Zen Faulkes
LightNews LightNews
banner
doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes
@doctorzen.net
2.5K followers 330 following 3.8K posts

Home page: http://DoctorZen.net. Biologist. Author of Better Posters book and blog. Collector of academic hoaxes and academic slop graphics.

Videos
Environmental science 49%
Geography 13%
Posts Replies Media Videos

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 11h
Not my horses…

But I have to point out that these have not stayed unchanged for millions of years!

doi.org/10.3389/fear...
The geological and morphological history of horseshoe crabs across the Phanerozoic.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 14h
I reckon Google Scholar and PubMed effectively did for journals what the iTunes Store did for albums.

If you can just go straight to the one thing you want and Jerry that, the bundle its in stops mattering very much.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 16h
Posts science but likely a bot: astra99

Tells:

Many posts have the same structure, beginning with "Whoa" or "Wow" or some similar exclamation.

No replies.

A semi regular pointer at the end of posts pointing to an AI tool.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 16h
Academics who do not buy the Better Posters book could be 'left behind', says author of the Better Posters book

(HT @whysharksmatter.bsky.social for the idea)
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 19h
Countries that do not embrace AI could be ‘left behind’, says OpenAI’s George Osborne
Countries that do not embrace AI could be ‘left behind’, says OpenAI’s George Osborne
Without AI you will be a ‘weaker and poorer nation’, warns former UK chancellor two months into job at US firm The former chancellor George Osborne has warned that countries that do not embrace the kind of powerful AI systems made by his new employer, OpenAI, risked “Fomo” and could be left weaker and poorer. Osborne, who is two months into a job as head of the $500bn San Francisco AI company’s “for countries” programme, told leaders gathered for the AI Impact summit in Delhi: “Don’t be left behind.” He warned that without AI rollouts they could end up with a workforce “less willing to stay put” because they might want to seek AI-enabled fortunes elsewhere. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

rhettallain.bsky.social
Rhett Allain @rhettallain.bsky.social · 18h
In a previous #physics post I discussed how to measure the radius of the Earth using LEGO - well, I finally have data and measured the Earth for myself. #flatearthers can repeat if they want. #astronomy

rjallain.medium.com/measure-the-...
Measure the radius of the Earth using LEGO bricks and a smartphone.
Yes, the Earth is spherical. We know that. We all know that — or at least we should know that. I mean, there’s tons of evidence just in…
rjallain.medium.com

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 18h
It's interesting how often I try to read a journal article online, probably more half the screen is journal sludge, not the article I have actually clicked on, am scrolling through, and am presumably interested in.
Screenshot from journal immunity, with large header and wide right side columns, and leaving about a third of the screen for the text of the scientific article.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 18h
Delcomyn F. 1998. Foundations of Neurobiology. WH Freeman. ISBN: 9780716726272

Haven't looked at the current crop 🧠 textbook offerings, but I suspect there is nothing like this one available now.
Cover of "Foundations of Neurobiology".

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 18h
Love when a scientific article's title is "Such and such made simple" 🌈🦄

And then the first sentence of the summary throws in a word like, "lymphopoiesis" 😕
a man in front of a microphone says i don 't know how to pronounce it
Alt: A man in front of a microphone says, "I don't know how to pronounce it."
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, David M. Schultz, Will Jennings , and 10 more

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 19h
Countries that do not embrace AI could be ‘left behind’, says OpenAI’s George Osborne
Countries that do not embrace AI could be ‘left behind’, says OpenAI’s George Osborne
Without AI you will be a ‘weaker and poorer nation’, warns former UK chancellor two months into job at US firm The former chancellor George Osborne has warned that countries that do not embrace the kind of powerful AI systems made by his new employer, OpenAI, risked “Fomo” and could be left weaker and poorer. Osborne, who is two months into a job as head of the $500bn San Francisco AI company’s “for countries” programme, told leaders gathered for the AI Impact summit in Delhi: “Don’t be left behind.” He warned that without AI rollouts they could end up with a workforce “less willing to stay put” because they might want to seek AI-enabled fortunes elsewhere. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

brandontbishop.bsky.social
Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 20h
NSF still doesn't have a director or deputy director. We have no idea who's actually running them. Board members have resigned over this and over the political control of the agency by 20-something political hacks.

