Richard Gerrard
@rhgerrard.bsky.social
Sort of retired archeologist.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Big news about the Toronto Subway Deer! Dug up in 1976 Torontoceros hypogaeus is a prehistoric cervid known only from 1 incomplete specimen. Originally classified as a caribou relative, ancient DNA analysis now suggests it belongs to the genus Odocoileus which includes mule deer & white-tailed deer🧪
December 4, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Big news about the Toronto Subway Deer! Dug up in 1976 Torontoceros hypogaeus is a prehistoric cervid known only from 1 incomplete specimen. Originally classified as a caribou relative, ancient DNA analysis now suggests it belongs to the genus Odocoileus which includes mule deer & white-tailed deer🧪
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
there's a reason that my accommodations policy went from "you need to register officially with the whatever office" to "if you tell me you need accommodations, I believe you and you can have them"
it's this
it's this
I think a lot of people don't realize how difficult it is to get accommodations for disability. in school, at work. there are invariably tons of hoops; it's slow. often it's humiliating.
December 3, 2025 at 1:11 AM
there's a reason that my accommodations policy went from "you need to register officially with the whatever office" to "if you tell me you need accommodations, I believe you and you can have them"
it's this
it's this
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
recent map experiment of Toronto's terrain
made via QGIS/Inkscape/GIMP and TIN data from @torontoopendata.cityof.toronto.ca
higher-res here: jamaps.github.io/maps/terrain...
#toronto #maps #terrain #topography
made via QGIS/Inkscape/GIMP and TIN data from @torontoopendata.cityof.toronto.ca
higher-res here: jamaps.github.io/maps/terrain...
#toronto #maps #terrain #topography
December 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
recent map experiment of Toronto's terrain
made via QGIS/Inkscape/GIMP and TIN data from @torontoopendata.cityof.toronto.ca
higher-res here: jamaps.github.io/maps/terrain...
#toronto #maps #terrain #topography
made via QGIS/Inkscape/GIMP and TIN data from @torontoopendata.cityof.toronto.ca
higher-res here: jamaps.github.io/maps/terrain...
#toronto #maps #terrain #topography
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
This #givingtuesday please consider donating to the Paleontological Research Institution/Museum of the Earth
PRI is a major US fossil collection and education center
& has been struggling after a major donor was unable to fulfill a pledge but is almost out of the woods, any support helps!
🦑⚒️🧪🐌🐚
PRI is a major US fossil collection and education center
& has been struggling after a major donor was unable to fulfill a pledge but is almost out of the woods, any support helps!
🦑⚒️🧪🐌🐚
December 2, 2025 at 12:44 PM
This #givingtuesday please consider donating to the Paleontological Research Institution/Museum of the Earth
PRI is a major US fossil collection and education center
& has been struggling after a major donor was unable to fulfill a pledge but is almost out of the woods, any support helps!
🦑⚒️🧪🐌🐚
PRI is a major US fossil collection and education center
& has been struggling after a major donor was unable to fulfill a pledge but is almost out of the woods, any support helps!
🦑⚒️🧪🐌🐚
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
"The lack is not in intelligence, which is in plentiful supply; rather, the scarce commodity is systematic training in critical thinking."
-Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
-Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"The lack is not in intelligence, which is in plentiful supply; rather, the scarce commodity is systematic training in critical thinking."
-Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
-Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Currently doing some marking. A reminder to everyone involved in archives and collections: digitisation is not preservation. If I digitise a box of records and put the files on a USB stick I haven't preserved a thing. It's all about what you do with the files post-digitisation. #archives #digipres
November 10, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
"I promise to question everything my leaders tell me. I promise to use my critical faculties. I promise to develop my independence of thought. I promise to educate myself so I can make my own judgements."
-Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
-Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
November 4, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"I promise to question everything my leaders tell me. I promise to use my critical faculties. I promise to develop my independence of thought. I promise to educate myself so I can make my own judgements."
-Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
-Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
the post office is a public service. it doesn’t need to make money. public transit doesn’t need to make money. the library doesn’t need to make money. some things exist for the public good and we desperately need lawmakers to stop thinking about them in terms of capitalism. these are not businesses.
