Chris Rodgers

Much as we would like it to be, this is still not really a “no”, but a carefully calibrated “maybe”

🎃 What is the origin of the trope that when you show up to a Halloween party without a costume, you are "dressed as a serial killer because they could look like anyone"? Is this trope specific to the US or do other countries have it too?

Notebook of Kathleen Lonsdale for determining the crystal structure of benzene.

Kathleen Lonsdale's notebook used while determining the crystal structure is also rather wonderful - such elegant handwritten calculations.

lol hope this lands and enough of your students lie at the intersection of critical AI thinkers and historians of the far side’s most inscrutable joke!

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14

I think that might've happened. For what it's worth, in the old days POs used to tell me that NOSIs were really only used for keeping track of interest in various topics (ie, they didn't increase your chances). I assume they have more urgent issues to deal with now

This is my read too

Screenshot of Dartmouth message: https://president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10/response-compact-academic-excellence-higher-education

I'm seeing a lot of folks post this with the caption "Dartmouth says no" or similar. I don't think that this message actually says "no". It says they are "committed" and will "defend" and "do better", but no actual action is specified - not even rejecting the compact. Keep the pressure on!

From talking to people just a bit older or just a bit younger than me, I now realize that I vastly overestimated the cultural importance of The Mighty Ducks movies

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

Congrats Eartha!!!! Getting the bioRxiv out is the best milestone. The results look great!

Not to say that i think the current system is working well at all. The system I've imagined: Censor journal names from grant applications, remove all requirements for peer review, but allow authors to attach optional & non-anonymous peer reviews to their preprints.

While very creative, this proposal would nearly require publishing in a gov-run journal, and I think right now is evidence of the danger in that. It wasn't that long ago (~2015) that people seriously pitched the idea of Twitter replacing journals, and I think we all see the danger in that now too.

Sounds like they could have sharpened up their operational def, but I don't see this as evidence that ODs aren't desirable. The main alternative - non-operational definitions - can lead to imputing all kinds of cognitive constructs willy nilly, like a mouse model of a case of the Mondays or whatever

Biomechanics: Squeezing power drives ballistic tongues Chameleons and lungless salamanders independently evolved very fast projectile tongues. In both cases, ballistic performance involves a long, blunt-ended skeletal rod that slides freely within a power...

Here, the 'ballistic tongues' paper by Yu Zeng and team
www.cell.com/current-biol...

plus dispatch by Sam Van Wassenbergh

www.cell.com/current-biol...

With only 1 month of data, you have fewer pairs to correlate at +/- 20 days. This can show up as a decrease unless you normalize, which then produces high variance. If you repeat many times, does it reliably decrease, or do the error bars get wild at the long latencies?

numbers station morning... @griph.bsky.social I think if you return a digital library loan early the person who gets "your" copy should get it with a passive aggressive "you're welcome" note on the first page from you. Just a little idea to make everything slightly worse. Cheers. September 13, 2024 at 12:01 PM

The underlying values of diversity, equity, and inclusion remain important. Ending the DEI programs lends credence to the false claim that "DEI" is some sinister plot. The choice was likely made in an attempt to avoid gov ire, but premature compliance does not buy safety - look at Columbia.

My quote of the day

At any moment, an old world is passing and a new world is coming into being. We have sharper eyes for the fall than the rise because the old world is the one we know.

John Updike

just realized that I say "a NIDCD fellowship" but "an NINDS fellowship". Crazy that the third letter of the initialism subconsciously drives the article that feels right to use!

Bob's burger meme: I hope everyone's having a good time, and if you're not, I'd like to see you organize something on this budget and in this time frame.

My forever meme.

My statement on Ai from the mini-comic as syllabus i made for new class I'm teaching that starts tomorrow! It robs you of your decisions & struggles - and the joy of being surprised. We won’t to be robbed of our learning - this is essential. This & the full mini at post:
bsky.app/profile/nsou...

This is indeed the challenge of the moment.

The most Canadian headline ever.

2025 is your university providing programming for faculty on "Navigating Moral Distress"

Proud to be associated with this work led by Kiah Hardcastle and Jesse Marshall. It parses the role of the basal ganglia in the control of learned and innate behaviors, showing that they are essential for one but not the other. Then digs deeper to find the neural basis for this difference. Congrats!

4/4 Russ Vought, Project 2025 mastermind, said about us:

“When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down … We want to put them in trauma.”

He meant it literally. We won't forget.

Suspect and Officer Are Dead After Shooting Outside C.D.C. in Atlanta

A gunman opened fire on federal workers at CDC because of disinformation promoted by the right, including agency leaders, and the administration has said nothing. We knew project2025 wanted federal workers to be “traumatized”, apparently it’s also ok if they’re killed www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/u...

He is prolific. I find that some of it sticks better than others. Probably could have benefited from a more assertive editor! Although, we all could