Alexa Soares
@alexarsoares.bsky.social
A stressed brain studying stressed brains // Postdoc in the Iwasaki Lab at Yale // Feminist // #BiInSci // @AlexaRSoares on mastodon and twitter // she/her 🐀🧠🔬🌈
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Alexa Soares
What I’ve been trying to point out for years now is that there is a money maker behind this sentiment, invested in it staying set this way. You can’t have billion dollar industry forcing autistic children to mask without scaring everyone about autism first
I think my biggest problem with the "vaccines cause autism" bullshit is that, even assuming they did (they don't, actually), neurodiversity is...good?
"Oh no, instead of polio and measles, people are cool and have new and different ways of thinking about things" is, uh, a really weird flex
"Oh no, instead of polio and measles, people are cool and have new and different ways of thinking about things" is, uh, a really weird flex
November 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
What I’ve been trying to point out for years now is that there is a money maker behind this sentiment, invested in it staying set this way. You can’t have billion dollar industry forcing autistic children to mask without scaring everyone about autism first
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Imagine, if you will, that NASA updated its website to suggest gravity might not exist, prompting CalTech and CERN to release statements saying, "With great sadness, we can no longer recommend listening to NASA."
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Imagine, if you will, that NASA updated its website to suggest gravity might not exist, prompting CalTech and CERN to release statements saying, "With great sadness, we can no longer recommend listening to NASA."
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
This is what's happening in epidemiology.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
It’s good to explain that the CDC is lying and vaccines still unequivocally do not cause autism, even if it just reaches one person on here who has doubts. But the fight is out there, not in here; and the time to let go of the information deficit model of science communication was decades ago
November 20, 2025 at 5:40 AM
It’s good to explain that the CDC is lying and vaccines still unequivocally do not cause autism, even if it just reaches one person on here who has doubts. But the fight is out there, not in here; and the time to let go of the information deficit model of science communication was decades ago
Reposted by Alexa Soares
it's almost as if being politically engaged as a scientist was always a necessity
The administration is building a legal pathway for ad hoc grant terminations:
"if the agency determines that the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities"
Converting multiyear grants to 'at whim' coin flips will undermine the stability & leadership of American science.
"if the agency determines that the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities"
Converting multiyear grants to 'at whim' coin flips will undermine the stability & leadership of American science.
Update on a significant development NIH grant terms.
On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons.
But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See @aniloza.bsky.social w/ the story from July.
1/
On 10/1, a change to grant making regs went into effect that gives NIH more power to terminate grants for policy reasons.
But to use this power, new grant terms must include specific language. See @aniloza.bsky.social w/ the story from July.
1/
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
it's almost as if being politically engaged as a scientist was always a necessity
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Despite the evolution of patient protections in the western world resulting from horrors like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and medical experimentation in WWII concentration camps it's clear that the impulses that drove such things haven't gone away, they've just moved into the tech C suites instead.
“due to no legal or policy restrictions.”
Testing on brown people before using it on you. American voters, foreign policy is domestic policy. This truth can no longer be ignored for the panacea of a mythical lesser evil.
Testing on brown people before using it on you. American voters, foreign policy is domestic policy. This truth can no longer be ignored for the panacea of a mythical lesser evil.
November 20, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Despite the evolution of patient protections in the western world resulting from horrors like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and medical experimentation in WWII concentration camps it's clear that the impulses that drove such things haven't gone away, they've just moved into the tech C suites instead.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
the gulf between the swift brutality with which places like harvard treated students protesting genocide and the endless, endless latitude those same institutions have given people like larry summers tells you everything you need to know
November 20, 2025 at 1:36 AM
the gulf between the swift brutality with which places like harvard treated students protesting genocide and the endless, endless latitude those same institutions have given people like larry summers tells you everything you need to know
Reposted by Alexa Soares
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Reposted by Alexa Soares
In 1999, a woman named Jessica Gonzales sought and obtained an order of protection against her physically abusive husband ("AH"), who had repeatedly threatened to kill her and their three children. The order included language specifically limiting when and where AH was allowed to see the children.
November 12, 2025 at 4:32 PM
In 1999, a woman named Jessica Gonzales sought and obtained an order of protection against her physically abusive husband ("AH"), who had repeatedly threatened to kill her and their three children. The order included language specifically limiting when and where AH was allowed to see the children.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Really disappointing that our #NIH colleagues will NOT be at @sfn.org this year, will NOT be discussing science, will NOT be advising us on grants, will NOT be sharing results or advancing research. 🤐
Sigh. NIH normally sends several hundred scientists to the SFN annual meeting to learn, exchange info, come up with new ideas, and advance science. (The exchange of ideas is the very core of the scientific enterprise.)
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.
Enjoy a broad range of lectures and network with experts in the field at #SfN25! 🧠
Gain valuable insights and tools to enhance your research and career.
