Reposted by Aaron Clausetworm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026If you ever wondered why visible light is those particular wavelengths, it's because life evolved to see in the narrow range where water is transparent 8950991455
Reposted by Aaron ClausetErin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 13hThe fiscal year is over. The dying Social, Behavioral, and Economic division of NSF ended up awarding 90 total grants this year, as opposed to ~700-800 in recent past years. Source: grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses... 8376253
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026OMB's focus on NIH and NSF, which has confused a lot of folks, pretty much boils down to stopping money going to universities. 1225139
Reposted by Aaron Clausetevy kwong @evystadium.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Men shouldn’t require a daughter, wife, girlfriend or sister before sexual violence against women becomes important to them. Women are enough. And condemning sexual assault shouldn’t qualify anyone for a medal. The bar is on the floor. Step over it." 2349108
Reposted by Aaron ClausetNeil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"For many Black scholars, academia is a burning house. If we cannot extinguish that fire, Black scholars will always bear a greater risk of being burned–& therefore have to insulate themselves against the risk more than others." @cydneydupree.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/blac...timeshighereducation.comBlack academics face extra scrutiny. Our research shows its consequencesScholars of colour told us they engage in strategies to make it harder for them to be dismissed as biased or lacking rigour, says Cydney Hurston Dupree 3204111
Reposted by Aaron ClausetIceLab @icelabumu.bsky.social · 25/09/2026What influences which scientific papers make it through editorial and peer review? 15:00 CEST Oct 5, @aaronclauset.bsky.social joins IceLab online to discuss an analysis of 110,303 submissions to @science.org & Science Advances. Register for the zoom link: www.umu.se/en/events/ic...umu.seIceLab Seminar: Editorial and peer review with Aaron Clauset 0106
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 10/09/2026This is a jaw-dropping measurement difference. And, I’m sympathetic to the obvious conclusion. But, how much of the “uses AI” association here is actually driven by SES or other environmental variables? I suspect the story is more complicated 270
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMelinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social · 09/09/2026"In Referees We Trust" will be open access and available October 13 -- but for those who prefer physical books, Barnes and Noble is running its preorder deal again! Members can get 25% off all preorders with code PREORDER25 through September 11. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-referee... 1114
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMichael S Roth @msroth.bsky.social · 04/09/2026My take: “Students approach college “with energetic curiosity. They always do. Why? Because they are [about] to discover who they are as readers, as conversation partners, as people. They are figuring out what kind of work they find fulfilling, what they love to do.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/o...nytimes.comOpinion | This Is the Real Point of College (Gift Article)It’s all about the practice of freedom. 210936
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDon Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Very good point here: A lot of university leaders will think, "the Trump administration just wants us to make some vague statements - we can live with that." They are not counting on the DOJ using those statements as the basis for legal investigations. Which this DOJ will be willing to do. 191104275
Reposted by Aaron ClausetSanta Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 31/08/2026SFI is hiring a postdoctoral fellow to work with SFI Professor David Wolpert on the thermodynamic cost of distributed computation, from digital circuits to human brains. We are seeking a scholar with expertise in physics, computer science, or a related field. santafe.edu/about/jobs/p... 11714
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Want to see your LLM struggle? Ask it "Generate a sentence in which changing one single letter would radically change the meaning of the sentence." 🤖 (I gave this example to some middle schoolers to explain how point mutations *usually* don't change the meaning of a gene, but sometimes do.) 4114
Reposted by Aaron ClausetChris Bail @chrisbail.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Applications to host a 2027 Summer Institute in Computational Social Science are now live! sicss.io/stories/2026...sicss.ioCall for Applications: Host a SICSS Partner Location in 2027 021
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDan Larremore @danlarremore.bsky.social · 25/08/2026🎉 New paper (and data) on editorial & peer review at Science and Science Advances, two elite general science journals. With a wonderful team! @samzhang.bsky.social, @nicklaberge.bsky.social, Quinten and @aaronclauset.bsky.social. 1/ www.science.org/doi/full/10.... 39439
Reposted by Aaron ClausetJacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Hey folks, this hasn’t gotten much attention, but remember those proposed OMB rule changes we all commented on recently? There’s a new attempt to sneak them just for NSF. We have three days to comment. Please don’t sleep on this! 7756637
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Finally, this has gone a bit under the radar, so I want to highlight it: The social, behavioral and economic sciences directorate (SBE) has simply ceased to deliver grants to many of its subareas. Any topic not specifically OK'd by the Trump administration is receiving zero new awards. 6422226
Reposted by Aaron ClausetTimnit Gebru @timnitgebru.blacksky.app · 13/08/2026🔇 🔇 🔇 My book, Deep Unlearning, is now available for preorders! I don't know how people write so many books because this one took a lot out of me. It turns out, I had a lot to say 😂, with editors cutting out 50k of my words 🫣 ✴️ You can now preorder it at www.simonandschuster.com/books/Deep-U.... 762186766
