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Alfons López Tena

@alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
926 followers 2 following 291 posts

Jurist, writer, and politician

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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
State laws bring censorship to US universities, professors fear they could get in trouble for what they teach — Nearly half of college students attend institutions in states with at least one law or restriction censoring topics to discuss in the classroom english.elpais.com/usa/2026-09-...
english.elpais.com
‘Professors fear they could get in trouble for what they teach’: State laws bring censorship to US universities
Nearly half of college students attend institutions in states with at least one law or restriction governing what topics can be discussed in the classroom
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The populist right, including Trump, has exploited the issue of free speech and “cancel culture” for its own authoritarian power grab. Pleny of unprincipled anti-woke “free speech warriors” are cheering on US government to impose ideological conformity open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com
They Went Hard Against Woke. And Then… Went Even Harder Against Trump
Don’t blame the free speech crowd for Trump’s assaults on free expression.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Harvard closed its writing center and layed off the center’s longtime director for financial motives, a decision that could trigger other universities to follow suit, concluding than original writing –by extension, original thought– isn't worth the cost www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...
theatlantic.com
Why the Closing of Harvard’s Writing Center Matters
Students, faculty members, and alumni are asking how seriously the school is taking human learning in the age of AI.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Imposing ignorance — After the mass layoffs and budget cuts of the early days of the 🍊🤡 second term, US government is barreling ahead in its war on climate science www.france24.com/en/live-news...
france24.com
'Imposing ignorance': US climate science under siege
A benchmark US report on the fast-changing state of the Arctic has been canceled. The nation's top research body has removed a chapter on global warming from a reference manual for judges.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Researchers studying yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory turned to OnlyFans for funding. The OnlyMarms project has raised about $4,000 from subscriptions so far x.com/Reuters/stat...
x.com
Reuters (@Reuters) on X
Researchers studying yellow-bellied marmots in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory turned to OnlyFans for funding. The OnlyMarms project has raised about $4,000 from subscriptions so far
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
In the US under Trump, there are 197 words that disqualify you from research funding english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com
Luisa N. Borrell, epidemiologist: ‘In the United States, there are 197 words that disqualify you from research funding. I work with all of them’
The researcher studies racial health inequities, one of the fields the Trump administration has cut resources for
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
With their assault on science, Trumpists aren’t just harming US, they’re harming themselves—Their subjugation of all science to political imperatives has no equivalent in a democracy; it is reminiscent of Stalin’s Soviet Union: an act of wanton self-injury www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
With their assault on science, Trumpists aren’t just harming America – they’re harming themselves | Jan-Werner Müller
The administration is subjugating science to political imperatives, a major blow to US soft power and technological progress
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Academia is either meritocratic or it isn’t. It either takes its rules seriously or it doesn’t. It is a moment to realize that higher education institutions have strayed too far from their core mission and that there really is no substitute for meritocracy www.persuasion.community/p/jason-arda...
persuasion.community
Surely Liberals Can Agree That Plagiarism Is Bad
Institutions need to uphold standards. No exceptions.
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Reposted by Alfons López Tena
🎃Darin S Pumpkins🎃 @darinself.com · 05/08/2026
What a surprise that companies that built a product by stealing other's work didn't build the guardrails to stop their product from stealing other's work.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
US Military Academy at West Point yields to a permanent legal ban on its censorship policy, ordered by the 🍊🤡, that barred faculty members from publishing papers, speaking at conferences or appearing on a podcast without first seeking approval from higher-ups www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...
washingtonpost.com
West Point won’t fight ban on school policy limiting professors’ speech
Officials at West Point have retreated from their defense of a controversial policy restricting faculty speech.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Ana Fernández-Sesma, biologist at Mount Sinai: ‘There are taboo words: climate change, diversity, gender. It’s reminiscent of Spain's censorship under Franco. But just like then, it can be circumvented. US government is hostile, particularly to science' english.elpais.com/health/2026-...
english.elpais.com
Ana Fernández-Sesma, biologist at Mount Sinai: ‘We have regressed 30 years in a single year of the Trump administration’
The head of Microbiology at the New York hospital reflects on the next pandemic and the dismantling of the scientific system in the US
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Foreign students in the US discouraged by new visa limits — New immigration restrictions and the uncertainty they create are leading some applicants to consider other destinations for their studies english.elpais.com/education/20...
english.elpais.com
‘There is no flexibility’: international students in the US discouraged by new visa limits
New immigration restrictions and the uncertainty they create are leading some applicants to consider other destinations for their studies
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Research that used a federal grant to pay for asthma patients to have their gas stoves replaced showed a dramatic fall in asthma attacks. The program was cut short after Trump took office www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
washingtonpost.com
The EPA halted a study on gas stoves and asthma. But even partial results were striking.
