Jon Phillips
@jowiph.bsky.social
Historian of evolutionary biology and scientific racism who has somehow turned into a historian of the physical sciences. Expect lots of cat pictures and general miscellany. Baltimore.
Wait, so the standard for the replay room to overturn a call is now "prove a negative"?
Andy Kostka@afkostka.bsky.social · 5h agoA statement from MLB regarding this play, and why the call stood: “The Replay Official could not definitively determine that any part of the catcher’s glove failed to contact the runner prior to the runner touching home plate.”
seeing a lot more Schmitt around recently than I would prefer and frankly I thought the last eight decades had effectively refuted him already
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 4h agoJust causally referencing Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt, as if it's unremarkable conventional wisdom, the typical basis of a political worldview. And very positive about right-wing populism. And (elsewhere, not in this column) pines for an American Orban. But, you know, not sure where he stands. 9/x
This is something I'd like to see vigorously investigated instead of endless 'is college woke!?' pieces in The Atlantic and the NYT - because my sense is this is correct, humanities courses subsidize more expensive fields. But that prompts further questions about decisions being made to cut them.
Gregory A. Hargreaves@bordergroves.bsky.social · 3h agoNumbers update: The history class I’m about to teach this semester has a 10% larger enrollment and university tuition is also 10% higher than two years ago. My class will generate about $160,000 of revenue for the university. My pay will be under $7K or approximately 4%. Humanities fund uni sport
Britain’s tiny gaggle of hooting mad elite cranks, who all know each other and relentlessly repeat each other’s idiotic bullshit, are of course not “victims of social contagion”.
the cat is insisting that I am 'violating Zeus' law' by holding him up under his forepaws and making him dance
Was just passed by a car on 83 driving like a maniac, but with their hazards on, and now I really want to know the story. Is there a woman in labor in the car? Someone bleeding out? Are they late for a weird 10 pm job interview? Just being courteous to other drivers?
Some books for men: A Fisherman of the Inland Sea by Ursula K. Le Guin The Book of Love by Kelly Link Piranesi by Susanna Clarke In the Woods by Tana French Case Histories by Kate Atkinson Ducks by Kate Beaton
Our savannah ancestors evolved innate sex-based reading preferences, with men specifically being evolved to favor genres that are disappearing, like: the literary canon, sci fi classics recently adapted into Hollywood blockbusters, and some of the best-selling doorstopper fantasy slop ever
Adrian 'buy HAIR SHIRT' Sobol@yoadrianididit.bsky.social · yesterdayEXCUSE ME?
"we need more books for men, like Brandon Sanderson" is, I hope, the worst thing I will read today
Adrian 'buy HAIR SHIRT' Sobol@yoadrianididit.bsky.social · yesterdayEXCUSE ME?
The president that presides over the destruction of the scam economy is going to isn't just going to be loved, they'll be deified.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · yesterdayI FOIA'd the FTC for consumer complaints about the telehealth company Hims & Hers. People describe being signed up for subscription services they never wanted.
In today's AIP History Weekly Edition, we look at the latest from Dave Kaiser in @hsnatsci.bsky.social on how the Global Positioning System incorporated general relativity, and why a group of outsider physicists (erroneously) came to believe the military had botched it. #HPS
Article spotlight: David Kaiser on GPS and general relativity
AIP History Weekly Edition: August 7, 2026
aip.org
honestly surprised there has not been more discourse around "they invented a new color at berkeley and only a handful of people have seen it" on this website
What Would It Mean to See a New Color?
A new color called olo can be described as the “greenest green.” It can never be captured by a camera, but its development tells us a lot about how vision works.
newyorker.com
Not only should incarcerated people be able to vote, they should be able to vote as residents of where they're incarcerated
Matthew R Francis@bowlerhatscience.org · yesterdayI personally believe voting is not a conditional right to be removed, so not only should formerly incarcerated people be able to vote without question, but currently imprisoned people should be able to vote too. Without question or condition.
