A Demographic Theory of Similarity-Biased Social Learning. Now out in PNAS, led by the incomparable @apvelilla.bsky.social . We use modeling to explore conditions for the (cultural) evolution of parochial (and anti-parochial) learning biases. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful

If you’re interested in cultural evolution and digital humanities, Oleg is the guy.

Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦@sobchuk.bsky.social · 5d ago

Reminder: two weeks are left to apply for the PhD and postdoc positions in my lab. See more info here www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/career/jo...

Reminder: two weeks are left to apply for the PhD and postdoc positions in my lab. See more info here www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/career/jo...

This party sucks

Job posting: Associate Professor in behavioral ecology and cultural evolution within the Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE) at the University of Lausanne. Deadline for applications is 30.09.2026: wwwfbm.unil.ch/releve/appli... (there is a button to switch to English at the top right)

A Demographic Theory of Similarity-Biased Social Learning. Now out in PNAS, led by the incomparable @apvelilla.bsky.social . We use modeling to explore conditions for the (cultural) evolution of parochial (and anti-parochial) learning biases. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Out now in PNAS. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Thank you to all peers and colleagues who provided invaluable feedback during the process!

A demographic theory of similarity-biased social learning | PNAS

We develop a demographic theory of similarity-biased social learning that formalizes our understanding of when and why individuals should preferent...

pnas.org

Alejandro Pérez Velilla@apvelilla.bsky.social · 5mo ago

New preprint with @psmaldino.bsky.social on the evolution of similarity-biased learning: osf.io/preprints/so... This mathematical treatment both simplifies and extends our previous simulation treatment of the subject: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨 New today in Nature 🦟 After decades of debate, we show that climate change has probably made malaria worse in sub-Saharan Africa, causing about 1 extra case per 1,000 children. But: malaria eradication efforts have pulled the other direction 200 times harder. 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

💯

Maria Antoniak@mariaa.bsky.social · 2w ago

As a US citizen and academic, I strongly believe that I have a duty to not self-censor in response to perceived political pressure. Paying the mafia and bowing to bullies is not how I choose to live my life, especially when the cost is "not receiving a grant," not "prison/torture/death."

oh nice to see this thread resurrected. dual (and more) life cycle organisms are so common. those of us who study vertebrates are studying some of the most boring animals ever to evolve on this earth

Rebecca R Helm@rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · last yr.

I want to tell you a story, and it begins with this VERY WEIRD animal: Meet Thetys vagina... [a thread 🧵] 📸 m_patton bit.ly/2Mgw8Sf 🌿🧪🦑🐙🌊

@rnasociety.bsky.social is pretty good!

Paul Smaldino@psmaldino.bsky.social · 2w ago

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

(4) Proceeds go back to a society to support early career researchers (e.g. travel grants, small research grants, etc.)

Paul Smaldino@psmaldino.bsky.social · 2w ago

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

Happy you thought of us! Most issues of AmNat have articles that have published gratis where authors state that they do not have funding. Green OA (that's the self-archiving route) is supported with no additional cost.

Open Mind

Paul Smaldino@psmaldino.bsky.social · 2w ago

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

@sociologicalsci.bsky.social it is!

Paul Smaldino@psmaldino.bsky.social · 2w ago

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

Easy: @abojournal.bsky.social Fully OA. No fees. Best editors I've ever worked with.

Paul Smaldino@psmaldino.bsky.social · 2w ago

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

Academics: What's a journal in your field that's great? I feel like they are a dwindling breed. Criteria: (1) No APC. Supports green or diamond OA. (2) High-quality and relatively fast peer review. (3) Editors who provide real curational value and exercise purposeful agency in the decision process.

Nearly four years ago we asked ourselves, "what would it look like to have a field-leading, completely free reference work for cognitive science"? It's been so fun editing OECS with @asifamajid.bsky.social and @hbaum.bsky.social. I can't believe we have published 200 (!!) articles! oecs.mit.edu

Philip Laughlin@philiplaughlin.bsky.social · 2w ago

Today's #OA spotlight is extra special. Just this week, @mitpress.bsky.social published the 200th article in our OPEN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE. Congrats to @mcxfrank.bsky.social & @asifamajid.bsky.social! We've come far since the 2023 @cogscisociety.bsky.social in Rotterdam! oecs.mit.edu

So the U.S. has gotten itself into a situation where the State Department is now warning Americans about traveling...anywhere. "The Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution." travel.state.gov/en/internati...

Good morning Murmuration and Blue Sky

I really like this paper I did with @nathan-gabriel.bsky.social and @avbell.bsky.social, now out in EHS. It's an unusual paper because we tried to model the emergence of complex, multidimensional and intersectional identity structures from a signaling perspective. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Ooh I know this one. It's by BANNING THE PERVERT GLASSES

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Meta’s smartglasses mean any child can be covertly filmed. In the age of AI, how do we tackle that risk?

If anyone is in the greater Sacramento area next month and wants to simultaneously see (1) me talk about fun history of science stuff and (2) an improv comedy troupe make up sketches based on my lecture, well, have I got great news for you. tickets.cklectures.com/events/cklec...

Get Tickets – Great Moments in Scientific History (with Improv) – Sacramento Comedy Spot

Great Moments in Scientific History (with Improv) – Sacramento Comedy Spot, Sun Aug 16, 2026 - Title - Great Moments in Scientific History (with Improv) Speaker - Paul Smaldino, PhD, Professor of Cog...

tickets.cklectures.com

Want to do a PhD to work on models of opinion dynamics and the inequalities of information flow, with an emphasis on climate change and climate policy? Apply by October 15 to work with Ago Merico and myself, based at @leibniz-zmt.de in Bremen, Germany. www.leibniz-zmt.de/en/vacancies...

Doctoral candidate (gn) - WG Systems Ecology

Das Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenforschung (ZMT) erforscht tropische und subtropische Küstenökosysteme und ihre Bedeutung für Natur und Menschen erforscht.

leibniz-zmt.de

👇🎯 Maybe someone should loudly & publicly & constantly tell American voters, students, parents, & politicians about this existential assault on higher education? I don’t know, perhaps the presidents & chancellors of our leading public and private universities?

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 3w ago

Every time they make it harder for foreign students to study here, they're just jacking up the tuition costs for American students and robbing America of incredible new talent too.

Academic publishing once was largely universities; last I knew this was very much under threat by the #freeThings #goldOpenAccess people, who also produced the perverse situation that genAI pays nothing for our work joanna-bryson.blogspot.com/2012/01/is-o...

I had a paper accepted and learned that PNAS got rid of their free, “closed access” (preprint ok) option - they now charge at least $3K to publish because they are greedy little pigs who have no shame.

reading @apvelilla.bsky.social @psmaldino.bsky.social @babeheim.bsky.social paper and realizing this is the kind of thing I say to my kids when they hurt each other. maybe i need new word choices. doi.org/10.1037/rev0...

Bringing one of the best tweets of all time over to Bluesky in honour of the Three Lions QF victory