Reposted by Aaron ClausetJen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 17/08/2026“A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it would replace, according to a new preprint study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.” ysph.yale.edu/news-article...ysph.yale.eduUniversal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study ProjectsA single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it 595165447121
Reposted by Aaron Clausetvincentholst.bsky.social @vincentholst.bsky.social · 13/08/2026In 2023, @nature.com published 'Papers and patents are becoming less disruptive over time', receiving world-wide media attention. Our Matters Arising, published after a 32 month delay (more on that soon), shows that the reported decline can largely be attributed to dataset artefacts. 🧵 9352173
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Updating my undergrad Biological Networks course. Added this AI statement to my syllabus. #footnotes I'll also poll students on day 1 about their attitudes on AI tool use, and I'm restructuring assessments to a more flipped classroom pattern. Fun to experiment! aaronclauset.github.io/courses/3352/ 2285
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Very much agree with Pieris's argument: investing public funds exclusively in research 'applications' (believing that they have greater and more immediate economic value) will destroy the real driver of economic growth: basic science is the *only* economic engine arxiv.org/abs/2608.00172 0229
Reposted by Aaron ClausetStanford AAUP @stanfordaaup.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Universities need to stop half-assing their response to the all-out assault on science (and higher education more broadly) if we are to have a hope of surviving. We should know that a concept of a plan is not going to work. Universities need to coordinate and take bold action or we're cooked.science.orgUniversity science in the US needs a coherent planThe Trump administration continues to degrade America’s scientific establishment, causing widespread harm to the country’s broader interests and well-being. Last week, the Association of American Univ... 26034
Reposted by Aaron ClausetAngela Andersen @angelaandersen.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Kudos to @science.org for this self-analysis of the peer review process. These kind of data are never shared and don't have to be. Wildly refreshing to see it out in the open. Editorial and peer review dynamics at elite general science journals | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgEditorial and peer review dynamics at elite general science journalsAnalyses of deidentified data reveal complex interactions that quantify success at elite general science journals. 29044
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Big assoc between evaluation and prestige & paper topic "...raises an important question: To what extent do the editors and reviewers at elite journals tend to overlook great scientific contributions that lack these advantageous author and manuscript characteristics?" www.science.org/doi/full/10....science.orgEditorial and peer review dynamics at elite general science journalsAnalyses of deidentified data reveal complex interactions that quantify success at elite general science journals. 22813
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 01/08/2026My inbox and text message app are full of messages to myself, for just this reason — stray thoughts, musings, ruminations while running, whatever, are raw material for writing. I’d add: photos of whiteboards filled with plans, diagrams, pithy phrases, and outlines. This. Is. Writing. 0173
Reposted by Aaron ClausetSanta Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Competition to publish in elite journals is fierce, yet the confidentiality of the peer-review process — the gold standard for assessing whether a study meets the criteria for publication — has long made the process itself hard to study. A new paper in Science Advances offers a first look.santafe.eduNew study examines publication trends at top journalsThe small fraction of papers that make it to publication in the top scientific journals plays a powerful role in scientific discourse, shaping both public policy and scientific careers, yet the confid... 093
Reposted by Aaron ClausetRachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 31/07/2026My boiling hot take on this is that, if tech companies are going to fund this kind of research (looking at Schmidt too), then the money needs to be given *no strings* to an independent arm's length research body, pooled with other funding, and treated as a donation not as direct funding. 36822
Reposted by Aaron ClausetNew-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b 7778522571
Reposted by Aaron Clausetsorelle @friedler.net · 28/07/2026My department is hiring tenure-track in computer science! Deadline: Oct 1, 2026. We care about and support both research and teaching. We're located in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It's a great place to work and live! I'm happy to answer any questions. www.haverford.edu/provost/news...haverford.eduTenure-Track Assistant Professor of Computer ScienceHaverford College invites applications for a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Computer Science to begin Fall 2027. 12716
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMark Histed @markhisted.org · 24/07/2026Also: We keep hearing that a number of Congressmembers think that everything at NIH has gone back to normal, and the Trump appointees are in fact on the side of saving NIH. That is false. Things at NIH are WORSE than last year. Please reach out to your senators and reps and tell them that. 28036
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMark Histed @markhisted.org · 24/07/2026I co-sign this great summary from @dereklowe.bsky.social . The goal is to destroy academic science, and these are the reasons. And all the “gold standard” and “needs reform” and “not high risk” stuff is transparent bullshit to hide the ball on what they are doing. 8438196
