Lew Riley
@lewriley.bsky.social
Professor of physics at a SLAC. I study experimental nuclear structure with gamma rays, protons, and students. Exploring inclusive pedagogy, alternative assessment, UDL.
Reposted by Lew Riley
Black women like @angryblacklady.bsky.social and @chanda.bsky.social are speaking very clearly and objectively about why registering for a protest isn't a great idea, and white people are fighting them down.
It's always "listen to Black women*" with the asterisk meaning "after the fact"
It's always "listen to Black women*" with the asterisk meaning "after the fact"
September 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Black women like @angryblacklady.bsky.social and @chanda.bsky.social are speaking very clearly and objectively about why registering for a protest isn't a great idea, and white people are fighting them down.
It's always "listen to Black women*" with the asterisk meaning "after the fact"
It's always "listen to Black women*" with the asterisk meaning "after the fact"
Reposted by Lew Riley
Monarez: "Kennedy demanded 2 things of me that were were inconsistent w/ my oath of office. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause"
September 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Monarez: "Kennedy demanded 2 things of me that were were inconsistent w/ my oath of office. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause"
Reposted by Lew Riley
For years, I've tried to tell y'all what cops know, and what criminal justice reformers know, about how murders really get solved.
Look at how massive the manhunt for both Luigi Mangioni and Tyler Robinson were. Then look at how they were actually caught. 🤷🏿♂️
Two phone calls.
Look at how massive the manhunt for both Luigi Mangioni and Tyler Robinson were. Then look at how they were actually caught. 🤷🏿♂️
Two phone calls.
Because cop shows have been lying to you all these years. CSI is a lie. Even Agatha Christie, Poirot, Columbo, all lies. That's not how murders get solved.
How murders really get solved: someone tells the cops everything: the killer, the motive, the weapon. All the CSI is just to verify the story.🤷🏿♂️
How murders really get solved: someone tells the cops everything: the killer, the motive, the weapon. All the CSI is just to verify the story.🤷🏿♂️
September 17, 2025 at 10:36 AM
For years, I've tried to tell y'all what cops know, and what criminal justice reformers know, about how murders really get solved.
Look at how massive the manhunt for both Luigi Mangioni and Tyler Robinson were. Then look at how they were actually caught. 🤷🏿♂️
Two phone calls.
Look at how massive the manhunt for both Luigi Mangioni and Tyler Robinson were. Then look at how they were actually caught. 🤷🏿♂️
Two phone calls.
Reposted by Lew Riley
1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal
www.whitehouse.gov
August 8, 2025 at 1:13 AM
1. Federal funding for research promotes tech, biomedical, and scientific discovery in the US, and provides training for the sci/tech workforce that has brought immeasurable wealth to the US over the past 75 years.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Today's executive order includes a provision that will obliterate both functions.
Reposted by Lew Riley
Obviously a lie, since the definition of PhD-level expertise, standard across universities worldwide, is that you can produce original knowledge.
OpenAI claims new GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to ‘PhD level’
GPT-5's release comes as tech firms continue to compete in an effort to claim the world's most advanced AI.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 7, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Obviously a lie, since the definition of PhD-level expertise, standard across universities worldwide, is that you can produce original knowledge.
Reposted by Lew Riley
I remember once astonishing a colleague’s husband when he naively asked why we (historians) couldn’t just look something up on the internet and we had to explain that WE are the ones who find the stuff and add it to the internet
“How does the computer know something happened if no one tells the computer about it” is the easy-reader way to explain why we still need human reporters and data-collectors
And I also find it genuinely alarming that even some people on this website don’t seem to grasp this
And I also find it genuinely alarming that even some people on this website don’t seem to grasp this
I firmly believe that if you’d said to someone in 2015 that in 10 years, “a lot of people will believe there’s no need for human field reporters because they think that entirely online-based AI chat bots can replace them”, they’d have called you insane.
August 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
I remember once astonishing a colleague’s husband when he naively asked why we (historians) couldn’t just look something up on the internet and we had to explain that WE are the ones who find the stuff and add it to the internet
Reposted by Lew Riley
A lot of conversations I have with software developers reveal a fundamental causal reasoning fallacy around access. Their stance is frequently: "I had interest, and I succeeded, so interest is the driver of success."