Research that used a federal grant to pay for asthma patients to have their gas stoves replaced showed a dramatic fall in asthma attacks. The program was cut short after President Donald Trump took of...
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Nicholas Sarwark @sarwark.org · 24/07/2026
When Donald Trump announces his goals, he is signaling what would be most effective against him.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Trump's hardcore populist base has declined by 33%, @ismapolicy.bsky.social's survey finds. They are uneasy by his extralegal use of executive authority even as some express greater hostility toward Muslims, trans people and university/entertainment elites open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...
open.substack.com
Trump's Hardcore Populist Base Has Declined By a Third, ISMA's Survey Finds
They are uneasy by his extralegal use of executive authority even as some express greater hostility toward Muslims, trans people and university/entertainment elites
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
It is now official US policy to destroy the ICC. Nations that do not fall into line will be punished — Trump knows he could be a target after he leaves office. The threat of arrest could lie just around the corner, like Putin's and Netanyahu's www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Trump says he will dismantle the ICC ‘brick by brick’. It could be his most chilling move of all | Steve Bloomfield
The US is aligning itself with dictators and autocrats to prevent those accused of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes from ever facing justice, says Steve Bloomfield, former international edito...
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Trump’s Tariff Runaround Defies the Courts and Common Sense — Effective tariff rates are going to change on Friday for the 45th time in the last 18 months, an average of once every 12 days www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump’s Tariff Runaround Defies the Courts and Common Sense
The administration will keep trying to run around rulings against import fees.
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Reposted by Alfons López Tena
Cathy @leadahorse.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I think ending science is a Christian nationalist tactic. If science and history can disprove the whole premise of your fairy tale you must eliminate science and history.
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Steven Phelps @evolbrain.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Science friends! This fall I'm teaching a class on "Scientists as Writers" and looking for model papers. What is a scientific paper you love for the quality of its writing? Maybe something you have used as a model in your own work? What do you love about it?
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
US government plan to defund science — All federal grants to be assessed by officials, not by civil servants and peer-review panels. They could deny them because they don't fit Trump's agenda. Grants could also be terminated at any time for the same reason www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
An O.M.B. Plan to Defund Science—and Anything Trump Doesn’t Like
Under a new proposal, Administration officials could deny government grants to any group or project on the ground that it didn’t fit the President’s agenda.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Is the US trying to make scientists’ work so difficult that they simply give up? New Trump administration rules would undermine longstanding research practices. It’s death by a thousand cuts www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Is the US trying to make scientists’ work so difficult that they simply give up? | Daniel Malinsky
New Trump administration rules would undermine longstanding research practices. It’s death by a thousand cuts
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Some of the leading research universities in the U.S. are admitting fewer students to their doctoral programs amid widespread concerns about federal funding cuts and uncertainty. Admissions to top PhD programs down 15% www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
washingtonpost.com
Admissions to top PhD programs down 15% amid federal funding cuts, uncertainty
U.S. universities have warned Trump policies will narrow the talent pipeline. Already global applications are down, though domestic applications are up slightly.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Both determinism and scare of science are nothing more than residual, secularized religious views that demean human ingenuity under something mighty than their free will, be it god or genes; hurdles to scientific theory, to be spotted and torn down to free thinking theglobepost.com/2019/11/12/g...
theglobepost.com
Genes and Human Agency: Avert Misuse, Not Scientific Research
Scared people conclude that those who may unleash forces beyond human control must be forbidden to investigate the genetics of human agency.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Scientists become less likely to produce disruptive work as they age. Younger researchers are more likely to overturn established ideas or open new lines of inquiry. Older ones' novel work increasingly builds on existing theories rather than challenge them www.economist.com/graphic-deta...
economist.com
Why science is becoming less innovative
A huge study suggests ageing scientists are part of the problem
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Trump’s worst attack on science yet: To impose restrictions on the kinds of research that can be funded and give political appointees the final authority to deny federal funding for research deemed inconsistent with presidential priorities www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Could Be Trump’s Worst Attack on Science Yet
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
More than 40 million borrowers are saddled with US federal student debt, and a record number—7.7 million—have defaulted on their loans. Some are making the drastic decision to leave the country and stop paying www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/b...
