurely, wracked by factionalism before it even has a name and membership structure, and now facing a schism in its top team before it even gets formally launched. They're speed-running left-wing chaos. #ukpolitics #ukpol […]

Apparently forgetting what year it is, #trump says: "We're going to leave Afghanistan, but we're going to leave it with strength and dignity. And, we're going to keep Bagram, the big airbase that one of the biggest air bases in the world," Trump said. The #unitedstates military departed the […]

Only a few days till my half marathon at the weekend! It's taper week, so I'm mostly resting now. I can't rest on my fundraising though: Sue Ryder still need your donations to support their end-of-life care and grief counselling. Help me hit my target! […]

People who have never mentioned Charlie Kirk are being wrongfully targeted online and doxxed. @taylorlorenz reports on two such cases. Ali Nasrati discovered, after receiving a barrage of abuse and death threats and being suspended from work, that an X account started in May was using his name […]

If you are a student who would prefer your advisor to have more gray hair, then you should converse with them like this on Discord: Me: "Good luck with your final exam and thesis defense today! If you'd like me to peek at your slides, send them to me." Student: "Oh no, I totally forgot about […]

The free speech activist who built a list of professors he worked to get fired for their speech must be celebrated for his support of free speech, and anyone who quotes his speech accurately in context will be fired and/or face state punishment by the champions of free speech, do I have that right?

"we're fighting the Elites, the World's Richest Man is behind us!" Elon is from South Africa too... #dannykruger #ukpol #ukpolitics #ReformUK #tories

The Washington Post’s founding Global Opinions editor, Karen Attiah, says she was fired for her Bluesky posts about the killing of Charlie Kirk and political violence. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/washington-post-fired-charlie-kirk-karen-attiah-b2826734.html

Far right organisers in this country consistently side with foreign billionaires over our democratic institutions. They are not patriots. They are quislings.

The Green Party England & Wales is looking for their next generation of MP candidates. If you have ever considered being an MP - you don’t need to even be a member yet - they're offering training, mentoring and support. https://greenparty.org.uk/path-to-parliament/ #greenpartyuk #greenpolitics […]

“In 2018, two infants in Samoa died when nurses accidentally prepared the MMR vaccine with expired muscle relaxant instead of water. It was a tragic medical error. Instead of helping restore confidence in safe vaccination practices, RFK Jr. and his anti-vaccine organization flooded the islands […]

[Gaza war] A US-Israeli sniper casually discusses his war crime: "Daniel Raab shows no hesitation as he watches footage of 19-year-old Salem Doghmosh crumpling to the ground beside his brother in a street in northern Gaza. “That was my first elimination,” he says. The video, shot by a drone […]

Everyone wins! #alttext #accessibility

Did you know your MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge? It’s not exposed as a public API, but I figured out a way to read it and make it sound like an old wooden door. Source code and a downloadable app to try it yourself […] [Original post on hachyderm.io]

Jeffrey Epstein had doctors prescribe birth control and sedatives to his victims. They also screened his victims for STDs. He had dentists work on their teeth. I’d like to know who these people are and why they have been protected.

Therapists are now using ChatGPT during sessions to find responses to their therapy clients. I cannot begin to say how wrong this is. Okay, I will. First off, ChatGPT is not HIPAA compliant. Anything a therapist tells ChatGPT is part of its data and corpus […] [Original post on toot.boston]

The most frequent shoppers on Temu are over 59 years old. That wasn't what I expected. Based mostly on their marketing, which often seems to involve younger female influences I would have thought they were selling to young people but this isn't the case. The people they are making money from […]

My new book of cartoons is out soon. I am bringing it to SPX/BETHESDA TORONTO, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, MONTREAL and QUEBEC CITY in the next two weeks. Visit www.tomgauld.com for more details and preorder links!

Wikipedia's resistance to enshittification is fascinating to me.

Wake up, babe, new COPE guidelines just dropped! Version 3 of the Retraction guidelines and brand new Expression of Concern guidelines are out now. I co-authored the long-awaited EoC guidelines and v.2 of the Retraction guidelines […] [Original post on scicomm.xyz]

A key government study about alcohol and its health harms will not be released publicly, Stat News reports. The SAMHSA study was one of two that were set to inform the next version of the Dietary Guidelines for America. A draft showed that even moderate drinking could raise a person's risk of […]

When even the fence post looks tired of holding it all together. 😅

Early climate models by Suki Manabe of NOAA/GFDL in the 1960s and 1970s provided a foundation for modern climate science. They accurately predicted several key aspects of global warming, including the relationship to CO₂, stratospheric cooling, Arctic amplification, land-ocean temperature […]

just wow. read this, from Techdirt: Wired, Business Insider Editors Duped By Completely Bogus ‘AI’ Using ‘Journalist’ Who Made Up Towns, People That Don’t Exist […]

AI "boring history" slop has taken over YouTube and is particularly insidious because it flattens history and drowns out the tireless work of creators who have been integral to legitimizing YouTube as a place for high-quality history videos […]

Analysis by a student: ‘relevant is X [source1] and Y [source2, source3]’. The content of source2 is about X. Source3 is not relevant in this context. I get an ‘AI-vibe’ reading the text, but can’t proof it. 😕 #ai #academicchatter

Seems like a growing number of current and former government servants fired and publicly accused of crimes without proof by this administration have a strong case for slander and libel against some pretty powerful people. I guess the question is do those […] [Original post on infosec.exchange]

[Word games] Well, I never. Wordle 1,535 2/6* 🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Worgle 1329 2/6 🟢⚫⚫⚫🟢🟡 🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢🟢 Hardle 01/09/2025 | 5/10 ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩 1️⃣1️⃣ ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 1️⃣0️⃣ ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 0️⃣1️⃣ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 0️⃣4️⃣ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 0️⃣5️⃣ #hardle #Wordle #Worgle #wordgames

We know these are our last days in Gaza City. We say goodbye to what is left of our homes and cry over the streets we love even though they are destroyed. In a few days, the world will see live the biggest displacement in years. One million hungry people left alone, abandoned by everyone in a […]

On food as a human right.

In Which Nadine Amuses a Dragon and Makes Autumn Happen <3 Whimsical Dragon Art Brings Autumn to Life - David Zinn’s Street Chalk Creations: https://streetartutopia.com/2025/08/29/beautiful-autumn-by-david-zinn/

flash talk #2: "Retracted articles in Wikidata and how to use them" https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikiCite_2025_Retractions_-_Egon_Willighagen.pdf (with huge thanks to Retraction Watch and @crossref !) #wikicite2025

Starmer is simply not the man to respond to this dangerous moment in history. Labour must get rid of him.

#Mastodon does NOT need to verify you in ANY way! The only verification happening is when you create an account and confirm your email, that’s it Staff members can recognized by a badge on their profile right under the username(see image) If someone does ask […] [Original post on mstdn.social]

This is the interim CDC Director. He is accusing pre-Trump CDC staff of “manipulating health data to support a political narrative”. This man and his boss Kennedy are the ones who are manipulating data for a political narrative. This is an existential threat to the United States of America.

Preventable infectious diseases are killing children again. "Only 83.7% of five-year-olds have received both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, while uptake of the four-in-one preschool booster vaccine – which protects against polio, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria – […]

Kyiv Independent- A Ukrainian politician who previously served as the parliament speaker and played a prominent role in the EuroMaidan Revolution has been shot dead in Lviv. https://kyivindependent.com/ex-parliament-speaker-reportedly-shot-dead-in-lviv/