The real comparison is how many people had interest and didn't succeed anyway
The real comparison is how many people had interest and didn't succeed anyway
July 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A lot of conversations I have with software developers reveal a fundamental causal reasoning fallacy around access. Their stance is frequently: "I had interest, and I succeeded, so interest is the driver of success."
The real comparison is how many people had interest and didn't succeed anyway
The real comparison is how many people had interest and didn't succeed anyway
Reposted by Lew Riley
Rümeysa Öztürk was unlawfully detained by ICE for over six weeks in retaliation for writing an op-ed.
For the first time since her release, Rümeysa opens up about her experiences and advocates for dignity and justice for those still trapped in ICE detention.
For the first time since her release, Rümeysa opens up about her experiences and advocates for dignity and justice for those still trapped in ICE detention.
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
www.vanityfair.com
July 17, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Rümeysa Öztürk was unlawfully detained by ICE for over six weeks in retaliation for writing an op-ed.
For the first time since her release, Rümeysa opens up about her experiences and advocates for dignity and justice for those still trapped in ICE detention.
For the first time since her release, Rümeysa opens up about her experiences and advocates for dignity and justice for those still trapped in ICE detention.
Reposted by Lew Riley
What's up with Justice Jackson? She started making her mark and speaking out early, and some of her dissents are so pointed Kagan and Sotomayor don’t even join them. The far right is out for her, and even Republican justices are getting snarky.
So what's up? Here’s my take 🧵
So what's up? Here’s my take 🧵
July 9, 2025 at 3:49 PM
What's up with Justice Jackson? She started making her mark and speaking out early, and some of her dissents are so pointed Kagan and Sotomayor don’t even join them. The far right is out for her, and even Republican justices are getting snarky.
So what's up? Here’s my take 🧵
So what's up? Here’s my take 🧵
Reposted by Lew Riley
Added alt text to the reposted image.
I can get behind this. The episodes are painfully short. I wait a whole week, and then it's all over so quickly?
Not fair! I am being treated very unfairly!
I can get behind this. The episodes are painfully short. I wait a whole week, and then it's all over so quickly?
Not fair! I am being treated very unfairly!
June 28, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Added alt text to the reposted image.
I can get behind this. The episodes are painfully short. I wait a whole week, and then it's all over so quickly?
Not fair! I am being treated very unfairly!
I can get behind this. The episodes are painfully short. I wait a whole week, and then it's all over so quickly?
Not fair! I am being treated very unfairly!
Reposted by Lew Riley
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
June 26, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Worth a watch:
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.
Reposted by Lew Riley
Jon Stewart is a legend & the way this show is trying to explain to a mainstream audience the gravity what is happening in the US is amazing. It was both thrilling & terrifying to be part of it. Thank you @TheDailyShow 👏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7C...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7C...
Carole Cadwalladr - Broligarchs, AI, and a Techno-Authoritarian Surveillance State | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
www.youtube.com
June 3, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Jon Stewart is a legend & the way this show is trying to explain to a mainstream audience the gravity what is happening in the US is amazing. It was both thrilling & terrifying to be part of it. Thank you @TheDailyShow 👏
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7C...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG7C...
Reposted by Lew Riley
"History tells us that there are times when the dangers of inaction become sufficiently threatening to individuals or the planet that scientists who are able and willing to do so will have to enter the public arena ... This is such a time." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
More US scientists must speak out - Nature Human Behaviour
The Trump administration has launched an extraordinary and dangerous attack on US science. Climate and water scientist Peter Gleick calls on scientists who are able and willing to do so to speak out p...
www.nature.com
June 2, 2025 at 10:02 AM
"History tells us that there are times when the dangers of inaction become sufficiently threatening to individuals or the planet that scientists who are able and willing to do so will have to enter the public arena ... This is such a time." www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Lew Riley
There's nothing holy about writing discrimination into the law.
