"oh R can be fun" -friday evenings

This is us. All of us. Sitting comfortably while the planet burns.

nora bouazzouni@nora.bz · 2mo ago

Cette photo, issue du diapo de Mediapart, est hallucinante. Crédit Maximilien Lamy / @afp.com Légende : des baigneurs assis sur la plage du Moutchic à Lacanau, dans le sud-ouest de la France, le 24 juillet 2026, alors que des panaches de fumée s'élèvent dans le ciel en raison d'un feu de forêt.

So apparently, University of Nebraska has “discontinued” my masters student, who has been working on her thesis, has active paperwork, and has an advisor (why else would I still be adjunct there after their actions??). I am furious. So much for “protecting” students as they eliminated our programs.

I'm a cognitive scientist with an interest in epistemic vigilance, and this essay that's been going around gave me pause. I don't think it's straightforward to apply the concept of epistemic vigilance to interactions with LLMs, as this essay does. 🧵/ sbgeoaiphd.github.io/rotating_the...

Techbros seem to love Tolkien, so here's an analogy to help you understand what genAI is. GenAI is The One Ring. You think your use is justified, b/c you don't have evil in your heart. But it came from evil, it is intended for evil purpose, & anything you do with it will be twisted to that end.

“What I’ve been feeling most is just, like, how dare this country allow this to happen to someone like me twice?” Weissman told the New York Times.

Rainesford Stauffer@rainesford.bsky.social · 10mo ago

"Weissman was in her dorm room at Brown when a friend called to warn her that a shooting was under way. Her initial feelings of panic soon turned to anger, she told NBC. “I’m angry that I thought I’d never have to deal with this again, and here I am eight years later,” Weissman told NBC News."

Anyway, public service announcement for anyone going to AGU next week: if you see a Nebraska geoscientist, you're morally obligated to give them a hug, buy them a beignet, offer to mail an envelope of glitter to a UNL regent of their choice, or something like that.

“I just remember a bunch of people started screaming.” An 18-year-old who was shot in the leg at Brown University on Saturday afternoon described the moment that shots rang out in a classroom where students had gathered to prepare for an economics exam. nyti.ms/48FrxAo

Hospitalized Brown Student Describes Hiding from Shooter

The student, in his first year at Brown, was shot in the leg. He described helping others who were more seriously injured as they hid in their classroom.

nyti.ms

Crocheted a geode, like you do 🧶 #crochet

The scientific process...

Information is Beautiful @infobeautiful.bsky.social · last yr.

True? True

If you don't support Heated by @emorwee.bsky.social, you really should. She has a great piece today about the current heatwave, which climate change made many times more likely, and how to think about it in the context of the Big Beautiful Bill heated.world

US climate scientists need all the help they can get. Including from foul-mouthed comedians! 🤡😱😱 Watch Emmy Award-Winning David Cross team up with Prof Michael Oppenheimer in the US launch of the hit series "Climate Science Translated". #climate #arresteddevelopment #climatescience

Big thanks to @mimilovesmilo.bsky.social for a great collab during her @daadworldwide.bsky.social RISE internship at @gfz.bsky.social! And grateful to @diamondlightsource.bsky.social for beamtime at I20-scanning that allowed us to "look" inside the crystal structure of these minerals. 💡💠

Jeff Perez@jeffperez.bsky.social · last yr.

New paper out! 🎉 How does #phosphate, a common nutrient in fertilizers, influence the behavior of toxic #arsenic in soils and groundwater? We show that phosphate levels affect how well arsenate can be locked inside iron minerals, controlling its toxicity and mobility. 🔗: tinyurl.com/3k254ebf

If you’re an undergrad or recent graduate and think more support and advice can help you take the next step, this is for you. Please pass word on to folks in ecology, evolution, and organismal biology.

Casey terHorst@ecoevolab.bsky.social · last yr.

EEB Mentor Match for 2025 is now open! This is an opportunity for students applying to graduate school in Ecology, Evolution, or Behavior to be matched with a mentor to guide them through the application process. Mentors can sign up too! eebmentormatch.com

An amoeba movie I made: "hungry" #protistsonsky #amoeba

“Life is better when we leap together.” Kermit the Frog delivered a commencement speech at the University of Maryland on Thursday, the alma mater of his creator, Jim Henson. nyti.ms/4dwMuhQ

So -- What are Ralstonia and why are they goopy? Ralstonia are bacterial pathogens of plants. They colonize and clog the water-transporting xylem vessels, causing rapid-onset wilt disease—they can fatally wilt plants within days. This timelapse by Jonathan Jacobs shows a sped-up time-course.

Tiffany Lowe-Power stands with Minnesota@tlowepower.bsky.social · last yr.

Excited to (soon) share our collaborative pre-print that answers the question "Why are Ralstonia so goopy?" (Bacterial wilt streaming video from @alabamaed1.bsky.social )

All NSF GRFPs to students choosing to attend Harvard in the Fall were just terminated

Thanks to my friend Harriet for pointing out that the women went to Christ's tomb and saw he was not there, the angels showed up to describe what happened, & the women then told the apostles, who dismissed them. A Biblical account of women not being believed.

Hi Folks! Myself and the Barberan Lab at U of A are still looking for a PhD student to work on an NSF funded project exploring effects of fire and invasion on soil microbes. We are looking for someone to start in Fall! SOON! Email me if you are interested! PLS Repost! @EsaSeeds

You want to see an octopus riding a shark. 🎥: University of Auckland www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/s...

🥁 We are happy to announce the release of a new version of curatedFoodMetagenomicData (cFMD) 🔗 Get it here: github.com/SegataLab/cFMD 🧵👇 1/5

GitHub - SegataLab/cFMD: Public repository for cFMD - curatedFoodMetagenomicData

Public repository for cFMD - curatedFoodMetagenomicData - SegataLab/cFMD

github.com

Ok who wrote this headline. WHO DID IT. I would like to give them a prize. Also yell at them. Country toads, take me home To the place, they belooong They took Australia, caused all the drama Take me home, country toads.

Rebecca Stone Gordon@meanlouise.bsky.social · 2y ago

This is a fascinating paper but more importantly this is an amazing headline & if I don’t stop singing this I’m probably going to find myself locked out of the house. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

“Many grad programs are pausing and reducing admissions in response to NIH funding pauses and pending EO’s on indirect cost reductions. These workforce reductions have the potential to imminently and irreversibly harm research labs & grad programs”

Carolyn Ibberson@cbibberson.bsky.social · 2y ago

I created a brief spreadsheet of reductions I've heard of so far. Any additions you know of (especially if you have the links/receipts) would be great: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Why should the public care about the freeze on the NIH? Aside from the need for scientific pursuits to make our society better… -For every dollar we invest in NIH research, there is a $2.5 return. -Research dollars help fund universities that employ non-academics. (1/)

When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit. Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention. Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"

"Even though I walk through the valley of humongous genomes, I will fear no evil, for PacBio HiFi is with me"

Tips for properly handling **tabular data** MUST READ for 🧪+ 📊 & kind of which my past self would have had this 😢 Part of the "Simple Rules" in @plos.bsky.social computational biology: PLoS Comput Biol 20(11): e1012604. doi.org/10.1371/jour... by Hertz MI, McNeill AS.