James Galbraith
@gulbruth.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist, Luddite, coffee addict. Postdoc at University of Edinburgh researching the evolution of weird chromosomes and sex determination in insects, opinions my own, he/him.
Reposted by James Galbraith
disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
IT'S HAPPENING! 💥 I'm psyched to launch the collaboration between @qedscience.bsky.social & @openrxiv.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social! Preprint + q.e.d = your science is out there, and anyone can appreciate it. Let's care about making discoveries, and not on “getting published” (1/3) 👇
November 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
Reposted by James Galbraith
An OpenAI executive said GPT-5 found solutions to 10 "previously unsolved" math problems when in reality all it did was find online references to places where people had already solved them
techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/o...
techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/o...
OpenAI’s ‘embarrassing’ math | TechCrunch
No, GPT-5 did not solve a bunch of previously unsolved math problems.
techcrunch.com
October 20, 2025 at 4:14 PM
An OpenAI executive said GPT-5 found solutions to 10 "previously unsolved" math problems when in reality all it did was find online references to places where people had already solved them
techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/o...
techcrunch.com/2025/10/19/o...
Reposted by James Galbraith
How many chromosomes can an animal have?
In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly
The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most
butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that
this extraordinary karyotype is ...
tinyurl.com
September 11, 2025 at 3:22 PM
How many chromosomes can an animal have?
In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by James Galbraith
“We don’t see how the university can continue to provide quality education to students with drastic reductions in staff. Management does not appear to be listening—students may [be] able to insist they do.” Sophia Woodman UCU Edinburgh President
Edinburgh University spends thousands on chancellors bills while staff fear redundancy
The UCU have called the chancellor's perks a 'slap in the face' to striking staff
thetab.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:27 AM
“We don’t see how the university can continue to provide quality education to students with drastic reductions in staff. Management does not appear to be listening—students may [be] able to insist they do.” Sophia Woodman UCU Edinburgh President
Reposted by James Galbraith
September 6, 2025 at 6:31 AM
This is the most entertaining and most genuine piece of cinema I've watched I quite a while.
So much fun! “Listers” is worth a watch #birds youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
YouTube video by owen reiser
youtu.be
September 5, 2025 at 9:20 PM
This is the most entertaining and most genuine piece of cinema I've watched I quite a while.
Reposted by James Galbraith
So much fun! “Listers” is worth a watch #birds youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
LISTERS: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching
YouTube video by owen reiser
youtu.be
September 1, 2025 at 2:12 AM
So much fun! “Listers” is worth a watch #birds youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...
Reposted by James Galbraith
Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206
#evobio #molbio #TEsky
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206
#evobio #molbio #TEsky
How Did Evolution Halve Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Colonization?
Abstract. Red devil spiders of the genus Dysdera colonized the Canary Islands and underwent an extraordinary diversification. Notably, their genomes are ne
doi.org
September 5, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Red devil spiders from the Canary Islands have a genome half the size of mainland counterparts - Pisarenco, @jrozasub.bsky.social et al. show how purifying selection against slightly deleterious DNA and TE insertions is the primary mechanism.
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206
#evobio #molbio #TEsky
🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf206
#evobio #molbio #TEsky
Reposted by James Galbraith
First pop gen paper from our lab! We find repeated evolutionary turn over of sex chromosomes in darters contributes to reproductive isolation. Turnover may be an escape hatch to resolve mitonuclear conflict & neo sex chromosomes evolved via a rare recessive mutation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
September 4, 2025 at 5:32 PM
First pop gen paper from our lab! We find repeated evolutionary turn over of sex chromosomes in darters contributes to reproductive isolation. Turnover may be an escape hatch to resolve mitonuclear conflict & neo sex chromosomes evolved via a rare recessive mutation. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by James Galbraith
HOW NEO-NAZIS CAPTURED THE MARCH FOR AUSTRALIA
WATCH: youtu.be/GLRoFdeI_5Y
Documenting the crowd manipulation tricks deployed by the National Socialist Network to transform nationalist 'Marches for Australia' into, effectively, national socialist marches.
WATCH: youtu.be/GLRoFdeI_5Y
Documenting the crowd manipulation tricks deployed by the National Socialist Network to transform nationalist 'Marches for Australia' into, effectively, national socialist marches.
September 5, 2025 at 4:56 AM
HOW NEO-NAZIS CAPTURED THE MARCH FOR AUSTRALIA
WATCH: youtu.be/GLRoFdeI_5Y
Documenting the crowd manipulation tricks deployed by the National Socialist Network to transform nationalist 'Marches for Australia' into, effectively, national socialist marches.
