Zach Cofran
@dizachster.bsky.social
Associate professor of Anthropology, HEAD (Human Evolution and Development) Lab @ Vassar College. Bones & brains. lawnchairanthropology.com
“While administrators cut ribbons on their AI initiative, they were also cutting faculty positions, entire academic programs, and student services.”
Absolutely devastating account of the CSU's $17 million capitulation to ChatGPT, from a fellow faculty member watching it happen www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 1:35 PM
“While administrators cut ribbons on their AI initiative, they were also cutting faculty positions, entire academic programs, and student services.”
Reposted by Zach Cofran
I'm really pleased that my first coauthored article of 2026 is out. With some amazing folks @marckissel.bsky.social @anthrofuentes.bsky.social we think through a synthesis of behavioral ecology, emotional cognition, and archaeology.
www.johnhawks.net/p/bringing-e...
www.johnhawks.net/p/bringing-e...
Bringing emotional cognition to deep time
In a new article, my coauthors and I draw upon cognitive science to draw out archaeological traces of ancient social lives
www.johnhawks.net
December 2, 2025 at 10:27 PM
I'm really pleased that my first coauthored article of 2026 is out. With some amazing folks @marckissel.bsky.social @anthrofuentes.bsky.social we think through a synthesis of behavioral ecology, emotional cognition, and archaeology.
www.johnhawks.net/p/bringing-e...
www.johnhawks.net/p/bringing-e...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Students: the deadline for #AABA2026 travel awards is this week!
📆 Reminder: The deadline for Pollitzer Student Travel Awards to attend #AABA2026 in Denver is December 5. Be sure to submit your application! bioanth.org/about/willia...
William S. Pollitzer Student Travel Award - AABA
The Pollitzer Student Travel Awards are designed to help students defray the costs of attending the AABA meetings. The awards are named in honor of […]
bioanth.org
December 2, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Students: the deadline for #AABA2026 travel awards is this week!
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Just out "Social and emotional cognition in Pleistocene hominin evolution: The role of biocultural processes" with @johnhawks.net @marckissel.bsky.social Penny Spikins, Jennifer French and me. Open access in Journal of Archaeological Science... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Social and emotional cognition in Pleistocene hominin evolution: The role of biocultural processes
Patterns and processes of social cognition underlie much of the behavioral and ecological flexibility and adaptive capacity that characterizes the pri…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Just out "Social and emotional cognition in Pleistocene hominin evolution: The role of biocultural processes" with @johnhawks.net @marckissel.bsky.social Penny Spikins, Jennifer French and me. Open access in Journal of Archaeological Science... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Big implications of a small hip fossil
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
December 1, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Big implications of a small hip fossil
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
People catastrophizing about a precedent where no one can mark anything down anymore for being wrong when the real precedent is trans people not being able to do literally any job without an army of bigots launching a harassment campaign against their employer.
a lot of people debating the merits of that dogshit essay meanwhile the girl’s mom is retweeting demands to ban all trans people from teaching at any level. it’s forest for the trees shit
December 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM
People catastrophizing about a precedent where no one can mark anything down anymore for being wrong when the real precedent is trans people not being able to do literally any job without an army of bigots launching a harassment campaign against their employer.
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education - actual, real education in reading, writing, thinking, arguing, analyzing, & synthesizing by doing the actual hard work for which there is no substitute - is stronger than it’s ever been at any point in human history.
November 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Look around. The case for more, not less, liberal arts education - actual, real education in reading, writing, thinking, arguing, analyzing, & synthesizing by doing the actual hard work for which there is no substitute - is stronger than it’s ever been at any point in human history.
Reposted by Zach Cofran
to be *really* clear: this is LLM related research but if you read it what they are very much *not* doing is just pointing a model at it and asking "what do you think the whales are saying"
Mind-blowingly cool use of AI
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | I’m a Marine Biologist. This Is How I Talk to Whales.
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:32 PM
to be *really* clear: this is LLM related research but if you read it what they are very much *not* doing is just pointing a model at it and asking "what do you think the whales are saying"
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Our next video in the series "Preserving knowledge of endemic species in #Madagascar through storytelling"
features #Ranomafana wildlife expert RAKOTOVAO Remi, who has studied #lemurs since 1994! He shares his experiences AND some bird calls!
You can view Remi’s video here: lnkd.in/gH9xpqBi
features #Ranomafana wildlife expert RAKOTOVAO Remi, who has studied #lemurs since 1994! He shares his experiences AND some bird calls!
