Will Snyder
@sahelanthrope.bsky.social
Evolutionary anthropologist and experimental archaeologist | Freelance illustrator | He/him
Reposted by Will Snyder
For this reason, we wrote this comment, published yesterday. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
November 13, 2025 at 7:48 AM
For this reason, we wrote this comment, published yesterday. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
Reposted by Will Snyder
Kind of wild that while food assistance was withheld from millions of families, one Trump-supporting billionaire (Ellison) saw his net worth grow more this year than the entire SNAP budget. And the YTD gains of the other four richest men would’ve fully covered salaries for all 2M federal employees.
November 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Kind of wild that while food assistance was withheld from millions of families, one Trump-supporting billionaire (Ellison) saw his net worth grow more this year than the entire SNAP budget. And the YTD gains of the other four richest men would’ve fully covered salaries for all 2M federal employees.
Reposted by Will Snyder
Super excited to use this fabulous ‘Behind the Paper’ article by @petravaiglova.bsky.social and @kjkillackey.bsky.social to teach my undergrad theory students about how good visualisations are well-theorised ones. Such a wonderful piece of sci comm! 🏺🧪
communities.springernature.com/posts/making...
communities.springernature.com/posts/making...
Making cutting-edge archaeological science accessible to others
Archaeological scientists are constantly pushing the boundaries with regards to increasing the resolution of analyses and decreasing the masses of what can be analysed. But being cutting-edge is not e...
communities.springernature.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Super excited to use this fabulous ‘Behind the Paper’ article by @petravaiglova.bsky.social and @kjkillackey.bsky.social to teach my undergrad theory students about how good visualisations are well-theorised ones. Such a wonderful piece of sci comm! 🏺🧪
communities.springernature.com/posts/making...
communities.springernature.com/posts/making...
Reposted by Will Snyder
lol
November 6, 2025 at 4:47 AM
lol
Reposted by Will Snyder
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
November 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Just 1 week to apply! 4 year @erc.europa.eu funded PhD position working in an interdisciplinary team to study #culturalEvolution as a process of reuse, recombination, and creative re-engineering of past solutions. Details 👉 hmc-lab.com/ERCPhDCultur... 🙏Please share!
Reposted by Will Snyder
Just over a month left to apply for scholarships on this project. We will run internal pre-selection interviews end of November, so if you consider applying, please reach out now. I can guarantee amazing scientific and intellectual environment at the Institute for Eco Evo @edinburghup.bsky.social
If you like genomics, speciation, and primates, this PhD position is for you! Unraveling the genomic architecture of speciation and gene flow in guenons, a diverse group of African monkeys. Funding through DTP. Do reach out with questions! #genomics #genome_assembly
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...
November 5, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Just over a month left to apply for scholarships on this project. We will run internal pre-selection interviews end of November, so if you consider applying, please reach out now. I can guarantee amazing scientific and intellectual environment at the Institute for Eco Evo @edinburghup.bsky.social
Reposted by Will Snyder
"If you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?" Billie Eilish speaking directly to Mark Zuckerberg, as she donates $11.5m to food poverty and climate justice organisations.
'Give your money away,' Billie Eilish tells billionaires
The singer called on the mega wealthy to donate more to charity, during a speech at the WSJ Awards attended by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and George Lucas.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 8:28 AM
"If you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?" Billie Eilish speaking directly to Mark Zuckerberg, as she donates $11.5m to food poverty and climate justice organisations.
Trying to get back into doing some more illustrating. Here, a portrait of the 'koala lemur' Megaladapis edwardsi. It may have gone extinct as recently as the 1400s. Some artistic license, of course, especially with eyes (inspired by living Sclater's lemur). #Paleoart #extinctlife #primatology
October 25, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Trying to get back into doing some more illustrating. Here, a portrait of the 'koala lemur' Megaladapis edwardsi. It may have gone extinct as recently as the 1400s. Some artistic license, of course, especially with eyes (inspired by living Sclater's lemur). #Paleoart #extinctlife #primatology
Reposted by Will Snyder
This is interesting (if a bit gruesome) on power dynamics in bonobos: "eighty-five percent of violent coalitions are led by females seeking to keep males in check"
October 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
This is interesting (if a bit gruesome) on power dynamics in bonobos: "eighty-five percent of violent coalitions are led by females seeking to keep males in check"
Reposted by Will Snyder
OMG yes.
