iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 8h

They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”

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Jeremy Van Cleve @vancleve.theoretical.bio · 29/09/2026

My group is recruiting a Ph.D student for Fall 2027! We're a friendly group of mathematically-minded and computationally-inspired biologists studying topics including social evolution, host-pathogen interactions, genetics, and demography. See vancleve.theoretical.bio for more info!

vancleve.theoretical.bio

van cleve research group

Van Cleve Research Group – theoretical evolution & ecology at the University of Kentucky

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Xin Sun @xinsun-putiger.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I’m deeply honored to receive the 2026 AGU Ocean Sciences Early Career Award! Thank you to AGU, the Ocean Sciences community, and my nominators for this recognition! [1/2]

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 08/09/2026

yeah this is a separate conversation but one of the things that hasn’t quite bubbled up from scholarship into mainstream thinking is that american slavery was a system centered principally on reproduction. forced birth for capital accumulation is what it was

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Flo Débarre @flodebarre.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026

Oh... Missing in the NYT description is the fact that Kadlec is the author of an idiosyncratic, weird and, should I specify it, unsupported lab leak scenario for the origin of Covid-19. In his version, SARS-CoV-2 was made by Chinese military during the development of a neurological bioweapon

The agreement was signed by Dr. Bhattacharya and Dr. Robert Kadlec at the Defense Department. Dr. Kadlec previously served as assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services and played a central role in Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s effort to rapidly develop vaccines and therapeutics against Covid-19

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5th Square Advocacy @5thsqadvocacy.org · 04/09/2026

As anti-Flock sentiment gains momentum, we want to remind everyone: red light/speed cameras ≠ Flock cameras Flock cameras are used for surveillance. Red light and speed cameras are used to enforce specific traffic violations in a privacy preserving way--and they save lives! 🧵

inquirer.com

Shapiro is wary of Flock cameras and the potential loss of privacy

The governor believes Pennsylvanians' privacy may be at risk, according to a spokesperson.

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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

im really and truly not the kind of person to shame people for the media they consume but if you watch the new harry potter you can get fucked

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 03/09/2026

You would blush to offer this as parody. This is a *public health professor*.

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Genuinely I cannot take it. The way the press has ONE STANDARD for everyone but Trump and his goons and then A TOTALLY DIFFERENT STANDARD for them. It’s intolerable, it’s obscene

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We are a broken nation. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians were living and working legally, paying taxes, and contributing. Haiti remains wholly unsafe. But Trump hates Haitians, and the White House wanted videos of Black people in chains, so they stripped them of status and turned on the cameras.

Homeland Security 7
@DHSgov
X.com
Haiti TPS has been TERMINATED.
Those with terminated TPS are in our nation Illegally. They have two options: LEAVE IMMEDIATELY or be DEPORTED.
DHS.GOV/CBРНОМЕ

Underneath is a screenshot of a video showing two Haitian men in chains being led to the aircraft. I didn’t post the video, but it’s vile.

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James Ryan @jdryan08.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Anyone who frames what’s wrong about academia, whether to do with Arday or almost anything else, as a morality tale can be safely ignored, in my opinion. If it were so, it’d be much easier to fix, and almost all of these people are uninterested in the work required to make it better.

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Nick @nicksattele.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

No room for a headhouse for your station exit? Instead of buying land and demolishing buildings, just put it in the street and close it to cars.

The exit of stadium station, Stockholm. It’s in the middle of a street closed to cars

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Cooper Lund @cooperlund.online · 26/07/2026

Sometimes I think it’s too reductive to say that a car is a uniquely deranging object to own, but then I see people who claim left politics compare the people trying to turn a carpark into a children’s home to Netanyahu and I think “no, the car has made you crazy”

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Your Evil Twin, Skippy 🇵🇸 🏳️‍⚧️ @twinskippy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams: “There’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in. I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team. Anytime. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world, it’s just another way to kind of attack trans people.”

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Philipp Markolin @philippmarkolin.eurosky.social · 07/08/2026

I mean... these messages alone show: Fauci did not want to lie to American people to give false hope with ineffective hydroxychlorone (unlike the rest of Trump admin grifters); same for the immunity from vaccines; and sticking to science got him in trouble with POTUS and all other lying grifters.

