Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Sheryl says that if you read an article about a study, you can go and look at the original study. It’s usually not that hard to find. If you hear about studies on a podcast, check to make sure that the hosts are including all their citations in the show notes. 022
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026How can you tell if a paper isn’t scholarly? Greg says that non-scholarly papers will have a lot of citations that citate themselves. That’s a big red flag. Real research will have a dense number of various sources. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026@inurlibrary.bsky.social points out that google scholar is just a search engine for what their algorithm thinks is scholarly. There are things in there that are completely AI generated or just not from peer reviewed journals. So, you need to be careful using it. 111
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026What about Google scholar? @dnlee5.bsky.social says it’s fine to use it for its search capabilities, but still encourages everyone to then switch over to your local library for finding the specific papers you want to read. 100
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Your local library tracks clicks and views on journals and and then uses this as leverage to negotiate with journals for cheaper access. So, please use libraries when trying to find scientific articles! - @inurlibrary.bsky.social 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026@inurlibrary.bsky.social and @dnlee5.bsky.social point out that you can also get access to papers from your local library. You can get your hands on most articles in under three days. 111
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Greg says that if you find a scientific study you want to read but it’s behind a paywall, try reaching out to one of the authors. They want people to read their research and are usually happy to send it to anyone who wants to read it. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026But, Sheryl says that just because the consensus says “A” now doesn’t mean it won’t say “B” later. And @inurlibrary.bsky.social points out that this process takes a long time and isn’t linear. 211
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Scientific consensus isn’t a conference of scientists all coming together in an organized way to decide the “truth.” It’s many individuals over time all providing small bits of data that cumulate to produce overwhelming proof. - @dnlee5.bsky.social 100
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Scientific consensus tells us that you have a whole lot of very, very good data on a topic. To prove something that entrenched wrong, you would need some extremely good proof. -Greg 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Science cannot give you absolute certainty. But, there is a concept called scientific consensus. What is it and what does it mean? -mod Vaughan 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026The cumulative knowledge that we do know about the world were accumulated from various individual’s passions over thousands of years. It’s a conversation across time and space. - @dnlee5.bsky.social 220
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026As humans we want certainty, but as humans there is no such thing. That is what drives our cognitive dissonance. -Greg 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026The whole point of science is to collect data and have an open enough mind to change based on the data.-Sheryl 100
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Media portrays science as having a question then finding the answer. But real science is iterative and filled with uncertainty. -Vaughan 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Greg says that the social sciences are some of the hardest science. Even reading the scientific literature may not be enough because you also need to pay attention to the quality of the study itself. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026What does it mean to be scientifically literate? Sheryl says it is about knowing the facts, but not just knowing the facts. It’s also about understanding where you information is coming from. 130
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Time for Trust, But Verify: The Scientific Process, Science Literacy & Sources with @inurlibrary.bsky.social, @dnlee5.bsky.social, Sheryl Barbosa, Greg Hodgin, and moderator Vaughan James 1141
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackSiobhan @inurlibrary.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Hi DragonCon! It’s time for information literacy on the Science Track, come on down to 209-211 at 5:30! 051
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackHeidi Lyn @heidilynphd.bsky.social · 06/09/2026My favorite panel so far was monsterotica through @dconscitrack.bsky.social - the ballroom got to vote on some monster smash opportunities. Good thing this was Dragoncon After Dark 031
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackSeven Machina Rasmussen @toomanyspectra.bsky.social · 05/09/2026questions were asked! statements were stated! fists were bumped! amazement was had all around! 091
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026That’s it! Thanks for joining us on this journey across the stars! 020
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Rocky lives off heavy metal foods. Lali says that there is life that lives by thermonuclear vents that lives off similar types of chemical reactions. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026But wait! Lali says that it isn’t just about temperature; It’s also about seasons and ocean currents. If there are temperature fluctuations, the global currents can collapse. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Q&A time! Could you actually bomb the arctic to release methane gas to warm the earth? @toomanyspectra.bsky.social says in theory that would actually work. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026If you’re wondering about the psychology required to go on a long-term space mission, @drerinmac.bsky.social recommends reading Packing For Mars by Mary Roach. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026But @toomichtrouble.bsky.social points out that sometimes you do have to make hard ethical decisions, as is explored in a lot of scifi like Project Hail Mary or Star Trek. But in real life, it’s hard to predict how people will react or what outcomes you’ll get in serious, scary situations. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Moderator @steffidiem.bsky.social asks about the ethics of kidnapping someone to throw them on a spaceship to save humanity. @science-dude.bsky.social says usually if a person is panicking to the extent that Grace was, that’s a big red flag. 130
