This morning we joined HUB staff, volunteers, and families on a bike bus ride to Florence Nightingale Elementary School. The Ride-Along was part of HUB Cycling’s Streets for Tomorrow, Today campaign, to make it safer and easier for kids & youth to walk, bike and roll in their communities.

What if a solution to the housing crisis is right in front of us? My long read on the shrinking neighbourhoods of Toronto and Vancouver and how we could fill them up with people again. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

I have to say, it’s an interesting time to be an academic. AI will certainly influence education, but it has the capacity to shatter science as we know it. A time to understand how to ask a question before it’s generated by code. I experience a complicated awe when I think of it.

I’m so grateful I wrote my dissertation pre-AI. Writing it was one of my greatest learning experiences. AI-written dissertations are a consequence of an academia that prioritizes productivity over quality - this has troubling implications for the future of science. www.chronicle.com/article/woul...

Would You Hire a Ph.D. Who Wrote Their Dissertation With AI?

The use is growing: This year appearing in nearly one-third of Ph.D. dissertations in science, technology, engineering, and math filed between January and May, a new working paper found.

chronicle.com

How many urban planning degrees does it take to recognize that sidewalks are necessary infrastructure? @saanichbc.bsky.social

Have been quite silent on this platform. But I’m hoping to post more regularly. I’ve missed the community Twitter cultivated.

It’s 2026 and the Premier of Ontario is wasting tax dollars to remove bike lanes, putting vulnerable road users in danger. The politicization of cycling infrastructure needs to end. What’s next up on the chopping block? Sidewalks? What a shame. www.thestar.com/news/gta/for...

Doug Ford’s government is officially taking bids to remove 19 km of bike lanes from Toronto’s streets

Premier Doug Ford’s government has issued an RFP to remove more than 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes on major Toronto streets. Read more.

thestar.com

And brings curiosity and sense of wonder. That’s good for the brain, stimulating and creative. I’m no neuroscientist but I’d bet @robinmazumder.bsky.social has theories on this.

I remember first hearing from @robinmazumder.bsky.social that bike lanes are mobility lanes; that bikes are mobility devices; it’s stuck with me to this day.

Places for Humans to spend time in, at, and on for the sake of their physical and mental health could save your life. via @thestar.com's Kevin Jiang h/t @katemulligan.bsky.social @robinmazumder.bsky.social @dtahtoronto.bsky.social @thebentway.bsky.social www.thestar.com/news/gta/is-...

Is Toronto’s design bad for our health? How urban spaces affect well-being and how we compare to others

The places we live play a crucial role in our health and well-being. Experts break down four key elements in health urban design.

thestar.com

Last week, we played a "pilot round" #DragonQuest lu.ma/lrfkfq0b & aren't there more & others, too, eh? Have you come across more & others? "Practicing the play", "walk the talk" by & thru our work & energy it takes to "do it",... I mean, "availability", who is developing & deploying such, too, eh?

Dragon Quest Game Pilot – Co-Create the Future of Win-Win Play! · Zoom · Luma

Dear friends and changemakers, Join us for the Dragon Quest Game Pilot, a creative play session to test and co-evolve a unique cooperative game that blends…

lu.ma

During my PhD (2019) I ran a study on pedestrian dynamics and dominance. Now that it’s summer and people are out on the sidewalks, it’s been interesting to observe how men posture. The tension is tangible, and sadly the necessity to perform toughness signals the opposite, dude.

a young man in a black t-shirt is standing in front of a television in a living room .

ALT: a young man in a black t-shirt is standing in front of a television in a living room .

media.tenor.com

It’s going to be “Housing Day” at Planning Cmte next week. We’ve been busy. So there’s LOTS on the agenda. I’ll break it down a bit. “Expanding Permissions in Neighbourhoods for Low-Rise Sixplexes” updates our zoning to allow up to a sixplex (plus garden suite) on pretty much all residential lots /1

I’m nursing a nerve injury (HNPP) so I walk “slower” than how I may be perceived (whatever that is). I took the full (but clearly not enough) time to cross the street and was yelled at by a driver. I didn’t have the time to explain my disability so I told him to “chill out”. More to say. ✍️

I love Toronto.

