Andrew Rosenblum
@andrewrosenblum.bsky.social
Reporter, researcher, scribbler, science enthusiast. Superpower: fist-bumping my sister and turning into a bucket of water
Pinned
How generative AI could help make construction sites safer
The technology could save lives—so long as it doesn’t replace humans entirely.
www.technologyreview.com
Can AI help prevent construction accidents that cost more than 1,000 American workers their lives each year? For @techreview, I delved into the problem: www.technologyreview...
This is a spirited defense of face-to-face learning and "slow thinking" about physical books in the face of AI fads and the appification of education:
Actually, It’s a Good Time to Be an English Prof (opinion)
No, really. It may sound perverse to say so.
www.insidehighered.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:41 PM
This is a spirited defense of face-to-face learning and "slow thinking" about physical books in the face of AI fads and the appification of education:
I have a new piece out on biotech companies brewing up alternatives to palm oil in the lab. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
Can Palm Oil Ever Be Replaced? And Should It? - Offrange
Though the $70 billion palm oil industry has made real progress in reducing deforestation, biotech companies are trying to brew up synthetic alternatives.
ambrook.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I have a new piece out on biotech companies brewing up alternatives to palm oil in the lab. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
"LLMs are simply tools that emulate the communicative function of language, not the separate and distinct cognitive process of thinking and reasoning, no matter how many data centers we build."
Is language the same as intelligence? The AI industry desperately needs it to be
The AI boom is based on a fundamental mistake.
www.theverge.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
"LLMs are simply tools that emulate the communicative function of language, not the separate and distinct cognitive process of thinking and reasoning, no matter how many data centers we build."
My grad school friend "LT" Rease Miles has put her wisdom, humor, & intellect into "Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story." She's the 1st person in her family to go to college, & she then got a Ph.D. & now mentors other "first gen" students: www.smartgirlbook.com
Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story | First-generation student memoir
Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story is a memoir redefining first-gen and Black student narratives, highlighting mass media, pop culture, and sports as key to shaping identity, resilience, and communi...
www.smartgirlbook.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:44 PM
My grad school friend "LT" Rease Miles has put her wisdom, humor, & intellect into "Smart Girl: A First-Gen Origin Story." She's the 1st person in her family to go to college, & she then got a Ph.D. & now mentors other "first gen" students: www.smartgirlbook.com
61 kids, ages 12-18, talk about harvesting produce in California--adults are not protecting them from pesticide exposure, below minimum wage earnings, triple digit temperatures. Proud to serve as fact-checker on Robert J. Lopez's bravura investigation:
California’s child farmworkers: Exhausted, underpaid and toiling in toxic fields
State officials are failing to protect the health and safety of thousands of young field laborers, an investigation has found.
capitalandmain.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:35 PM
61 kids, ages 12-18, talk about harvesting produce in California--adults are not protecting them from pesticide exposure, below minimum wage earnings, triple digit temperatures. Proud to serve as fact-checker on Robert J. Lopez's bravura investigation:
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
I couldn't find the Observer coverage of this incident, but the NYT mentioned it in February 2002:
November 19, 2025 at 3:28 AM
I couldn't find the Observer coverage of this incident, but the NYT mentioned it in February 2002:
Hey @nytpitchbot.bsky.social -- I saw this and immediately thought of you...
November 18, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Hey @nytpitchbot.bsky.social -- I saw this and immediately thought of you...
"Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is, above all, an invocation; When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console but challenges." Pope Leo on why cinema and theaters are worth preserving.
November 17, 2025 at 7:38 AM
"Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is, above all, an invocation; When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console but challenges." Pope Leo on why cinema and theaters are worth preserving.
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
the decision to really just abandon moderation and let it rip suggests that this is what meta wants for its platform. this is the final, idealized form of the product
The most horrifying AI slop of ICE raids you can possibly imagine is wildly viral on Facebook, collectively totaling tens of millions of views from a single account. First spotted by @chadloder.bsky.social
www.404media.co/ai-generated...
www.404media.co/ai-generated...
