Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
@anschmidtlebuhn.bsky.social
Botanist, taxonomist, phylogeneticist.
Pinned
Phylogenomics and genetic admixture of the invasive fireweed complex (Senecio inaequidens–Senecio madagascariensis) at a global scale - Biological Invasions
The southern African Senecio inaequidens–S. madagascariensis complex, (‘fireweed complex’), contains several species that have established as weeds outside of their native ranges. Senecio madagascarie...
doi.org
We have expanded our target capture dataset of the Senecio inaequidens - S. madagascariensis complex to a global scale. More clarity on the areas of origin of invasive madagascariensis, but also raising new questions.
doi.org/10.1007/s105...
@biolinvasions.bsky.social
#asteraceae #compositae #weeds
doi.org/10.1007/s105...
@biolinvasions.bsky.social
#asteraceae #compositae #weeds
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Taxonomist post at the Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens. www.careers.hrp.gov.sg/sap/bc/ui5_u...
Find A Job | Careers@Gov
www.careers.hrp.gov.sg
December 26, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Taxonomist post at the Herbarium, Singapore Botanic Gardens. www.careers.hrp.gov.sg/sap/bc/ui5_u...
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
If everyone just agrees with you, that's not a discussion.
December 25, 2025 at 12:21 AM
If everyone just agrees with you, that's not a discussion.
If I walked up to somebody living in a house and insisted that nobody has ever figured out how to build a house, and that if we built houses, everybody would be homeless, how exactly would that person react? Ridicule seems a likely outcome.
Same thing: bsky.app/profile/mcub...
Same thing: bsky.app/profile/mcub...
No shock. This app has turned my mentions, and others, into mostly hate. But there are a few people worth connecting with
CRAZY how it's easier these days to have a real discussion on X, or threads, than on here.
CRAZY how it's easier these days to have a real discussion on X, or threads, than on here.
December 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
If I walked up to somebody living in a house and insisted that nobody has ever figured out how to build a house, and that if we built houses, everybody would be homeless, how exactly would that person react? Ridicule seems a likely outcome.
Same thing: bsky.app/profile/mcub...
Same thing: bsky.app/profile/mcub...
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
You are painting a vision of a future in which teachers create lessons with "A.i.," students complete them with "A.i.," and teachers grade them with "A.i."
No learning takes place under this system.
The only benefactors of this system are the corporations being paid for the "A.i." products.
No learning takes place under this system.
The only benefactors of this system are the corporations being paid for the "A.i." products.
December 24, 2025 at 3:51 AM
You are painting a vision of a future in which teachers create lessons with "A.i.," students complete them with "A.i.," and teachers grade them with "A.i."
No learning takes place under this system.
The only benefactors of this system are the corporations being paid for the "A.i." products.
No learning takes place under this system.
The only benefactors of this system are the corporations being paid for the "A.i." products.
Good and important point to note that Google Scholar's automated indexing may lead to imaginary papers being cited without any LLM involvement.
That being said...
That being said...
[blogged] Why Ghost References Still Haunt Us in 2025—And Why It's Not Just About LLMs aarontay.substack.com/p/why-ghost-...
Why Ghost References Still Haunt Us in 2025—And Why It's Not Just About LLMs
Ghost references existed long before LLMs. This post examines how Google Scholar's [CITATION] mechanism and web pollution may undermine RAG verification.
aarontay.substack.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Good and important point to note that Google Scholar's automated indexing may lead to imaginary papers being cited without any LLM involvement.
That being said...
That being said...
Bit frustrating that some systems for tracking academic publications still assume a page range is part of any citation, when many journals have moved to online only and provide "Journal volume 47: article number 89".
(Also, for some inexplicable reason my form just now had two page range fields?)
(Also, for some inexplicable reason my form just now had two page range fields?)
December 22, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Bit frustrating that some systems for tracking academic publications still assume a page range is part of any citation, when many journals have moved to online only and provide "Journal volume 47: article number 89".
(Also, for some inexplicable reason my form just now had two page range fields?)
(Also, for some inexplicable reason my form just now had two page range fields?)
Google AI summary is stupid and I wish it would just be turned off, but this one is admittedly so stupid that it is funny.
