Alexandra de Gendre
@adegendre.bsky.social
Economist @ University of Melbourne @unimelb.bsky.social 🇦🇺 / soon @cnrs.fr @crestumr.bsky.social 🇫🇷 • Interested in Ed, health, Social Security • excited about metascience (generalizability, replication, science policy)
https://adegendre.github.io
https://adegendre.github.io
À really interesting short study — based on a survey in the US, the public supports Unis championing initiatives (environmental, DEI, free speech, …) beyond research & ed, but finds political engagement inappropriate. Women & liberals support DEI initiatives but men & conservatives do not.
The role of universities has recently come into question. In a paper published in Science Advances, we show that the general public expects universities to do more than education and research; with some disagreement on exactly what they should do. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The role of universities in society
Americans agree universities have a broader role beyond education and research but do not fully agree on what that role is.
www.science.org
November 8, 2025 at 11:02 AM
À really interesting short study — based on a survey in the US, the public supports Unis championing initiatives (environmental, DEI, free speech, …) beyond research & ed, but finds political engagement inappropriate. Women & liberals support DEI initiatives but men & conservatives do not.
« The era when American politics could make or break global climate co-operation is over. The world is no longer waiting for Washington. This time the global south is leading the way. » — a great piece by an architect of the Paris agreement @economist.com
economist.com/by-invitatio...
economist.com/by-invitatio...
The climate action that matters is in the global south, argues an architect of the Paris agreement
But, writes Christiana Figueres, innovation still has to outpace climate impacts
economist.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:18 PM
« The era when American politics could make or break global climate co-operation is over. The world is no longer waiting for Washington. This time the global south is leading the way. » — a great piece by an architect of the Paris agreement @economist.com
economist.com/by-invitatio...
economist.com/by-invitatio...
People are crazy.
Pet owners are refusing rabies vaccines because of ‘pawtism’ fears. Anti-vax conspiracies have gone so far off the rails they’re endangering dogs. Rabies is 100% fatal once symptoms start. Misinformation is spreading faster than the viruses these days.
(Gift Link)
(Gift Link)
Vaccine Skepticism Comes for Pet Owners, Too
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:10 AM
People are crazy.
Researcher at OpenAI studied why LLMs hallucinate: it’s a fundamental feature of the approach, it’s not an engineering glitch that will be solved with more money or data.
Oxford is giving their students and staff technology that doesn’t work.
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
November 2, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Researcher at OpenAI studied why LLMs hallucinate: it’s a fundamental feature of the approach, it’s not an engineering glitch that will be solved with more money or data.
Open source baby
This doesn't look good for the AI boys here winbuzzer.com/2025/10/28/c...
China's New MiniMax M2 Model Challenges GPT-5 and Claude 4.5 with Ultra Efficiency, Top Performance, Low Cost - WinBuzzer
Chinese AI startup MiniMax releases MiniMax-M2, an open-source model that rivals top competitors on performance while costing just 8% as much to run.
winbuzzer.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Open source baby
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
Change one letter, ruin a candy:
Milky Wax
Milky Wax
Change one letter, ruin a candy:
Maim Bar
Maim Bar
Change one letter, ruin a candy:
Candy Porn
Candy Porn
October 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Change one letter, ruin a candy:
Milky Wax
Milky Wax
Very important developments on regulating digital platforms operating in the EU. Glad to see Europe abiding by its principles on this one.
"Access to data by researchers is a crucial element of ensuring transparency and democratic accountability,” @lewan.bsky.social says. “The public is entitled to know what platforms and their algorithms are doing to the information landscape.”
I wrote for @science.org about Meta, TikTok and the DSA 🧪
I wrote for @science.org about Meta, TikTok and the DSA 🧪
Meta and TikTok are obstructing researchers’ access to data, European Commission rules
Data are needed to study how social media spreads misinformation and influences elections, scientists say
www.science.org
October 29, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Very important developments on regulating digital platforms operating in the EU. Glad to see Europe abiding by its principles on this one.
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
NEW: Something remarkable happened recently and hardly anyone noticed – GB electricity demand was 100% covered by clean power
We took a look at the data and this has happened for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, twice as often as ever before
🧵
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/7
We took a look at the data and this has happened for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, twice as often as ever before
🧵
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/7
September 30, 2025 at 8:47 AM
NEW: Something remarkable happened recently and hardly anyone noticed – GB electricity demand was 100% covered by clean power
We took a look at the data and this has happened for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, twice as often as ever before
🧵
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/7
We took a look at the data and this has happened for a record 87 hours in 2025 to date, twice as often as ever before
🧵
www.carbonbrief.org/...
1/7
Very interesting read
Also see bsky.app/profile/oliv...
I am close to tears; they listened and made an english version apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
@apache.be you rule 🖤
@apache.be you rule 🖤
October 24, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Very interesting read
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY SORRY FOR OUR DELAY WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS WAS A REAL DAY.
October 22, 2025 at 8:44 PM
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY SORRY FOR OUR DELAY WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS WAS A REAL DAY.
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
Evidence from random roommate assignment and a gaming ban for minors in China once again show what I now believe incredibly strongly: smartphones and social media destroy civilization
via @arpitrage.bsky.social
via @arpitrage.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Evidence from random roommate assignment and a gaming ban for minors in China once again show what I now believe incredibly strongly: smartphones and social media destroy civilization
via @arpitrage.bsky.social
via @arpitrage.bsky.social
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
🔬♻️ « Quand la science s’amuse à se reproduire »
Merci à @lemonde.fr et à David Larousserie pour la mise en lumière des #ReplicationGames du 3 octobre, co-organisés par le Réseau Français de la Recherche Reproductible et @i4replication.bsky.social.