Reposted by Aaron ClausetJeffrey Lin @jeffrlin.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Here's the video of my presentation of this paper at the NBER SI: www.youtube.com/live/405kSya...youtube.comMacroeconomics and Productivity, NBER Summer InstituteYouTube video by NBER 0145
Reposted by Aaron ClausetKnight First Amendment Institute @knightcolumbia.org · 20/07/2026How can higher education better withstand political attacks? In a new essay, @bakerdphd.bsky.social argues that power must be shifted away from governing boards and governments, and toward faculty, staff, students, and accreditors.knightcolumbia.orgReducing the Concentration of Power 25625
Reposted by Aaron ClausetProfessa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 20/07/2026Everyone coming on my feed and explaining to me that all is lost, I note what I have noted before, that there are no Negro Spirituals entitled, “Welp, I Guess It All Sucks and I Am Giving Up.” 9356961235
Reposted by Aaron ClausetEugene Vinitsky 🍒 @eugenevinitsky.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Out of curiosity I had Fable write a response to the article about the weaknesses of LLMs: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/o... It's uh, pretty good. claude.ai/code/artifac...nytimes.comOpinion | The Unstoppable Force of A.I. Hype Is Meeting One Immovable FactCongratulations. You’re irreplaceable. 2214019
Reposted by Aaron ClausetDaniel Lakens @lakens.bsky.social · 15/07/2026We are hiring an assistant professor in Metascience! Join our lovely department of Human-Technology Interaction, with a very active Metascience group, at Eindhoven University of Technology. Apply here before August 14, or share the vacancy in your network! www.tue.nl/en/working-a...tue.nlAssistant Professor in MetasciencePersonal type: Scientific staff 06260
Reposted by Aaron ClausetKate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 03/07/2026In fact, that's in the analysis too - tenure-stream faculty, for whom research is a major part of their contractual obligation and the foundation of the incentive structure for tenure and promotion, work more hours on average than NTT faculty: 310726
Reposted by Aaron ClausetSarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Just here to post this again like I do every year, not only because Douglass was one of the founding philosophers of American liberty but because I am so moved by the kids Frederick Douglass’ descendants deliver “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”youtu.be‘What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?’: Descendants Read Frederick Douglass' Speech | NPRYouTube video by NPR 2124561163
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMax Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Today we celebrate the PDFing of "Declaration FINAL v3 USE THIS ONE - SIGNED.docx" (Jefferson's draft was heavily edited by the Committee, then again by Congress, and he was big mad about it.) 291825452
Reposted by Aaron ClausetJessica Hullman @jessicahullman.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Fascinating talk on the history of peer review from Melinda Baldwin at @icssi.org, with some parallels to current crises. Also I hadn't realized peer review was such an American thing. 05917
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Today is my first day as our department's Associate Chair for Faculty Affairs. We have close to 80 faculty. Although I'm not religious, it seems apropos to invoke the Serenity Prayer: give me serenity, courage, and wisdom. 0160
Reposted by Aaron ClausetAaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Slides from my invited lecture "Escalation dynamics and the severity of wars" at the Norwegian Nobel Institute @nobelpeacecenter.bsky.social: it's within-conflict dynamics of escalation in fighting that cause wars to become large, with broad implications. aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus... 0154
Reposted by Aaron ClausetMax Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 27/06/2026NIH grants have been under political scrutiny since early 2025. But what does the screening process actually look like? What is being flagged? I spent a month digging into leaked docs and emails. We've published the 235-word list that are being flagged by an internal AI tool. And so much more. 🧵nature.comInside the new political screening that’s stalling NIH grantsMandatory reviews by top health officials and checks for 235 disfavoured terms have left hundreds of vetted grant applications in administrative limbo. 9541384
Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Slides from my invited lecture "Escalation dynamics and the severity of wars" at the Norwegian Nobel Institute @nobelpeacecenter.bsky.social: it's within-conflict dynamics of escalation in fighting that cause wars to become large, with broad implications. aaronclauset.github.io/slides/Claus... 0154
Reposted by Aaron ClausetKate Barnes @k-barnes.bsky.social · 23/06/20267\ In the computer science coauthorship network, we observe disparities in coauthorship centrality by gender, race, academic parent status, and most prominantly by institutional prestige 📈 125
Reposted by Aaron ClausetKate Barnes @k-barnes.bsky.social · 23/06/20266\ Key finding: computer scientists from top institutions are located more centrally in the coauthorship network. The network is built from all DBLP-indexed publications, and also exhibits significant racial but not gender-based homophily. 142
Reposted by Aaron ClausetKate Barnes @k-barnes.bsky.social · 23/06/20261\ New paper out in FAccT 2026 @facct.bsky.social #FAccT2026 ! 🥳 Grateful to have worked with this team, and had the opportunity to combine my interests in fairness and the science of science. Link: dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/.... 1136
Reposted by Aaron ClausetPhilip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 22/06/2026"Ultimately, the survival of democracy depends on institutional courage... The lessons of history and contemporary experience converge on a single point: institutions must choose between being bulwarks of democracy or bridges to authoritarianism." 👏👏👏 1144