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
December 22, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Google AI summary is stupid and I wish it would just be turned off, but this one is admittedly so stupid that it is funny.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
and even more so: LLMs are dogshit at reproducibility. If something is going to go through different "thought" processes to come up with a different answer each time, I certainly can't use it in my research like I can any other computational tool.
December 22, 2025 at 7:09 AM
and even more so: LLMs are dogshit at reproducibility. If something is going to go through different "thought" processes to come up with a different answer each time, I certainly can't use it in my research like I can any other computational tool.
I am always a bit unsure whether Dawkins even qualifies as an evolutionary biologist. I looked at his Google Scholar publication list, and over decades it is all stuff like "Atheists for Jesus?", "The God Delusion", or "Postmodernism disrobed". Has he has ever done any empirical research?
Hey, fellow evolutionary biologists:
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
If you support trans rights, like, comment, or repost this. I want to show that transphobes like Richard Dawkins are a loud minority that does not represent our community
And that’s a follow.
Actually I do have a question if you have a sec.
Without exception the most transphobic group of scientists I’ve run into online are evolutionary biologists. Every single one of them has expressed the same opinion: transness cannot be anything other than social contagion. Why?
Actually I do have a question if you have a sec.
Without exception the most transphobic group of scientists I’ve run into online are evolutionary biologists. Every single one of them has expressed the same opinion: transness cannot be anything other than social contagion. Why?
December 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I am always a bit unsure whether Dawkins even qualifies as an evolutionary biologist. I looked at his Google Scholar publication list, and over decades it is all stuff like "Atheists for Jesus?", "The God Delusion", or "Postmodernism disrobed". Has he has ever done any empirical research?
Yes, this having it both ways regarding genAI drives me nuts.
It is revolutionary tech and helps the disabled or the non-expert, but you have be an expert prompt engineer to use it.
I get to copy your art style, but the prompts that I use for that are my intellectual property, no stealing!
Etc.
It is revolutionary tech and helps the disabled or the non-expert, but you have be an expert prompt engineer to use it.
I get to copy your art style, but the prompts that I use for that are my intellectual property, no stealing!
Etc.
Plus, if the AI bros are right about how well it will work in the future, it then will be so easy to use that there will be no learning curve and anyone will be able to catch up almost immediately
December 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Yes, this having it both ways regarding genAI drives me nuts.
It is revolutionary tech and helps the disabled or the non-expert, but you have be an expert prompt engineer to use it.
I get to copy your art style, but the prompts that I use for that are my intellectual property, no stealing!
Etc.
It is revolutionary tech and helps the disabled or the non-expert, but you have be an expert prompt engineer to use it.
I get to copy your art style, but the prompts that I use for that are my intellectual property, no stealing!
Etc.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Microsoft is the biggest advertiser for Linux.
December 21, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Microsoft is the biggest advertiser for Linux.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
But also, replying "it's impossible to read every book" when being asked to read the book you are trying to cite is one of those logical fallacies with the complicated Latin names, I'm pretty sure.
December 21, 2025 at 9:02 PM
But also, replying "it's impossible to read every book" when being asked to read the book you are trying to cite is one of those logical fallacies with the complicated Latin names, I'm pretty sure.
Very interesting and depressing thread. This may not even the entirely the fault of generative AI, because people have created fake references before, but that technology is making the problem orders of magnitude worse.
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Very interesting and depressing thread. This may not even the entirely the fault of generative AI, because people have created fake references before, but that technology is making the problem orders of magnitude worse.
Luckily, a journal I am associate editor with, and my field as a whole, maintain higher standards. I am always confused when I read about a paper being published with a genAI nonsense figure because my own experience is peer reviewers and copy editors compulsively obsessing about every detail.
There’s a double problem here: (1) Academics not looking at, much less reading, the work they cite. (2) The wholesale abandonment of copyediting, which (at least when I was a cooyeditor) meant checking references were accurate — not to mention real. Insistence on “productivity” has long meant slop.