Using gen-AI for research or writing is the *opposite* of enskillment because it encourages you to skip critically assessing sources, and the entire process of *mental composition*.
Teaching students to be deeply sceptical of gen-AI should be foundational to future digital literacy.
Using gen-AI for research or writing is the *opposite* of enskillment because it encourages you to skip critically assessing sources, and the entire process of *mental composition*.
Teaching students to be deeply sceptical of gen-AI should be foundational to future digital literacy.
It felt like an extremely radical thing to say "you can just not teach them how to use this. i don't even know what it means to teach them AI skills but you can also just not. it might make your students more hireable, honestly."
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
October 16, 2025 at 3:38 PM
OMG yes.
Using gen-AI for research or writing is the *opposite* of enskillment because it encourages you to skip critically assessing sources, and the entire process of *mental composition*.
Teaching students to be deeply sceptical of gen-AI should be foundational to future digital literacy.
Using gen-AI for research or writing is the *opposite* of enskillment because it encourages you to skip critically assessing sources, and the entire process of *mental composition*.
Teaching students to be deeply sceptical of gen-AI should be foundational to future digital literacy.
Reposted by Will Snyder
Paranthropus boisei is a human fossil cousin w/ giant jaws and teeth that lived in East Africa ~2.6 to 1.3 million years ago. Whether it could make & use tools has been a paleoanthropological mystery since the 1960s. Our new paper describes the first firmly associated hand and foot. 1/
New fossils reveal the hand of Paranthropus boisei - Nature
Analyses of newly discovered hand and foot bones of a Paranthropus boisei specimen provide insight into possible tool use and other palaeobiology characteristics among Plio-Pleistocene hominin species...
www.nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Paranthropus boisei is a human fossil cousin w/ giant jaws and teeth that lived in East Africa ~2.6 to 1.3 million years ago. Whether it could make & use tools has been a paleoanthropological mystery since the 1960s. Our new paper describes the first firmly associated hand and foot. 1/
I am taking art/design commissions (but only 1-2 per month due to the terms of my unemployment). Please feel free to DM if you are interested. Also please share to spread the word. Info about services and rates can be found at my website: sites.google.com/view/wdspale...
October 2, 2025 at 12:11 PM
I am taking art/design commissions (but only 1-2 per month due to the terms of my unemployment). Please feel free to DM if you are interested. Also please share to spread the word. Info about services and rates can be found at my website: sites.google.com/view/wdspale...
Reposted by Will Snyder
*Laughs hollowly in 2025*
October 2, 2025 at 5:58 AM
*Laughs hollowly in 2025*
Reposted by Will Snyder
Charlie Kirk spent his life making people like me unsafe. His followers sent me death threats for years and threatened my employer if they didn’t terminate me.
His work was NEVER about free speech. It was about hate and emboldening violent people. The dishonesty of the past 24hrs is disgusting.
His work was NEVER about free speech. It was about hate and emboldening violent people. The dishonesty of the past 24hrs is disgusting.
September 11, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Charlie Kirk spent his life making people like me unsafe. His followers sent me death threats for years and threatened my employer if they didn’t terminate me.
His work was NEVER about free speech. It was about hate and emboldening violent people. The dishonesty of the past 24hrs is disgusting.
His work was NEVER about free speech. It was about hate and emboldening violent people. The dishonesty of the past 24hrs is disgusting.
Reposted by Will Snyder
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
September 11, 2025 at 10:15 AM
New paper on precise tool use learning in carrion crows @currentbiology.bsky.social. We show that—like New Caledonian crows—expert carrion crows pay close attention to the working end of their tool, suggesting tool integration into their peripersonal space. 🧵 & vids! 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Will Snyder
Can video games help advance #archaeology? By inputting their 3D model of South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves into the Unreal video game engine, researchers made this key site in human evolution research more accessible than ever #NationalVideoGamesDay
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺
September 12, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Can video games help advance #archaeology? By inputting their 3D model of South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves into the Unreal video game engine, researchers made this key site in human evolution research more accessible than ever #NationalVideoGamesDay
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺
Reposted by Will Snyder
CDC employees standing up and walking out in light of the mass shootings, firings, and *waves hands in the air* everything else.
#USAnotRFK
Lets gooooo
#USAnotRFK
Lets gooooo
August 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM
CDC employees standing up and walking out in light of the mass shootings, firings, and *waves hands in the air* everything else.