September 25, 2025 at 11:09 PM
the post office is a public service. it doesn’t need to make money. public transit doesn’t need to make money. the library doesn’t need to make money. some things exist for the public good and we desperately need lawmakers to stop thinking about them in terms of capitalism. these are not businesses.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
At the stage in manuscript editing where one coauthor adds a word and another coauthor removes the same word, and repeat. 🧪
September 16, 2025 at 8:49 PM
At the stage in manuscript editing where one coauthor adds a word and another coauthor removes the same word, and repeat. 🧪
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
🔆Good morning!
Dedication to work is to be admired, provided the work itself is of value, but the more of a day’s hours you devote to it, the likelier returns diminish.
Why You Should Only Work 3–4 Hours a Day,
Like Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf & Adam Smith 🧪
www.openculture.com/2025/09/why-...
Dedication to work is to be admired, provided the work itself is of value, but the more of a day’s hours you devote to it, the likelier returns diminish.
Why You Should Only Work 3–4 Hours a Day,
Like Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf & Adam Smith 🧪
www.openculture.com/2025/09/why-...
September 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM
🔆Good morning!
Dedication to work is to be admired, provided the work itself is of value, but the more of a day’s hours you devote to it, the likelier returns diminish.
Why You Should Only Work 3–4 Hours a Day,
Like Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf & Adam Smith 🧪
www.openculture.com/2025/09/why-...
Dedication to work is to be admired, provided the work itself is of value, but the more of a day’s hours you devote to it, the likelier returns diminish.
Why You Should Only Work 3–4 Hours a Day,
Like Charles Darwin, Virginia Woolf & Adam Smith 🧪
www.openculture.com/2025/09/why-...
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
I’m a Paleontologist
Here’s the most important tip I can give you:
Pick a favorite dinosaur and learn two facts about it
Why?
Because sooner or later, you’ll meet a child with a dinosaur book (or an obsession)
You’ll ask about their favorite
They’ll tell you why
And then, you’ll share yours
🧪 🧵
Here’s the most important tip I can give you:
Pick a favorite dinosaur and learn two facts about it
Why?
Because sooner or later, you’ll meet a child with a dinosaur book (or an obsession)
You’ll ask about their favorite
They’ll tell you why
And then, you’ll share yours
🧪 🧵
September 15, 2025 at 12:22 PM
I’m a Paleontologist
Here’s the most important tip I can give you:
Pick a favorite dinosaur and learn two facts about it
Why?
Because sooner or later, you’ll meet a child with a dinosaur book (or an obsession)
You’ll ask about their favorite
They’ll tell you why
And then, you’ll share yours
🧪 🧵
Here’s the most important tip I can give you:
Pick a favorite dinosaur and learn two facts about it
Why?
Because sooner or later, you’ll meet a child with a dinosaur book (or an obsession)
You’ll ask about their favorite
They’ll tell you why
And then, you’ll share yours
🧪 🧵
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Gould was absolutely right about this. For a sobering thought, how many people on the planet now are competent taxonomists for any group of organisms? Certainly fewer than 10,000. 🧪🌍🌿⚒️🐟 #TeamFish
September 13, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Gould was absolutely right about this. For a sobering thought, how many people on the planet now are competent taxonomists for any group of organisms? Certainly fewer than 10,000. 🧪🌍🌿⚒️🐟 #TeamFish
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
October 1 deadline for @nhm.org Student Collections Study Award. Get some $$ to spend time collecting data in our collections, including @tarpits.org
Open to:
- current undergraduate and grad students
- *not* local to Los Angeles (international applicants welcome)
More:
nhm.org/student-coll...
🧪
Open to:
- current undergraduate and grad students
- *not* local to Los Angeles (international applicants welcome)
More:
nhm.org/student-coll...
🧪
Student Collections Study Award
The NHM Collections Study Awards provide funding for undergraduate and graduate students to visit and study the collections of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the La Brea Tar Pits & ...
nhm.org
September 4, 2025 at 9:13 PM
October 1 deadline for @nhm.org Student Collections Study Award. Get some $$ to spend time collecting data in our collections, including @tarpits.org
Open to:
- current undergraduate and grad students
- *not* local to Los Angeles (international applicants welcome)
More:
nhm.org/student-coll...