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@science-dude.bsky.social points out that historically even when different human cultures have tried to communicate, it’s often been disastrous. If we have that much trouble communicating with other humans, imagine how much harder it would be to communicate with an aliens species. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Here on earth, humans have tried to communicate with other intelligent life like dolphins and sperm whales. But even for other life here on earth, it’s very challenging to reach true communication. It would likely be even harder if we met intelligent aliens. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Rocky’s species didn’t understand the dangers of interstellar radiation. @drerinmac.bsky.social points out that we likely have the same types of blind spots that other intelligent alien species would probably consider basic science. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Human eyes are squishy because they evolved in water. But it makes sense that creatures who don’t evolve in water, like Rocky, would not have such squishy eyes. - @science-dude.bsky.social 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026When Rocky gets injured, Grace sees Carbon scoring on him and tries to clean it off until he realizes it’s the equivalent of scar tissue. Bodies have lots of ways to produce barriers that help protect wounds, so it makes sense Rocky would have something like that too. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Let’s talk trilobites! Trilobites had eyes were made from a crystalline structure. So crystal is already part of some organic life. Lali says the crystalline cells like those in trilobites could also potentially grow into neural networks and become a brain, just like Rocky has. 130
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Could there be other intelligence life in the universe? The Drake equation, which tries to calculate it, shows that the universe is so big that there likely is somewhere, but it will also be rare compared to the immense size of the universe. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@toomanyspectra.bsky.social says there are many methods to get to life. Ammonia is poorly studied as a medium for life, but if you had a stable environment and other necessary elements, you could eventually end up with a creature like Rocky. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@science-dude.bsky.social points out that they are using infrared thrust used in theoretical solar sails. But, it’s not really explained how you could get that momentum out of such tiny cells. 220
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Atrophage… what is it? Lali says that in all living things on earth ATP is the energy current our cells use. The astrophage cells are built out of the same molecules we have on earth but have waaaay more energy. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@drerinmac.bsky.social has done all the time dilation math. When Grace wakes up, he would have had to be traveling at 95% the speed of light. But it would have taken him about 7 months to accelerate to that speed at the amount of acceleration mentioned in the book. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Lali says that as humans we have a lot of automated behaviors, so when Grace wakes from cryo and his brain hasn’t quite caught up yet, it makes sense that he would still be going about normal activities until his brain recovers enough. 120
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026What would happen if we suddenly had a lot less sunlight? @toomanyspectra.bsky.social says we learned from the Krakatoa eruption that a dimming of the sun can cause massive crop failures. 130
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Hope ya’ll are ready for AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE: The Science of Project Hail Mary with @steffidiem.bsky.social, @science-dude.bsky.social, Lali DeRosier, @drerinmac.bsky.social, and @toomanyspectra.bsky.social 1195
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackLiz Decolvenaere @tallakahath.bsky.social · 05/09/2026I am a very serious real adult scientist, I swear 232
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackStephen Granade @granades.com · 05/09/2026Just so y’all know they got science communicators to gaze into the monster’s face and say “would”. 1112
Reposted by Dragon Con Science TrackButt teeth! Butt teeth! Butt teeth! @panic.gay · 05/09/2026I am a very serious science communicator. 1151
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Thank you for joining us for D&D Monstererotica Manual! We hope you’ll use all your newfound knowledge about monster genitalia during your next D&D session! 0131
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Last monster from moderator @tallakahath.bsky.social: Demilich! It was mostly “would” from the panelists and the audience agreed! 130
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026@panic.gay points out that they have goop that turns people into mindless servants, which could be fun if you’re into that. 110
Dragon Con Science Track @dconscitrack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Aboleth! @beebrookshire.bsky.social says that there are slugs whose penises come out of their heads. She wonders if maybe that is the purpose of the weird holes on their head. 130