Merci à @lemonde.fr et à David Larousserie pour la mise en lumière des #ReplicationGames du 3 octobre, co-organisés par le Réseau Français de la Recherche Reproductible et @i4replication.bsky.social.
October 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM
🔬♻️ « Quand la science s’amuse à se reproduire »
Merci à @lemonde.fr et à David Larousserie pour la mise en lumière des #ReplicationGames du 3 octobre, co-organisés par le Réseau Français de la Recherche Reproductible et @i4replication.bsky.social.
Merci à @lemonde.fr et à David Larousserie pour la mise en lumière des #ReplicationGames du 3 octobre, co-organisés par le Réseau Français de la Recherche Reproductible et @i4replication.bsky.social.
A fascinating blog post on the generational loss of reading & its consequences for human knowledge & society —
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
The dawn of the post-literate society
And the end of civilisation
open.substack.com
October 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
A fascinating blog post on the generational loss of reading & its consequences for human knowledge & society —
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
🔗 open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
Thought about scientific consensus recently? We have a new DP @i4replication.bsky.social that probes into the famous replication debate between Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson (AJR) and Albouy - and how experts assess this debate. We find that they disagree. 1/8 www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10...
October 11, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Thought about scientific consensus recently? We have a new DP @i4replication.bsky.social that probes into the famous replication debate between Acemoglu, Johnson & Robinson (AJR) and Albouy - and how experts assess this debate. We find that they disagree. 1/8 www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10...
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
Who's doing rigorous analysis on the effects of data centers on economic, health, energy, and climate outcomes? #econsky #energysky #climatesky
October 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Who's doing rigorous analysis on the effects of data centers on economic, health, energy, and climate outcomes? #econsky #energysky #climatesky
Important thread for people using causal inference methods in applied work
And, therefore, there can also not be hierarchy of methods, because it depends on the specific case whether the assumptions are fulfilled.
It’s not the method that makes you causal it’s the assumptions
October 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Important thread for people using causal inference methods in applied work
That is a very interesting short paper, and it reflect the mixed experience I’ve had and many academics around me have had with LLMs.
Fully agree with @mjamurphy.bsky.social here ; perhaps we’re all better off sticking to open source that the web of Bernard-Lee was made to be
Fully agree with @mjamurphy.bsky.social here ; perhaps we’re all better off sticking to open source that the web of Bernard-Lee was made to be
It's hard for me to reconcile "OpenAI is worth a half trillion dollars" and "OpenAI's state-of-the-art model does marginally better than open-source on high-value tasks" #EconSky
Vidgen et al. "The AI Productivity Index"
Link: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.25721
Vidgen et al. "The AI Productivity Index"
Link: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.25721
arxiv.org
October 3, 2025 at 8:27 PM
That is a very interesting short paper, and it reflect the mixed experience I’ve had and many academics around me have had with LLMs.
Fully agree with @mjamurphy.bsky.social here ; perhaps we’re all better off sticking to open source that the web of Bernard-Lee was made to be
Fully agree with @mjamurphy.bsky.social here ; perhaps we’re all better off sticking to open source that the web of Bernard-Lee was made to be
The best post I’ve seen on Bluesky in a very long time! Brilliant idea and brilliant accounts out there !
What's your favorite Bluesky account that primarily posts about something other than current events/politics?
October 2, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The best post I’ve seen on Bluesky in a very long time! Brilliant idea and brilliant accounts out there !
Fascinating piece on the very unique influence if the tech industry on the school system
October 1, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Fascinating piece on the very unique influence if the tech industry on the school system
S’truth
The “I did my own research” crowd in a nutshell
September 25, 2025 at 5:16 AM
S’truth
If ever anybody believed Trump’s claims at the UN here is a short article debunking each lie.
www.euronews.com/green/2025/0...
www.euronews.com/green/2025/0...
Trump tells UN climate change is the 'greatest con job ever'
Trump called renewable sources of energy like wind power a “joke" and blasted the UN's climate efforts.
www.euronews.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:08 AM
If ever anybody believed Trump’s claims at the UN here is a short article debunking each lie.
www.euronews.com/green/2025/0...
www.euronews.com/green/2025/0...
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
This is why one should follow the dictionary account
‘Booty’ and ‘butt’ are synonyms.
‘Call’ and ‘dial’ are synonyms.
But, a ‘booty call’ and a ‘butt dial’ are VERY different things.
‘Call’ and ‘dial’ are synonyms.
But, a ‘booty call’ and a ‘butt dial’ are VERY different things.
September 14, 2025 at 12:44 AM
This is why one should follow the dictionary account
Just spent two very inspiring days at the Summer School on Networks organized by my friend and coauthor @yveszenou.bsky.social at Monash Uni. Great lectures by Matt Jackson (Stanford), Sanjeev Goyal (Cambridge) and Yves — I learned so much! Thanks Yves!!!
www.monash.edu/business/eve...
www.monash.edu/business/eve...
Network Economics Conference and Summer School 2025
www.monash.edu
September 11, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Just spent two very inspiring days at the Summer School on Networks organized by my friend and coauthor @yveszenou.bsky.social at Monash Uni. Great lectures by Matt Jackson (Stanford), Sanjeev Goyal (Cambridge) and Yves — I learned so much! Thanks Yves!!!
www.monash.edu/business/eve...
www.monash.edu/business/eve...
Reposted by Alexandra de Gendre
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.