🧪
Open to:
- current undergraduate and grad students
- *not* local to Los Angeles (international applicants welcome)
More:
nhm.org/student-coll...
🧪
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
In a Comment article for Nature, Indigenous scholars set out eight steps to stop marginalization in academia and to enable a shared Indigenous agenda in science. #Academicsky 🧪
Decolonize scientific institutions, don’t just diversify them
Indigenous scholars set out eight steps to stop marginalization in academia and to enable a shared Indigenous agenda in science.
go.nature.com
August 13, 2025 at 4:14 PM
In a Comment article for Nature, Indigenous scholars set out eight steps to stop marginalization in academia and to enable a shared Indigenous agenda in science. #Academicsky 🧪
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Fort York, Toronto, 1913
Artist: Katherine A. Clarke
Medium: Oil on canvas
Credit: Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, Toronto Public Library
#1910s #fortyork #oilpainting #Warof1812 #landscapepainting #torontoart #art #torontohistory #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
Artist: Katherine A. Clarke
Medium: Oil on canvas
Credit: Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, Toronto Public Library
#1910s #fortyork #oilpainting #Warof1812 #landscapepainting #torontoart #art #torontohistory #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
July 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Fort York, Toronto, 1913
Artist: Katherine A. Clarke
Medium: Oil on canvas
Credit: Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, Toronto Public Library
#1910s #fortyork #oilpainting #Warof1812 #landscapepainting #torontoart #art #torontohistory #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
Artist: Katherine A. Clarke
Medium: Oil on canvas
Credit: Baldwin Collection of Canadiana, Toronto Public Library
#1910s #fortyork #oilpainting #Warof1812 #landscapepainting #torontoart #art #torontohistory #toronto #canada #jeremyhopkin
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
— Voltaire
— Voltaire
June 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."
— Voltaire
— Voltaire
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power.
June 20, 2025 at 5:14 AM
If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man’s mind ..." - Right out of the Butlerian Jihad and the Orange Catholic Bible.
June 19, 2025 at 6:58 PM
"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man’s mind ..." - Right out of the Butlerian Jihad and the Orange Catholic Bible.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
The argument for letting “AI” take over education is EXACTLY the same argument as for never teaching anyone to do maths, now we have calculators.
Or it would be, if calculators sometimes gave you the wrong answer, randomly.
Or it would be, if calculators sometimes gave you the wrong answer, randomly.
June 8, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The argument for letting “AI” take over education is EXACTLY the same argument as for never teaching anyone to do maths, now we have calculators.
Or it would be, if calculators sometimes gave you the wrong answer, randomly.
Or it would be, if calculators sometimes gave you the wrong answer, randomly.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Collecting souvenirs isn’t new – this cowrie shell was found in an officer’s chest on the Mary Rose.
May 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Collecting souvenirs isn’t new – this cowrie shell was found in an officer’s chest on the Mary Rose.
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
One of my all time favourites
May 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
One of my all time favourites
Reposted by Richard Gerrard
“A law requiring contractors to pay for bricks, concrete, siding, and drywall will absolutely kill the building industry.”
— Author of “How to Save Construction”
— Author of “How to Save Construction”
the view from a former Meta board member:
Making technology companies ask artists’ permission before they scrape copyrighted content will “basically kill the AI industry in this country overnight,” Sir Nick Clegg has said. www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...
Making technology companies ask artists’ permission before they scrape copyrighted content will “basically kill the AI industry in this country overnight,” Sir Nick Clegg has said. www.thetimes.com/uk/technolog...
Nick Clegg: Artists’ demands over copyright are unworkable
The former Meta executive claims that a law requiring tech companies to ask permission to train AI on copyrighted work would ‘kill’ the industry
www.thetimes.com
May 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
“A law requiring contractors to pay for bricks, concrete, siding, and drywall will absolutely kill the building industry.”
— Author of “How to Save Construction”
— Author of “How to Save Construction”