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Dieter Lukas

@DieterLukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy
547 followers 16 following 211 posts

Investigating the evolution of social behaviour. Comparative Behavioral Ecology group leader (he/him) at the MPI EVA 🌉 bridged from fediscience.org/@DieterLukas on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy

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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 26/09/2026
go birding! "people don’t make that immediate connection between their bodies and the natural world. There’s so much research that shows just how beneficial it is for our bodies to spend time in nature.” […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is a great piece about animal communication research, with experts in the field largely explaining why they don’t use AI. Bonus: includes audio clips of dolphin whistles and elephant rumbles www.theguardian.com/technology/n...
theguardian.com
Using AI to ‘talk to animals’ might make us feel clever – but what, if anything, does it do for them?
As animal behaviorists increasingly use AI in their research, they grapple with how to wield the technology responsibly
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Jon Sullivan @joncounts.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026
We had an article published today in the open science journal #PeerJ about my method for recording roadkill. I've been mapping and counting roadkill along my bike commute to work since 2003. Our paper describes how I now do it using a smart phone (I started with pen and paper). It includes some […]
mastodon.nz
Original post on mastodon.nz
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Sarah Hrdy has posted the final chapter of her book, Father Time, online: "So far as man’s evolutionary birthright is concerned, protecting and caring for offspring is as much a part of it as is competing or fighting with rivals or infanticide" www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
(PDF) Twenty-First-Century Convergence of Men and Babies - Chapter 12 Father Time (summary)
PDF | On Jan 1, 2024, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy published Twenty-First-Century Convergence of Men and Babies - Chapter 12 Father Time (summary) | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/09/2026
Tracking the movement of wild dogs shows that for their conservation, "the glass is half empty and the glass is half full" www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy459y5y9… + able to move across large distances - risk of poaching Study: doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70504
Figure from the article showing the outline of the country of Zambia, with its seven national parks highlighted. Coloured dots indicate the movement of individual wild dogs, showing that they can move across large distances connecting the national parks. The background of the figure is in a colour gradient that indicates the degree of human disturbance, to show that while wild dogs can move through urban areas quickly, they spend more time in less disturbed areas. Figure legend from the article: Movements by African wild dogs dispersing from Zambia's South Luangwa National Park (SLNP) along a protected corridor have connected with North Luangwa (NLNP), Luambe (LuNP), Lukusuzi (LkNP), and Lower Zambezi (LZNP) National Parks. Recently, three males left Kafue National Park (KNP) and moved >2600 km through unprotected areas in the center of the country to connect with four females from SLNP who had moved more than 1500 km, linking the stronghold populations of the Greater Kafue and Luangwa Valley Ecosystems. An unknown wild dog recently immigrated into Liuwa Plains National Park (LPNP) at a time when all individuals (a single pack) were well known. Thus all of the wild dog populations in Zambia remain connected to other populations. Black outline with crosshatch: National Parks. Gray: Game Management Areas, with lower protection than National Parks. The 2020 Human Impact Index (Sanderson et al., 2022) is mapped from low (blues) to high (yellows): Dispersing wild dogs maneuver effectively around areas with high human activity. Wild dog illustration by Bridger Creel, used with permission.
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Dr. Victoria Grinberg @vicgrinberg.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026
Many sad and powerful slides and references in Sara Bonito's talk on Gender Inequality in Astronomy - this one did in particular hit home. #astrodon #science #AcademicChatter
Slide titlea "why? It starts in childhood" discussing several studies on gender bias being introduced in education and school.
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fx dechaume-moncharmont @fxdm.mamot.fr.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2026
Wisdom of the crowd : when decisions are difficult and conformity bias is present, a little disagreement can make a group's decision more trustworthy than near-unanimous agreement, because dissent signals independent thinking rather than conformity. 📄 Boussard et […] [Original post on mamot.fr]
Figure comparing two groups making a decision: on the left, six identical figures form a “Full consensus” group, with everyone agreeing. On the right, six figures form a “Small dissent” group, but one figure indicate disagreement. A figure stands between the groups, asking which decision is more trustworthy. Full consensus may be more trustworthy for easy decisions or when people don’t conform, whereas slight dissent may be more trustworthy for difficult decisions when people tend to conform.