AI-Generated Videos of ICE Raids Are Wildly Viral on Facebook
An account is spamming horrific, dehumanizing videos of immigration enforcement because the Facebook algorithm is rewarding them for it.
www.404media.co
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
the decision to really just abandon moderation and let it rip suggests that this is what meta wants for its platform. this is the final, idealized form of the product
It is disturbing to see the administration trying to erase the contribution of the roughly one million Black Americans who served in WWW II
A little bit of history worth knowing. If it’s history, they are trying to wipe it out, to make room for the absurd tales of eternal innocence that bring fascism and bloodshed closer.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 12, 2025 at 3:34 AM
It is disturbing to see the administration trying to erase the contribution of the roughly one million Black Americans who served in WWW II
Geneticists fear "designer babies" because of the risk of unintended cuts changes that enter the gene pool - also that failures will discredit the "somatic" genetic editing of non-heritable cells for conditions like sickle cell anemia:
Here’s the latest company planning for gene-edited babies
Entrepreneurs say it’s time to safety-test designer baby technology.
www.technologyreview.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Geneticists fear "designer babies" because of the risk of unintended cuts changes that enter the gene pool - also that failures will discredit the "somatic" genetic editing of non-heritable cells for conditions like sickle cell anemia:
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
Good science lesson here on correlation vs causation. If only I could go back in time to tell my younger self that it wasn't my watching on T.V. that caused my sports teams to be so damn bad.
This is a figure from disgraced physician Peter McCullough’s report claiming that vaccines cause autism.
The red line, added by me, depicts maternal consumption of pumpkin spice products.
His group still does not understand correlation vs causation.
The red line, added by me, depicts maternal consumption of pumpkin spice products.
His group still does not understand correlation vs causation.
October 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Good science lesson here on correlation vs causation. If only I could go back in time to tell my younger self that it wasn't my watching on T.V. that caused my sports teams to be so damn bad.
Regulators investigating 6 cases of Teslas with full-self-driving going full speed through a red light and causing a crash. Sometimes "disruptive" is just bad: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
US investigates Tesla’s ‘Mad Max’ high-speed driver assistance mode
Some drivers say vehicles using new version of full self-driving system can travel above speed limits
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Regulators investigating 6 cases of Teslas with full-self-driving going full speed through a red light and causing a crash. Sometimes "disruptive" is just bad: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.
October 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
It has happened!
200 days of 100% WindWaterSolar on CA's main grid in 2025
Including a record battery output of 47.69 GWh on 10/17
Gas down 18.5% v '24 & 37.2% v '23
PV up 14.6% v '24 & 43.5% v '23
Batteries up 56.8% v '24 & 202.7% v '23
Demand down 2.1% v '24 & 1.3% v '23
200 days of 100% WindWaterSolar on CA's main grid in 2025
Including a record battery output of 47.69 GWh on 10/17
Gas down 18.5% v '24 & 37.2% v '23
PV up 14.6% v '24 & 43.5% v '23
Batteries up 56.8% v '24 & 202.7% v '23
Demand down 2.1% v '24 & 1.3% v '23
October 19, 2025 at 4:35 PM
It has happened!
200 days of 100% WindWaterSolar on CA's main grid in 2025
Including a record battery output of 47.69 GWh on 10/17
Gas down 18.5% v '24 & 37.2% v '23
PV up 14.6% v '24 & 43.5% v '23
Batteries up 56.8% v '24 & 202.7% v '23
Demand down 2.1% v '24 & 1.3% v '23
200 days of 100% WindWaterSolar on CA's main grid in 2025
Including a record battery output of 47.69 GWh on 10/17
Gas down 18.5% v '24 & 37.2% v '23
PV up 14.6% v '24 & 43.5% v '23
Batteries up 56.8% v '24 & 202.7% v '23
Demand down 2.1% v '24 & 1.3% v '23
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
Reporting this piece drove home the value of generational turnover in politics. There's an energy that a 50-something Congressperson brings -- to jump in a car and track down their missing constituents -- that even an equally-well-meaning octogenarian is unlikely to match:
Her Kids Are U.S. Citizens. Trump's Admin Disappeared Them Anyway
Donald Trump's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) disappeared an immigrant mom living in Portland and her four U.S. citizen children.
