Kiona N. Smith
@kionasmith07.bsky.social
Science reporter and author. Also knitter, crocheter, cross-stitcher, tabletop gamer, Pokemon Go player, and #NAFOFella. Actually 2 goblins and a magpie in a trenchcoat. She/they. https://linktr.ee/kionasmith
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
HEY YOU. STOP DOOMSCROLLING.
Right click or press and hold this > #ArtAdventCalendar and choose "See #ArtAdventCalendar posts"
It's a portal to a beautiful place that has nothing but art made by real humans.
DO IT.
Right click or press and hold this > #ArtAdventCalendar and choose "See #ArtAdventCalendar posts"
It's a portal to a beautiful place that has nothing but art made by real humans.
DO IT.
December 3, 2025 at 4:02 AM
HEY YOU. STOP DOOMSCROLLING.
Right click or press and hold this > #ArtAdventCalendar and choose "See #ArtAdventCalendar posts"
It's a portal to a beautiful place that has nothing but art made by real humans.
DO IT.
Right click or press and hold this > #ArtAdventCalendar and choose "See #ArtAdventCalendar posts"
It's a portal to a beautiful place that has nothing but art made by real humans.
DO IT.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Somewhere in a Roman brickyard, around 1800 years ago, a fresh tile was drying ahead of firing - until a dog trotted straight across it.
Centuries later, the tile has made it into a museum: not because of an emperor, but thanks to one dog who accidentally walked his way into history.🧵1/2
📷me
Centuries later, the tile has made it into a museum: not because of an emperor, but thanks to one dog who accidentally walked his way into history.🧵1/2
📷me
December 2, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Somewhere in a Roman brickyard, around 1800 years ago, a fresh tile was drying ahead of firing - until a dog trotted straight across it.
Centuries later, the tile has made it into a museum: not because of an emperor, but thanks to one dog who accidentally walked his way into history.🧵1/2
📷me
Centuries later, the tile has made it into a museum: not because of an emperor, but thanks to one dog who accidentally walked his way into history.🧵1/2
📷me
Okay folks, we listen and we don't judge! I have oddly specific and weird ideas of what constitutes perfect cozy winter reading. What's the best nonfiction book on Doggerland you've ever read? Bonus points for being reasonably current.
December 1, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Okay folks, we listen and we don't judge! I have oddly specific and weird ideas of what constitutes perfect cozy winter reading. What's the best nonfiction book on Doggerland you've ever read? Bonus points for being reasonably current.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
I have refined
The uranium
That was in
The centrifuge
And which
You were probably
Saving
For power generation
Forgive me
It was so powerful
I am
Become death
The uranium
That was in
The centrifuge
And which
You were probably
Saving
For power generation
Forgive me
It was so powerful
I am
Become death
this is quite the detail
November 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I have refined
The uranium
That was in
The centrifuge
And which
You were probably
Saving
For power generation
Forgive me
It was so powerful
I am
Become death
The uranium
That was in
The centrifuge
And which
You were probably
Saving
For power generation
Forgive me
It was so powerful
I am
Become death
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
2/2 There's an easy way to spot the difference- does the person trying to sell you the idea claim it will solve everything? Or is it a model trained for a narrow purpose, to solve a very specific set of problems?
November 30, 2025 at 8:14 AM
2/2 There's an easy way to spot the difference- does the person trying to sell you the idea claim it will solve everything? Or is it a model trained for a narrow purpose, to solve a very specific set of problems?
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
1/2 I find myself having to make this point more often.
The muddying of distinction between the bullshit engine and genuinely life-saving applications of ML / AI is intentional. It allows the people trying to sell you genAI to claim noble intent and dismiss legitimate concerns.
The muddying of distinction between the bullshit engine and genuinely life-saving applications of ML / AI is intentional. It allows the people trying to sell you genAI to claim noble intent and dismiss legitimate concerns.
Having AI crammed down our throats is bullshit, but machine learning has some real uses in science. This awesome page shows experimental cyclone track forecasts from Google DeepMind and Google Research's AI weather models, along with forecasts from ECMWF. 😍
deepmind.google.com/science/weat...
deepmind.google.com/science/weat...
November 30, 2025 at 8:14 AM
1/2 I find myself having to make this point more often.
The muddying of distinction between the bullshit engine and genuinely life-saving applications of ML / AI is intentional. It allows the people trying to sell you genAI to claim noble intent and dismiss legitimate concerns.
