Melinda Baldwin
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mbaldwin.bsky.social
Melinda Baldwin
@mbaldwin.bsky.social
#histSTM studying scientific publishing, funding, and peer review. Associate prof @ UMD College Park. All opinions mine!
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
The first photo of my new book, courtesy of my editor... "The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age" comes out in early December! Feel free to pre-order it today! www.harpercollins.com/products/the...
November 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Apparently all you needed to do to predict the NYC election results was read that one N.K. Jemisin novel.
November 5, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
I think hostile architecture is the perfect metaphor for our current culture. We will refuse to have comfortable outdoor seating just to prevent the people we don’t want to be there from using it. We will all just be uncomfortable.
October 25, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Subscribe to @theonion.com now to secure YOUR whimsical holiday wrapping paper insert! (You can't have this one, it's mine and I saved it from December 2024 fair and square.)
October 14, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
October 11, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Me: Oh my god is this another LLM?
Personify Health, ripping off mask: Oh my GOSH how do you keep finding me??????
October 8, 2025 at 11:16 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Cigna: please complete our health assessment
Me: oh great another stupid service
Cigna: access it here
Me: why...why does it want me to log in to another service
Cigna: it's just our health partner, Personify Health!
Me: what...what does that do
Cigna: ohhhhhhh... helps you advocate for your needs
October 8, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Ancient historians, we're so excited for this search! Spread the news far and wide!
New History Job Posted Today: Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
College Park, Maryland, The University of Maryland, College Park Department of History, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position from historians of the Ancient Mediterranean worlds within the broad geographical zone that extends into Asia, Africa, and Europe. Chronological specialization is open. However, expertise in the Roman Imperial or late antique periods in particular aligns with existing areas of teaching and research expertise in the department.  Preference will be given to scholars whose work engages with the diversity and complexity of the Mediterranean world in such areas as ethnicity, gender, environment, or connectivity. In addition to exceptional scholarly promise, the successful candidate will demonstrate excellence in teaching. Responsibilities include teaching a general survey of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, other lecture courses, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars as they align with the candidate’s interests and departmental requirements, as well as engaging in curriculum development. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education: A Ph.D. in History or a related field is required in hand by August 1, 2026 Experience: Teaching experience at the college or university level is required. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service have prepared them to contribute to all the pillars of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Strategic Plan: Transformative Thinking; Boundless Creativity; Expansive Empathy; and Meaningful Futures. Contributions toward those goals and values might include leadership in teaching, mentoring, research, or service toward building an equitable and inclusive scholarly environment and/or increasing access or participation of all individuals equitably and fairly. The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression. This search is contingent upon the availability of funds. Apply Here
dlvr.it
October 8, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
🎙️ Just published: Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'

Hosted by @angelahuttner.bsky.social & @anniejoseph.bsky.social

w/ invited guests: Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social & Serge Horbach

Listen on Communicable:

#IDSky #Clinmicro #MedSky #peerreview #AI
Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'
Contrary to popular belief, peer review has only recently become an...
share.transistor.fm
October 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
This guy? Who literally said he wants to put civil servants “in trauma?”
October 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Fellow academics, this is worth doing. See if your book is in here. If you've got an ISBN it almost certainly is (mine was).
October 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Meek Mill is in for a treat
September 27, 2025 at 6:03 PM
"Non-existent referrer stack value in URL. Please contact support for assistance."

GAAAAH. I wonder how many hours of scholarly productivity have been sucked down the black hole of ScholarOne Manuscripts login attempts?? 🫠
September 27, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
www.denverpost.com/2025/09/10/e... "The shooting at Evergreen High is at least the seventh school shooting in Colorado since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School that killed 12 students and one teacher."
2 students injured in Evergreen High School shooting; suspect also hospitalized
At least three students from Evergreen High School, including a suspected shooter, are in critical condition after a shooting involving an “active assailant,” Jefferson County officials…
www.denverpost.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Hey my guy, do me two favours before you have your "AI" "solve crime" or whatever:
1) Define "crime;"
2) Tell me the moral of the television series Person Of Interest.
September 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
The UMD First Year Book committee has selected the U.S. Constitution as this year’s book!

Join our own Holly Brewer and Michael Ross in "We the Terps: Why the Constitution Matters." For more information and for the day's schedule of events, follow this link! fyb.umd.edu/events.html
Events | UMD FYB 2025
fyb.umd.edu
September 2, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Huge thank you to AIP (@aip.bsky.social) History and Rebecca Charbonneau (@rebeccacharbon.bsky.social) for spotlighting my latest article! 🤩 #ligo #physics #history #histstem
In this week's history newsletter from AIP, @rebeccacharbon.bsky.social spotlights the new article by @tiffanynichols.bsky.social in Isis, digging into the rise and fall of an early proposal to site a @ligo.org detector in Maine's Blueberry Barrens.
Article spotlight: When LIGO might have been in Maine
AIP History Weekly Edition: August 22, 2025
www.aip.org
August 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Science studies folks! Dominik Huenniger and I are delighted to solicit contributions for the @hsnatsci.bsky.social "Essays and Reviews" section! Our Call for Proposals is in the image and I will also thread the text.

tl;dr We are experimenting with some new formats and excited to hear your ideas!
August 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
One more terrible diagram, and mansplaining. I find this somewhat amusing. The basic design of Little Boy has been public domain since 1945... and that dolphin ain't it.
August 14, 2025 at 2:13 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
While everyone is (rightly) focused on National Guard being deployed in D.C. - even though crime is down - we can't forget that the House took $1B of revenue from D.C. in the CR.

The Senate did pass a fix back in March but the House has yet to vote on it.
www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/d...
DC prepares for $1 billion budget cut after House passes bill
The House passed a bill Tuesday that would avert a government shutdown but D.C. leaders say it will have devastating effects. Here's what would happen.
www.nbcwashington.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
Unlike Sam Altman, the people behind Gemini actually do understand what it means to have five Ph.D.'s in your pocket
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:

‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 8, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
*listening to a parakeet speak my own voice back to me*

This animal is clearly having very deep and complex thoughts about the world.
August 6, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Reposted by Melinda Baldwin
“If Democrats could just convince more white people to vote it wouldn’t matter that Republicans are trying to disenfranchise non-whites. I am educated by Yale and also my hair is a habitat for endangered and unwanted birds.”
Actually impressive to have spent this much time and energy writing about politics and still be this stupid
August 6, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Manuscript SUBMITTED.

I look forward to remembering at least 4 names I should have included in my Acknowledgements in an hour or so.
August 6, 2025 at 7:22 PM