New research from @somoamsterdam.bsky.social shows EU push for rapid expansion of data centres will increase wealth & power of US #BigTech companies ❗Warning❗“Data centre acceleration zones” = fast-tracked construction, bypassing environmental assessment, land permitting + community consultations 🚧

SOMO - Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations @somoamsterdam.bsky.social · 3w ago

The EU wants to fast-track data centre "acceleration zones" across all Member States. ⚠️ But our analysis shows that those data centres will remain largely owned by and serving US companies, while draining European resources and escaping public scrutiny. Read more: www.somo.nl/eus-data-cen...

Don't give anything an Emmy until it's as good as this.

Here’s the thing. Americans are being beaten, kidnapped, sent to camps, and shot in the street by our own government as we speak. I couldn’t give one single fuck, not the tiniest ounce of shit, what some random white European finger waggers think about individual Americans right now.

Seeking scientist volunteers for the 2026 spring semester! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? Apply by 1/25. Please share widely. bit.ly/comicscollabspring2026

"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future." - @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit. Incredible words. Listen to all of it!

We were talking about these issues as normal, because companies have and are building systems and policies that make these questions unavoidable. We ended up debating the consequences of a world that someone else has decided to prototype into existence. 20/n

Motherhood in a nutshell.

Tressie McMillan Cottom@tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 9mo ago

“You’re going to be disappointing other people or you’re going to be disappointing yourself. You have to choose.” — my partner to me today. Thought I’d mess yall up too. Thanks!

Also, you know, the fossil fuel industry is the third highest contributor to CO2 emissions…16%. Not the using, just the getting (extracting refining, what have you). It’s more than all of transportation combined. Mineral extraction? 0.4%, 40x less Source: @climatetrace.org climatetrace.org/sectors

Climate TRACE

We make meaningful climate action faster and easier by mobilizing the global tech community to track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with unprecedented detail.

climatetrace.org

Rebecca Solnit@rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 10mo ago

I tend to reply with "if you think extraction is bad have you heard of fossil fuel?" and statistics about how much less material is required, super-common/available new battery ingredients, and the fact that we don't burn up these materials unlike coal, gas, and oil, requiring ever more of them.

I AM GOING TO SCREAM This is why journalism is dying. Cause it’s impossible to be a reporter in this business while simultaneously paying for food.

Jason GRIZZLED Bittel@bittelmethis.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Science journos 🧪: Earth dot com asked me about writing for them. They offer $50-60 PER STORY. And expect 15 to 25 stories EACH MONTH. For reference, that rate is worse than what I got for a blogging role in 2012. Steer clear af.

Science journos 🧪: Earth dot com asked me about writing for them. They offer $50-60 PER STORY. And expect 15 to 25 stories EACH MONTH. For reference, that rate is worse than what I got for a blogging role in 2012. Steer clear af.

AI is now capable of designing a record-breaking deep sea submersible on its own. This marks a new age of exploration and I encourage all my fellow AI champions to build one and get in it so they can celebrate this achievement from the bottom of the sea.

“Authors have until the end of August to opt out of the licensing agreement. If they do not, their work will be used to help train AI models.”

Johns Hopkins Press will license its books to train AI models

Authors at the Johns Hopkins University Press will be able to opt out of the AI licensing agreement until the end of August; if they do not, their work will be used to train AI models.

thebaltimorebanner.com

Re-upping this for #scicomm folks. Has anyone else seen AI use clauses? Is this the new normal? I hate it. #sciencejournalism @sciencewriters.org @theopennotebook.bsky.social

Dani Sedbrook@birdstobosons.bsky.social · last yr.

Question for other #scicomm folks. After a long wait, I got a contract for a new magazine client…and it includes a provision that they can use my stuff for AI training and other AI uses. I haven’t seen this before, and it’s not something I would agree to sign. Is this just the brave new world? Wtf

Re-upping this for #scicomm folks. Has anyone else seen AI use clauses? Is this the new normal? I hate it. #sciencejournalism @sciencewriters.org @theopennotebook.bsky.social

Dani Sedbrook@birdstobosons.bsky.social · last yr.