WATCH: youtu.be/GLRoFdeI_5Y
Documenting the crowd manipulation tricks deployed by the National Socialist Network to transform nationalist 'Marches for Australia' into, effectively, national socialist marches.
Reposted by James Galbraith
In all seriousness, this is a fantastic study that should be catapulted into every department chair's face immediately.
🏞️Fieldwork is one of the most inspiring parts of environmental science. Let’s make sure it’s also one of the safest and most inclusive! 🥇
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Improving university policies and risk assessment to support inclusive fieldwork in environmental sciences
Among 90 UK higher education institutions, there was patchy mention of protected and other identity-related characteristics in fieldwork policy and risk assessments, and very limited consideration of...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 4, 2025 at 8:18 AM
In all seriousness, this is a fantastic study that should be catapulted into every department chair's face immediately.
Reposted by James Galbraith
Reproduction in ants 🐜 just keeps blowing my mind 🤯
But this here is the crown for sure... for now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(go also check out obligate chimerism, social chromosomes, clonal production of females and males, and much more...)
But this here is the crown for sure... for now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(go also check out obligate chimerism, social chromosomes, clonal production of females and males, and much more...)
One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature
In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same moth...
www.nature.com
September 3, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reproduction in ants 🐜 just keeps blowing my mind 🤯
But this here is the crown for sure... for now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(go also check out obligate chimerism, social chromosomes, clonal production of females and males, and much more...)
But this here is the crown for sure... for now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(go also check out obligate chimerism, social chromosomes, clonal production of females and males, and much more...)
Reposted by James Galbraith
Would a rose by any other gene smell so sweet?
Now online! A de novo-originated gene drives rose scent diversification
A de novo-originated gene drives rose scent diversification
Genomic analysis of more than 100 Rosa species uncovers a multi-step process for the de novo origination of SCREP, a taxon-restricted gene specific to the Rosa genus, highlighting its function in modulating eugenol biosynthesis and driving rose scent diversification.
dlvr.it
September 2, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Would a rose by any other gene smell so sweet?
Just leaving this here for any academics who still get LLMs to summarise literature for them without any critical examination of their own. Check the authors of Nature opinions pieces pumping 'AI'. Many are employees of Microsoft etc., the only people who truly profit from this.
“The study authors asked GPT 4o-mini to evaluate the quality of 217 papers. The tool didn’t mention in any of the reports that the papers being analyzed had been retracted or had validity issues.
In 190 cases, GPT described the papers as world leading, internationally excellent, or close to that”
In 190 cases, GPT described the papers as world leading, internationally excellent, or close to that”
ChatGPT tends to ignore retractions on scientific papers
Study finds the chatbot doesn’t acknowledge concerns with problematic studies
cen.acs.org
August 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Just leaving this here for any academics who still get LLMs to summarise literature for them without any critical examination of their own. Check the authors of Nature opinions pieces pumping 'AI'. Many are employees of Microsoft etc., the only people who truly profit from this.
Reposted by James Galbraith
🚨Introducing the @sortee.bsky.social Guidelines for Data and Code Quality Control in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology🚨 doi.org/10.32942/X24...
Increasingly E&E journals are recruiting data editors. We provide standardised guidelines for journals with data editors and those wanting to recruit them 🧵
Increasingly E&E journals are recruiting data editors. We provide standardised guidelines for journals with data editors and those wanting to recruit them 🧵
The SORTEE Guidelines for Data and Code Quality Control in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
doi.org
August 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
🚨Introducing the @sortee.bsky.social Guidelines for Data and Code Quality Control in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology🚨 doi.org/10.32942/X24...
Increasingly E&E journals are recruiting data editors. We provide standardised guidelines for journals with data editors and those wanting to recruit them 🧵
Increasingly E&E journals are recruiting data editors. We provide standardised guidelines for journals with data editors and those wanting to recruit them 🧵
Reposted by James Galbraith
Mike Ritchie reminded to publish in your society journals to keep things rolling. Overpriced journals from big publishers did not circle back their money to society!
Surprised the EU still need to be reminded, I thought many funding bodies acknowledged review-community platforms.
#ESEB2025
Surprised the EU still need to be reminded, I thought many funding bodies acknowledged review-community platforms.
#ESEB2025
August 22, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Mike Ritchie reminded to publish in your society journals to keep things rolling. Overpriced journals from big publishers did not circle back their money to society!
