I understand that funding bodies want to go all in on AI as the shiny new innovation thing. But if all the grants start going to AI at the expense of everything else then the research sector is going to end up looking like a farm with dozens of threshers hacking away in a field with no wheat.
AlphaFold was always bait-and-switch; now Google confirms it. A hyper-narrow bioinformatrics model with actual science bolted on whose guesses can be experimentally checked was never a licence for socially-applied slop at scale, but it's done its job. Effort transferred to LLMs.
Paleontology term from the native Siberians: Upon discovering tusks & body remains thawing from the permafrost in Khanty-Mansia region, local Ugric Mansi people gave them a name mē̮ŋ-ońt (“earth-horn”), which evolved to become the word MAMMOTH! 📷Sculpture in Khanty-Mansia
Stephanomia @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 953 #deepwonders #MarineLife
Vamproteuthis @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 953 #deepwonders #MarineLife
If you pile your furniture in the middle of your living room then set it on fire, you will have the warmest house in your street, for a few hours.
I demand to know why I don't have a cloaca. My latest newsletter, all about a fossil cloaca impression from one of our protomammal relatives. Sign up on Buttondown! 🧪 buttondown.com/restingdinof...
Guess What? Protomammal Butt.
Why did our ancestors ever give up the cloaca?
buttondown.com
CHONK! Any day I spot a *Cryptochiton* is a good day. #MolluskMonday #MolluscMonday #MarineLife #SwelterShelterNSF 🌊🦑
Corporate needs you to find the difference between AI companies and social media companies...
Elaine Burke@elaineburke.bsky.social · 2mo agoYep, same guy. Mere days apart.
the final reckoning between AI hype and reality is upon us. buckle up.
The AI Hype Reckoning Is Upon Us
The massive chasm between AI hype and reality is finally reaching the breaking point.
karlbode.com
Oil lobbyists and arms dealers are pressuring the government to dismantle protest rights
Prison 'used more' for climate, genocide activists
'Peaceful protestors are being jailed in ever increasing numbers, under pressure from the oil and arms industries' - report.
theecologist.org
Do bees have inner lives? Slow-motion video reveals bumblebee behaviour similar to ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’
Do bees have inner lives? Slow-motion video reveals bumblebee behaviour similar to ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’
Bees respond to tasty treats or plain water based on context, study that may provide support for establishing insect sentience shows * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast When bumblebees taste something good, they reach out their glossa – or insect tongue – for a while afterwards, almost as if they are licking their lips. And when they don’t like something, the insects will shake their heads and wipe their mouths. Scientists who captured the miniature facial expressions on slow-motion video say the behaviour is consistent with “liking” and “disliking” responses observed in mammals. Their results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
The broligarchs told Carney these guys were going after their yachts and Carney said "I got you" Say bye :(
Rachel Gilmore@rachelgilmore.bsky.social · last mo.Pragmatically killing the Southern Resident Killer Whale population so we can export more oil and gas in a decade to an economy that no longer wants it because everyone else is transitioning to renewables 🤗🤗🤗
Heatwave halts Reform bid to scrap climate emergency A council debate on scrapping West Norfolk's climate emergency was postponed after extreme heat made the chamber unusable | Henry Durand
Heatwave halts Reform bid to scrap climate emergency
A council debate on scrapping West Norfolk's climate emergency was postponed after extreme heat made the chamber unusable
eastangliabylines.co.uk
Mona Khalil, Lebanon’s most well-known sea turtle conservationist, died of her wounds today after being injured by an Israeli strike I feel sick
Megaphone News@megaphone.news · 2mo agoMona Khalil spent over 20 years protecting sea turtles on Mansouri Beach. After she was injured in an Israeli attack, activists continued her initiative at Rmeileh Beach, where they protected the first loggerhead nest of 73 eggs on Thursday. youtu.be/fbBKzK4JNRc
Thrilled to finally share our new paper on giant scorpions from the Early Devonian! Behold Praearcturus gigas! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/S54Y6Y...
tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.
Science Magazine@science.org · 2mo agoThe White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s
The Cephalopods Are Coming nautil.us/the-cephalop... Fossil records reveal Earth’s mass extinctions are followed by a rise of ocean cephalopods. They’re rising again.
The Cephalopods Are Coming
The Cephalopods Are Coming: Fossil records reveal Earth’s mass extinctions are followed by a rise of ocean cephalopods. They’re rising again.
nautil.us
The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of mollusks.
David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe Cephalopods Are Coming nautil.us/the-cephalop... Fossil records reveal Earth’s mass extinctions are followed by a rise of ocean cephalopods. They’re rising again.
"If data centres were a country, they would be the second-largest destination for gas turbines ordered from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026" New IEA report confirms this isn't a normal industry. It is a fossil-fuelled, high-polluting heavy industry producing socially corrosive products at massive climate cost.
“I write with dismay, grief and sorrow for the permanent closure of MIT Libraries Barker, Dewey and Rotch, and termination of library staff in those libraries. For MIT to be closing three of its four major libraries..." fnl.mit.edu/may-june-202...
Lament for the MIT Libraries - MIT Faculty Newsletter
fnl.mit.edu
