Abraham D. Flaxman

I’ve been having a few too many conversations like this. Them: Hi Kate, how are things with your work, with the world? Me: the university is under attack, democratic norms being broken in half, so, pretty bad. Them: But everything is going to come back and be okay after the midterms. Me: Uhh, no.

YouTube video by Greg Granito That scene from War Games

(to be compared to www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHWj... )

YouTube video by Anton Pidkuiko Two AI agents play game OVER SOUND: Sonnet 3.7 vs GPT 4.5

There is also a video I missed at the time that is a newer, dumber update to the conclusion of War Games
www.youtube.com/watch?v=umNu...

YouTube video by Anton Pidkuiko Two AI agents on a phone call realize they’re both AI and switch to a superior audio signal ggwave

It made me look up a goofy demo that crossed my feed some months ago, where two callers politely acknowledge that they are both AI, and agree to work together faster
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtNa...

Bullshit Machines for Bullshit Work is my favorite chapter so far
thebullshitmachines.com/lesson-13-bu...

Yes, there are new studies suggesting this. And I believe there are plenty of others indicating real gains. I should caveat this though. I’m reminded of when GUIs we’re introduced. People thought they boosted productivity, but they actually slowed experienced users down.

thebullshitmachines.com/lesson-11-tr... says AI helps skilled coders work faster. But the evidence is developing so rapidly! The latest finding is that AI helps them *think* they are working faster. metr.org/blog/2025-07...

Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines: Introduction A free online humanities course about how to learn and work and thrive in an AI world.

I'm reading @carlbergstrom.com and @jevinwest.bsky.social 's notes on Bullshit Machines. thebullshitmachines.com

The @uwescience.bsky.social has an ethnographer to study our data scientists and their rituals

escience.washington.edu/staff-spotli...

If you have been affected by the removal of federal public health data, @academyhealth.bsky.social wants to hear from you! They are suing to restore access to these data and need concrete examples for their case.

Link to submit is at the bottom of this post:

academyhealth.org/blog/2025-05...

Mapping the "No Kings" demonstrations in the United States The “No Kings” demonstrations on 14 June represent the latest in a series of massive, widespread demonstrations against the Trump administration.

acleddata.com/2025/06/17/m...

What are Republicans thinking? Helping children is not a partisan issue.

STAGGERING: This new study of 133 countries is the first to estimate the impact of all USAID’s work. In 2 decades, it has saved *92M* lives. Current cuts, if not reversed, are forecast to cost up to *14M* lives thru 2030. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

My first experience with “vaccine hunger games” was trying to get a yellow fever vaccine before a trip to Brazil and the US had no yellow fever vaccine. (Except for very limited places under an EUA…)

Three maps showing geographical distribution of confirmed human cases of yellow fever by year, Region of the Americas, 2023-2025, as of 26 April 2025.

"Yellow fever is prevented by an effective vaccine, which is safe and affordable."
www.who.int/emergencies/...

The UW mourns Dr. King Holmes, who transformed the study of sexually transmitted infections UW Magazine | University of Washington

The title of his first book, written with Jennifer Wear, says it all: “How to Have Intercourse Without Getting Screwed.” Once, at a lecture, he explained the pun: “I wrote it for my kids.”

magazine.washington.edu/the-uw-mourn...

Time lapse of the No Kings protest today in Seattle

bsky.app/profile/carl...

Well said by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

🔊 @drkariljordan.bsky.social's #PyConUS 2025 keynote is up on @pycon.us's YT. 🎉

Kari shares incredible insights, and Python impact stories from @brownsarahm.com @healthyalgo.bsky.social @fgazzelloni.bsky.social Amanda Kis & @marijanewhite.bsky.social.

Check it out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UOL...

Student project to demonstrate using the simulated data from pseudopeople.org :
medium.com/@samshin0714...

This is a rupture, there will be a before and an after. There is no reason to believe the after will resemble the before, at all. This is a demarcation in the lives of thousands of researchers and tens of thousands of educators.

The way people are talking about the current demolition of research funding and HE legitimacy reminds me of the early days of COVID when I (and others) said it would be at least six years before any normalcy. Rage, despondency, rejection…eventually voting for a dictator just to feel alive.

Making German Science Fail Again ➤ Decline in professors: in Nov 1934, experimental physicist Max Wien circulated memo to colleagues that 17 of 100 academic posts in physics were vacant as opposed to the normal 2-3. ➤ 7 of 37 institutional directorships were vacant, meaning work couldn't be done at 20% or institutes. ➤ Situation was so bad that industry proposed training physicists for their work directly. ➤ Foreign visitors dropped nearly in half from 1930 to 1933. Restrictions were put on German physicists who wanted to travel abroad. ➤ Many foreign journals, such as Nature, were banned and could not be accessed in Germany.

Nazi Germany and Physics
🧪 17/26
drive.google.com/file/d/1_MCm...

See these remarks and everything you ever wanted to know about the American Community Survey (ACS) in the recordings of yesterday's ACS Conference events.prb.org/series/2025-...

Here’s something we can all do: every time we see something about the Trump administration’s attacks on science — and the impacts of those attacks — boost it. People, and even faculty, have no idea how bad it is and how much worse it’s going to get. We need to let people know…

Even if we aren't quite sure what to do, just the visible act of trying SOMETHING might be enough to inspire others to rush in and try to help too.

Norovirus vaccine produces mucosal immunity in phase 2b trial

Despite being the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, there are currently no vaccines for norovirus.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/n...

Photo: selvanegra / iStock

Infant care in Washington state averages more than $21K a year That's more than $8,000 above annual in-state tuition at the University of Washington.

Infant day care prices now average over $21K per year in Washington state. That's over $8K more than in-state tuition and fees at the University of Washington. www.axios.com/local/seattl... #waleg

It is sometimes hard to explain the importance of Academic Freedom. But this is it: we must be able to research things even if the results contradict the government.