Zen Faulkes
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doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes
@doctorzen.net
2.5K followers 330 following 3.7K posts

Home page: http://DoctorZen.net. Biologist. Author of Better Posters book and blog. Collector of academic hoaxes and academic slop graphics.

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Environmental science 49%
Geography 13%
Posts Replies Media Videos

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 21h
🤔

Not setting off AI alarm bells for me. Looks more like misued BioRender stock images.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 22h
Is it cheating if the band does both a French and English version?

French version, anyway.

youtu.be/w_-VhNwRg0k

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 22h
Laura Branigan had a hit with an English cover, but I always preferred the original French version.

youtu.be/7udfLxRfnXs

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d
I don't think there is a more iconic invasive species, full stop, end of story.

Reposted by Jonathan A. Eisen, Brian A. Nosek, Gavin L. Foster , and 21 more

theo.io
Theo Sanderson @theo.io · 1d
I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself!

bluesky-map.theo.io

I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail
Bluesky Map
Interactive map of 3.4 million Bluesky users, visualised by their follower pattern.
bluesky-map.theo.io

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 3d
I live in one state and work in another! So weird!

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 3d
Read the replies.
adamrothman.bsky.social Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test @adamrothman.bsky.social · 3d
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Steve Peers, Catherine Baker , and 15 more

adamrothman.bsky.social
Adam Rothman aced his cognitive test @adamrothman.bsky.social · 3d
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes, Brooke Harrington

aaandmoore.bsky.social
Andy Moore @aaandmoore.bsky.social · 3d
Not something you see in textbooks very often: tripolar mitosis.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

emfurd.bsky.social
Emily Gardner @emfurd.bsky.social · 3d
Many students said they were careful to avoid "banned words" in their GRFP applications, but in some cases it was unavoidable. Now they're wondering if these words led to their RWR notifications.

“My project is about bears and ‘black’ is a trigger word,” one Redditor wrote. “Insane.”

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 3d
Link card preview #fail.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

neuroethology.org
International Society for Neuroethology @neuroethology.org · 3d
It is not only about "reward" or "punishment" when insects learn. A new study @royalsocietypublishing.org shows that Drosophila larvae learn relative values to a set of odors, i.e., less or more rewarding than other odors. royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Relative value learning in Drosophila melanogaster larvae
Abstract. The ability to learn from past experiences to inform future decision making is crucial for humans and animals alike. One question with important
royalsocietypublishing.org

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4d
I'm thinking period costume drama. Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4d
Except Suicide Squad.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4d
Long but good analysis of recent Science editorial.

Organizations like AAAS (and so many more) are failing to meet the moment because they cannot imagine the status quo collapsing. They have no "crisis mode."
joshuasweitz.bsky.social Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 4d
Science EIC Thorp would like to have it both ways:

1) Credited for being reasonable in acknowledging the importance of (i) quiet insiders & (ii) activists in confronting cuts to science.

2) Clear on who he thinks really deserves the credit for the wins: insiders.

🧵
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A tale of many twos
For the American scientific enterprise, the past year has seemed awash in contradiction. On the one hand, it has produced great upheavals and losses for US science. Many universities experienced some ...
www.science.org

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

themaplewitch.bsky.social
The girl with the Garfield tattoo @themaplewitch.bsky.social · 4d
Everyone brings up a Muppets Christmas Carol as an example of a movie where the human actor plays against Muppets like it’s serious film, but what if we made A completely human movie, however the female lead is Miss piggy, completely straight laced, as if it is Miss piggy’s dramatic acting debut.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4d
Conference poster challenge:

Your poster in the style of a 1950s jazz album
Jazz album covers from the 1950s.

Reposted by James M. Bullock, Zen Faulkes, Larry W. Hunter

joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 4d
Science EIC Thorp would like to have it both ways:

1) Credited for being reasonable in acknowledging the importance of (i) quiet insiders & (ii) activists in confronting cuts to science.

2) Clear on who he thinks really deserves the credit for the wins: insiders.

🧵
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A tale of many twos
For the American scientific enterprise, the past year has seemed awash in contradiction. On the one hand, it has produced great upheavals and losses for US science. Many universities experienced some ...
www.science.org

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

helenajambor.bsky.social
Helena Klara Jambor @helenajambor.bsky.social · 4d
All my students would immediately read the scale!!

A 1% increase (if that, do we trust that number..?) ..

#GraphCrimes #ChartsAgainstHumanity #DataVis

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4d
Biorender doesn't exactly cater to AI scientists.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

7-cities-empire.bsky.social
Serena All-Heart @7-cities-empire.bsky.social · 5d
At work a coworker didn't like the inhaler their doctor prescribed them. (Thought it sounded too fake) so they asked Copilot if there was more natural alternatives. It recommended mixing bleach and ammonia and breathing in the fumes.

That required a very serious talk about not creating mustard gas.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 5d
The Unfamiliars is a story about being disappointed by people you once admired.

This is theme that may resonate with you. (It certainly did with me.)

It's also VERY FUNNY! 😄

Recommended!

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

restingdinoface.bsky.social
Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 5d
“Why doesn’t the public trust science? Why doesn’t the public like us?” is common sci/comm navel gazing and then there’s this going on the whole while. I’m absolutely disgusted by how many people I met, how many people who acted like gatekeepers telling me what I should do, all tied to this predator

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

boghuma.bsky.social
BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 5d
It's really appalling that in the midst of a preventable surge of measles sweeping across several US states, leading national health authorities are not loudly and publicly recommending vaccination.
How many more children need to die for this madness to stop?

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Zen Faulkes

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5d
But, as they say, there is no time like the present

[OK, maybe the 1930s if you want to nitpick]

But, with some data wrangling, my first NSF Funding Curves!

2/3
A line plot with the numbers of NSF awards for fiscal years 2021-2026. The curve for fiscal year 2026 is quite a bit lower than those for 2021-2025 while the curve for fiscal year 2026 (in red) is much lower than all through the same date.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 5d
Huh. Just tried now and it worked. 🤷

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 5d
1. I am tracking graphics and figures in academic journals made gen AI here: bit.ly/academic-slop

2. Keeping gen AI of the sort described here should be a completely solvable problem with run of the mill peer review and editorial oversight.

3. Change research assessment incentives.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

deevybee.bsky.social
Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 5d
@dereklowe.bsky.social finds some AI slop
www.science.org/content/blog...
🙁
What the Literature is Filling Up With
www.science.org

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 6d
Maybe thebullshitmachines.com ?
Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines: Introduction
A free online humanities course about how to learn and work and thrive in an AI world.
thebullshitmachines.com

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

michalis-averof.bsky.social
Michalis Averof @michalis-averof.bsky.social · 6d
Just discovered the wonderful covers of 'Genes to Cells', the journal of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan @mbsj-official.bsky.social – absolutely beautiful!

here some examples inspired by mitosis, CRISPR, the DNA helix, and plant pigments