You can view Remi’s video here: lnkd.in/gH9xpqBi
RAKOTOVAO Remi | Research Techs | Preserving knowledge of endemic species in Madagascar
YouTube video by Centre ValBio
youtu.be
November 30, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Our next video in the series "Preserving knowledge of endemic species in #Madagascar through storytelling"
features #Ranomafana wildlife expert RAKOTOVAO Remi, who has studied #lemurs since 1994! He shares his experiences AND some bird calls!
You can view Remi’s video here: lnkd.in/gH9xpqBi
features #Ranomafana wildlife expert RAKOTOVAO Remi, who has studied #lemurs since 1994! He shares his experiences AND some bird calls!
You can view Remi’s video here: lnkd.in/gH9xpqBi
The hip new Australopithecus deyiremeda fossils highlight the need for more studies of skeletal growth and development
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
Hip new Australopithecus deyiremeda juveniles
Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie & colleagues just published some amazing fossils from around 3.4 million years ago, that convincingly link an unusual hominin foot fossil to an ancient human called …
lawnchairanthropology.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
The hip new Australopithecus deyiremeda fossils highlight the need for more studies of skeletal growth and development
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
lawnchairanthropology.com/2025/11/30/h...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Indeed. The "Western Civilization" they like is Nero, Columbus, and Hitler at the apex of their power.
They hate all the rest of it, especially the art, philosophy, and democracy. Hence stuff like their confusion and outrage when the Olympic ceremonies included the Olympian God of Festivals.
They hate all the rest of it, especially the art, philosophy, and democracy. Hence stuff like their confusion and outrage when the Olympic ceremonies included the Olympian God of Festivals.
It is odd to me that, like, you'd think it'd be parody if you said: to be clear, they only like the bad bits of Western Civilisation -- but that turns out to be true. They like the rapacious imperial murder, but not the art or intellectual achievements or civil liberties, etc.
i mean what are these "western values" these guys are so hopped up about? they are directly antagonistic to western europe. they don't believe in civil liberties. they reject democracy. and don't get me started on christianity, they hate their white neighbors almost as much as the brown ones
November 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Indeed. The "Western Civilization" they like is Nero, Columbus, and Hitler at the apex of their power.
They hate all the rest of it, especially the art, philosophy, and democracy. Hence stuff like their confusion and outrage when the Olympic ceremonies included the Olympian God of Festivals.
They hate all the rest of it, especially the art, philosophy, and democracy. Hence stuff like their confusion and outrage when the Olympic ceremonies included the Olympian God of Festivals.
Reposted by Zach Cofran
it's hard to get your mind around how irredeemably broken this country has become. no one in charge at this time seems to understand even the basics of our system of government as written or our stated set of values as a secular society
Pirro: "These Guardsmen and all who are here to protect the District are the line that separates a civilized society from a barbaric one."
November 27, 2025 at 8:26 PM
it's hard to get your mind around how irredeemably broken this country has become. no one in charge at this time seems to understand even the basics of our system of government as written or our stated set of values as a secular society
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Kudos to Rebecca for leading this charge! Lynn's data is an embarrassment to the scientific enterprise. The skull measurers on Twitter are having a predictable response with the repeated claim that "other data replicate" Lynn's results.
Easy to see that's not true for the 2002, 2012, or "new" set
Easy to see that's not true for the 2002, 2012, or "new" set
November 28, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Kudos to Rebecca for leading this charge! Lynn's data is an embarrassment to the scientific enterprise. The skull measurers on Twitter are having a predictable response with the repeated claim that "other data replicate" Lynn's results.
Easy to see that's not true for the 2002, 2012, or "new" set
Easy to see that's not true for the 2002, 2012, or "new" set
Happy Thanksgibbon everyone!
November 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Happy Thanksgibbon everyone!
Reposted by Zach Cofran
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
GitHub - alanrogers/popgen: A course on population genetics
A course on population genetics. Contribute to alanrogers/popgen development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:10 PM
I taught (and co-taught) a course on human population genetics from 2000-2024. Having retired, I'm now making all the course materials public: github.com/alanrogers/p... #popgen #evbio
Awesome new hominin fossils from Ethiopia 3.5 million years ago, by Yohannes Haile-Selassie & co www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The new juvenile hip bone 😍 (left in image) has a long ischium like other juvenile Australopithecus (center) and unlike later humans like Homo naledi (right)
The new juvenile hip bone 😍 (left in image) has a long ischium like other juvenile Australopithecus (center) and unlike later humans like Homo naledi (right)
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Awesome new hominin fossils from Ethiopia 3.5 million years ago, by Yohannes Haile-Selassie & co www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The new juvenile hip bone 😍 (left in image) has a long ischium like other juvenile Australopithecus (center) and unlike later humans like Homo naledi (right)
The new juvenile hip bone 😍 (left in image) has a long ischium like other juvenile Australopithecus (center) and unlike later humans like Homo naledi (right)
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Australopithecus deyiremeda 🤝 Burtele foot www.sciencenews.org/article/foot... 🏺🧪
A foot fossil suggests a second early human relative lived alongside Lucy
Foot bones and other fossils have been attributed to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a recently discovered species that may shake up the human family tree.