nytimes.com
Student Debt Burdened Them, So They Moved Abroad and Stopped Paying
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Make Science Great Again By Pedro Sánchez, Spain's PM
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Prominent climate scientist resigns from NASA, citing Trump’s attack on science — Kate Marvel, a well-known author, joins an estimated 95,000 people who have left federal science agencies since he got the presidency again www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/c...
nytimes.com
Prominent Climate Scientist Resigns From NASA, Citing Trump’s Attack on Science
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Welcome, American scientists: Europe, a haven for researchers struggling under Trump — Initiatives are multiplying in EU countries including France, Germany and Austria to attract the talent being driven away by the US policies english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com
Welcome, American scientists: Europe, a haven for researchers struggling under Trump
Initiatives are multiplying in EU countries including France, Germany and Austria to attract the talent being driven away by the US president’s policies
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
US professors are changing what they teach, even far from Trump’s gaze — Rewritten syllabuses. Self-censored lectures. Stilted classroom discussions. Grant applications stripped of words that might infuriate MAGA censors , if they are submitted at all www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/u...
nytimes.com
Professors Are Changing What They Teach, Even Far from Trump’s Gaze
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
The Ig Nobel awards are moving to Europe after 35 years: ‘It has become unsafe for our guests to visit US’ — The satirical science prizes, rewarding the most surprising research of the year with the support of real Nobel laureates, will be held in Switzerland english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com
The Ig Nobel awards are moving to Europe after 35 years: ‘It has become unsafe for our guests to visit the US’
The satirical science prizes, which reward the most surprising research of the year with the support of real Nobel laureates, will be held in Switzerland and later in other European countries, ‘a litt...
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
For Russia, the surge in oil prices after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran amounts to an economic windfall at a crucial moment. It's leaving the Kremlin well placed to emerge as one of the main beneficiaries of the conflict in the Middle East x.com/politicoeuro...
x.com
POLITICOEurope on X: "For Russia, the surge in oil prices after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran amounts to an economic windfall at a crucial moment. It's leaving the Kremlin well placed to emerge as one of the main beneficiaries of the conflict in the Middle East. https://t.co/v5ZykUJ4gI" / X
For Russia, the surge in oil prices after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran amounts to an economic windfall at a crucial moment. It's leaving the Kremlin well placed to emerge as one of the main beneficiaries of the conflict in the Middle East. https://t.co/v5ZykUJ4gI
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Though scholars today want their expertise and knowledge to be noticed by the public, many contemporary readers of academic books feel like the sages visiting Rabbi Jonathan ben Hyrkanos: “He lectured but they did not understand. He started pelting them with pebbles" www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
nybooks.com
‘An Entirely New Domain of Knowledge’ | Magda Teter
The Torah scholars who came to be called “rabbis” emerged as figures of authority after the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE and the later exile of Jews from Judaea—and created Judaism’s foun...
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
On the origin of our fascination with crystals — Enculturated chimpanzees can identify and distinguish crystals from other types of stones, transparency and geometric shape were the two attractors guiding chimpanzees and elicited exploratory behaviors www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | On the origin of our fascination with crystals
Crystals are fascinating structures of solid or liquid matter where atoms, molecules, and/or ions are, on average, arranged in a highly ordered lattice. It i...
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Reposted by Alfons López Tena
Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Researchers are responsible for raising their own funds through grants with success rates of 10%, an enormous short-term pressure to keep producing—to always have the next paper ready to publish. The optimized response is risk aversion open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com
The Real Reason Science Is Broken
AI productivity tools can’t fix bad incentives.
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Reposted by Alfons López Tena
Da Hep @dahep.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Door onze immigratiediensten laten doorlichten op Maga-sympathieën. Toegang eisen tot hun hele digitale hebben en houden, tot wel twintig jaar terug. Een like voor Trump & consorten is een enkeltje Rwanda.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Trump’s war on science: Europe should pick up talent fleeing US — To attract elite scientific talent, the approach must be twofold: •Appealing directly to scientists concerned with political interference in their research •Offering stable, ringfenced money www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on Trump’s war on science: Europe should pick up talent fleeing the US | Editorial
Editorial: The president’s cuts have defunded and alienated thousands of American scientists. Europe can benefit, if it makes the right offer
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
US citizens are leaving US in record numbers, replanting themselves and their families in countries they find more affordable and safe, voting with their feet to an unprecedented degree. A millions-strong diaspora is studying, telecommuting and retiring overseas www.wsj.com/us-news/amer...