The muddying of distinction between the bullshit engine and genuinely life-saving applications of ML / AI is intentional. It allows the people trying to sell you genAI to claim noble intent and dismiss legitimate concerns.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Toilets have often been used as a weapon to make it difficult for women to participate in science. This was Lise Meitner's experience in 1907. (From Wikipedia) #WomenInSTEM 🧪
![The arrangement was difficult for Meitner at first. Women were not yet admitted to universities in the German state of the Kingdom of Prussia, which included Berlin. Meitner was allowed to work in the wood shop, which had its own external entrance, but she could not enter the rest of the institute, including Hahn's laboratory space upstairs. If she wanted to go to the toilet, she had to use one at the restaurant down the street. The following year, women were admitted to Prussian universities, and Fischer lifted the restrictions, and had women's toilets installed in the building. Not all the chemists were happy about this.[27] The Institute of Physics was more accepting, and she became friends with the physicists there,](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:d33ov6qj5n2yhs27nyvpkpt2/bafkreid7qqgtnz4icdy5gotc6xac4z6cy734fpp6lcw2c7dxqewt6g4p2q@jpeg)
November 30, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Toilets have often been used as a weapon to make it difficult for women to participate in science. This was Lise Meitner's experience in 1907. (From Wikipedia) #WomenInSTEM 🧪
There's no gaming experience more humbling than having your friend's small child's avatar walk up, peer down at your avatar's corpse, and ask, "What are you doing?"
November 30, 2025 at 1:51 AM
There's no gaming experience more humbling than having your friend's small child's avatar walk up, peer down at your avatar's corpse, and ask, "What are you doing?"
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
News media has to do better with headlines that present false and unverified public health claims.
November 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
"Never spread the lie in the headline" should be a hard rule of 21st century journalism.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Research shows that repeating lies helps to spread them, and people read headlines more than they read stories.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
AI is the tool of the incompetent hack. If you don't give a shit about the quality of your output, why should anyone else?
(And there's no such thing as "AI art". Art is made by humans. "AI art" is just the sludge that comes out of the blender someone else filled with stolen ingredients.)
(And there's no such thing as "AI art". Art is made by humans. "AI art" is just the sludge that comes out of the blender someone else filled with stolen ingredients.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:20 AM
AI is the tool of the incompetent hack. If you don't give a shit about the quality of your output, why should anyone else?
(And there's no such thing as "AI art". Art is made by humans. "AI art" is just the sludge that comes out of the blender someone else filled with stolen ingredients.)
(And there's no such thing as "AI art". Art is made by humans. "AI art" is just the sludge that comes out of the blender someone else filled with stolen ingredients.)
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
It's almost December, aka #DecRecs time! Here are the "rules"
Rec some things you want to rec during December!
Use the hashtag #DecRecs
That's it!
Things can be anything! Books, fic, short stories, poems, games, tea, ect!
You can rec things as little or as often as you want!
Rec some things you want to rec during December!
Use the hashtag #DecRecs
That's it!
Things can be anything! Books, fic, short stories, poems, games, tea, ect!
You can rec things as little or as often as you want!
November 29, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
During WWII a German vessel fired upon sailors floating in the sea after the Greek vessel Peleus was sunk. The officers were tried and convicted in the Peleus War Crimes trial.
November 29, 2025 at 7:54 PM
During WWII a German vessel fired upon sailors floating in the sea after the Greek vessel Peleus was sunk. The officers were tried and convicted in the Peleus War Crimes trial.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
So grateful to everyone in NYC who mobilized to stop the ICE raid of Canal St. The violence being committed against immigrants is heart-wrenching, but the shows of solidarity we have seen around the country give me so much hope.
November 29, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So grateful to everyone in NYC who mobilized to stop the ICE raid of Canal St. The violence being committed against immigrants is heart-wrenching, but the shows of solidarity we have seen around the country give me so much hope.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
When we link arms and say NO, we stop fascism in its tracks.
See @taliajane.bsky.social's earlier posts for details on ICE melting in NYC.
See @taliajane.bsky.social's earlier posts for details on ICE melting in NYC.
Confirmed: Earlier this morning a photog overheard agents inside the parking garage say “dismissed,” believed to be calling off their planned mass raid.
A source tells me they had planned for *hundreds* of agents to flood Canal St. They got flooded instead.
A source tells me they had planned for *hundreds* of agents to flood Canal St. They got flooded instead.
November 29, 2025 at 6:38 PM
When we link arms and say NO, we stop fascism in its tracks.
See @taliajane.bsky.social's earlier posts for details on ICE melting in NYC.
See @taliajane.bsky.social's earlier posts for details on ICE melting in NYC.
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild, "Kiona Cannot Count To Five, But Guess Where They Grew Up" edition:
Roadrunner
Coyote
Woodpecker
Green anole
Mexican free-tailed bats
Alligator
Dolphin
Water moccasin
Skunks (an albino one, even!)
Armadillo
Javelina
Roadrunner
Coyote
Woodpecker
Green anole
Mexican free-tailed bats
Alligator
Dolphin
Water moccasin
Skunks (an albino one, even!)