www.sciencenews.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Australopithecus deyiremeda 🤝 Burtele foot www.sciencenews.org/article/foot... 🏺🧪
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Peter Thiel says he read Rene Girard but I don't think he gets it: mimesis is when you keep obsessing about the Antichrist that you get entangled with it, you mimic it, start to transform into it
In newly leaked audio, Peter Thiel admits he urged JD Vance to ignore Pope Leo XIV on moral questions — including the ethical development of AI.
He goes even further, branding Leo “the woke American pope” and suggesting he’s a tool of the Antichrist.
He goes even further, branding Leo “the woke American pope” and suggesting he’s a tool of the Antichrist.
NEW: JD Vance’s Top Donor Suggests Pope Leo XIV is Antichrist
In a leaked lecture, Peter Thiel says he’s urged Vance to ignore the pope on moral questions — and simply pray for him.
www.thelettersfromleo.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Peter Thiel says he read Rene Girard but I don't think he gets it: mimesis is when you keep obsessing about the Antichrist that you get entangled with it, you mimic it, start to transform into it
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Coming together to eat the food we share has been part of humanity from the very beginning. I wrote this post after a Thanksgiving week lecture on evidence for Neanderthals and other ancient people making prepared mixtures of grains, lentils, and other foods.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
A Neandertal recipe with lentils and grain
Looking at a fascinating new study that finds mixtures of different plants within ancient morsels of charred foods.
www.johnhawks.net
November 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Coming together to eat the food we share has been part of humanity from the very beginning. I wrote this post after a Thanksgiving week lecture on evidence for Neanderthals and other ancient people making prepared mixtures of grains, lentils, and other foods.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
This is a remarkable open access resource for genomic work on living great apes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A curated dataset of great ape genome diversity - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - A curated dataset of great ape genome diversity
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
This is a remarkable open access resource for genomic work on living great apes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
I think @brendannyhan.bsky.social is exactly right in this piece, but I’d go one step further here. Elites very explicitly told young people to sit down and shut up. Society punished them for standing up for their beliefs, and targeted and vilified the organizers. Now we need need them.
November 24, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I think @brendannyhan.bsky.social is exactly right in this piece, but I’d go one step further here. Elites very explicitly told young people to sit down and shut up. Society punished them for standing up for their beliefs, and targeted and vilified the organizers. Now we need need them.
Reposted by Zach Cofran
I have a story today about interoception--a kind of sixth sense that delivers information from within our bodies to our brains. nyti.ms/4rfTDtn
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I have a story today about interoception--a kind of sixth sense that delivers information from within our bodies to our brains. nyti.ms/4rfTDtn
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Attn all human MRI/fMRI folks! The Dept of Psychology at Northeastern University is hiring a new Director of the NU Biomedical Imaging Center at the level of Associate or Full Professor. Bonus: you'll have the best Chair EVER 😉 Full ad here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
Associate Professor/Professor and Director, Northeastern University Biomedical Imaging Center
About the Opportunity About Northeastern: Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research (R1) university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experi...
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Attn all human MRI/fMRI folks! The Dept of Psychology at Northeastern University is hiring a new Director of the NU Biomedical Imaging Center at the level of Associate or Full Professor. Bonus: you'll have the best Chair EVER 😉 Full ad here: northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...
Reposted by Zach Cofran
The marvelous Lucy was discovered #OnThisDay in 1974 in Ethiopia. At more than 3 million years old, she was the oldest, most complete ancestor found to date. 🏺
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
November 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The marvelous Lucy was discovered #OnThisDay in 1974 in Ethiopia. At more than 3 million years old, she was the oldest, most complete ancestor found to date. 🏺
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
📸Don Johanson & Maurice Taieb piecing the fossils together
Reposted by Zach Cofran
Difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was. Spending in FY2025 was not only than in FY2024 – but higher than it was projected to be when Trump first took office.*
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was. Spending in FY2025 was not only than in FY2024 – but higher than it was projected to be when Trump first took office.*
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.