Michael Haslam
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twigtechnology.bsky.social
Michael Haslam
@twigtechnology.bsky.social
5K followers 530 following 640 posts
Australian archaeologist, PhD, obsessed with tool-using animals. Steward at Skara Brae, Orkney | http://twig.technology | writing Intelligence Hallucinated with @abigaildesmond.bsky.social for Harvard Uni Press (2027)

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twigtechnology.bsky.social
Michael Haslam @twigtechnology.bsky.social · Dec 24
In October 2016, I filmed this wild New Caledonian crow making a probe tool to extract beetle larvae from candlenut trees.

It carefully trimmed the leaves and ends, testing its grip a few times, then flew off to use the tool. A well planned heist.

📽️ west of Mont Do, New Caledonia 🧪🪶🏺
Reposted by Michael Haslam
stephanielking.bsky.social
3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
University of Bristol Beacon House Queens Road Bristol, BS8 1QU, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000 Contact us
www.bristol.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
On the left, Alan Turing’s 1950 paper introducing the imitation game, where he says that using public polling as a guide to whether machines are intelligent is absurd.

On the right, yesterday’s NYT opinion piece using public polling as a guide to whether machines are intelligent.

🧪🤖
The introduction to Turing’s paper titled ‘Computing Machinery and intelligence’: I PROPOSE to consider the question, 'Can machines think ?' This should begin with definitions of the meaning of the terms "machine' and "think'.The definitions might be framed so as to reflect so far as possible the normal use of the words, but this attitude is dangerous. If the meaning of the words 'machine' and 'think' are to be found by examining how they are commonly used it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the meaning and the answer to the question, 'Can machines think ?' is to be sought in a statistical survey such as a Gallup poll. But this is absurd. Instead of attempting such a definition I shall replace the question by another, which is closely related to it and is expressed in relatively unambiguous words. Introduction to an opinion piece published in the New York Times on 8 November 2025, by Barbara Gail Montero, titled ‘A.I. Is on Its Way to Something Even More Remarkable Than Intelligence’: Not long ago, A.I. became intelligent. Some may dismiss this claim, but the number of people who doubt A.I.'s acumen is dwindling. According to a 2024 YouGov poll, a clear majority of U.S. adults say that computers are already more intelligent than people or will become so in the near future.
November 9, 2025 at 12:09 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Watching @realgdt.bsky.social’s excellent new Frankenstein film reminded me of a specific passage from the book.

Mary Shelley wanted somewhere extremely remote and depressing for Victor Frankenstein to create the companion for his ‘monster’. So she sent him to…Orkney

📚🧬⚡️
A passage from Mary Shelley’s 1818 book Frankenstein: Having parted from my friend, I determined to visit some remote spot of Scotland, and finish my work in solitude. I did not doubt but that the monster followed me, and would discover himself to me when I should have finished, that he might receive his companion. With this resolution I traversed the northern highlands, and fixed on one of the remotest of the Orkneys as the scene of my labours. It was a place fitted for such a work, being hardly more than a rock, whose high sides were continually beaten upon by the waves. The soil was barren, scarcely affording pasture for a few miserable cows, and oatmeal for its inhabitants, which consisted of five persons, whose gaunt and scraggy limbs gave tokens of their miserable fare. Vegetables and bread, when they indulged in such luxuries, and even fresh water, was to be procured from the main land, which was about five miles distant.
November 9, 2025 at 8:38 AM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Update: the Buckquoy Pictish site and surrounding coast looking their best this afternoon 🏺
A photo of a sky approaching sunset with a sandstone shoreline and a small peninsula in the mid-distance. Water off to the right is the North Atlantic Ocean. A hand drawn arrow points at the peninsula, which is the where the Buckquoy archaeological site was excavated.
November 7, 2025 at 4:23 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Excellent thread on new dates from the #Orkney Pictish Buckquoy site, 5 minutes from my house.

If you’re visiting the Norse settlement (or looking for puffins) on the Brough of Birsay, this site is beside the carpark before you walk across to the Brough at low tide 🏺🧪🌊
antiquity.ac.uk Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 4d
NEW Were the Picts of northern Scotland wiped out by Viking conquest? New radiocarbon dates from the 1st millennium AD settlement of Buckquoy, Orkney paint a more complex picture of cultural interaction in the Northern Isles.

#AntiquityThread 1/15 🧵

@northernpicts.bsky.social🏺 #Archaeology
Double-sided comb made from bone.
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
digs.bsky.social
Looking for a different gift idea this year? How about a #kakapo adoption? Adoptions are open again until 25th Nov, with postage or email options. These fund a significant proportion of our programme and make a real difference to the #conservation work we do. Thanks! www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/kak...
Adopt a kākāpō
Kākāpō adoptions are a special way to support the conservation of this taonga species. You can adopt a kākāpō for yourself or as a gift.
www.doc.govt.nz
November 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
animalinvention.bsky.social
Our seminar on animal agency, between biology and philosophy, is back !
Check out the programme for the next sessions here !
We meet on the second Wednesday of each month, on Zoom, from 4 to 5 PM (UK time).
You’re very welcome to join ! :)

www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
www.animalinventiveness.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:26 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
What spooky #Orkney site is this?

It’s the view inside House 7 at Skara Brae, the one we keep locked. The only two skeletons found at this ancient village were under the wall to the left. Look closely to see Neolithic carvings in the stone, made over 4500 years ago….if you dare

#Halloween 🏺💀
A black and white photo of stone furniture inside a stone house. The floor is clay. A small doorway is visible in the upper right, but the image is dominated by the upper edge of a sandstone slab in the centre. The slab has a series of lines carved into it, not a language, but clearly meaningful to the Neolithic people that made them.
October 31, 2025 at 8:18 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Brilliant new study (preprint) led by @noraslania.bsky.social on how wild eastern chimpanzees observe each other.