Yet people persist in acting like everything is normal.

Reposted by David M. Schultz, Zen Faulkes

brandontbishop.bsky.social
Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 20h
I get the strong impression that many of the physical scientists on here are not paying attention to what's happening with their colleagues in the biological sciences.

NIH has some unique problems at the moment, but the broader form of issues does look applicable to NSF, NASA, etc. funding.

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, John R. Hutchinson, Nils Gustafsson , and 5 more

thomasgermain.bsky.social
Thomas Germain @thomasgermain.bsky.social · 20h
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website*

I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took 20 minutes
I found a way to make AI tell you lies – and I'm not the only one.
www.bbc.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Anna O. Law , and 9 more

richardkadrey.bsky.social
Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 21h
2026 basically
A photo of an ice cream machine with a sign reading, "Anything is possible with ice cream." Beneath that is a hand lettered sign reading, "No ice cream".

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 21h
Maybe the last legitimately useful thing the computer industry delivered was somewhat decent video conferencing. Boring but useful.

But computing industry seems focused on exciting but useless. Cryptocurrency, NFTs, generative AI.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 21h
Wishing you much success with this! If I can help in some way, email me.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 22h
I reckon that if Flavor Flav can do a skeleton run, why not me?

bsky.app/profile/flav...
flavorflav.bsky.social FLAVOR FLAV ⏰ @flavorflav.bsky.social · 2d
Yes,,, your boy has taken a ride in the 4 man bobsled,,, but im an adrenaline junkie and needed to try skeleton. And now I’ve officially joined the team and am gonna try to start competing.

66 years old going 66 mph.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 23h
Wow. So many buzzwords.

“Agile”!

“Crosscutting”!

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 23h
(I highly doubt we would get such a book, given how reliant neuro and bio departments are on pre med students and health funding. But it’s nice to dream, I guess.)

Reposted by Colin F. Camerer, Daniel Kim, Christopher McCabe , and 13 more

hildur.bsky.social
Hildur Knútsdóttir @hildur.bsky.social · 23h
I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.

And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.
kylecassidy.bsky.social Kyle Cassidy @kylecassidy.bsky.social · 1d
I’m constantly astounded at the sheer level of artistic production coming out of Iceland. Novels, movies, music. Amazing.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 23h
A new introductory neuroscience textbook and revised curriculum that genuinely extols comparative research.

I can’t find a single current 🧠 textbook that isn’t 💯 geared to pre med students.

Fred Delcomyn wrote one, but never did a second edition. “Too much work,” he said.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d
Numbered references in proposals.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d
Lungs are related to swim bladders, and it’s been known for decades that swim bladders are involved in hearing.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d
Interesting that this article about how people are missing out still doesn't give a single compelling use of the technology.

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d
"Nobody knows how to stop the deluge of AI slop papers in science!"

Sure we do. At least, we know how to slow it down.

1. Stop counting publications for career assessment, university rankings, and so on.

2. Get human editors and peer reviewers to do their jobs.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

beijingpalmer.bsky.social
BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2d
boy, looking at the AI boyfriend subreddit freaking out over the model change, and it really was a grossly irresponsible act to create a technology for lonely and suffering people to project onto without supervision or control.

www.reddit.com/r/MyBoyfrien...
From the MyBoyfriendIsAI community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the MyBoyfriendIsAI community
www.reddit.com

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d
Yellowknife deserves a movie theatre!

I don't care how big the TV in your living room is, it's not the same as going to the movies.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Yellowknife looks for alternatives as credits roll for its only movie theatre | CBC News
The consensus among the gathering was that the city needs a dedicated screening space. Whether that space would be managed by a non-profit, a cooperative or another group still had to be discussed.
www.cbc.ca

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d
If you see this post a Star Trek:

doctorzen.net
Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d
Advertise your account with a GIF:

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

napaaqtuk.bsky.social
Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 2d
Advertise your account with a gif…

Reposted by Alan Richardson, Zen Faulkes

texasaaup.bsky.social
Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 2d
🔔PRESS RELEASE: UT System Board of Regents to vote on new course content restrictions just days after UT Austin collapses ethnic and gender studies departments. 👇

aaup-texas.org/blog/f/ut-re...
UT Regents To Vote on Sweeping Course Restrictions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
aaup-texas.org