Browse through to lectures and build your itinerary in the 2025 Neuroscience Meeting Planner
🔗 vist.ly/4de72
#neurosky #neuroskyence
Gain valuable insights and tools to enhance your research and career.
Browse through to lectures and build your itinerary in the 2025 Neuroscience Meeting Planner
🔗 vist.ly/4de72
#neurosky #neuroskyence
November 7, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Alexa Soares
I yearn for a political party where not endorsing Mamdani while praising Dick Cheney gets you automatically booted out
November 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I yearn for a political party where not endorsing Mamdani while praising Dick Cheney gets you automatically booted out
Reposted by Alexa Soares
REMINDER: A socialist act by a New Yorker was a major reason why polio was eliminated in the US.
November 4, 2025 at 10:41 PM
REMINDER: A socialist act by a New Yorker was a major reason why polio was eliminated in the US.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
I'm really sorry to have subjected all of you to all this NYC posting but it's really been the most breathtakingly ugly race, particularly given that Mamdani has the affect and manner of a Sesame Street character
I don't know what will happen in NYC tonight, but I do know that regardless of outcome, any number of public figures, celebrities, politicians and institutions that oppose Mamdani have done so with a level of rhetorical ugliness, racism, and dishonesty that should neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
November 4, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I'm really sorry to have subjected all of you to all this NYC posting but it's really been the most breathtakingly ugly race, particularly given that Mamdani has the affect and manner of a Sesame Street character
Reposted by Alexa Soares
the president explicitly told grocery stores to make sure food is expensive for snap recipients receiving the partial payments he's only disbursing because he was ordered to by a federal court after trying everything he could to halt them entirely
The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse.
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email
November 3, 2025 at 5:51 PM
the president explicitly told grocery stores to make sure food is expensive for snap recipients receiving the partial payments he's only disbursing because he was ordered to by a federal court after trying everything he could to halt them entirely
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
Reposted by Alexa Soares
The Trump administration said it will pay reduced SNAP benefits after two federal judges ordered the food aid program to continue
Trump Administration Says It Will Pay Reduced SNAP Benefits For November
In response to a court order, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would tap its contingency fund.
www.huffpost.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
The Trump administration said it will pay reduced SNAP benefits after two federal judges ordered the food aid program to continue
Reposted by Alexa Soares
ye see this shits not inevitable never give up in advance
Microsoft has withdrawn its proposal for a data center in a Milwaukee suburbs after community pushback.
After opposition from area residents and elected officials the 244 acre Caledonia project will not proceed.
After opposition from area residents and elected officials the 244 acre Caledonia project will not proceed.
Microsoft drops Caledonia data center after facing opposition. Company looking for new site
Outcry from residents and elected officials caused Microsoft to drop the Caledonia plan. But the company is seeking an alternative site.
www.jsonline.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:07 PM
ye see this shits not inevitable never give up in advance
Reposted by Alexa Soares
I know it’s not technically polite, but I love having a conversation with other people who are comfortable with short interjecting interruptions. To me it makes the conversation feel more like something we’re weaving together rather than alternating individual presentations. It feels more alive.
October 8, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I know it’s not technically polite, but I love having a conversation with other people who are comfortable with short interjecting interruptions. To me it makes the conversation feel more like something we’re weaving together rather than alternating individual presentations. It feels more alive.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
fellas is it gay to live in a city
October 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
fellas is it gay to live in a city
Reposted by Alexa Soares
One of the amazing things about science is we will never run out of mysteries.
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
March 15, 2025 at 11:48 PM
One of the amazing things about science is we will never run out of mysteries.
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Take "Naturwissenschaften (2003) 90:495–500", which performed a survey of 10,000 dinosaur fossils for evidence of tumors in the bone.
I was prepared for yes, no, but what I wasn't prepared for was:
"only in hadrosaurs."
Reposted by Alexa Soares
It’s boiling in October because you’re using ChatGPT to write your emails, Janice.
October 6, 2025 at 11:06 PM
It’s boiling in October because you’re using ChatGPT to write your emails, Janice.
Reposted by Alexa Soares
I know the news is tough right now.
So take a moment and soak in the gorgeousness & promise of the science that led to this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology.
WOW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
So take a moment and soak in the gorgeousness & promise of the science that led to this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology.
WOW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Is Awarded for Work on Immune Systems
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I know the news is tough right now.
So take a moment and soak in the gorgeousness & promise of the science that led to this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology.
WOW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
So take a moment and soak in the gorgeousness & promise of the science that led to this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology.
WOW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/h...
Reposted by Alexa Soares
Great story of wildlife rehab. Happy ending. Good human.
Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.
After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵
After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵
October 5, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Great story of wildlife rehab. Happy ending. Good human.