www.rollingstone.com
October 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reporting this piece drove home the value of generational turnover in politics. There's an energy that a 50-something Congressperson brings -- to jump in a car and track down their missing constituents -- that even an equally-well-meaning octogenarian is unlikely to match:
An actually hopeful climate story -- when you put time and money into cleaning up a polluted river...
October 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
An actually hopeful climate story -- when you put time and money into cleaning up a polluted river...
This is a good take on why Open AI is stealing art and music under the banner of "fair use"
My latest is on Sora's AI and why we should care about stolen art
For more, follow:
+ www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
+ www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell
For more, follow:
+ www.tiktok.com/@drewharwell
+ www.instagram.com/bydrewharwell
October 3, 2025 at 3:51 PM
This is a good take on why Open AI is stealing art and music under the banner of "fair use"
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
(solemnly) You've had mail.
September 30, 2025 at 7:43 PM
(solemnly) You've had mail.
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
Paul Kingsworth compares Silicon Valley technoutopians to the bloody cult of reason during the French Revolution. It's the Burkean conservative question: what fills the power vacuum when you dispense with the world people know? harpers.org/archive/...
September 19, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Paul Kingsworth compares Silicon Valley technoutopians to the bloody cult of reason during the French Revolution. It's the Burkean conservative question: what fills the power vacuum when you dispense with the world people know? harpers.org/archive/...
As someone who once wrote a master's essay on Beckett, let me just say THIS IS MOST TRIUMPHANT
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/t...
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Are Ready for ‘Godot’
www.nytimes.com
September 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
As someone who once wrote a master's essay on Beckett, let me just say THIS IS MOST TRIUMPHANT
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/t...
Reposted by Andrew Rosenblum
Breaking:
Record 380 GW solar PV installed globally first half 2025, 64% higher than first half of 2024 (232 GW) and only 13% less than all of 2023 (438 GW)
China installed 67% (256 GW)
India 6.3% (24 GW)
US 5.5% (21 GW)
Brazil and Germany 1.3% (7 GW)
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Record 380 GW solar PV installed globally first half 2025, 64% higher than first half of 2024 (232 GW) and only 13% less than all of 2023 (438 GW)
China installed 67% (256 GW)
India 6.3% (24 GW)
US 5.5% (21 GW)
Brazil and Germany 1.3% (7 GW)
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Global solar installations surge 64% in first half of 2025 | Ember
ember-energy.org
September 2, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Breaking:
Record 380 GW solar PV installed globally first half 2025, 64% higher than first half of 2024 (232 GW) and only 13% less than all of 2023 (438 GW)
China installed 67% (256 GW)
India 6.3% (24 GW)
US 5.5% (21 GW)
Brazil and Germany 1.3% (7 GW)
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Record 380 GW solar PV installed globally first half 2025, 64% higher than first half of 2024 (232 GW) and only 13% less than all of 2023 (438 GW)
China installed 67% (256 GW)
India 6.3% (24 GW)
US 5.5% (21 GW)
Brazil and Germany 1.3% (7 GW)
ember-energy.org/latest-updat...
Having read a lot of R.W. Emerson and the primacy of the individual conscience, I shudder to think what he would say about ministers using algorithms to data-mine their congregation: www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/19/1...
How churches use data and AI as engines of surveillance
Spiritual care and surveillance are converging across the country, reshaping the theology of trust.
www.technologyreview.com
August 20, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Having read a lot of R.W. Emerson and the primacy of the individual conscience, I shudder to think what he would say about ministers using algorithms to data-mine their congregation: www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/19/1...