Uma Karmarkar
@umakarma.bsky.social
Decision (neuro)scientist. Joint faculty between business and policy at UCSD. Neuroeconomics, psych, marketing, policy, snark, etc.
Well that post was a very specific, very accurate description of my college dorm contract: ATTEMPTING SLEEK LIGHTING DESIGN WILL KILL YOU WITH FIRE
Anil Dash@anildash.com · 2h agoOne of the saddest things that Kids Today won't get to hear? Impassioned warnings about the dangers of halogen torchiere lamps, and how those pillars of plasma will straight up BURN YOUR SHIT DOWN if you so much as avert your gaze for a *second*. No, now you have LEDs & LCDs and lighting is safe. 😔
From episode 119 of Opinion Science, featuring Dr. Demi Oba. His research highlights how people express various kinds of uncertainty, and some of it can be persuasive--even more persuasive than expressing certainty.
The mayor of New York is posting about consumer/UI dark patterns (and addressing them with policy).
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 2d agoWhen Uber Eats and DoorDash hid the tip button, delivery workers paid the price. Tips fell by 79%. In January, we changed that. Since then, more than $104 million has gone back into the pockets of the delivery workers who keep New York City fed.
New baby hippo born at Berlin Zoo. Named Brötchen. Which means "little bread roll." You're welcome
A new series at the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid places “Guernica” in dialogue with other artworks. "History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme," aims to revisit the universal political impulses behind the anti-war painting and also exposes race as an urgent issue for contemporary art.
Madrid Museum Puts Picasso in Dialogue With "African Guernica"
Dumile Feni’s monumental drawing is part of the Museo Reina Sofía's new program "History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme."
hyperallergic.com
Do you have some cool summer findings on decision-making? Tell everyone about it! The late-breaking abstract deadline for October's Society for Neuroeconomics conference is August 4th: neuroeconomics.org/abstract/
I love reading about these kinds of linked anatomical/functional circuitry insights (it's not just what's "on the chip", it's the design of the wires)
Matteo Carandini@carandinilab.net · 5d agoThe apical dendrite looks great, and does wonders in a slice. What does it do in the living cortex? It depends on the cell. A causal spatial role for apical dendrites in the cortex www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... by @anyiliu.bsky.social with @kenneth-harris.bsky.social and @fedrossi.bsky.social
Update: Google just sent me a statement saying it is “rolling back” this AI feature that let anyone make completely bullshit satellite images. Comes after our demos of the tool and those from OSINT researchers. One of the worst AI tools I’ve ever seen bsky.app/profile/jose...
Joseph Cox@josephcox.bsky.social · 5d agoNew from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...
If you have an academic in your life, please be gentle with them this weekend because they're probably freaking the fuck out.
Joseph M. Adelman@jmadelman.bsky.social · 5d agoBecause the 1st is a Saturday, “How is it August already?!” will be observed today, Friday, July 31, 2026. Please panic accordingly.
And now BTS has told the Grammys to kick rocks. Good for them. www.teenvogue.com/story/bts-de... bsky.app/profile/popb...
BTS Has Made Their Statement. Are the Grammys Listening?
BTS are officially turning their back on the 2027 Grammys in a bold move that’s getting praise from fans and critics alike.
teenvogue.com
Pop Base@popbase.tv · 2mo agoThe GRAMMYs are introducing their first Asian category at next year’s ceremony. Best Asian Pop Music Performance will recognise K-Pop, J-Pop, C-Pop recordings that feature meaningful use of one or more Asian languages.
tl;dr: The germ ended up not-deadly, but *it could have been* because there was a vial of deadly-labeled stuff in the freezer for the class. Look, we've all mis-shelved an occasional aliquot, but hard not to see this as a signal of catastrophically bad lab practice. arstechnica.com/health/2026/...
College lab class ends with 32 people on antibiotics for deadly germ exposure
Lab students were supposed to ID a mild germ. They all identified a deadly pathogen.
arstechnica.com
Not unfair to ask re: employability- yeah, interdisciplinarity can make things harder. You have to be "multilingual", entrepreneurial and persuasive. Everyone likes your talks, no one publishes your papers. (I'm already slow, and it made me slower.) BUT- you do get to do really cool sh*t
Pam Davis-Kean, PhD@umpamdk.bsky.social · last wk.I consider myself an interdisciplinary scientist. A post on LinkedIn challenged the idea that we should mentor our students to be more interdisciplinary. Here are my thoughts on what that means in my new APS Presidential column. www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
In desperation, scientists turn to OnlyFans for funding. But it's not Hot Scientist Feet. No. It's HOT MARMOT SUMMER. OnlyMarms. It makes me both sad for the state of funding, and also...I mean good on ya, that is creative thinking! www.sfgate.com/national-par...