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/09/2026
"From strays to territory bosses: epigenetics makes cheetahs adaptable" nachrichten.idw-online.de/2026/09/0… "males undergo physical and behavioural changes after they won a fight over a territory" Paper […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026
"across 340 German university canteens, the share of vegan options increased from 10.7 to 39.7% from 2015-2024" www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/11… "the observed changes could lead to annual reductions of about 8,000 to 40,000 kilograms of CO₂ equivalents per university canteen"
eurekalert.org
Menus in German university canteens change fundamentally
Researchers from the University of Konstanz and the HTW Berlin University of Applied Sciences analyzed around 3.7 million menu options from 340 German university canteens. The results show a fundamental shift in menu options, an important part of the food environment. Between 2015 and 2024, especially the proportion of vegan main dishes increased significantly. Surprisingly, the expansion of vegan options was accompanied by a stronger reduction in vegetarian options than in those containing meat.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
"findings highlight the need for alternative measures of power asymmetries that are less confounded by sampling effort and demographic variation to better understand how competition and conflict are structured across primate societies" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Dominance hierarchies are structured similarly in females and males across primate groups
Classic socio-ecological theory predicts that males and females experience different sources and mechanisms of social competition. Whether these differences translate into sex-specific structural prop...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
It's often assumed kin networks break down with marketisation & urbanisation, but there's surprisingly little evidence on this. @anushe.bsky.social tested whether childcare was more often provided by kin in a less-market-integrated village compared with a more-market-integrated town in Tanzania 1/
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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026
Wow. "AI adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months. High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. " […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 11/08/2026
This is a shame: COS phasing out OSF Projects. Responsibly, with plenty of notice and preservation of existing content, and continuation of other OSF services (including preprints!).
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026
Review updates the current understanding of how parental behaviour is generated across mammalian brains 🧠 from sensory processing and hypothalamic circuits to hormones, plasticity and behavioural flexibility. #evolution #neuroscience #parenting #maternal […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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Dr. Victoria Grinberg @vicgrinberg.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/08/2026
Do good things and talk about them. And if good things are done to you, for you, around you, also talk about then. Because knowing may inspire others. Because folks feel lonely and caught in endless doom. Because we sometimes need a push to do something: it's easier if we know there is someone […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 07/08/2026
Yes, we evolved to be able to access the 'other world' together ritually and playfully enacting our shared imaginings. Humans are suckers for shared fictions (chimps shake their hard heads!) "knowledge of our reality is not the default state of human minds, even when they are healthy or […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026
congrats to the "inaugural winners of the Ctrl-Z Award for courage in retracting their own work" centerforscientificintegrity.org/20… links with this recent xkcd comic xkcd.com/3275
A single panel comic strip showing two people walking towards a podium while the announcer declares that "This year's Nobel Prize in calibrating your equipment carefully and not embararrsing yourself by publishing spurious results goes to Dr. Adams and Dr. Smith, who did not announce the discovery of microbes on Titan".
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026
"Wann ist ein Mann ein Mann?" NANO Talkshow über Rollenbilder und Leistungsdruck www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKWSw38qvrs
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026
A high degree of social flexibility appears to characterize mammals from the beginning of their evolution www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25284…
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2026
In spotted hyenas, "social inheritance of privilege is a powerful driver of reproductive inequality" paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.… press release […] [Original post on fediscience.org]
A figure from the scientific paper showing that the more offspring individual hyenas have, the more grand-offspring they have. This correlation though is a lot steeper in females than in males, meaning that over generations successful female lineages spread much faster than successful male lineages.
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 31/07/2026
"A cutting-edge gene-editing trial in China went disastrously wrong. A family wants accountability" www.science.org/content/article/exc…
science.org
Couple pay >$800k for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died.
Comments
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Prof. Gillian Brown @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Gladstone et al (2026): "biographies of female scientists disproportionately emphasized effort even after adjusting for the obstacles they faced, consistent with stereotypes attributing women’s success to hard work over talent." 🧪 #psychscisky
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Jeroen Sondervan @jeroenson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Papers with open peer-review reports are less likely to be retracted. In @nature.com by @dalmeet.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Papers with open peer-review reports are less likely to be retracted
Researchers say that transparent publishing practices could be associated with research quality, but more evidence is needed.
