Andrea Polanco, PhD

How Prolific detects bots and AI in online research | Prolific Learn about the multi-layered protections that bring you genuine, human participants

Prolific has addressed this: www.prolific.com/resources/ho...

AI chatbots are infiltrating social-science surveys — and getting better at avoiding detection A researcher has created a chatbot that is indistinguishable from human participants in online surveys. Some researchers fear that a workhorse of social science is now under threat.

FYI for those who rely on online panels for data collection (e.g., surveys, polls, online experiments, etc): www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How Many Animals Are Used In Research? A Deep Look At The United States & Canada - Faunalytics In this resource, we explore trends in the number of animals used in research in the United States and Canada, based on data tracked by government and nonprofit agencies for the past several decades.

There are tons of more charts for people interested, as well as recommendations for advocates. I hope this resource helps advocates in Canada and the U.S. who are fighting for a world where we no longer harm animals against their consent.

faunalytics.org/how-many-ani...

There are also upward trends in monkey use in both countries, likely due to COVID as monkeys are commonly used for vaccine testing. As revealed by investigations, COVID research is connected to wildlife trafficking —plucking monkeys from the wild in Cambodia so they can be used in research overseas.

This is what the chart would look like if rodents were counted in the U.S. (assuming they make up 95% of all laboratory animals in the U.S.). This is actually still on the conservative end, as other people have estimated rodent numbers to be over 100 million annually: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@faunalytics.bsky.social tracked the # of animals used in research in Canada (since 1985) & the U.S. (since 1973) as reported by gov't or national agencies. The # of tracked animals in science is increasing in Canada, but decreasing in the U.S. (But the USDA excludes rodents, fish, & other species)

What is your point?

Some people need to read this metaphor to "get it."

Articles like this are frustrating to read. They rarely discuss the ethics of animal testing & just accept the status quo that testing on non-consenting animals is morally okay. If other animals had similar rights to humans in research, most of it wouldn’t be allowed: faunalytics.org/why-we-need-...

Say what you want about PETA, but they are the GOAT when it comes to antivivisection wins!

Remembering the Brown Dog Who Helped Launch Our Movement Over 100 years ago, the Brown Dog Affair exposed the cruelty of vivisection, sparked riots, and helped ignite a global movement against animal experimentation—an urgent story with lasting relevance to...

Over a hundred years ago, one small brown dog became a symbol of resistance. His suffering sparked public outrage, riots, and a movement that still stands united against animal experimentation today.

On National Brown Dog Day, we remember his story: riseforanimals.org/news/brown-d...

Colleagues & I worked with @usgao.bsky.social for a year to clarify a major discrepancy in NIH's reported spending on animal experimentation.

Now GAO has re-released its report to more accurately reflect what we do & don't know about NIH’s use of public funds: www.gao.gov/assets/gao-2...

🧵👇

New episode! What should parents feed their kids? Meat or plant-based?
We use ethics, science and psychology to tackle this big one, and put 2 philosophers' arguments to the test with parents

cool! I just met someone who was born & raised vegan too

Alpha Genesis Announces Research Animal Retirement and Lifetime Care Program to Preserve Animal Welfare, Research Continuity, and National Preparedness ACCESS Newswire provides PR agencies with trusted press release distribution, media outreach tools, media lists, pitching features, analytics, monitoring, and dedicated support designed for multi-clie...

Alpha Genesis mostly dunks on sanctuaries in their press release, w/o detailing their own infrastructure. I doubt they'll keep all retired monkeys in outdoor group settings: www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/...

Their past negligence killed 22 monkeys: spectrumlocalnews.com/sc/south-car...

V skeptical of an animal testing company, w/ a history of negligence, claiming they should handle lab monkey retirement b/c sanctuaries can't (capacity is a real issue, but still). Buried in the PR fluff is the real goal: keeping retired animals for "future public health or biodefense emergencies."

Tactics In Practice: The Data Behind Humane Education - Faunalytics This deep dive explores the research on humane education — programs that teach the consequences of animal agriculture and/or respect for animals — examining how these initiatives influence dietary cho...