#USAnotRFK
Lets gooooo
#USAnotRFK
Lets gooooo
Reposted by Will Snyder
Our article "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience" (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social, @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marc Feldman) is now published online.
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
August 27, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Our article "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience" (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social, @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marc Feldman) is now published online.
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them.
doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
Reposted by Will Snyder
Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.
August 14, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Yesterday I discovered that ChatGPT's PhD-level expertise didn't extend to bird anatomy. This morning I thought, perhaps I was being too hard on the half-trillion-dollar company. Birds are a little weird, anatomically speaking. Let's try something more familiar. A mammal. Behold.
Reposted by Will Snyder
A PR company working for Colossal Biosciences is sending AI generated pieces to respected science journalists & asking them to publish the articles under their own names. This is so dodgy & just goes to show our critical expert scientific commentary is working. Sci comm failure 101 for Colossal.
Just got a 🧪pitch from a PR claiming to work with Colossal (de-extinction chancers). It was a pre-written article claiming the science sector is carrying out "coordinated attacks" on the co. Spy the headline. They asked if I'd publish it on my Forbes column.
Not enough eye rolls on Earth for this 🙄
Not enough eye rolls on Earth for this 🙄
August 10, 2025 at 9:08 AM
A PR company working for Colossal Biosciences is sending AI generated pieces to respected science journalists & asking them to publish the articles under their own names. This is so dodgy & just goes to show our critical expert scientific commentary is working. Sci comm failure 101 for Colossal.
Reposted by Will Snyder
🪨 🛠️ news:
"we propose that distinctive early Acheulean artifact forms may have arisen as *secondary accommodations* to the primary goal of increasing tool size"
New empirical paper by Stout et al. argues heavily against culturally transmitted early Acheulean forms.
doi.org/10.1007/s108...
"we propose that distinctive early Acheulean artifact forms may have arisen as *secondary accommodations* to the primary goal of increasing tool size"
New empirical paper by Stout et al. argues heavily against culturally transmitted early Acheulean forms.
doi.org/10.1007/s108...
August 7, 2025 at 7:10 AM
🪨 🛠️ news:
"we propose that distinctive early Acheulean artifact forms may have arisen as *secondary accommodations* to the primary goal of increasing tool size"
New empirical paper by Stout et al. argues heavily against culturally transmitted early Acheulean forms.
doi.org/10.1007/s108...
"we propose that distinctive early Acheulean artifact forms may have arisen as *secondary accommodations* to the primary goal of increasing tool size"
New empirical paper by Stout et al. argues heavily against culturally transmitted early Acheulean forms.
doi.org/10.1007/s108...
Reposted by Will Snyder
Several scholars (including me) who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences and de-extinction have been targeted by a mysterious harassment campaign
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...
Critics of de-extinction research hit by mystery smear campaign
Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them
www.newscientist.com
July 31, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Several scholars (including me) who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences and de-extinction have been targeted by a mysterious harassment campaign
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...
Reposted by Will Snyder
It's true, #PrehistoricPlanet Ice Age is coming to #AppleTV for November 2025. These images show how good our animals are, but... believe me, this barely scratches the surface!! It has been a massive thrill and privilege to help bring this series together... you're in for an incredible treat.
July 30, 2025 at 12:15 AM
It's true, #PrehistoricPlanet Ice Age is coming to #AppleTV for November 2025. These images show how good our animals are, but... believe me, this barely scratches the surface!! It has been a massive thrill and privilege to help bring this series together... you're in for an incredible treat.
Reposted by Will Snyder
Reposted by Will Snyder
A team of 24 people in India and Tanzania with no previous experience has collected brain-activity recordings from nearly 8,000 people in schools, offices and open-air spaces to create the largest data sets of their kind in Africa and Asia
go.nature.com/4kRBBt2
go.nature.com/4kRBBt2
Budget brainwaves: low-cost system collects brain data outside the lab
Neuroscience initiative in India and Tanzania amasses a trove of high-quality EEG recordings from diverse populations.
go.nature.com
July 22, 2025 at 8:13 AM
A team of 24 people in India and Tanzania with no previous experience has collected brain-activity recordings from nearly 8,000 people in schools, offices and open-air spaces to create the largest data sets of their kind in Africa and Asia
go.nature.com/4kRBBt2
go.nature.com/4kRBBt2