'Peering'—or close-range attentive observation—happens in all kinds of contexts and esp. for young chimps, opening the door to new cultural traits 🧪👀

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 31, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
emilymsanford.bsky.social
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
alexisjbreen.bsky.social
#CrowCoG is hiring🚨MULTIPLE PAID RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITIONS 🚨for our 2026 field season (May - Sep)! Field and aviary-based positions - come help us study the remarkable tool-making New Caledonian crows. Apply here: bit.ly/3WlxxHE
October 27, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
marybates.bsky.social
This time of year, spiders receive a lot of attention for their creepier qualities. But researchers value them year-round for pulling off impressive cognitive feats with very little brains.
Spiders Are Smart, Not Scary
Spiders aren't just spooky Halloween mascots. Their keen senses, complex behaviors, and diverse lifestyles make them excellent subjects for cognitive studies.
www.psychologytoday.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
nataliajagielska.bsky.social
"Cretaceous Thriller"
Sinocalliopteryx: the bird-swallowing dinosaur 🪶
A striped dinosaur with fluffy tail, jumping in front of red moon and catching a long-tailed early bird
October 23, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
kategraphics.bsky.social
Remember the poster inspired by stained glass?
Well, I decided to actually try making a mini version, in real glass. I haven't cut or solder glass in my entire life. Maybe starting with 32 pieces was a bad idea.

I forgot I could’ve just painted glass instead.

It’s awful. I love it.
#sciart #art
Stained glass piece of a black hole in blues Part of the stained glass piece being put together before soldering
October 25, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
premeemohamed.com
At some point I will do the 'what I had out this year' roundup... two novellas, some longer stories, some shorter, and this one, my shortest! EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING PROBABLY is free to read at @psychopomp.com :)

psychopomp.com/everyone-kee...
Everyone Keeps Saying Probably - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
Publisher's Note: Please enjoy this short story by Premee Mohamed, who, coincidentally(!!), has a book out from Psychopomp on February 11th. It's called One
psychopomp.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
All papers in Royal Society journals are free to access from 20-26 October for #OAweek 🧪📚

Here's links to a few things I've published with them over the years...

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Distance-decay effect in stone tool transport by wild chimpanzees | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Stone tool transport leaves long-lasting behavioural evidence in the landscape. However, it remains unknown how large-scale patterns of stone distribution emerge through undirected, short-term transport behaviours. One of the longest studied groups of ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
amayor.bsky.social
lithub.com/cursed-mount...
Cursed Mountains and Deathly Lakes: When Nature Is Explained By Myth
The drive to explain perplexing things in nature, and the desire to understand earthshaking events of unfathomable scale are timeless human impulses. Found in cultures around the world, geomyths at…
lithub.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:49 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
In a paper under review @abigaildesmond.bsky.social and I argue that self-directed tool use should be the most common form of novel (and possibly temporary) tool use, because of the immediacy of the feedback and the stability of the self as an environment. Fingers crossed it survives review!

🧪🪮🐼
October 21, 2025 at 10:09 AM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
20 years ago today I was teaching a tutorial at UQ when I heard my friend and mentor Dr Tom Loy had died. He was 63.

Tom was a pioneer in biomolecular archaeology, finding blood and other organic materials on ancient tools. But he never rebuilt an entire DNA strand, as #JurassicPark noted

🏺🧪🧬🦖🦕
October 19, 2025 at 8:09 AM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Aurora/dragon over my #Orkney house tonight 🧪🔭
An aurora of mostly green hues with some red in the night sky. Stars are visible through it. The shape is kind of like two giant wings if you use a lot of imagination.
October 18, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
annieroth.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/s...

An unknown sea otter was spotted stealing surfboards at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz this week. Is 841 back to her old ways or have other otters learned to hang 10? Check out my latest for @nytimes.com
Sea Otters Are Stealing Surfboards in California. Again.
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
virginiesimoneau.bsky.social
Delighted to co-author this piece with Leonie Bossert on the potential benefits and risks of using AI to communicate with animals! 🐋
psyche.co Psyche Magazine @psyche.co · 25d
The human desire to communicate with animals is as old as it is universal. Today, that ancient dream might be closer than ever, thanks to rapidly evolving AI. But the potential for harm might outweigh the benefits
Even if we could speak to animals, should we? | Psyche Ideas
AI could satisfy our deeply held desire to talk to other creatures. But the potential for harm might outweigh the benefits
buff.ly
October 16, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
nicoleackermans.com
Violence, scientific DRAMA, and misunderstanding!
Who first asked if woodpeckers get headaches, or if rams are immune to brain damage?
New Paper! I trace the history of human thought on brain injury in head-hitting animals, and it's a wild ride. 🧪 🏺
A thread - 1/🧵
doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...
Graphical abstract for A history of human thought on brain injury in head-hitting animals. Humans have hypothesized about headbutting for centuries. Biological misunderstanding has often been the cause of "invulnerability" theories. An accumulation of biological misinterpretation has led to the belief that animals are immune, despite evidence that headbutting causes brain injury.
October 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
twigtechnology.bsky.social
🖐️ New study says our robust cousins Paranthropus had hands that could use tools 1.5 million years ago.

This is not a surprise. Monkeys have tool-using hands, so do sea otters (and crabs and octopuses if we stretch what makes a hand). Bird beaks/elephant trunks/ant mandibles are fine for tool use 🏺🧪
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 4:58 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
twigtechnology.bsky.social
Feels like it’s been a while since I put my workplace here. This is Skara Brae right now 🏺🧪🌊
Grass of various lengths around and over a 5000 year old stone village. The houses are beside a rocky coast, and the North Atlantic is off to the far right, with ominous rain clouds.
October 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM