𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 2hSay what you like about Caitlin Flanagan's politics, but that woman knows how to write a lede. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc... 2204
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 29/09/2026TIL from @wapolicygreen.bsky.social about the super-useful term “ultracrepidarians”: people who think that since they're experts in one area, they're experts in all areas. E.g.s include scientists and businesspeople who opine on subjects out of their domain (physicists who decry population growth... 2272
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 29/09/2026"Donald Trump has done something that decades of climate advocacy and international conferences have never achieved. [Due to high oil prices from his Iran war,] Global CO2 emissions look set to fall in 2026 by more than in any year since the pandemic." rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/trumps-car... 0132
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I sympathize. It really sucks when people just grab up your work without credit or payment and use it as a shortcut to make a product that might put you out of business. 2419
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWaycnyti.msDid Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work. 892111861
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Well, this happened.theguardian.comNovelist accused of using AI to write book removed from French prize listThélyson Orélien had been in the running to win a top literary prize before the AI claim emerged on social media 271
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 25/09/2026“At least six babies in Pennsylvania have been born infected with measles, with two so sick they had to be admitted to intensive care.” H/t @ameshaa.bsky.socialnbcnews.comAmerica had wiped out measles. Now babies are infected at birth.Congenital measles has rarely been seen in the U.S. That’s changing as vaccination declines and more pregnant women become infected. 23535642005
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Fine @countyhwy.bsky.social essay about 9/11, baseball, and childhood fandom. "I was a child terrified by the killing of thousands of people. I wanted to feel safe and help restore normalcy. There was nothing I could do. But I could root for the Yankees and the Yankees could heal the country."countyhighway.comThe Yankees Win! | Sam SussmanAmerica's Only Newspaper 000
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Historians rightly say people's actions should be judged by the standards of their time. But what often gets lost is that those standards weren't what we think. Many 18thc Europeans hated colonialism--as an e.g., here's Immanuel Kant in 1795 castigating it as "truly appalling." It was contentious... 16325
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 24/09/2026SW Kansas is North America's beef-packing center--a prosperous and incredibly diverse place, both thanks to the thousands of immigrants, Asian and Mesoamerican, who came there to work in the '90s. It's also super-Republican. If these guys are pushing back on ICE, it really marks a turning point.kcur.orgAfter ICE sweeps Kansas, schools warn families of detentions and a meatpacking plant delays shiftsAfter federal immigration enforcement action in western Kansas, a meatpacking plant delayed some shifts Wednesday and a school district warned that students may have had family members detained. 2122
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This has all the suspense and humor of that great Jennifer Egan short story told wholly in tweets, except that no terrorism or gunplay is involved. I'd call it the "New Yorker short story" version of that story, except that I think that Egan's original story was actually published in the New Yorker. 0181
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Speaking of AI, there's a fascinating dispute brewing in the French press about a new French-Canadian novel, C’était ça ou mourir, which is tipped for all kinds of prizes, but is also being accused of being 100% AI written (says Pangram, anyway). Haven't read the book or know of the writer, but... 231
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Gender-affirming care, MAGA-style. I am happy to note that the actual issued clinical guideline is apparently called, "Testosterone Deficiency in the Male Service Member". Images from press release: www.war.gov/News/News-St... 442
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗Theodore Grunewald @tedgrunewald.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Can't recommend this book highly enough... 03913
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Last weekend so many of my friends went out to look at the new supernova, SN 2026aaiv. It’s been 400+ years since a supernova in the Milky Way (1604, Kepler’s star), and we're way overdue. But while we're waiting this fella, in galaxy NGC 7331 in Pegasus, ~45 million light years away, will do.skyandtelescope.org 0131
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Just came across this map of tornadoes in Massachusetts since 1950 and am again impressed with the worthlessness of my intuition about weather. I would've said New England has basically zero tornadoes and that any that show up are scary oddities that shld be treated as signs of change. Which, nope. 6211
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 19/09/2026New DNA study of Thomas Jefferson's hair uses advanced techniques to confirm he fathered children with his enslaved mistress, Sally Hemings. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/a... /v @agordonreed.bsky.social (who proved the link with archival documents 20+ yrs ago, but it's nice to see this).nytimes.comTwo Centuries On, Smithsonian Connects Jefferson’s Hair to Hemings’s Children (Gift Article)A new book describes how cutting-edge genomics techniques yielded “extraordinary proof” that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings. 4225
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 17/09/2026@tedgioia.bsky.social making the case that Philip K Dick's "Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch," one of his most bonkers novels when it came out in 1965, is now a work of social realism. www.honest-broker.com/p/my-favorit... 1226
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗(numunu, quahadis band) - Sky Kwihnai Pihi (name) @anarcho.bsky.social · 16/09/2026www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/a...nytimes.comAn Indigenous Painter Sees a Vermeer, and the Sparks FlyFor a new show at the Frick Collection, Kent Monkman imagines what Indigenous people see when they see fur trappers, General Custer and even Jeff Bezos. 041
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Worth noting that we are seeing the quietest Atlantic hurricane season since sorta decent record-keeping began in 1851.arstechnica.comThis Atlantic hurricane season is about to do something that hasn't happened in 175 yearsBut there may be a price to pay for a quiet Atlantic hurricane season. 1177
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Just stumbled across these terrific Jim Richardson photos of the annual spring prairie burning in Kansas's Flint Hills. Remarkable to think how native peoples set these enormous fires in the grasslands every year for centuries upon centuries. www.jimrichardsonphotography.com/index/G00002... 23712
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Since I got my Covid vaxx yesterday, I thought I'd look up the latest estimates of its effectiveness. A JAMA overview published on Sept 2 provided good news: vaccines aren't perfect but do cut "COVID-19–related deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency department/urgent care visits" by ~50% ... 1123
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Regardless of what you think about AI, Kevin Kelly's description of what it is doing is quite interesting. IMHO, he makes a good case that AI itself isn't infringing copyright--but his arguments don't apply to the AI firms' initial choice to use databases of pirated works to train their models.kevinkelly.substack.comArguments in Favor of AI Fair UseI made some notes on the nature of the training of LLMs, and about whether we as a society should consider the material used to train them as a fair use of that material. 040
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Just came across this weird, funny story from July of a NYTimes writer finding some guy was selling a crappy AI-slop biography of her--and her subsequent discovery of a flourishing sub-industry of AI-generated crap bios of not-very-notable people. (gift link)nytimes.comI Got Slopped (Gift Article)Someone used A.I. to write my biography. Thousands more of those books are polluting Amazon. Who is behind all this drivel? 2101
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I think Guillermo del Toro is onto something here--he's capturing what I hear from writers, artists, composers, etc. What they worry about is 1) AI use impeding young people from developing Fingerspitzengefühl--the subtle, instinctual "knowledge" you gain from working on something with your hands... 1307
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Fine piece that explores the Navier-Stokes proof, as well as the messy details of the non-collaborative collaboration that led to the sorta-kinda "AI proof" from OpenAI.quantamagazine.orgAI Has Solved One of Math’s $1 Million Millennium Prize Problems | Quanta MagazineMathematicians at OpenAI showed that the Navier-Stokes equations, which describe how fluids flow, can sometimes “blow up.” But the massive result is not without controversy. 1114
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 09/09/2026For the record, it turns out that you *can* take the pits from supermarket mangoes, stick them in a pot, and nine years later get a dozen or so mini-mangoes, even if you live in New England. 1496
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Lovely story in the NY Times today about a 92-year-old mathematician and a high-school kid working together to produce a major result in topology. This kind of working together is the best part of science, and frankly of being human.nytimes.comThe 92-Year-Old Mathematician and the Teenage Apprentice (Gift Article)Joan Birman thought her major discoveries were behind her. Then came an email from a young neighbor — a girl who knew little but wanted to learn. 14618
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 06/09/2026The impact of removing wolf protections is much less than either supporters or opponents would have you think. Protections were removed a long time ago in WA, ID, MT, WY, and half of OR and UT. In the West, where the fight is, they're only listed in CA, the upper Midwest, and parts of OR and UT... 1100
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Very good ground-level piece from @citizencohn.bsky.social on the battle about measles in Pennsylvania, and why all this stuff matters. www.thebulwark.com/p/rfk-jr-sic...thebulwark.comRFK Jr.’s Sickening Measles Victory LapWhile Pennsylvania struggles to contain an outbreak, the anti-vax health secretary keeps trying to score political points. 050
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 06/09/2026That sound you hear is of economists banging their heads on their desks. /v @rajakorman.bsky.social 1221