December 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Luckily, a journal I am associate editor with, and my field as a whole, maintain higher standards. I am always confused when I read about a paper being published with a genAI nonsense figure because my own experience is peer reviewers and copy editors compulsively obsessing about every detail.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
This is practical morality! You can steal from and immiserate artists indefinitely; it's evil but the system can bear it. But you literally cannot have entire generations of students cheating their way through school with ChatGPT and expect to have a working technological society for long!
December 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
This is practical morality! You can steal from and immiserate artists indefinitely; it's evil but the system can bear it. But you literally cannot have entire generations of students cheating their way through school with ChatGPT and expect to have a working technological society for long!
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Can't think of a stronger endorsement for Erasmus.
December 19, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Can't think of a stronger endorsement for Erasmus.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Ok, I have a strong opinion on this, perhaps you can convince me otherwise: if you need an LLM to understand a paper for reviewing, perhaps you should not be a reviewer.
And your argument is saved time, then perhaps you planned to not read all the details. Then again, you should not be a reviewer.
And your argument is saved time, then perhaps you planned to not read all the details. Then again, you should not be a reviewer.
December 12, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Ok, I have a strong opinion on this, perhaps you can convince me otherwise: if you need an LLM to understand a paper for reviewing, perhaps you should not be a reviewer.
And your argument is saved time, then perhaps you planned to not read all the details. Then again, you should not be a reviewer.
And your argument is saved time, then perhaps you planned to not read all the details. Then again, you should not be a reviewer.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
We are never gonna convince these fuckers that at some point, software is done being developed and only needs to be maintained. And we all get to suffer for it lmao
December 17, 2025 at 1:23 AM
We are never gonna convince these fuckers that at some point, software is done being developed and only needs to be maintained. And we all get to suffer for it lmao
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Imagine if cities demanded the same of car manufacturers.
Lime and Forest are on their "last warning" if they don't fix "persistent problems" with rider behaviour and dangerous parking.
Council demands “urgent action” from Lime and Forest hire bike operators to “fix persistent problems”
Islington Council has threatened that e-bike hire companies Lime and Forest are on their “last warning” and face losing permission to operate in the borough unless they deal with the dangerous parking...
road.cc
December 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Imagine if cities demanded the same of car manufacturers.
To be clear, we would have been able to do the same in molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy for years, without genAI. It is trivial to invent imaginary organisms and simulate plausible DNA sequences for them.
We don't do that, though, because it is obviously pointless and stupid and not science.
We don't do that, though, because it is obviously pointless and stupid and not science.
Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)?
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
December 16, 2025 at 8:41 PM
To be clear, we would have been able to do the same in molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy for years, without genAI. It is trivial to invent imaginary organisms and simulate plausible DNA sequences for them.
We don't do that, though, because it is obviously pointless and stupid and not science.
We don't do that, though, because it is obviously pointless and stupid and not science.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
On the plus side, Teslas sustain almost no damage in front end collisions; the tow truck takes all the impact.
please take a moment to appreciate Tesla's epic accomplishment of coming dead last in the auto industry in reliability, despite making relatively expensive cars with a tiny fraction of the moving parts
www.consumerreports.org/cars/which-b...
www.consumerreports.org/cars/which-b...
December 16, 2025 at 5:14 AM
On the plus side, Teslas sustain almost no damage in front end collisions; the tow truck takes all the impact.
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
Remember, for much of the world - including pretty much all of South and SE Asia that relies on glacier-fed rivers for irrigation -
no glaciers means no water
and no water means no crops
and no crops means no food
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
no glaciers means no water
and no water means no crops
and no crops means no food
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Glaciers to reach peak rate of extinction in the Alps in eight years
Climate crisis forecast to wipe out thousands of glaciers a year globally, threatening water supplies and cultural heritage
www.theguardian.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Remember, for much of the world - including pretty much all of South and SE Asia that relies on glacier-fed rivers for irrigation -
no glaciers means no water
and no water means no crops
and no crops means no food
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
no glaciers means no water
and no water means no crops
and no crops means no food
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
December 15, 2025 at 6:03 AM
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
Reposted by Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn
May I propose that making something faster and less reliable is bad, actually?
December 15, 2025 at 7:18 PM
May I propose that making something faster and less reliable is bad, actually?