After careful consideration, I’ve concluded I can’t continue to blame the ethereal construct of “car culture” for bad drivers. Environmental design matters, but so does legal competence. Put bluntly, some people are jackasses and must be held accountable lest we want actual change in our cities. 🤷🏾‍♂️

New to Bluesky and looking for Canadian universities and research organizations? We've got you covered! Let us know if you don't see your org/uni on here and we'll add it. 🧪 #CdnSci #AcademicSky #Research Pack 1: go.bsky.app/DjqbMNB Pack 2: go.bsky.app/2i7Qi3E Pack 3: go.bsky.app/8phKHSB

Hello! I’m moving (back) to Toronto, which I’m very excited for. Seeking a quiet/bright apartment, ideally on a residential side street in Dundas West (and away from car noise). If you know of any places available this summer, please get in touch. Dinner on me as a finders fee. 🙏🏿

On tonight - 5.20pm uk time

Hugo Spiers@hugospiers.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨Pls share! Join us next Thurs (22nd May 5.20pm UK time) to watch a panel discussion on our NeuroArchitecture Project: 100 Minds in Motion 100+ people explored, navigated & evacuated an art gallery kitted out with a range of sensors First findings revealed Register: www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/res...

This looks like a valuable, informative and careful study, showing significant correlations between some common genetic variants and what psychologists call the Big Five personality traits. It's no surprise such correlations exist, but good to pin them down. AND... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Robust inference and widespread genetic correlates from a large-scale genetic association study of human personality

Personality traits describe stable differences in how individuals think, feel, and behave and how they interact with and experience their social and physical environments. We assemble data from 46 coh...

biorxiv.org

📢 Calling PhD students 📢 we want to hear from you! Help shape the future of PhD education. Take our survey to tell us all about your experiences https://go.nature.com/43iJAsi

PhD students in STEM: Nature wants to hear from you

Buried in lab work or drowning in data? Take a break and help shape the future of PhD education.

go.nature.com

Some recent paintings:

When it comes to the housing crisis, we clearly face an extraordinary challenge. As Mayor, I'm determined to give it everything we've got—with a radical step-change in our approach. www.lbc.co.uk/politics/uk-...

'The status quo is wrong': Sadiq Khan eyes London's green belt for new homes in housing push

Sir Sadiq Khan will announce plans to “actively explore” building on some of London’s green belt on Friday in a bid to fix the capital’s housing crisis.

lbc.co.uk

providencenoiseproject.org/noise-cameras/

Made a contribution just now to Filipino BC & The Filipino Centre. If you're moved to do likewise in solidarity with the Filipino community in the wake of last night's mass murder, donations can be received at the following link:

Devastated to hear of the tragedy in Vancouver. At what point do we accept the fatal risk cars constantly pose and actually do something about it? The frequency of these violent acts should not condition us to their terror. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected. 💔

I’ve lost track of the number of papers I’ve read that use scientific jargon in the titles that aren’t defined in the text. Oftentimes I can’t even find other references that use the same “terminology”. Publishers need to establish a basic standard of requiring definitions for core paper concepts. 💡

If you have any interest at all in learning about how a human brain experiences and negotiates the built environment, any talk by Dr. Mazumder will be enlightening. Wish I could get out west!

Robin Mazumder, Ph.D@robinmazumder.bsky.social · last yr.

If you’re in Victoria, I’m giving a talk and participating in a panel discussion on the intersection of cities, spirituality and neuroscience on April 26 for the @uvic.ca John Albert Hall Series. Nice to be back in my hometown for an important discussion. Please join us! www.uvic.ca/research/cen...

Looking for a home for your manuscript? Check out my #justsustainabilities series, currently with 8 books and 2 more in line. www.bloomsbury.com/us/series/ju...

If you’re in Victoria, I’m giving a talk and participating in a panel discussion on the intersection of cities, spirituality and neuroscience on April 26 for the @uvic.ca John Albert Hall Series. Nice to be back in my hometown for an important discussion. Please join us! www.uvic.ca/research/cen...

John Albert Hall Lectures - University of Victoria

The interviews were a forum for individuals with notable careers in religion and civil society to reflect on contemporary issues. ...

uvic.ca