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srhastraea.bsky.social
Stephen Hill
@srhastraea.bsky.social
900 followers 1.4K following 680 posts
Cognitive psych interested in distributed cognition, memory, weird and non-weird beliefs, cognitive biases, conspiracy belief, misinformation, scientific vs lay cognition, climate change, open science, metascience, 4eCognition.

From Aotearoa/New Zealand
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Stephen Hill
alexh.bsky.social
" 60 per cent of UK university libraries are considering dropping their big deals with the five major academic publisher"
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing - Research Professional News
Buckling of commercial models alongside maturing of community-led efforts promises major shifts, says Caroline Edwards
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
billbennett.bsky.social
It's not yet 9:00 and my email and phone have been running hot over the lead story on today's newsletter.

billbennett.co.nz/2degrees-ast...
2degrees building satellite ground station for 2026 launch
A partnership between 2degrees and AST SpaceMobile offers a distinct take on mobile to satellite. Chorus wants government help fixing digital divide. Another data record breaks.
billbennett.co.nz
November 13, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
krisshrishak.bsky.social
Scientists and scholars in AI and its social impacts call on von der Leyen to retract #AIHype statement.

@olivia.science
@abeba.bsky.social
@irisvanrooij.bsky.social
@alexhanna.bsky.social
@rocher.lc
@danmcquillan.bsky.social
@robin.berjon.com
& many others have signed

www.iccl.ie/press-releas...
Scientists call on the President of the European Commission to retract AI hype statement
Experts in AI call on the President of the European Commission to retract unscientific AI hype statement she made in the budget speech.
www.iccl.ie
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
nickofnz.bsky.social
Two scientists who helped spread the idea of carbon capture say it's being misused in a dangerous way to avoid necessary emissions cuts.

#ClimateCrisis #cop30

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The Scientists Who Popularized Carbon Capture Have a Warning About It
Many countries are relying on it to meet their climate goals, but it might hurt more than help, they say.
www.bloomberg.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
adamserwer.bsky.social
Great piece by Zadie Smith. When the right talks about classics or "Western" culture, these works are only important to the extent that it demonstrates their superiority, they have no interest in art in and of itself beyond that www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
You know a country by its values. By what a country values. And it turns out that what a country values can change over time. Sometimes, though, there’s a sort of cognitive delay between the country you think you are in, and the country you’ve actually become. For example, you can keep selling yourself, to foreigners, as the country of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, and luring busloads of tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon and Bath, and put a statue of George Orwell in front of the BBC, and imagine yourself a cultured and literate nation, which the rest of the world admires for its devotion to the written word – but if you then chronically underfund your cultural institutions, and treat your cultural workers with contempt, many people will suspect you of being full of it. And as the decades pass – and fewer and fewer Shakespeares and Austens and Orwells emerge from your little island – even more people will begin to suspect that in truth you do not value culture at all, and are in fact running a giant heritage museum in which the only cultural workers you respect are the dead ones.
November 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
srhastraea.bsky.social
The case for dumping global rankings of universities

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
To reform universities, first tackle global rankings
Universities are in thrall to a rankings system that prioritizes narrow aspects of academic life. Three changes would give institutions the freedom to explore fresh ways of working.
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
prestonlab.bsky.social
(1/4)
🧠 Did you know that kids remember time differently than adults? Our new preprint review w/ @drjeni-mdlab.bsky.social discusses the real implications for juvenile justice & why we need to ask about timing in ways that match kids' developing brains ⚖️

Paper: osf.io/preprints/ps...
November 12, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
cameronwilson.bsky.social
In an Australia first, I used FOI to get the AI chat logs of Australia's top national security bureaucrat.

They show how he used Microsoft Copilot to ghostwrite speeches and messages to colleagues.