wsj.com
Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers
More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
The growing number of US scientists moving to Spain: ‘My colleagues are having a very hard time’ — One in three recipients of the state-funded Atrae program comes from US english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com
The growing number of US scientists moving to Spain: ‘My colleagues are having a very hard time’
One in three recipients of the state-funded Atrae program comes from the United States
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Policing knowledge in University of Texas in Austin‬⁩—Scholarship that challenges white supremacy, colonialism, or state violence is labeled as divisive. Programs rooted in Indigenous, Latinx, and Black knowledge are consolidated, put under review, or dismantled www.texasobserver.org/ut-system-ne...
texasobserver.org
The UT System's New 'Controversial Topics' Policy Is About Policing Knowledge
When politically appointed regents and administrators determine which topics are “germane,” academic freedom quietly shifts into political compliance.
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Silvio Vannini @silviovannini.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
🌹💔 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/vide...
theguardian.com
Britain’s political pets at war – video
The resident cats of Downing Street and the Foreign Office have been seen in combat with each other, with no sign of reaching détente
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Palmerston, a cat who served as the “chief mouser” for Britain’s diplomatic service, has died in Bermuda. He was adopted in 2016 from a rescue center after he had spent a rough time on the streets, and tasked with mice in the Foreign Office’s headquarters www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/w...
nytimes.com
Palmerston, the Former ‘Chief Mouser’ for Britain’s Foreign Office, Dies
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Researchers are responsible for raising their own funds through grants with success rates of 10%, an enormous short-term pressure to keep producing—to always have the next paper ready to publish. The optimized response is risk aversion open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com
The Real Reason Science Is Broken
AI productivity tools can’t fix bad incentives.
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
El miedo de los científicos en USA ha llevado a 'maquillar' proyectos para sobrevivir a la censura y los conflictos ideológicos. Investigadores extranjeros temen perder el estatus legal, no poder regresar al país tras estancias de campo, y deportaciones www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/...
elperiodico.com
Dos paleontólogos de prestigio de EEUU ya trabajan en Catalunya: 'Con Trump, estudiar la evolución humana se ha vuelto tabú'
Los investigadores, anteriormente afincados en Nueva York, son los primeros en incorporarse al ecosistema científico catalán gracias a las becas ICREA y al programa de captación Catalunya Talent Bridg...
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Florida Universities partnered with ICE police, stoking anxiety among students. The agreements give university police departments, after training from ICE, authority to conduct immigration enforcement and access to databases to check immigration status www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...
nytimes.com
Florida Universities Have Partnered With ICE, Stoking Anxiety Among Students
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
What the US TikTok takeover is already revealing about new forms of censorship: It’s not what we can or cannot say that matters – rather, it’s whether what we say can get any visibility at all under the US-specific algorithm www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
What the US TikTok takeover is already revealing about new forms of censorship | Paolo Gerbaudo
It’s not what we can or cannot say that matters – rather, it’s whether what we say can get any visibility at all under the US-specific algorithm, says academic Paolo Gerbaudo
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Human monogamy in mammalian context — How monogamous are humans? Somewhere between the European beaver and a meerkat royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Human monogamy in mammalian context
Abstract. Monogamy has been argued to have played an important role in human evolution and, across animals more generally, evolutionary transitions to high
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Alfons López Tena @alfonslopeztena.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
España logra atraer a una veintena de científicos punteros de Estados Unidos que huyen de la represión — Provienen de los laboratorios que están sufriendo la censura, los recortes y la represión del gobierno www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/...
elperiodico.com
España logra atraer a una veintena de científicos punteros de Estados Unidos que huyen de la 'represión' de Trump
Cada investigador recibirá una media de un millón de euros para desarrollar su actividad en los laboratorios españoles
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Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.” A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
Photo of a fragment of a clay tablet shaped a bit like a diamond. Although it is only a fragment, the cuneiform text on it is well-preserved. There is a vertical line down the centre which indicates it once had at least two columns. The colour is reddish brown
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Steven Phelps @evolbrain.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
The warmongering & global destabilization - NATO, Greenland, Panama, Ukraine - aims to precipitate the suspension of law. Vance, Musk, Thiel et al see the advantages of an authoritarian regime as exemplified by China & think they can do it better. They imagine we'll be better for it. Trump agrees.
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