When AI was added to a tool for sinus surgery: “Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from one patient’s nose. In another… a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured” www.reuters.com/investigatio...

Ok, you can stop texting me, I saw the Ring ad. Troubling things about it 🧵: -The long awaited (much warned about) intro of “AI” recognition. It starts w/ searching for a “brown dog” but means the tech is there for lisence plate reading, face recognition, searching for suspects by description, etc

Free on Substack! open.substack.com/pub/represen...

Read my full article here: open.substack.com/pub/benjamin...

I was happy to play a small role in this analysis, with data from Texas and Georgia.

GCE data included in a new global analysis showing that intense solar radiation limits plant species richness in grasslands. www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

This cannot be something a civilian law enforcement agent is allowed to wear in the US — and an agency that has a culture that tolerates this cannot be saved.

I was a White House ethics lawyer. I used to advise people not to even accept a free cup of coffee from someone who had interests before them. And staff followed those rules. I can’t even find the words to describe the scale of Trump’s corruption here.

Biometric locks for phones aren’t just convenient for you, they are convenient for the cops. “explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it” theintercept.com/2026/01/30/w...

The British Museum posted Al slop and quietly deleted it. Here's what it was and why it matters. #archaeology🏺#musuem #culture #heritage #history

A new study from Anthropic finds that gains in coding efficiency when relying on AI assistance did did not meet statistical significance; AI use noticeably degraded programmers’ understanding of what they were doing. Incredible.

Perfect. A handheld aluminum 1080p 60 fps weapon of mass illumination The first amendment is first for a reason!

If you want to support the people of Minnesota, this link will take you to several donation options. www.standwithminnesota.com?utm_source=s...

Hear! Hear! I wholeheartedly agree.

This is a really incredible piece. Share it widely 🎁https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/?gift=C-rzmQ8PsUHt15odxTKJDn7xrpPNxSpotkNz_P27oI0

CAPTCHA test political cartoon by Matt Wuerker of Politico.

Calling for an immediate nationwide stand down of ICE and CBP interior operations.

A reminder that we can expect and must demand so more from political leaders—including moral clarity. I was fortunate to have Ami, a great speechwriter, work with me on several White House speeches. Read what he would have Schumer say in an alternate parallel universe of courage and conviction 🧵

A doctor who witnessed the shooting submits a sworn declaration in federal litigation to halt ICE surge in MN: "I did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind." and "The victim had at least three bullet wounds in his back." Read storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

"Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict the accounts of federal officials, who said Mr. Pretti approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and the intent to 'massacre' them. Video footage shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. ...

Leader of free world makes grade school mistake of confusing weather with climate.

The art world has heroes who will stand up to AI, but where are the science heroes?

Saw Chris Thile in concert (solo mandolin) tonight. Very impressive; recommend.

As Trump’s dementia worsens, several axioms are useful for interpreting his increasingly incoherent bloviation. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-4th-axiom-for-interpreting-trump

The Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research program is accepting applications for paid summer internships. gce-lter.marsci.uga.edu/public/emplo...

Elon Musk is donating $10 million to a Republican primary candidate in Kentucky. That’s more money than the vast majority of Americans will ever see — much less donate. Big Money is the root of our dysfunction.

She was absolutely right. And she would have been an amazing President.

From superfund site to #solar site in #Illinois is my news to me good news for Jan 20. I won't give up on shining a spotlight on people making a positive difference #EarthOptimism #BeyondTheObituaries reasonstobecheerful.world/illinois-com...

To: European leaders From: Robert Reich It is impossible to appease a tyrant. Some thoughts... https://robertreich.substack.com/p/memo-to-europe-remember-neville-chamberlain

There's a thing called "Grokipedia", an AI version of Wikipedia. I looked up my entry. Vast amounts of sometimes obscure information; very impressive. A number of errors and some outright hallucinations; not so impressive. Wikipedia, which says only that I exist, at least doesn't have errors.

"Good fire" working is my news to me good news for Jan 18 #EarthOptimism #beyondTheObituaries thenarwhal.ca/alderville-b...

just got out of an uber. the driver was telling me how he has to work 16 hour days, seven days a week, at two different jobs to afford rent. he doesn't have healthcare and he worries about retirement. "i would feel a lot better if we owned greenland," he told me. then he cried.

Snack size and party size. Thorny skates have a large distribution, but there's been a mystery about why individuals of this species along the coast of North America come in two distinct sizes, irrespective of sex. Story: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/thor... Illustration by Jorge Machuky

Surprisingly quick decline in forever chemicals in fish when we stop making them - my news to me good news for Jan 16 #EarthOptimism #BeyondTheObituaries bridgemi.com/michigan-env...

Something that’s not nearly being talked about enough is the detention by ICE of Native Americans. It is something that has been continually seen as ICE has terrorized neighborhoods and families

Yeah so anyway you're not getting discharged from the hospital the same day if you have internal bleeding in your torso. Even Grok knows that. LOL.

Really interesting and confounding trend reported in Dynamic Ecology - ecology citations peaked in 2021 and have been declining since. Continued impact from the pandemic? 🧪🌐🌾 dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/s...

For #MolluscanMonday, a handy chart showing the types of holes made in molluscan shells by predatory molluscans: naticid (moon snails), muricids (oyster drills), and octopuses. Illustration is from my book 'Life Sculpted' (2023, @uchicagopress.bsky.social). Now you know the drill(hole)! 🧪🕳️🐌🦪🐙

This is very revealing about intent and response. We have to continue to appreciate that a major goal is intimidation and they see steps up to murder as acceptable tactics.

Minneapolis right now: Parents use their weekend to attend a 3 hour deescalation training so we can be better prepared to support more vulnerable families at school drop off and pick up next week. Teachers create online learning plans for the next 5 weeks. The threat: our fed govt.

“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”

From an email to one of our faculty members.... Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!

This chart documents one of humanity’s greatest achievements, in my view. We just lived through the fastest population growth in human history. It would have been impressive if food supplies had merely kept pace — but on every continent, they grew even faster than the population.

On the 5th Anniversary of the failed January 6th insurrection attempt, we’re reminded how fragile democracy can be. We must remember the darkness of that day so it’s never repeated. As history is rewritten by some, we choose to speak the truth of what happened.

GCE scientists enjoyed the AGU meeting in New Orleans in December 2025.

🤠 Hey, Texas faculty! As you prep for the spring semester check out our blog for tips + advice. 👇 1) Don’t self-censor, know your rights! 2) Report censorship of your teaching, research, or expression. 3) Organize your department. We are stronger together! aaup-texas.org/blog/f/2025-...

I hope the people of Venezuela come out of this alright and Madura was a deeply problematic leader. But, I can't help but have flashbacks to this... www.c-span.org/clip/house-c...