This comes as the government looks to push AI use in the public service.
www.crikey.com.au/20...
November 12, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
davidho.bsky.social
It might be true that the world needs to remove ten billion tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere every year but it’s never going to happen for many different reasons: technical, financial, social, environmental, governance, etc. If we don’t reduce CO₂ emissions, we’re screwed. That’s it.
Removing CO2 from atmosphere vital to avoid catastrophic tipping points, leading scientist says
10bn tonnes must be captured from the air every year to limit global heating to 1.7C, says Johan Rockström
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
matthewfacciani.bsky.social
A rare moment of bipartisan agreement: about half of both Republicans (50%) and Democrats (51%) say they’re more concerned than excited about the growing role of AI in daily life.
November 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
occasio.bsky.social
“The report attributes this decline to several Coation Govt actions, incl repealing key smokefree “endgame” measures, reducing excise tax on heated tobacco products against official advice, & ALLOWING “revolving door” between #nzpol & tobacco industry roles”
World leading to worst. Thx Luxon & Co.
Aotearoa plummets from 2nd to 53rd in Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index ranking
Recent policy changes have led to a dramatic drop in NZ’s global ranking for tobacco interference protection.
www.phcc.org.nz
November 11, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
jamellebouie.net
it's not that i ever doubted that being a barista was a skilled position, but my year-long effort to try to produce a half-decent latte at home has convinced me that a good barista is easily more skilled than virtually every c-suite executive on the planet
November 11, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
pessoabrain.bsky.social
AI has come an enormous way since the early days...
Amazing precision and scholarly knowledge.
GoaLPleation for one is just around the corner in neuroscience research 😱
#neuroskyence
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
euractiv.com
Stop overhyping AI, scientists tell von der Leyen
Stop overhyping AI, scientists tell von der Leyen
Open letter criticises the Commission President for remarks earlier this year – when she anticipated AI would “approach human reasoning” in 2026
dlvr.it
November 10, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
socialmedialab.ca
Misinformation is harmless, they say, it's just a different POV they say ... "Canada has lost its measles elimination status, the Public Health Agency of Canada says. Since the fall of 2024, Canada has recorded more than 5k measles cases in 9 provinces and one territory." www.cbc.ca/news/health/...
Canada loses its measles elimination status — as it happened | CBC
www.cbc.ca
November 10, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
mshooper.bsky.social
PhD student looks at the lie behind the political line: ‘NZ can’t afford it’
#nzpol
Link to read 👇

archive.today/D8Uyf
PhD student looks at the lie behind the political line: ‘NZ can’t afford it’
University of Otago student Morgan Edwards believes Kiwis need to understand more about our monetary system and push back harder against public service cuts and other government spending decisions.
www.thepost.co.nz
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
paulkirschner.bsky.social
With so much news, hype, and 'research' about AI in education, I thought it a good idea to bring this blog and open access article under everyone's attention.

ChatGPT: An effect in search of a cause
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
ChatGPT in Education: An Effect in Search of a Cause
Background As researchers rush to investigate the potential of AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance learning, well-documented pitfalls threaten the validity of this emerging research. Issues of media co...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:26 AM
srhastraea.bsky.social
What a fantastic piece!
November 9, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
phcc.bsky.social
"If there is a coherent throughline to the totality of the Government’s climate policies, it can only be a willingness to
increase New Zealand’s contribution to global warming."
newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/07/g...
Govt's climate strategy: Let it burn
Comment: The Government has relentlessly pursued policies that boost climate pollution – even if they cost more or jeopardise NZ's reputation, Marc Daalder writes
newsroom.co.nz
November 9, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
draglikepull.bsky.social
It seems like the more time game developers spend with generative "AI", the less impressed by it they are. In the most recent Game Developer survey of people working the industry only 13% expect these tools to have a positive impact on the industry, a decline of nearly half from the previous year.
Developers still aren't warming up to generative AI
Developers do not in fact welcome our new AI overlords.
www.gamedeveloper.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
joneshowdareyou.bsky.social
Because everything is shit, I give you ... Puggles. #Platypus #AustralianWildlife
November 9, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
notjustdna.bsky.social
#NZ science cuts

The cost of axing Callaghan Innovation

www.waikatotimes.co.nz/business/360...
The Waikato Times
www.waikatotimes.co.nz
November 9, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
lostarcnz.bsky.social
I keep on coming back to the irrefutable fact that the people in New Zealand that don't want to address the impact of colonisation and argue "it's in the past, the current generation are not responsible for that" continue to enjoy benefits that flowed directly from that colonisation.
November 8, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
sjponeill.bsky.social
Heli vid from last night of the fire at Mangatepopo in Tongariro National Park.

Devastating in our premier national park.

Please stay away so firefighters can do their jobs...
#RuapehuNZ #CruisingSH4 #Tongariro
November 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Stephen Hill
perfors.net
Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.
Slide is titled: You don't need to use LLMs. Science is a process of collaborative meaning making, by which we try to understand the world Even if AI were perfect, we rely on it at our peril — it is not science if we (i.e., humanity as a whole) do not understand and cannot recapitulate all parts of it I very, very rarely use LLMs myself. You can give yourself permission not to. Don’t FOMO yourself into it Conclusion: Don't rely on something you don't understand and can't control If you must use LLMS: 1. Treat them like you would an intern: only use them for things you can easily and thoroughly check 2. Make your process as robust as possible 3. Be aware of your own (human) cognitive biases
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM