Derek Larson, Ph.D. 🇨🇦

Panel 1: Exec: "Ok guys ok ok we won't kill Adobe Animate." Crowd: "Phew" "thank fuck" "That's better" "I'm still switching to something else." "No yeah you really should" Panel 2: Exec: "Unfortunately we will also stop adding new features to it." Crowd: "WOO!!!" "It's a dream come true!" "Yeah!" "Finally!" Exec: "... um. Why are they cheering"

maintenance mode

I strongly encourage my palaeoart peers who work in the museum display sector to write explicit "no AI modification" clauses into their contracts.

Even if your employee contacts at a given museum are trustworthy, you can't rely on outsourced 3rd parties to not butcher your work without said clause.

diagrams and photos of a partial theropod dinosaur tibia.

In 2003, I published a paper on an incomplete large theropod tibia recovered from the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Group (part of the Wealden). It likely belongs to a member of the Allosauridae + Carcharodontosauria clade within Allosauroidea rather than to a metriacanthosaurid... cont #dinosaurs

Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/

Danielle Smith is undermining the independence of the judiciary in her province. She openly believes in parliamentary supremacy. Her argument is that we should be more like the US.

Our Canadian values are getting in her way, apparently.

#Canada #CdnPoli #Politics #Alberta #Smith #Americanization

Absolutely the opposite.

Harper is still the worst prime minister in my life.

He made Canada weaker, destroyed science - especially climate science. Cut Stats Canada and fucked the census to cripple our ability to criticize his policies. Targeted non profits with fruitless tax audits.

Adobe Is Ruthlessly Killing Off Software That Animators Around The World Are Using Every Day [Update] 'The entire toolshed is being demolished'

UPDATE: Following user backlash Adobe has changed plans, saying that while active development on Animate will cease, it will remain available for download.

unserious company

Dog Genetics Reveal Surprising Relationships among Breeds When it comes to dog traits, genetics-based lineages are more telling than human-made categories

Get excited for tonight's Westminster best in show decision by diving into the science of dog breeds

Adobe is not really in the creative software business anymore. They are in the digital wealth extraction business. I wish more comics publishers would prioritize moving away from Adobe.

Figure of Western U.S. snow cover area from 2001 to 2026 illustrates a staggering decline in current coverage compared to historical norms. While the historical data for mid-January typically clusters between 400,000 and 600,000 square miles, the line for 2026 sits in unprecedented territory at the very bottom of the graph. On January 15, 2026, the snow cover area plummeted to a record low of 142,700 square miles—less than one-third of the median and the lowest point in the entire 25-year satellite record. This visual gap emphasizes a severe "snow drought," with the 2026 data point trailing significantly behind even the previous record lows, highlighting an extreme and alarming anomaly in winter precipitation.

The western U.S. faces its lowest snowpack on record despite average or above-average rainfall. Warmer temperatures mean more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, and will worsen droughts in areas like the Pacific Northwest and the Colorado River Basin.

science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

c. Limitations of the study and future research: There is mention of limitations to the research, which also undermines transparency and credibility of the manuscript. The conclusion briefly states "further research is required" but does not explain what questions remain unanswered or how future studies could address limitations. d. Overstepping in policy/practice recommendations: The authors should be mindful that their policy and practice recommendations currently go beyond the data and analysis provided. The study did not examine policy implementation or effectiveness, and have not provide evidence that suggest which interventions would work. As currently framed, the recommendations read as prescriptive rather than grounded in the analysis. In revising the manuscript, the authors should temper their recommendations by framing these as potential implications and link each one explicitly to a theme. e. Conclusion: This final part of the discussion is fairly generic rather than a tightly written set of conclusions that synthesises the key findings and provides a strong closing argument.

A student & I got a 4 page review on a manuscript we submitted to a peer reviewed journal. It’s hard not to suspect AI. But however this was generated, this line was so troubling: "There is mention of limitations to the research, which also undermines transparency and credibility of the manuscript."

Small, Stubby-Armed Dinosaurs Have Confounded Paleontologists. Are Answers Finally Within Reach? Recent discoveries about an alvarezsaur called Manipulonyx have drawn renewed attention to this group of bird-like, clawed creatures and the mysteries around their anatomy and behavior

Alvarezsaurs were very bird-like dinosaurs, many possessing bizarre, stubby claw hands. Despite several decades of study, we still don’t know why these dinosaurs evolved such unusual arms. My latest for Smithsonian. 🧪

CANNIBALISM OF AN ADULT TYRANNOSAUR BY A JUVENILE:
Our new study on a Badlands Dinosaur Museum fossil reveals dinosaur cannibalism where a juvenile tyrannosaur feasted on the carcass of a dead adult!