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Sohini Ramachandran @sramach.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Our newest preprint - stay tuned for more from @alexandr.bsky.social!

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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 04/08/2026

One more interesting point: this spring I sat down with Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes for an extensive interview about my Epstein investigation. Subsequently, CBS pulled the segment and fired the reporter. The MAGA buyout of media has unquestionably aided the Trump administration’s cover up here.

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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 04/08/2026

Bombshell new report out from my investigators this morning spanning our four year investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s financial records. This report shows exactly how Wall Street protected Epstein and enabled his sex trafficking for decades. Mega thread following with some key points:

bloomberg.com

Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, BofA Enabled Epstein, Wyden Report Says

Democrat Ron Wyden cited nonpublic documents held by the US Treasury in a report that says banks delayed reporting suspicious financial transactions and calls for tougher anti-money-laundering rules, ...

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Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

"I support cyclists and their right to ride safely on the road but only if they follow the rules all of the time" is an absolutely unhinged thing to say in a country where we have drivers killing tens of thousands of people each year and speeding while playing on your phone is normal and accepted

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Alex Wenzel @alexwenzel.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

This raises the stakes of the midterms substantially for public research. Based on this article, I think we can assume they’ll allow the rule to go forward if they retain a Congressional majority.

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 02/08/2026

I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.

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Ken Jennings @kenjennings.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

So that’s the thing to know, if you’re a tabloid that’s going to name-check me in another round of transphobic shit about Bluesky discourse. I don’t stand with you. I stand with my trans friends and family members. ⏹️

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Zach Hensel @zachhensel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Lots of "lab leak" chatter this week, cherry picking from impolite things written in private during a crisis. So, for some contrast, here's something that was hiding in plain sight for years. It disproves a defamatory conspiracy theory that appeared in @vanityfair.com and the book Viral.

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 30/07/2026

literally impeach him just for this

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Flo Débarre @flodebarre.eurosky.social · 28/07/2026

I am sick of some media uncritically repeating Rand Paul's misrepresentation of Fauci's journal about the Huanan market. In late Jan 2020, it was a common commentary that the market may not be the origin of the outbreak, b/c of a Lancet paper on early cases ▫️1/6 www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/u...

It now appears using epi data and genomic data that the first infection was in early
December and was not connected to the market. The infections spread among people
weeks before the Chinese reported that they were dealing with a new infection and that
gave the virus time to establish itself in multigenerational (sustained) spread.
Remember, early on the Chinese were saying that there is no human to human
transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market. Now we know the
market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Having said that, somewhere the virus
jumped from animals to humans.

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Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This Fauci hearing is the biggest explosion of right wing brainworms I've ever seen. Years of debunked and absurd antivax and "gain of function" conspiracy theories expressed as incoherent screaming at an 85 year old man. It's absolutely demented and embarrassing to watch.

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Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 28/07/2026

See you in court, creep.

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Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The reason that Republicans are attacking immigrants is because immigrants make America wealthy and economically dynamic. Their vision for America is to turn the entire country into the South: an uneducated and impoverished backwater that a hereditary elite rules over like an aristocracy.

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Jeff Groh @jeffgroh.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Avocados come in 2 varieties - A-types start each day female and switch to male midday. B-types do the reverse. In work just published from the last chapter of my PhD, we show this system evolved 40+million yrs ago and is regulated by alleles of 1 transcription factor www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.org

Balanced polymorphism in a floral transcription factor underlies the ancient rhythm of daily sex alternation in avocado | PNAS

In avocado and certain wild relatives in Lauraceae, a highly synchronized daily rhythm of floral sex timing promotes cross-pollination between two ...

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Imagine if you mailed the IRS a check to pay your taxes, but they left their mail unopened for years and then arrested you for failure to pay taxes. That’s effectively what ICE is doing to increasing numbers of people now; people out of status only because of GOVERNMENT delay.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

This includes people who came here legally on a visa, applied for another form of status, and are just waiting for the US government to decide their case. People who haven’t done a single thing wrong.