Surprised the EU still need to be reminded, I thought many funding bodies acknowledged review-community platforms.
#ESEB2025
Surprised the EU still need to be reminded, I thought many funding bodies acknowledged review-community platforms.
#ESEB2025
Reposted by James Galbraith
Ed's got a significant scoop here, an under-the-hood look at GPT5 that suggests why it feels like such a step back to users. The incompetence from OpenAI here is truly remarkable.
Here's a bonus ep of Better Offline. I report on how OpenAI’s new "router-based" ChatGPT-5 makes it impossible for OpenAI to cache the static prompt for any model or tool it uses every single prompt, doubling token burn for mediocre gains.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Linktr.ee/betteroffline
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...
Linktr.ee/betteroffline
Exclusive: How GPT-5 Actually Works
Podcast Episode · Better Offline · 08/22/2025 · 29m
podcasts.apple.com
August 22, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Ed's got a significant scoop here, an under-the-hood look at GPT5 that suggests why it feels like such a step back to users. The incompetence from OpenAI here is truly remarkable.
Reposted by James Galbraith
To be, or not to be, part-time in academia?
This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team!
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team!
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Point of View: To be, or not to be, part-time in academia
Part-time working can be beneficial for individual academics, and also for academia as a whole.
elifesciences.org
February 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
To be, or not to be, part-time in academia?
This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team!
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
This is a tricky question that has faced many of us and in @elife.bsky.social we discuss the benefits and challenges of being part-time. With @emiliapsantos.bsky.social and a fantastic, interdisciplinary team!
elifesciences.org/articles/106...
Does selfing allow or even lead to massive genome reshuffling, expansion and sky high homozygousity? Come and find out at posters 29 and 42 this afternoon, only at #eseb2025 and learn about an organism whose genome looks like it went through a blender and came out high repetitive and homozygous.
August 19, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Does selfing allow or even lead to massive genome reshuffling, expansion and sky high homozygousity? Come and find out at posters 29 and 42 this afternoon, only at #eseb2025 and learn about an organism whose genome looks like it went through a blender and came out high repetitive and homozygous.
Reposted by James Galbraith
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
Reposted by James Galbraith
The original circos plot? From the 1947-1948 Carnegie Yearbook, the page prior to McClintock's Mutable Loci in Maize paper.
August 16, 2025 at 4:24 PM
The original circos plot? From the 1947-1948 Carnegie Yearbook, the page prior to McClintock's Mutable Loci in Maize paper.
Reposted by James Galbraith
In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen
In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen
As a restaurant owner - I'm astounded at the rate of progress since microwaves were released a few short years ago. Today's microwave can cook a frozen burrito. Tomorrow's microwave will be able to cook an entire Thanksgiving Dinner. Ten years from now a microwave may even be able to run the country. Recently I was watching a livestream of a local microwave salesman.
www.colincornaby.me
August 3, 2025 at 8:35 PM
In the Future All Food Will Be Cooked in a Microwave, and if You Can’t Deal With That Then You Need to Get Out of the Kitchen
Reposted by James Galbraith
I am wildly paraphrasing, but the best commentary I have seen so far is this:
Bringing AI into a learning institute is like bringing a fork lift to the gym. Sure, both accomplish the task at hand better than you, but you still fail do accomplish the thing you went there for in the first place.
Bringing AI into a learning institute is like bringing a fork lift to the gym. Sure, both accomplish the task at hand better than you, but you still fail do accomplish the thing you went there for in the first place.
July 31, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I am wildly paraphrasing, but the best commentary I have seen so far is this:
Bringing AI into a learning institute is like bringing a fork lift to the gym. Sure, both accomplish the task at hand better than you, but you still fail do accomplish the thing you went there for in the first place.
Bringing AI into a learning institute is like bringing a fork lift to the gym. Sure, both accomplish the task at hand better than you, but you still fail do accomplish the thing you went there for in the first place.
Waiting with for next week's announcement of a deal with McKinsey to find more roles for consultants within government departments
'OpenAI signs deal with UK to find government uses for its models' www.theguardian.com/technology/2... Neatly captures the abject state of technopolitics. We should start with people's basic needs then ask if LLMs are the most appropriate answer (guess what, they aren't!)
OpenAI signs deal with UK to find government uses for its models
Wide-ranging agreement with artificial intelligence firm behind ChatGPT comes after similar UK deal with Google
www.theguardian.com
July 22, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Waiting with for next week's announcement of a deal with McKinsey to find more roles for consultants within government departments