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Yes, RFKJr., measles killed that poor kid. lancasteronline.com/news/local/6...lancasteronline.com6-week-old Amish child died from measles, Lancaster County coroner confirmsA 6-week-old Amish girl with a neurological genetic disorder, Amish lethal microcephaly, died from measles at home in Lancaster County, Lancaster County coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said today. 0165
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Like almost all journos, I don't like it when Washington attacks us for what we write, tries to get us to reveal souces, etc., all of which has steadily worsened over the years. But this stuff--targeting ordinary people for writing angry letters or posts--is much, much more pernicious. (gift link)wapo.stHe wrote a scathing message to ICE. Federal agents showed up at his door.David Streever of Rochester, New York, sued Department of Homeland Security officials on Monday, saying the agency’s actions violated his First Amendment rights. 16332
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 01/09/2026After years of testing, USDA has just approved releasing GMO American chestnut trees, potentially giving us the chance to bring back an iconic species destroyed in the early 20th century by an imported disease. (Chauvinistic note: I've had American chestnuts, and they are better than European ones.)esf.eduUSDA Approval Advances Efforts to Restore the American ChestnutEfforts by researchers at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) to restore the American chestnut tree to the American landscape took a significant leap forward with an approved desi... 917956
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 01/09/2026AI is creeping into the the op-ed columns: "Pangram also identified an Aug. 9 guest column in The Washington Post, 'Universities are Fighting AI Cheating,' by Dartmouth provost Santiago Schnell, as 100% AI-written."semafor.comExclusive: AI writing has already begun to appear on the opinion pagesAbout 10 — of 310 — contributions to The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times over the past month appear to have been written by AI models. 181
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Nice piece about the demise of Hampshire College. I'd be tougher on the former school administrations than the author--they never addressed the school's obvious financial issues until about 2010, though they were obvious 15 yrs before -- but the gist of the piece is spot on. 060
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Hampshire College started with a grand promise: to serve as "a vehicle for the realization of self in society." This fall, the school will close its doors. I talked to some of its founders, faculty, students, administrators, and board members about what its loss means thebaffler.com/latest/class...thebaffler.comClass Dismissed | Hannah GaisPrivate liberal arts schools were never going to kickstart the revolution. But the closure of Hampshire College further narrows the political imaginary. 20407144
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Feeling very honored and grateful today. Some of the journalists whose work I admire most have received this prize in the past and at a time when journalism is under threat in so many ways it’s just really heartening to be recognized by people who care deeply about journalism. 4137952
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 30/08/2026I'm in southern British Columbia and out of curiosity I searched for "Lake Ontario" on Google Maps and got this result. Call Mark Carney! 1191
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 29/08/2026This particular policy shift seems to have been working out well. (My thanks to the pal who sent me this, chortling.) 0112
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 28/08/2026A great pleasure of my current trip was reconnecting with Duane Mistaken Chief, a great linguist who is the only reason I might not make a fool of myself in my discussion of the ancient and beautiful Blackfoot language in my current project. Thanks, Duane! (L-R, my wife, Duane, me, Duane's partner) 2291
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗#BruceSterling @bruces.bsky.social · 28/08/2026*Okay, maybe the AIs *did* have a Stalinist Crime Boss, and he liquidated a large fraction of his underlings and simply hasn't been identified 1222
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Whoops! Forgot to say that all those are Banff. Turns out Banff is super beautiful! Who knew? Except everyone! 2250
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 24/08/2026This NY Times article documents a very real problem--hotter, "stand replacing" wildfires--but inexplicably focuses on climate change (a long-term problem that for forests is poorly documented) and doesn't say Word One about 100 yrs of misguided fire suppression that boosts fuel load...nytimes.comWildfires Are Turning Forests in the American West Into ShrublandTowering woodlands in the West are being permanently replaced by tracts of spiky shrubs. Conditions “just aren’t normal anymore,” one researcher said. 2346
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I really like buffalo. This is the Shoshone herd, about 320 animals, in the Wind River reservation yesterday afternoon. It's sobering to consider that the entire world 's supply of free-ranging bison in 1885 was one-fourth the size of this group. We almost lost these guys. 15311
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 23/08/2026When the mind behind Plants vs Zombies says you are hot beans, well, what can I say? Day. Made. 0113
𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗 @charlescmann.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Colorado Springs, CO. (Is it OK to post clouds on Bluesky?) 1231