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Chloe N East (she/her) @chloeneast.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

My paper is out today in PNAS documenting how ICE activity in Trump 2.0 compares to the last 10 years and the mismatch between the action and the rhetoric. Joint with the fabulous @caitlinpatler.bsky.social and @elizabethacox.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

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Hobbes @flawedfacade.blacksky.app · 27/07/2026

Squished in the middle of this story was this heartbreaking paragraph. Unconscionable.

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Dr. Jeroen W.P. Wijnendaele @drdragases.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Good grief, this hits home.

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Daniel Fedor @dcfedor.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Blue Bottle Games, as a policy, does not use generative AI. It's something we've discussed as a team, weighing the pros and cons, and ultimately, we decided it was not for us. Recently, while chatting with a colleague, she mentioned it was useful hearing our reasoning. So: Sharing time! 1/12

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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/07/2026

Very Savvy People are always asking, "what do you mean by fight?" Well, I guess they could start by not actively helping?

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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 24/07/2026

I 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.

=
Science
science. But let me make something clear right up front. When I talk to people about this subject (and that includes some journalists as well) and say what I'm about to at the end of this paragaph I am sometimes met with disbelief. But I mean what I say and I am trying my best to say what I mean: The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.
That's it. That's the story. They are naturally not putting it in those words, but instead talking about "gold standard science" and the
"reproducibility crisis" and funding "bold inquiry" for "transformational
breakthroughs". This is all bullshit, and it's important to realize that. Shameless hand-waving bullshit, delivered in a how-dare-vou-

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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

"Road rage" is what they call murder when a car is involved. It waters down the reality of the violence and the crime. When someone murders a fellow human with a gun, it's rarely called anything other than what it is: murder.

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Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Maybe they should just practice locking the door and turning off the lights and remaining silent while hiding under their desks…or is that just appropriate for kindergartners?

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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 14/07/2026

This morning in Biddeford, Maine, a 26-year-old man said goodbye to his wife and daughter and left for work. Moments later he was dead, shot in the head by ICE agents, the second man ICE has killed in six days. ICE is killing our neighbors. ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE.

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Dr. K. Lotterhos @drk-lo.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

OUR WORK IS NOT DONE. In unusual move, NSF issued a request for information on plan to conform grant policies to the proposed (unfinalized) OMB rule. Plan includes changes to grant termination provisions & disallowing publication costs. Comments due August 24. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

federalregister.gov

Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation Proposal/Award Information-NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to renew and revise its collection for its financial assistance policies and procedures. In accordance with the requirements of the Paper...

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 19/06/2026

I've spent the last two months putting together this exhaustive analysis of the New York Times coverage of trans people. It covers 3,242 articles over 12 years. In 2022, the NYT shifted towards a hostile stance towards trans people in their framing. www.thedissident.news/exclusive-ho...

thedissident.news

Exclusive: How The New York Times Changed Its Coverage of Trans People

An exhaustive analysis of over 3,242 articles by the New York Times covering transgender issues from 2014-2026 revealed a stark shift towards hostile framing in 2022. In January 2015, the New York Ti...

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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 13/06/2026

"Jenny owns a crematorium. John’s propane company gives her a $20 billion investment in return for 5 percent of her operation. Jenny throws $10 billion into the incinerator, then pays John $10 billion to buy propane to burn that money to ashes..."

buff.ly

AI Economics for Dummies

“Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 bi...

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Joshua G. Schraiber @jgschraiber.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

This is crazy! Obviously people should recuse from discussion of a grant from their institution but to have to recuse from a WHOLE PANEL is nuts. This is just meant to make it harder to review grants, slow down review, and reduce funding grants As always, the point is to destroy science

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The War on Cars @thewaroncars.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Live every day like it's World Bike Day.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 29/05/2026

Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.

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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

slate.com

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect.

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Drug Monkey @drugmonkey.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

This dumbass pick me who has been desperately trying to attract the attention of the right wing anti NIH grievance brigade keeps on flailing. He seems to think this is some sort of excellent burn. It is not.

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