Public universities have led the way in creating popular ethnic & gender studies programs, which are now being destroyed by aggressively regressive politicians & administrators, not because students aren't interested in these subjects, but because they are. www.texastribune.org/2026/09/17/u...

Majors related to race, gender cut at University of Texas

The University of Texas at Austin rejected a department’s plan to keep the majors, a decision that came without public knowledge, an interim department chair told faculty.

texastribune.org

It's hard to sit through a webinar where the speaker is someone with a lot of respect in the field... and alllllll their slides are AI. And their responses to questions in the chat read very GPTish. Such a bummer.

Interesting that they don’t apply “we’re not smart enough to regulate this” to, for example, abortion.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h ago

Rick Scott: "With regard to destroying mankind, these companies need to do the right thing on their own. We're not going to get smart enough to regulate them. We're not going to get something done up here."

That's enough RTing people. Bottom line: A bunch of Americans are upset that Canadians are treating blue state Americans exactly how blue state Americans have always treated red state Americans. 🚬

"AI is garbage, bro, it gives you wrong answers like half the time and the other half the time makes you stupid." Overheard a middle schooler chastising a fellow student for suggesting they use AI. Whole middle school herd started mocking the AI kid. ...We need to let these kids at the tech bros.

This video is amazing.

Nicolas Hénin@nicolashenin.net · 23h ago

Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!

I got one of these to put in my kid's room over his desk where he does homework.

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 3d ago

Tell the world how you feel about AI. Support a human artist. #WIN artologica.etsy.com

ko-fi.com/s/d5c6fa5678

Set of 3 Itty-bitty neuron paintings in pink and orange - Michele Banks's Ko-fi Shop

3 tiny original watercolor paintings in 5x5 inch mats This set features a pyramidal neuron, microglia and Purkinje cell in deep pink on a background ...

ko-fi.com

once you see this regime as the collective equivalent of an abuser then the whole of its rhetoric and actions makes perfect sense

Denny Carter@dennycarter.bsky.social · 18h ago

a lot of “if i can’t have you no one can have you” energy in this whole trump-kennedy center thing

LOOK AT HER 🥹 An unbeatable squirrel girl fr #sqrlpix

I don’t think many nondisabled people realize that laws mandating accommodations are purposefully weak. Your employer gets to decide what an “undue burden” is. They hardly ever get called to account anyway, but if they do, they can cry about money or work hours or pretty much anything they like.

Olivia Just Wants Tech To Be Fun Again@kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social · yesterday

Heh, some work training I recently had to do REALLY wanted to remind people that the ADA: AA means no workplace discrimination, unless the accomodations are a burden to the employer. Left unsaid, is that the employer decides what's a burden, and the employer now has an excuse to discriminate.

I loved doing the required long-form reading for English and history. And being able to so is a really useful skill. just sayin.

Brooke Newman@brookenewman.bsky.social · 19h ago

Why? Concerns about jobs and the reading load. “Traditionally, the coursework for those majors require students to read high volumes of material. ‘Many students just don’t feel comfortable with long-form reading that they’d do in an English or history class.’” www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

In fact, pretty much all scientists I know wish they had MORE time to read scientific literature, but all the other crap they have to deal with keeps them too busy.

Matthew R Francis@bowlerhatscience.org · 19h ago

"researchers having to read scientific literature" is not a problem that needs solving

speaking as a science journalist who is also a trained physicist, this is the FUCKING WORST POSSIBLE THING. This is the opposite of trustworthy. You can't trust a damn thing an "AI agent" tells you. An article needs to be unchanged between queries, or any change needs to be documented clearly.

Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · yesterday

This is the future of scientific papers. Instead of a PDF, the paper is an AI agent that you can talk to, ask questions, run analyses. No more digging through supplements - just ask the paper directly: "what p-value cutoff was used in Fig 3B? Re-run at 0.01." www.nature.com/articles/s41...

we're facing existential threats from inattentive or lazy work, as well as burnout, fatigue, low sleep — stuff that requires the kind of regulation of working conditions that the tech industry has been ambivalent on, because management was psychotic and workers were happy with the fancy cafeteria

my plan needs to involve more grasshoppers (and poetry)

i feel like a message that is missing in the midterms is that….republicans control everything? it feels like a basic thing we should really be saying over and over. this is all their choice. unhappy? look who is in the drivers seat.

Just tripped and wiped out in a most spectacular fashion at my kid's soccer practice. It's always fun to apply my first aid knowledge to my own damn self. Didn't have my first aid kit, though, so a menstrual pad had to do for the very very bloody knee. This will hurt for a few days.

New office wall motivation just dropped.

Luminous baby. Photo from my collection, handwriting on it says “My Eddie’s kitten ‘49”.

*10 year olds* with such crippling gambling addictions, they need an intervention. Gambling has always existed but little kids were not gambling at the bingo hall, the casino or underground poker games. The ease and accessibility of gambling, especially sports gambling, is a menace to society.

Gambling-related ER visits have almost doubled since Ontario opened market to private companies, study finds

Jump was most acute in the 10 to 29 age group, which saw a startling 154% increase in admissions

theglobeandmail.com

in this age of incessant AI graphics, i will be purposefully sourcing as many of my graphics for class from colored-pencil drawings done by random wikipedia contributors as possible en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populat...

Scarleteen is, IMO, the best sex, health, and relationship education site on the internet. They've striven to provide the best science-based help and resources for longer than some of you have been alive, and continue to do so. They are so worthy of your help if you're able.

Scarleteen@scarleteen.com · 2d ago

Support queer- and trans- led sex ed and share our fundraiser so people can learn more about us and contribute to our work!

A squirrel eye's view of Lake Tahoe - I managed to capture the reflection of myself, @tetrameryx.bsky.social & my brother, a pine tree, Lake Tahoe, and the clouded sky in the eye of this California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) over Labor Day weekend 📸 #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Diplodocus is an iconic American dinosaur. And now it's been found in Spain, underscoring an ancient continental connection we're still trying to understand. My latest newsletter, now on Buttondown! 🧪

Diplodocus Strolled Jurassic Spain

Some dinosaurs lived so large they make the world seem small.

buttondown.com

I am not complicit.

Sneaky Hide

Alt: Scene from Emperor's New Groove, where Kronk, holding Kuzco in a sack, is sneaking away and flattens himself against a wall to hide as people walk by. He is not hidden. He is in fact quite conspicuous.

static.klipy.com

Gail Simone@gailsimone.bsky.social · 2d ago

I am not complicit.

I was delighted to see a downy woodpecker, a hairy woodpecker, and a red-belied woodpecker all taking turns at my suet feeder this morning... until one of those hardheaded dorks (can't see who) started going at my siding. THERE ARE NO PEANUTS IN MY SIDING, BIRD.

'Chaos potatoes' born at zoo weigh less than a pound but are related to elephants www.wbaltv.com/article/chao...

Definitely did not eat the plums in the icebox #sqrlpix

I'm not sure how the bunnies were injured, but they've got the most FABULOUS bandages.