Brandon Keim

Recent interview on Knowing Animals w @joshmilburn.bsky.social. We discuss my new paper on children's moral circles, coauthored w @juliamarshall.bsky.social @karrineldner.bsky.social @luciuscaviola.bsky.social

Podcast: knowinganimals.libsyn.com/episode-240-...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"I stopped eating meat some 50 years ago," wrote Jane Goodall, "when I looked at the pork chop on my plate and thought: this represents fear, pain, death."

Best as I can tell, not one obituary or article on her passing mentions this fact. It's worth knowing. news.janegoodall.org/2017/04/28/w...

The paradox of AI accelerationism and the promise of public interest AI Over the past 3 years, the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) development should be accelerated without restraint to drive radical societal change—a phenomenon known as AI accelerationism—has gain...

"By focusing on abstract, far-future scenarios, [proponents of AI accelerationism] ignore tangible harms caused by technology in the present, including algorithmic bias, worker exploitation, and systemic discrimination." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

"I stopped eating meat some 50 years ago," wrote Jane Goodall, "when I looked at the pork chop on my plate and thought: this represents fear, pain, death."

Best as I can tell, not one obituary or article on her passing mentions this fact. It's worth knowing. news.janegoodall.org/2017/04/28/w...

My very favorite, though, is this one! (This link is to a synopsis; reference at bottom): sharkresearch.earth.miami.edu/evidence-for...

Social interactions shape the timing of spawning migrations in an anadromous fish Mass migrations are found throughout the animal kingdom and are often undertaken by coordinated social groups. However, surprisingly little is known a…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

"AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations"

Should you let AI train your dog? The lawless world of AI and animals Artificial intelligence could transform our relationships with animals, but more must be done to make sure AI works for the interests of other species.

#AI is transforming the lives of animals at speed, but these huge impacts are going unchecked.

Isabella Logothetis, Spencer Jury @birchlse.bsky.social @lsephilosophy.bsky.social argue more must be done to make sure AI works for, not against the interests of other species @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social.

Protecting animal cultures as World Heritage - Nature Sustainability It is becoming increasingly clear that animal cultures have intrinsic, irreplaceable value, and yet they are not adequately protected by preserving habitat. The time has come for UNESCO to explicitly protect non-human cultural heritage alongside human heritage.

Here we propose adding an 11th criterion to UNESCO’s framework to protect animal cultures—habitat protection alone isn’t enough. Excited to collaborate with philosophers @merikatariina.bsky.social & @birchlse.bsky.social on this!

Message me for access ;-)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Hi! Will it be recorded?

A fun study on territorial, often-solitary wall lizards becoming more gregarious and easygoing in the cities where they thrive. Social tolerance begets success 🦎✌🏽

By @averymaune.bsky.social et al. in @royalsocietypublishing.org: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Do Reptiles Have Moods, Too?

People who know reptiles well say they don't only experience fleeting pains and pleasures, but also lasting emotional states: happiness & sadness, or at least good & bad moods.

But how do you show this in a scientific way?

My latest for @nytimes.com on a clever @coldbloodedcog.bsky.social study:

I do have a story in the works for @baynature.org on what it's like to be an arboreal salamander ;)

Do Reptiles Have Moods, Too?

People who know reptiles well say they don't only experience fleeting pains and pleasures, but also lasting emotional states: happiness & sadness, or at least good & bad moods.

But how do you show this in a scientific way?

My latest for @nytimes.com on a clever @coldbloodedcog.bsky.social study:

Inspiring text about how seeing others with wonder invites us to understand them more deeply and treat them with greater care.

Our paper on 🌱🦧ANIMAL MEDICINE🐜🍄 has been accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science!

You can find the accepted version here, open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

I wish publications would have dedicated Nature sections rather than lumping the entire living world under Science or maybe Environment. IMHO this would be fabulously successful.

If so, it’s only because it’s become standard practice and expectation, and thus not even something people think to identify.

Yes! Raymond Chandler’s books were eye-opening for me; I hadn’t realized that distrust of police authority was so prominent in the early to mid 20th century.

Have you read Philip Kerr’s Bernie Guenther books? They’ve always felt timely, but painfully so now.

What explains the enduring grip of medical skepticism? | Aeon Essays Why do so many see vaccines and other medical interventions as tools of social control rather than boons to health?

For example, distrust in vaccines emerging from distrust in the medical industry: aeon.co/essays/what-...

The way social scientists are ignored in the discourse over public distrust in science is frustrating. There's so much wisdom out there about how & why people lose confidence in systems of authority, expertise, and ultimately the science associated with those systems.

The Birds of September 11 On 9/11, the Great Recession, and the Tribute in Light's avian rescue.

"There was something unusual about the beams: Sparkling white points of light spiraled slowly inside them, hundreds if not thousands, almost like confetti, but confetti wouldn’t have been visible from that distance. It also wouldn’t have risen. A few people said the lights made them think of souls."

Not always. An example of an 'invasive' who made their way here are nine-banded armadillos; and some argue that native species can be invasive. (See www.cell.com/trends/ecolo... )

To be clear, I'm not denying the concept of invasiveness, but noting the messiness—and problems—of its application.

Thought experiment: If this happened now instead of the 1970s, would the turtles still be welcomed? Or would some people label them non-native and warn about their potential invasiveness?

Thought experiment: If this happened now instead of the 1970s, would the turtles still be welcomed? Or would some people label them non-native and warn about their potential invasiveness?

FWIW a cheapish waterproof point-and-click was a great investment for me. Not that it's essential to be taking pictures, but it's a tool of exploration that makes me pay closer attention / follow my curiosity.

You'll love it!

Me too! It's a whole other universe.

Have you swum much with fish? Snorkeling in the lakes and rivers here has been transformative. Growing up I only knew them at the end of fishing lines. Meeting them in their world, on their terms, made me realize that I had never actually known them.