May 26, 2025 at 12:56 PM
There's nothing holy about writing discrimination into the law.
Reposted by Lew Riley
Repeat after me: Treatment for trans-youth saves lives.
"The consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of body
changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric [gender dysphoria] patients."
"The consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of body
changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric [gender dysphoria] patients."
Utah study on trans youth care extremely inconvenient for politicians who ordered it
The state's ban on gender-affirming pediatric care "cannot be justified" by science, a two-year review concluded.
www.motherjones.com
May 25, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Repeat after me: Treatment for trans-youth saves lives.
"The consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of body
changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric [gender dysphoria] patients."
"The consensus of the evidence supports that the treatments are effective in terms of mental health, psychosocial outcomes, and the induction of body
changes consistent with the affirmed gender in pediatric [gender dysphoria] patients."
Reposted by Lew Riley
You do NOT have to accept this! Post on the public comments to pressure them to NOT do this! www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
Regulations.gov
www.regulations.gov
May 20, 2025 at 4:30 PM
You do NOT have to accept this! Post on the public comments to pressure them to NOT do this! www.regulations.gov/commenton/FD...
Reposted by Lew Riley
Please use this image as the reply post to all dems who're trying to compromise right now. You have my blessing.
I got stoned last night and made this and then forgot to post it anyway I stand by it
May 15, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Please use this image as the reply post to all dems who're trying to compromise right now. You have my blessing.
Reposted by Lew Riley
One of many moments in Omar El Akkad’s new book, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” that will stop you in your tracks.
March 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
One of many moments in Omar El Akkad’s new book, “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This,” that will stop you in your tracks.
Reposted by Lew Riley
The scientific news from America is grim. The Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has resigned and hundreds of existing grants are ending. NSF grant money isn't paid out in a chunk at the start - you invoice as you need it, so gov can just stop paying.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Hundreds more NSF grants terminated after agency director resigns
Sethuraman Panchanathan abruptly leaves helm of US funding agency after Elon Musk’s DOGE arrives.
www.nature.com
April 26, 2025 at 8:07 AM
The scientific news from America is grim. The Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has resigned and hundreds of existing grants are ending. NSF grant money isn't paid out in a chunk at the start - you invoice as you need it, so gov can just stop paying.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Lew Riley
Quantum Frost
xkcd.com/3076/
xkcd.com/3076/
The Roads Both Taken
xkcd.com
April 15, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Quantum Frost
xkcd.com/3076/
xkcd.com/3076/
Reposted by Lew Riley
NEW: The number of new grants handed out by the National Science Foundation since President Donald Trump took office has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the same 2-month period 1 year ago. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took office
The reasons aren’t clear—and the agency’s director claims the president’s policies haven’t slowed grant awards
www.science.org
March 31, 2025 at 7:25 PM
NEW: The number of new grants handed out by the National Science Foundation since President Donald Trump took office has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the same 2-month period 1 year ago. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Lew Riley
Hey, yall thought I was harsh when I said this over the years. I said what I said.
Do you still think it's harsh now?
Some of y'all think you are somewhat safe but you are not, because you are surrounded by unreliable people.
It's better to have a smaller group that will not cash you in.
Do you still think it's harsh now?
Some of y'all think you are somewhat safe but you are not, because you are surrounded by unreliable people.
It's better to have a smaller group that will not cash you in.
I've told folks many times, I'm not that concerned about nazis, racists, or fascists. Because they're not the real problem. Because there just aren't that many of them in the world. Most people aren't Nazis.🤷🏿♂️
I'm concerned about the people I have around me when nazis show up. That's the danger.
I'm concerned about the people I have around me when nazis show up. That's the danger.
March 30, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Hey, yall thought I was harsh when I said this over the years. I said what I said.
Do you still think it's harsh now?
Some of y'all think you are somewhat safe but you are not, because you are surrounded by unreliable people.
It's better to have a smaller group that will not cash you in.
Do you still think it's harsh now?
Some of y'all think you are somewhat safe but you are not, because you are surrounded by unreliable people.
It's better to have a smaller group that will not cash you in.