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2026
A new resource with funding opportunities for evolutionary biologists docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-m8… put together by Prothama(“Pro”) Manna from the SSE Grad Student Advisory Council […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026
A very cool, useful discussion of the question of violence or 'war' in prehistory, concluding, for nomadic HG ancestors, not anything like war, yes, some interpersonal violence. But it probably goes further than that -- doing violence likely did not help the perpetrator's fitness, no selection […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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Jakub Nowosad @nowosad.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026
A resource from Jérôme Guélat for anyone working with spatial data in R. *Spatial Data Processing with R* combines GIS fundamentals with practical, reusable workflows for analysis and map making. 🗺️ jgrun.github.io/spatial #rspatial #rstats #SpatialAnalysis #OpenSource
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2026
"This declaration calls for action to address the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence within mathematics research" leidendeclaration.ai Useful recommendations to consider across academia
leidendeclaration.ai
Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics
This declaration calls for action to address the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence within mathematics research.
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 24/07/2026
A new paper illustrates how bird song "reflects a balance between environmental constraints on sound transmission and biological pressures for effective communication" News report: www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy4eg5dp… Press release & link to paper […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
“efforts to improve research culture can make harmful systems easier to endure and harder to reform” wonkhe.com/blogs/some-r...
wonkhe.com
Some research culture work may be sustaining the practices it seeks to change
Hanna Groothuizen explains the paradox of compensatory culture work, arguing that efforts to improve research culture can make harmful systems easier to endure and harder to reform Hanna Groothuizen e...
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michael @proseandpassion.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026
16-Jul-2026 What animals do before going to war Social #animals (such as #meerkats) use a suite of preemptive behaviors in anticipation of #conflict, including staying quiet, monitoring their surroundings, conducting raids, and bonding through play. researchers describe how environmental cues […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026
"B!SON, a recommender for open access journals" based on info from your article blog.doaj.org/2026/07/08/bson-a-rec… Here is the Max Planck version service.tib.eu/bison/extension/?ext… it's publicly available, and […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2026
Mathematics and astronomy inscribed on Mayan temple site of Xultun in Guatemala: 'The chamber’s walls are painted with human figures and hieroglyphic texts. These include mathematical calculations based on astronomical calendars, which were used by the Maya people to decide the timing of events […]
c.im
Original post on c.im
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Alex McLean @yaxu.post.lurk.org.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2026
UK non-academic researchers! UK Research and Innovation have one research funding programme - 'Future Leaders Fellowships' - which allow and support applications from non-academic researchers, i.e. those hosted by business including non-profits. It's well funded, over 4 years, extendable to 7 […]
post.lurk.org
Original post on post.lurk.org
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 06/07/2026
I compiled a list of 350 #funding opportunities for #postdoctoral research #fellowships: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J2M… I realized I should share this again after mentioning it to some folks at the #EFP2026
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
If the genome is not a blueprint, what is it? My attempt to unravel this particularly knotty question, in @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-huma...
quantamagazine.org
Why the Human Genome’s Tangled Physicality May Confound AI | Quanta Magazine
Our genetic heritage is not a blueprint or an algorithm, as many biologists have imagined, but something else entirely.
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MPI-EVA Leipzig @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Striking global similarities: New cross-cultural study reveals that the bond between #humans & #dogs remains remarkably consistent across societies. Study led by Juliane Bräuer @uni-jena.de & Russell Gray @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social More: tinyurl.com/2hn2dt6b & doi.org/10.1038/s415...
tinyurl.com
Striking global similarities in interactions between dogs and humans
New cross-cultural study reveals that the bond between humans and dogs remains remarkably consistent across societies
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026
"A Guerrilla Approach to Scientific Workflow" - talk by R. McElreath for @PeerCommunityIn www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kTy890wrAc about how we all scientists can consider our workflows as tools to fight for transparency and trust
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jonny (nonvenomous) @jonny.neuromatch.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026
Assoc editor of Frontiers in Systems #Neuro: > Over the last month I saw that human editors are now stripped of control. I could no longer stop the system from auto-inviting "reviewers" with zero relevant expertise. Even worse - the AI began actively revoking the invitations I manually sent out […]
neuromatch.social
Original post on neuromatch.social
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Poppy's new paper finds vaccine outcomes differ according to which phase of the menstrual cycle women are vaccinated in 👇 Vaccination in the first half of the cycle, when immune responses are stronger, is associated w higher probability of reporting side effects & (possibly) longer time to infection
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026
Es gibt einen neuen Entwurf für das Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz - wird wieder wahrscheinlich niemand wirklich glücklich machen: www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/deba… