Theck
@theckphd.bsky.social
Physics professor, bunny/bird enthusiast. Former WoW tankadin theorycrafter/blogger/raider. He/him.
Reposted by Theck
Yes, Jared Diamond was wrong.
Rapa Nui's people did not suffer ecological and social collapse. They adapted to changed circumstances and thrived.
And they were nothing like "primitive"
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Rapa Nui's people did not suffer ecological and social collapse. They adapted to changed circumstances and thrived.
And they were nothing like "primitive"
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Studies show how the giant statues on Rapa Nui were made and moved—and what caused the island's deforestation
Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is often portrayed in popular culture as an enigma. The rationale is clear: The tiny, remote island in the Pacific features nearly 1,000 enormous statues—the moa...
phys.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Yes, Jared Diamond was wrong.
Rapa Nui's people did not suffer ecological and social collapse. They adapted to changed circumstances and thrived.
And they were nothing like "primitive"
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Rapa Nui's people did not suffer ecological and social collapse. They adapted to changed circumstances and thrived.
And they were nothing like "primitive"
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Theck
Live your life in such a way that when you die people don't literally rise from the dead to shit on your grave.
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.
🧪🧬🧫
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 11:04 AM
Live your life in such a way that when you die people don't literally rise from the dead to shit on your grave.
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My latest piece @thenation.com is the loving, heartfelt tribute you've been waiting for: "Real American Scumbag: Hulk Hogan Was a Racist, Liar, and Scab" www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Hulk Hogan Was a Racist, Liar, and Scab
In the 1980s, the professional wrestler portrayed himself as an all-American hero—but he was really a “jabroni” the entire time.
www.thenation.com
July 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
My latest piece @thenation.com is the loving, heartfelt tribute you've been waiting for: "Real American Scumbag: Hulk Hogan Was a Racist, Liar, and Scab" www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Reposted by Theck
Today, the Government launches plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK.
One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:
“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”
Except… it doesn't. 🧵
One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:
“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”
Except… it doesn't. 🧵
June 10, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Today, the Government launches plans to fast-track driverless vehicle trials in the UK.
One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:
“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”
Except… it doesn't. 🧵
One of the companies involved says London presents a big challenge:
“It has seven times more jaywalkers than San Francisco.”
Except… it doesn't. 🧵
Reposted by Theck
“It’s not trying to revolutionise the space industry; if it were, its concept, design, and testing plan would be totally different. Instead, the entire project is optimised to fleece as much money from the US taxpayer as possible, and as such, that is all it will ever do.”
Starship Was Doomed From The Beginning
The fatal flaw SpaceX can't overcome.
www.planetearthandbeyond.co
March 18, 2025 at 2:25 AM
“It’s not trying to revolutionise the space industry; if it were, its concept, design, and testing plan would be totally different. Instead, the entire project is optimised to fleece as much money from the US taxpayer as possible, and as such, that is all it will ever do.”
Reposted by Theck
Reposted by Theck
My first and definitely last time working with the Los Angeles Times. Editing out the most urgent point of an OpEd in the minutes before sending to press while then also assigning a title and image that suggest an argument entirely opposite to the author’s clear intent is pretty shitty.
January 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM
My first and definitely last time working with the Los Angeles Times. Editing out the most urgent point of an OpEd in the minutes before sending to press while then also assigning a title and image that suggest an argument entirely opposite to the author’s clear intent is pretty shitty.
Reposted by Theck
Worth reading
I am a former incarcerated firefighter. I served in a California fire camp from 2009 to 2012.
Misinformation is afire on the internet, so here are facts about the prison firefighter program, all in one place.
A thread.
Misinformation is afire on the internet, so here are facts about the prison firefighter program, all in one place.
A thread.
January 15, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Worth reading
Reposted by Theck
Reposted by Theck
This is a must-read and is also the first comprehensive post mortem I’ve read working off the vote cast data (which is the real deal) as opposed to the dubious exit polling.
January 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This is a must-read and is also the first comprehensive post mortem I’ve read working off the vote cast data (which is the real deal) as opposed to the dubious exit polling.
Reposted by Theck
i don't think millennials and gen xers "feel like sellouts" I think authors think the job of "writing the book" is an entire fucking job and marketing it is a second entire fucking job and doing the first means you shouldn't also be expected to do all of the second
Normalise going to publishers and asking them "What do you even do?" in a very aggressive strained tone.
December 29, 2024 at 4:32 PM
i don't think millennials and gen xers "feel like sellouts" I think authors think the job of "writing the book" is an entire fucking job and marketing it is a second entire fucking job and doing the first means you shouldn't also be expected to do all of the second
Reposted by Theck
Thank you. And us carriers just continue to suffer using vehicles that are over thirty years old!
as discussion about Trump wanting to privatize the USPS heats back up, a reminder (from 2018) how we got here. the comparison to a mortgage is especially apt. theweek.com/articles/767...
December 14, 2024 at 11:46 PM
Thank you. And us carriers just continue to suffer using vehicles that are over thirty years old!
Reposted by Theck
Reposted by Theck
Learned a new word today - thanks @joyannreid.bsky.social
November 14, 2024 at 12:07 AM
Learned a new word today - thanks @joyannreid.bsky.social
Reposted by Theck
If it helps, here's the 2020 timeline of when stuff was called
November 6, 2024 at 3:40 AM
If it helps, here's the 2020 timeline of when stuff was called
Reposted by Theck
Just a reminder: Sen. JD Vance sent a letter to DOJ demanding that Kagan be criminally investigated for writing the column below.
He wanted a journalist criminally investigated. For writing a column. Fascist Teddy Ruxpin then had the gall to wax about censorship at the VP debate.
He wanted a journalist criminally investigated. For writing a column. Fascist Teddy Ruxpin then had the gall to wax about censorship at the VP debate.
October 26, 2024 at 3:36 AM
Just a reminder: Sen. JD Vance sent a letter to DOJ demanding that Kagan be criminally investigated for writing the column below.
He wanted a journalist criminally investigated. For writing a column. Fascist Teddy Ruxpin then had the gall to wax about censorship at the VP debate.
He wanted a journalist criminally investigated. For writing a column. Fascist Teddy Ruxpin then had the gall to wax about censorship at the VP debate.
Reposted by Theck
What we know:
- The Washington Post editorial board agrees to endorse Harris.
- The endorsement article is drafted by the Post team, ready for print.
- Trump meets Bezos’s team in Austin.
- Bezos orders WaPo publisher Will Lewis to scrap the Harris endorsement and instead endorse no candidate.
- The Washington Post editorial board agrees to endorse Harris.
- The endorsement article is drafted by the Post team, ready for print.
- Trump meets Bezos’s team in Austin.
- Bezos orders WaPo publisher Will Lewis to scrap the Harris endorsement and instead endorse no candidate.
October 25, 2024 at 10:50 PM
What we know:
- The Washington Post editorial board agrees to endorse Harris.
- The endorsement article is drafted by the Post team, ready for print.
- Trump meets Bezos’s team in Austin.
- Bezos orders WaPo publisher Will Lewis to scrap the Harris endorsement and instead endorse no candidate.
- The Washington Post editorial board agrees to endorse Harris.
- The endorsement article is drafted by the Post team, ready for print.
- Trump meets Bezos’s team in Austin.
- Bezos orders WaPo publisher Will Lewis to scrap the Harris endorsement and instead endorse no candidate.
Reposted by Theck
I am exactly 38 years old and this is exactly correct. They killed AIM. They killed MSN Messenger. ICQ is a twitching corpse. IRC is a zombie. Geocities, Yahoo!, all my vBulletin and phpBB forums — gone. Twitter’s death is just one more.
This is probably part of why everyone on bluesky is 38 years old: 38 year olds are basically the only people who consider it totally normal to flee a sinking ship and then just casually resume the conversation on the tropical island they end up on.
They've outlived dozens of ships.
They've outlived dozens of ships.
June 21, 2024 at 12:07 AM
I am exactly 38 years old and this is exactly correct. They killed AIM. They killed MSN Messenger. ICQ is a twitching corpse. IRC is a zombie. Geocities, Yahoo!, all my vBulletin and phpBB forums — gone. Twitter’s death is just one more.
Reposted by Theck
My son asked why is there a movie called “NOOOOO” 💀💀💀
October 17, 2024 at 6:10 PM
My son asked why is there a movie called “NOOOOO” 💀💀💀
Reposted by Theck
well technically anything can carry 551 amps, once
October 3, 2024 at 11:27 AM
well technically anything can carry 551 amps, once
Reposted by Theck
Don’t use thesaurus dot com anyway, they switched from a human generated thesaurus to an AI generated one about a year ago. You can really tell on words like “decaf” where the words used are associated with decaf (coffee words) but are actual antonyms.
September 20, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Don’t use thesaurus dot com anyway, they switched from a human generated thesaurus to an AI generated one about a year ago. You can really tell on words like “decaf” where the words used are associated with decaf (coffee words) but are actual antonyms.
Reposted by Theck
this is how they covered an identical situation when trump was president. have you seen a single article about any economic subject at any point in biden's presidency that had this tone? a single one?
if not, why not? who makes those decisions and who benefits from them?
if not, why not? who makes those decisions and who benefits from them?
September 16, 2024 at 7:07 PM
this is how they covered an identical situation when trump was president. have you seen a single article about any economic subject at any point in biden's presidency that had this tone? a single one?
if not, why not? who makes those decisions and who benefits from them?
if not, why not? who makes those decisions and who benefits from them?
Reposted by Theck
I don't know if anyone else gets anxious about phone calls but a little tip I've learned is: if there is a phone call that I don't want to make, before I start dialing the number, I carefully hold the phone in my hand & toss it gently into a lake. I hope this advice helps others.
December 18, 2023 at 7:52 PM
I don't know if anyone else gets anxious about phone calls but a little tip I've learned is: if there is a phone call that I don't want to make, before I start dialing the number, I carefully hold the phone in my hand & toss it gently into a lake. I hope this advice helps others.
Reposted by Theck
Reposted by Theck
“Do not use your phone to answer phone calls” is not advice as much as it’s a condemnation of regulatory inaction that has led a vital means of communication to ruin.
The first rule of avoiding scam calls is to never answer unknown numbers, and even some known ones.
Curious? Bored? Worried it’s an emergency? Wait the extra minute it takes for the call to go to voice mail, then decide if it’s legitimate.
Curious? Bored? Worried it’s an emergency? Wait the extra minute it takes for the call to go to voice mail, then decide if it’s legitimate.
Sick of scams? Stop answering your phone.
Phone scams are still hugely popular — and they depend entirely on people curious enough to answer.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 17, 2024 at 8:53 PM
“Do not use your phone to answer phone calls” is not advice as much as it’s a condemnation of regulatory inaction that has led a vital means of communication to ruin.