Question for other #scicomm folks. After a long wait, I got a contract for a new magazine client…and it includes a provision that they can use my stuff for AI training and other AI uses. I haven’t seen this before, and it’s not something I would agree to sign. Is this just the brave new world? Wtf

Question for other #scicomm folks. After a long wait, I got a contract for a new magazine client…and it includes a provision that they can use my stuff for AI training and other AI uses. I haven’t seen this before, and it’s not something I would agree to sign. Is this just the brave new world? Wtf

Faulheit? Würden wir nicht den Bürger*innen, sondern eher einer Regierung vorwerfen, die auf populistische Phrasen anstatt echter Lösungen setzt. Ob Lohnarbeit, Carearbeit oder Ehrenamt – die Deutschen leisten viel. Sie brauchen eine Politik, die sie unterstützt. @ricardalang.bsky.social 📢

B says she has super powers. So, I ask her what kind, and she says all the super powers. I say, “Do you have super strength?” “Yeah.” “Can you see through walls.” “Yeah. And know what, I can see in the future.” “Oh really? What’s going to happen in the future?” “You’re going to die.”

Nice thread if you want a reality check.

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · last yr.

An astonishing headline reporting on new observations from a team led to Nikku Madhusudhan claims they’ve found ‘hints of life’ on a planet orbiting a dwarf star some 124 light years away. What’s going on? (1/n) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🔭 🧪

US Jews:

a woman is holding a microphone and saying i would very much like to be excluded from this narrative .

ALT: a woman is holding a microphone and saying i would very much like to be excluded from this narrative .

media.tenor.com

NPR@npr.org · last yr.

Effective immediately, the government says it will begin screening immigrant social media for activity that officials think indicates support for antisemitism.

And yet most major science publications/major publication science sections covered it…. Even those covering it to comment on the fact that it’s bs to call this thing a dire wolf, end up spreading its reach. It’s an editorial choice to respond to this kind of marketing with news coverage.

Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕@restingdinoface.bsky.social · last yr.

You know, it’s hard to say what Colossal has even done because there’s no research to show. No publication. No access to data. All we have is their say so about what they did and how. Slick marketing but nothing to fact check the research and methods directly.

How to leak to a journalist! featuring a bunch of good advice from those who know: @marisakabas.bsky.social @amandabecker.bsky.social @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social @rmac.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social @juliaangwin.com @benmullin.bsky.social & @maxtani.bsky.social

How to leak to a journalist

Planning to leak? Read these tips first.

niemanlab.org

People think being small will keep them safe. It won't. The reason we know who Mahmoud Kahlil is is because he was loud. Do you think he's the only person the administration has tried to disappear? He's just one of the first we've noticed

Angie Rasmussen@angierasmussen.bsky.social · last yr.

I was interviewed this week for a major US news show. My interviewer asked me why so few of my colleagues are willing to talk. It’s not just fear of losing funding, but of being singled out by a regime that wants to purge scientists from society. That’s why I do speak out. I wish more people would

All my (very few) pubs from grad school are here… also many from my compsci Prof dad (who ironically wrote his own PhD thesis on using machine learning on medical imaging) cool. cool, cool, cool.* *absolutely not cool

Michael Livingston@michaellivingston.com · last yr.

Meta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions. Authors, search your name here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Meta used at least 16 of my books, and numerous articles, to help train the AI it will use to make billions. Authors, search your name here: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

theatlantic.com

I don’t even no what to say other than, make it stop. I hope this shatters non-Americans’ views of what my country is. Notable: This did not start in January, but it’s getting worse.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last yr.

I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped

Hi #ChemSky! With the ACS Spring meeting on the horizon, I’m curious how the current US political environment is affecting scientists’ decisions to travel in and out of the US for conferences. Any insights to share? Email: k_vasquez@acs.org Signal: kvasquez.12

Don't know who needs to hear this, but Unclench your jaw Let your shoulders drop Liquefy all your connective tissue for the nutrients Slither bonelessly off your chair Wick yourself up the walls through capillary action Envelop the room Become a new god Become a new god

Imposter Syndrome Alarm is blaring, but . . . Honored to be quoted about analogies and metaphors in @theopennotebook.bsky.social Easily the most valuable website for science journalists anywhere.

The Open Notebook@theopennotebook.bsky.social · last yr.

Analogies can be useful in helping readers understand and visualize something they could never see, especially for topics within physics, astronomy, and neuroscience. Here’s a guide to analogies from @claudia-lopez.bsky.social with @angelapswafford.bsky.social, @nattyover.bsky.social and others. 🧪

Anything and anyone we send to mars has to meet anti contamination standards. NASA has been exploring mars for decades and all that searching for life could be destroyed by one reckless entitled buffoon who wants to go it just because he can.

What did the lentil say to the flower when it bloomed? Bean there, done that. #ScienceHumor #ScienceJokes #BadJokes