3D reconstructions supervision Yu Xin, designer Shen Li, sculptor Liang Junwei

/1

imagine, with everything else going on at this company, how someone thought this was a good idea.

New chicken-sized dinosaur baffles paleontologists The tiny Foskeia pelendonum was a plant-eating dinosaur with a “weird” anatomy, scientists say

The tiny Foskeia pelendonum was a plant-eating dinosaur with a “weird” anatomy, scientists say

by age 38 you should have had experiences with Google, Adobe, Microsoft, etc rile you up so much when you meet anyone working there no matter what dept unless you knew them before that you're furious with them personally like someone from alderaan meeting a storm trooper who worked on the death star

I keep seeing the “reminder don’t use Adobe here are the alternatives” image going around and folks, the problem is not just that Adobe sucks, the problem is they’re blocking legal access to decades of art files utilized by individuals and entire teams

the conspiratorial part of me wants to say that there's no way Adobe is so stupid as to spontaneously shut down an industry-wide used program so it must be deliberate sabotage on art to artificially force usage of gAI

but on the other hand "they are in fact that stupid" is a valid counter-argument

Called and spoke with Adobe customer support and the guy told me Adobe is discontinuing Animate because apparently the company can't think of any new features to add to the program and they feel it's gotten stale.

So they're just GETTING RID OF IT???

This isn't hypothetical; at least four times, I've later learned that someone I've worked with or connected a student with was a predator, after the fact. In the absence of institutional action, sometimes a whisper network is all we have. But whisper networks only work if you're in the network.

Just as a quick note while we discuss all the new (and familiar) names in the Epstein files: be careful about saying "everyone knows" about prominent people who are predators. People new to the field, people less connected (often marginalized folks), people who are adjacent, etc. may not know.

Billie Eilish: "No one is illegal on stolen land"

(1) Long 🧵 Time.
Today we learned that paleontologist Jack Horner (the same guy who helped give us "Jurassic Park") is in the Epstein Files. As a paleontologist, I feel compelled to say something because this touches my field and I want to make my stance clear on this...

This Jack Horner. Who’s been known to the whisper network for some time now. There’s a reason I have repeatedly turned down writing about his work or him.

Email from Leslie Groff to Jeffrey Epstein Subject: Jack Horner to Ranch "Jack Horner says to please tell you he would love to see your ranch and he would be abailable to come any day after July 25th."

Email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epsetin Should I check in with Jack Horner? He believes hens to leave for the ranch on July 26 (2 weeks from today). Do I need to tell him plans are in a holding pattern? Jeffery Epstein responds: delay him one day Lesley Groff responds: Another tid bit! JE is asking me to delay jack horner one day! So this would be an arrival of July 27 depart 29... I have emailed Jack to aske if this would work with his schedule.... :)

Email from John Horner to Jeffrey Epstein 6/29/2012 Hi [redacted] Since i don't really know how long it would take to get from Albuquerque to the ranch and visa versa [sic], and don't know how I'm to get there (would someone be picking me up or should I rent a car) it would probably be best if you just booked the flight for me. Delta Airlines connecting through Salt Lake is the most convenient for me. My official name and frequent number [sic] is: John Robert Horner Delta # [REDACTED] The geology maps are perfect. Jack

email from Lesley Groff to Jeffrey Epstein "Reminder: John Horner and student to visit ranch today... [redacted] =ill [sic] be taking care of them...

Jack Horner being in the Epstein files is not something I had on my bingo card for 2026.... Horner seemingly visited Epstein's ranch multiple times, including apparently with a student.

Magic the Gathering card, Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists. 2GWU Legendary Creature - Human Scientist T, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Discover X, where X is the mana value of the exiled card. Activate only as a sorcery.

Happy birthday, Shivam. Gotta go with Ellie and Alan!

“If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

Vaccines are literally one of the foundations of modern civilization. Along with sanitation and clean water, they are one of the key pieces of infrastructure that allow so many people to live alongside each other.

Liam is home now and we are grateful to @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social for traveling to Minneapolis with him and his dad.

Welcome home Liam ❤️❤️