Trying out the features in Claude for education. Join me as I see how it "helps" me write a research paper. My chosen topic: "AI and education". /1

Introducing a new project that you might enjoy. I used to be a music writer before I was a science writer. Time to add to the tradition of lists. We'll see how far I get. intellectualthicket.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/f... First up, honorable mentions: intellectualthicket.wordpress.com/2026/08/05/f...

Favorite 250 Albums of All Time

I want to embark on a quest. This quest is to document my current favorite 250 albums (of the rock era). Why albums? Why now? Why me? I have no good reasons for most of those questions, but I can a…

intellectualthicket.wordpress.com

Absolutely insane footage of rock avalanches currently sweeping across the entire south face of the Matterhorn, as filmed from Cervinia! 🔥😱 📽️ Via @meteovalledosta

Did everyone see @janinekrippner.bsky.social explaining volcanoes for Encylopedia Britannica? www.britannica.com/video/what-a...

Volcanologist Janine Krippner Explains the Science Behind Volcanoes and Lava Flow | Britannica

Volcanologist Janine Krippner dives into the details.

britannica.com

Any of y'all spend much time in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky?

In the world's least shocking news, the new Airbnb AI property descriptions are horrible. The logic of "let's take something, add AI and make it worse!" runs strong. Take Teal'c's advice when it comes to integrating AI.

Stargate Tealc's Iconic Indeed

ALT: Stargate Tealc's Iconic Indeed

static.klipy.com

Mr. @alyankovic.bsky.social, I know you're a busy man so I won't take up much of your time. If you are looking for songs to add to your Ohio State Fair set, maybe consider "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota". You would make me & my kids the happiest volcanologist and his kids this side of Hilo.

Our flight from Seattle to Sacramento was delayed by a few hours last night, but we were rewarded with an epic sunset on Tahoma (Rainier) as it poked through the low stratus layer. The pastel peach backdrop was made possible by the horrific wildfire smoke from all the PNW fires.

So, for whatever reason, this is the first thing that popped into my head. I'll go with it.

Stop Calling Me Frank@stopcallingmefrank.bsky.social · 5d ago

You have a month to write a 33 1/3 book about the album of your choice. Which record are you going to write about? (No previously covered albums allowed; new shit must come to light: see below.) (For all books in the series: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_1/3) (H/t @monostich.bsky.social

In honor of Bob Mortimer, I have decided to attempt yet again to get into English football by trying to become a fan of Middleborough in the Championship Series. It is just the sort of person I am. Sorry.

Bob Mortimer: I Advise Against That

ALT: Bob Mortimer: I Advise Against That

static.klipy.com

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was a short-lived/mostly forgotten British TV show that was a vehicle for Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. However, look at list of guest stars: Tom Baker, Simon Pegg, David Tennant, Derek Jacobi, Alexis Denisof, Jessica Hynes, Hugh Laurie, Matt Lucas, Anthony Daniels. Wow.

Your random fact of the day that I just learned today: Bob Mortimer was on Top of the Pops.

Imagine running a cooking competition and awarding the guy who ordered Dominos. But the pizza was ugly

Ben Towle@benzilla.bsky.social · 5d ago

Check out the steaming pile of AI garbage that just won $1,000 first prize in the Ohio State Fair poster contest. It's especially tragic since the 5th place, drawn by an actual human, is great. Rooster (OH fair has biggest poultry show in US) riding the "butter cow" (exactly what it sounds like).

Remember folks, back in the just-post WWII years, American tech wanted to put nuclear reactors in *everything*. They designed airplanes with reactors, they built cars that would run on reactors, they said your house would run on its own reactor. Everything was going to be nuclear by the year 2000.

If this is what happens to a scientific field as a whole when LLMs dominate the workflows of researchers, I can only imagine that the outlook is even worse for any individual researcher who is soldiering on without using them. 😞

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 2w ago

13. Hence our dismal conclusion: rather than finding that LLMs free us to do a better job of what we were doing before they came along, they shift scientific incentives (and the playing field of academic competition) in ways that compel us to do more and more, faster and faster, less and less well.

Google thought they could destroy satellite images for the sake of finding any AI profit.

Milu (aka Mikk Luige)@cydonianmilu.bsky.social · 5d ago

Funnily enough they already walked this one back. One of the fastest walk backs I've seen.

Etna volcano update: eruption visible from space

Etna volcano update: eruption visible from space

volcanodiscovery.com

How much money do colleges and universities just straight up burn paying "consultants" to tell them things? I have yet to see a consultant produce anything of value for a college experience.

Asheesh Kapur Siddique@asheeshks.org · 6d ago

“Harvard paid McKinsey & Company at least $250,000 to consult on the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ staff restructuring efforts, according to internal documents obtained by The Crimson.” www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

For the second time in one month, the Voragine crater at the summit of #Etna has produced a spectacular episode of activity on 30 July 2026, with lava fountains, ash emissions, and a Grand Finale with a lava flow from a new fissure high on the ENE flank.

Downplay a book or movie: Moderate Fidelity

Charles Louis Richter@richterscale.bsky.social · 5d ago

Downplay a book or movie: The Count of Ham & Cheese

"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."

Google Earth’s New AI Lets Anyone Fabricate Completely Bullshit Satellite Images

"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."

404media.co

I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:

How to plant a nuclear plant in Iran

The question is: what on earth is Google doing?

digitaldigging.org

Traditionally situations like this have only *almost* tanked the world economy so I think we're probably fine

Timnit Gebru@timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 7d ago

"As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. futurism.com/artificial-i...

Most of Earth's volcanism happens under the ocean's surface, which makes it hard to for scientists to see. But this eruption is offering a rare peak into an underwater event. (By @meghanbartels.bsky.social)

Secret eruption offers tantalizing glimpse of underwater volcanism

Frothy rock floating on the ocean near Papua New Guinea is the sign scientists needed that, hidden from view, an underwater volcano was erupting

scientificamerican.com

In my continued quest to be unaware of stuff ... how did I just find out that ScienceWriters 2026 is being held in my old stomping grounds of Corvallis? Has fate decided that I should actually get around to attending a SciWrite meeting?

I'll leave you with this question that is perplexing me tonight. It carries high importance for all involved. So, how can you tell amphibole from clinopyroxene fractionation using REE alone?

Simpsons Nerd Yelling Meme

ALT: Simpsons Nerd Yelling Meme

static.klipy.com

What's the weather like in Tucson in late December?

Yeah, LLM are clearly the future.

Reuters@reuters.com · 6d ago

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference reut.rs/4x9eTCW

Malreynolds Firefly Speechless Reaction

ALT: Malreynolds Firefly Speechless Reaction

static.klipy.com

Science Magazine@science.org · 7d ago

"… I have learned that this evolving world doesn’t have to be the end for the science I love. I can embrace the blocks of code without losing the rocks that brought me here in the first place." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/3TTfKJD