Calif. researchers turn to OnlyFans as their funding dries up
But it's not what you think.
sfgate.com
Gambling's rise as a leisure pastime is an important and interesting topic for several reasons. However, to understand social/experiential impact, I would have preferred a different comparison set (& I'd be super interested in $ AND time spend) (1/3) fortune.com/2026/07/26/g...
Gambling becomes America's favorite pastime as Americans spend more on sports bets than movies, arts, museums, and music combined | Fortune
Americans wagered $166 billion on sports last year, more than Hollywood, the music industry, books, and museums combined.
fortune.com
paradox para = beyond, outside of dokein = to think oxymoron oxys = sharp, keen mōros = foolish Happy Birthday, John Ashbery!
Super interesting framing diffs: Bloomberg: Becoming a creator/influencer is a "plausible career pivot" and can "rival a middle class salary" Bsky posters: The data shows about 48% of creators earn <15K, 57% are below living wage www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The Creator Economy Has a New Middle Class
A growing tier of microinfluencers is proving that loyal audiences, affiliate links and brand deals can rival — or exceed — traditional office pay.
bloomberg.com
There are so many of these marketing failures... I'm so curious how/when/why tech firms became so bad at this. I mean, tech wasn't always tone deaf (🧵)
Amanda Silberling@amanda.omg.lol · 2w agothis broke me techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/m...
You should read the whole story/thread because it is about how this woman's undergarments tried to kill her. But really I feel like this moral finale encapsulates everything about why I'm still on (this) social media.
🌈Dr. Frizzle@swilua.bsky.social · 2y agoThe moral of this story is American healthcare is awful, women doctors are amazing, and you should never wear underwear without reading the label first. /Fin.
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 agoToday'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
The specific phrasing of this advice hit hard this morning. When you're making an executive/policy decision "ask who los[es] what"
Justin Wolfers@justinwolfers.bsky.social · 2w agoWhen politicians cut a program, don’t just ask how much money they saved. Ask who lost what. In the past year, over 4 million Americans have lost food assistance worth about $6 a day. Why the consequences may be broader and harsher than promised: newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/one-big-be...
Good advice generally, but this really stuck out: "her job hunt became easier when she started “having conversations with people instead of lecturing them” Uh, YES. Your whole life will get easier if you refrain from lecturing adults *anywhere* outside of a classroom.
Nature@nature.com · 2w agoA postdoc researcher trying to move into an industry role wants help gaining traction and making it past the first interview stage go.nature.com/44Ed0SS
Oh goodness - a funded postdoc in a great lab with cool questions? GO CATCH THIS UNICORN.
aaron bornstein@aaronbornstein.bsky.social · 3w agoLooking to work with a postdoc. Prior experience with fMRI and computational modeling required, interest in psychiatry desired. Fellowship provides three years salary plus independent travel/equipment funds. Send CV and 2-3 manuscripts (preprints OK).
The merch appears to have sold out IMMEDIATELY. (Damnit, I wish I liked baseball more)
Meatwad Ron: Summer of Ron@wrenispinkle.bsky.social · 3w agoThey finally did it they found a way for me to become a fan of an LA sports team
First - spectacular deployment of a lenticular image. Second, either the Jenners are doing this on purpose, or they REALLY need to learn to read the room (see also, Kendall Jenner / Pepsi.) hyperallergic.com/guerrilla-lo...
Guerrilla London Bus Ads Mock Kylie Jenner’s Meta Glasses Campaign
“Billionaires could fund cures for cancer — so why are they funding glasses for perverts instead?" asked the protest group Everyone Hates Elon.
hyperallergic.com
Surprised by this- grew up in a small-ish suburb, and if we had to venture beyond friends' basements/backyards, we had: Community centers, libraries, ungated school playgrounds & parking lots, parks, fast food joints & cheap diners, arcades in movie theater lobbies, malls and Borders/B&N.
Zack Davisson@zackdavisson.com · 3w agoI ask as always: What were these mythical "third places that previous generations had available to them?" The whole idea of "third places" is just so much Camelot mythmaking.