Hi. It’s me, Jade. I’m here to beg for your help. Our adoptions are very slow this summer & we are in desperate need of food and litter. Can you help us out until we are all adopted? www.chewy.com/g/loudoun-co...
Additional MARC trains would be great, but insufficient. Extend the Metro into Baltimore City, cowards.
the hot dog guy@quesoquesoqueso.bsky.social · yesterdaymarc should do this daily! passengers visiting from DC should be able to see a whole baseball game or concert and still get home. there should also be later trains to baltimore! give us a union station - penn station bus if trains are not feasible trains aren't just for commuting to work
marc should do this daily! passengers visiting from DC should be able to see a whole baseball game or concert and still get home. there should also be later trains to baltimore! give us a union station - penn station bus if trains are not feasible trains aren't just for commuting to work
Maryland Transit Administration@mta.maryland.gov · 2d agoWhen BTS Takes Over Baltimore Getting to and from the concert on MARC Camden Line is no problem! We’ve added a train departing at 11:55 pm for both nights, making all Camden Line stops to Washington Union Station Plan your trip at mta.maryland.gov
Kickstand is so good and brave. He is letting me pet him a bit, even though he is not sure how he feels about it. But no hissing or biting! I think he’s gonna be a cool dude. (Video description: Kickstand, a grey tabby cat with a little white mustache, accepts gentle pets on his head while eating)
The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign, but only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 2d agoThere's an irony here that Trump is essentially speed-running the problem English monarchs faced in the 1600s: he wants to run an autocratic regime, so he is consulting Congress as little as possibly and trying to rely on sources of Ship Money but that greatly restricts his ability to act and spend.
Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams: “There’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in. I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team. Anytime. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world, it’s just another way to kind of attack trans people.”
Wow, Burke Law Group, the Trump-connected firm that won a $150M contract to represent children in immigration court, *just* added immigration to their website within the last 1-2 days. The quoted post screenshots their listed practice areas as of two days ago. Below I’ll thread a shot from today.
Heidi Kitrosser@heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 4d agoFor the record, as of about two minutes ago on their website:
Last night I dreamt I was watching a movie called KUNG FU DENTIST and this morning I'm so sad that it doesn't exist
The best thing a union can do to help teachers deal with AI is negotiate for smaller classes.
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d ago“Teaching educators about AI is a ‘moral imperative’, said Randi Weingarten, the AFT president.” “And without outside funding, it was a choice between taking big tech’s money or doing nothing, she said.”
we gotta pass a law that gets you prison time for this
Digital Brain@yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 2d agoA chiropractor adjusted a giraffe's neck and jaw to ease her chewing troubles, and Gerry loved every second of the treatment.
Last night I dreamt I was watching a movie called KUNG FU DENTIST and this morning I'm so sad that it doesn't exist
I know it's the Angels, but it's still good to see the Orioles play like a real baseball team
How does human genetics research live in the information ecosystem? Is it misused? Misrepresented? In my paper with @sramach.bsky.social, we tackle this question with 25 years of Wikipedia data, AI chatbot responses, and pages from Grokipedia www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
From Wikipedia to AI: Measuring 25 years of synthesis of human genetics research in the public-facing information ecosystem
Genetics research frequently intersects with ethnicity, nationality, and race, making it uniquely vulnerable to misrepresentation. Yet, 25 years after the initial sequencing of the human genome, there...
biorxiv.org
![Within the sociology of knowledge, agnotology (formerly agnatology) is the study of deliberate, culturally cultivated ignorance or doubt, typically to sell a product, influence opinion, or win favour, particularly through the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data (i.e. disinformation).[5][6] More generally, the term includes the condition where more knowledge of a subject creates greater uncertainty.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hwb7xa7tn2li2ozdijlw3w7h/bafkreicvfgjikbxnomjrall2flgxrhn7ylohvv6dtll5jayvpq5qj3t76i)