Armadillo
Javelina
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Caribou
Ravens
Seals
Kea
Turkeys
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
Moose
Humpback whales
Giraffes
African Elephants
West African or Nile monitor lizard
November 29, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild, "Kiona Cannot Count To Five, But Guess Where They Grew Up" edition:
Roadrunner
Coyote
Woodpecker
Green anole
Mexican free-tailed bats
Alligator
Dolphin
Water moccasin
Skunks (an albino one, even!)
Armadillo
Javelina
Roadrunner
Coyote
Woodpecker
Green anole
Mexican free-tailed bats
Alligator
Dolphin
Water moccasin
Skunks (an albino one, even!)
Armadillo
Javelina
Mood.
i can’t blame dogs, if it was socially acceptable for me to stand on my back deck and do a little screaming now and again i would
November 29, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Mood.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
November 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Anybody who is like “Piracy is activism!”—trust me, supporting your local library is about 1000% more effective activism, and it’s still free for you and authors still get paid!
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
What a great headline
November 28, 2025 at 3:49 PM
What a great headline
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
November 28, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Don’t forget about the #FindThatLizard Scholarship!! Please share
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
#science #scholarship #funding #herps #HERpers #lizards #snakes #frogs #salamanders #game #challenge #education
The world is kind of awful. We all need this.
DYK? 16 years' worth of pictures of the week are available on our Hubble website, a testament to the incredible treasures that this NASA/ESA telescope has uncovered for us all.
Enjoy them here 👉 https://esahubble.org/images/potw/
🔭
Enjoy them here 👉 https://esahubble.org/images/potw/
🔭
November 28, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The world is kind of awful. We all need this.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
It's haunted
November 28, 2025 at 3:49 AM
It's haunted
In roughly chronological order:
Jimmy Buffett
Willie Nelson
Roger Creager
Reckless Kelly
Gordon Lightfoot
Flogging Molly
I have not been to enough concerts. And with Covid and the general collapse of any attempts at public health in this country, I don't see that changing for a while.
Jimmy Buffett
Willie Nelson
Roger Creager
Reckless Kelly
Gordon Lightfoot
Flogging Molly
I have not been to enough concerts. And with Covid and the general collapse of any attempts at public health in this country, I don't see that changing for a while.
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:
Elvis Costello (and John Cooper Clarke)
Rod Stewart
Elton John
And very small “concerts”
Leo Kottke
Van Morrison
Elvis Costello (and John Cooper Clarke)
Rod Stewart
Elton John
And very small “concerts”
Leo Kottke
Van Morrison
November 28, 2025 at 7:37 AM
In roughly chronological order:
Jimmy Buffett
Willie Nelson
Roger Creager
Reckless Kelly
Gordon Lightfoot
Flogging Molly
I have not been to enough concerts. And with Covid and the general collapse of any attempts at public health in this country, I don't see that changing for a while.
Jimmy Buffett
Willie Nelson
Roger Creager
Reckless Kelly
Gordon Lightfoot
Flogging Molly
I have not been to enough concerts. And with Covid and the general collapse of any attempts at public health in this country, I don't see that changing for a while.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
If you need an alternative to doomscrolling or need a distraction from your family, how about nerd-scrolling through 1000+ space books?
🧪 📚 🔭
#ASPLibrary
🧪 📚 🔭
#ASPLibrary
Okay space/science/book nerds, I've come up with a way to share ALL the @astrosociety.org books that are available for purchase: www.asplibraryproject.com 🧪 📚 🔭
Each bookcase is a blog post with photos of each and every shelf. If you see something you like, fill out the contact form!
#ASPLIbrary
Each bookcase is a blog post with photos of each and every shelf. If you see something you like, fill out the contact form!
#ASPLIbrary
ASP Library Project
www.asplibraryproject.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:09 PM
If you need an alternative to doomscrolling or need a distraction from your family, how about nerd-scrolling through 1000+ space books?
🧪 📚 🔭
#ASPLibrary
🧪 📚 🔭
#ASPLibrary
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
If you are in the National Guard and fear you may be deployed to violate the rights of US citizens, there is help. Call the GI Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487
Visit girightshotline.org for more information
Visit girightshotline.org for more information
November 28, 2025 at 3:18 AM
If you are in the National Guard and fear you may be deployed to violate the rights of US citizens, there is help. Call the GI Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487
Visit girightshotline.org for more information
Visit girightshotline.org for more information
I have (but haven't yet read) the first book in this series, but if it's even HALF as good as the author's haunted-house books, it's going to be flipping amazing.
Solomon's Seal in eBook and audio is in a big Kobo sale this week, and in price matching in my own shop I opted to discount everything available in the series.
Meet Livi Talbot: Ex-debutante. Single mother. Treasure hunter.
payhip.com/skyladawncam...
Meet Livi Talbot: Ex-debutante. Single mother. Treasure hunter.
payhip.com/skyladawncam...
November 28, 2025 at 1:50 AM
I have (but haven't yet read) the first book in this series, but if it's even HALF as good as the author's haunted-house books, it's going to be flipping amazing.