Colombia’s policy could be an opportunity to close this research gap & to better understand how humane ed can drive lasting change for animals.

Learn more about humane education's impact here:
faunalytics.org/tactics-in-p...

And Colombia's new empathy law here: www.speciesunite.com/news-stories...

Bar chart titled “Figure 3. The Impact of Humane Education on Long-Term Diet Change,” with the subtitle “Long-Term Reductions.” The y-axis shows percentage from 0 to 100. Four studies are displayed. Two teal bars represent self-reported reductions: Bryant & Dillard (2020), measured 3–30 months later, shows a 52% reduction; Faunalytics (2022), measured up to five years later, shows a 58% reduction. Two orange bars represent actual meat purchase reductions: Jalil et al. (2020), measured over eight months, shows a 7.8% reduction; Jalil et al. (2023), measured over three years, shows a 9% reduction. A legend distinguishes self-reported reduction (teal) from actual meat purchase reduction (orange). A note states that compared to control groups, treatment participants ate less meat over the entire study period after receiving humane education in the studies by Jalil and colleagues (p < 0.01).

There’s v limited longitudinal research on humane ed delivered as an ongoing curriculum, making its impact hard to measure. That said, the evidence we do have is promising 👀 Even a single university lecture on the ethics of eating meat led to a 9% reduction in meat consumption lasting 3 years.

Colombia just made animal protection education mandatory in schools, a great real-world example of humane education, which I recently researched for @faunalytics.bsky.social! The theory: sustained education ➡️ deeper thinking ➡️ empathy ➡️ empowered change. But there’s a big challenge...

From the tattoos community on Reddit: Anti-animal testing leg sleeve by Korztattoo/Lisa Korzenowski (Montréal, Canada) Explore this post and more from the tattoos community

I finally completed my tattoo leg sleeve that commemorates laboratory animals (my PhD focused on lab monkeys). I love horror so I wanted this sleeve to be vengeful & to depict revenge (tw: gore). It was completed in 4 sessions by korztattoo in Montréal. #vegantattoo

www.reddit.com/r/tattoos/s/...

E.P.A. Promises a Ban on Animal Testing by 2035

"The Environmental Protection Agency will stop using rabbits, mice, rats and other mammals to test the toxicity of chemicals by 2035." Big win for lab animals in the U.S. Unfortunately, however, the ban doesn't include fish.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/c...

🐔 We're hiring! Visit thl.link/4ba4oYx for more information on our 5️⃣ open positions!

These are my best pictures of 2025 😤

No Other Choice not included?? 🤯

ugly stepsister finally getting the recognition it deserves

Some stories are only revealed through sound.

Industry Standard is a vinyl album built from undercover field recordings gathered during investigations into animal industries.

Sonic Art meets Animal Advocacy.

Out 18 Jan (new moon).
Pre-order: www.tracksinvestigations.org/industrystan...

A close-up image of a vinyl record (red and white swirls) titled 'Industry Standard', a new album by Gemunu de Silva (Tracks Investigations) and Gnostic Front. The center of the vinyl features a macaque caught in a net, a result of wildlife trapping.

For those who enjoy experimental music or want to listen to something new, I highly recommend Industry Standard by @tracksinvest.bsky.social & Gnostic Front. GF manipulated audio from undercover footage into music. It's mindblowing. BUY the vinyl here: www.tracksinvestigations.org/industrystan...

"Republicans have shown they can challenge the animal research field, but the real test will be whether it can do the same for the livestock sector."

OHSU outlines scenarios for closing primate research center - Portland Business Journal The controversial Oregon National Primate Research Center opened in 1962 and merged with OHSU in 1998.

Sources:

www.bizjournals.com/portland/new...

s3.amazonaws.com/cms.ipressro...

Some U.S. primate research centers are preparing for closure in case they lose more NIH funding. Oregon Health & Science University estimates $241m to close their primate center & move animals to other sites vs. $220m-$291m to convert to a sanctuary. Abolishing this industry is near!