Rebecca Smith
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rebecca-s.bsky.social
Rebecca Smith
@rebecca-s.bsky.social
510 followers 2.5K following 57 posts
Science Educator
Dark skies and ancient trees make my heart sing
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Reposted by Rebecca Smith
histoftech.bsky.social
Just heard about this huge (49 state) long covid trial using tirzepetide (aka zepbound) one of the newer glp meds. It’s run by researchers at scripps, funded by the eric & wendy schmidt foundation. It looks like it is still enrolling, fully remote participation:
longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...
LoCITT-T - Long COVID Treatment Trial
The Long COVID Treatment Trial-Tirzepatide (LoCITT-T) is investigating the efficacy of repurposing this drug to treat Long COVID.
longcovid.scripps.edu
November 16, 2025 at 4:40 AM
rebecca-s.bsky.social
#Aurora from northern Sonoma County just now. Visible with the naked eye as well.
November 12, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
emilyhughes.bsky.social
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
brittanytrang.com Brittany Trang @brittanytrang.com · 24d
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
rebecca-s.bsky.social
📌
olivia.science Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece, we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to relevant work to further inform our colleagues. Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI (black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf. Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al. 2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe. Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles
November 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
violetblue.bsky.social
And here is the Little Free Library World Map: littlefreelibrary.org/map/
October 30, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
alyssamilano.bsky.social
My husband’s ballot came in the mail. Mine did not. I looked into why and…

I was purged from the voting roll.

PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION.
October 17, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
altcdc.altgov.info
Flu shot: not perfect but a hell of a lot better than the ICU. 💉

Vax efficacy depends on flu strain circulating.
’24-25 flu season - especially severe. Luckily 💉was 56% effective against getting flu.

🚨 W/ the vax, even when flu hits, it hits softer🚨
(i.e. less likely to be hospitalized/in ICU/die)
Another great graphic from the Wild to Mild campaign. This one shows an elk (Wild) and a baby deer (mild). It says A Flu vaccine can take flu from Wild to Mild. In smaller print - “talk to your health care provider to tame the worst of the flu"
October 8, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
klangin.bsky.social
Today was a hard day for Ph.D. students who found out that they can no longer apply for NSF's prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program. "Devastating“ was how one student described it to me. #GradSchool #NSFGRFP

www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
giantmolecular.cloud
It seems the GRFP solicitation is FINALLY released (like 5 minutes ago)! Due dates have also been pushed back, thankfully! 🧪 🔭

www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov
September 26, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
luckytran.com
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
September 4, 2025 at 7:44 PM
rebecca-s.bsky.social
#dahlias #bloomscrolling
Small white spider on Chimacum nadjae dahlia
July 15, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
peggystuart.bsky.social
God bless Canada!
Image of telephone with a Canadian flag sticker across one corner of the front. Text: To my American friends: As Trump shuts down your LGBT+ suicide and mental health crisis hotline during these trying times, Canada has added a US toll-free number to ours so you can get help anytime you need at no cost. Kindness and empathy have no borders. 1-877-330-6366
June 20, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
sojo.net
The Sojourners Journalism Cohort is a paid, part-time, remote program for writers from historically marginalized communities. Learn to pitch, report, and publish with mentorship from our editors. Applications are due by May 5 at noon ET.
The Sojourners Journalism Cohort
The Sojourners Journalism Cohort is a part-time, five-month, remote training program designed to give early-career, non-white writers hands-on, paid training as freelance journalists.
buff.ly
April 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
agristok.bsky.social
3 Research Assistant / Research Associate Positions in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK

3 Research Assistant / Research Associate Positions in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK: The Department of Plant Sciences at the University…
3 Research Assistant / Research Associate Positions in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK
3 Research Assistant / Research Associate Positions in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, UK: The Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge is a leading center for research and education in plant biology. It’s part of the university’s School of the Biological Sciences and has a long history of groundbreaking work in areas like photosynthesis, plant development, and ecosystem dynamics.
agristok.net
March 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
scifri.bsky.social
In a small trial, nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine had no signs of relapse after three years.

Dr. Vinod Balachandran from @mskcancercenter.bsky.social joins us to discuss the results and what they could mean for cancer treatment.
A Vaccine For Pancreatic Cancer Continues To Show Promise
In a small trial, nearly half of pancreatic cancer patients who received an mRNA vaccine for the disease had no relapse three years later.
buff.ly
February 21, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
jessebruhn.bsky.social
Amazing opportunity!! Send you talented undergrads / soon to be graduates this way 👇
mattpecenco.bsky.social mattpecenco.bsky.social @mattpecenco.bsky.social · Feb 13
I'm hiring for a predoctoral research associate to work with me at Brown Econ starting Summer 2025. If you're interested in economics research on labor, crime, and housing, please apply here: apply.interfolio.com/162629
#econra #econ_ra #EconSky
@jessebruhn.bsky.social
apply.interfolio.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
redwoodgirl.bsky.social
For folks in California who are trying to get hold of Senator Schiff and can't leave a number with his DC office because the voicemail is full, this number for his SF office (not listed on his website!) is working and I was able to leave a message.
genxbegetsgenz.bsky.social Michelle C @genxbegetsgenz.bsky.social · Feb 1
Someone linked this for me and I tried and it seemed to work?

"Schiff has an SF office at 415-393-0707"
February 1, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
cpsc.gov
If you've recently purchased a portable generator due to power outages caused by the LA fires, remember to keep it outdoors at least 20ft away from your home and make sure your carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are working. 1 generator can produce as much CO as hundreds of cars and CO can kill in minutes.
January 16, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
consequence.bsky.social
Fender is offering to replace musical instruments and gear lost in the LA wildfires → cons.lv/Ydif9A
January 16, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
zensoul.bsky.social
Please help get this info out to those in need: attorneys available for pro bono assistance for those impacted by the LA fires.
joannalamblooby.bsky.social Joanna Lamb Looby 🇺🇸🌎🇺🇦 @joannalamblooby.bsky.social · Jan 14
💛Californians💛

Think you need a lawyer?
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

☎️ The California Disaster Legal Assistance Hotline is (888) 382-3406. This free, statewide hotline provides legal advice and assistance to California residents affected by disasters.

www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Free-...
The State Bar of California
Protecting the public & enhancing the administration of justice.
www.calbar.ca.gov
January 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
carlbergstrom.com
Great work from @johanm.bsky.social, creating a resource connecting people to aid in LA.

www.fireaid.info
Screenshot: LA Fire Mutual Aid Resources website.
January 14, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
msgrumpybunny.bsky.social
Folks in LA who need N95 masks —
January 13, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
newsbreakinglive.bsky.social
I have come across a directory of FREE mental health services for those affected by the fires in LA.

As a therapist myself, I ask everyone reading this to share these resources with those you know.

#PalisadesFire #EatonFire #LAFires
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Free Mental Health Services for LA Wildfire Crisis
docs.google.com
January 12, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Smith
wutangforchildren.bsky.social
Guitar Center Foundation is helping musicians replace instruments that were lost in LA fires guitarcenterfoundation.org/fires/?fbcli...
January 12, 2025 at 12:27 AM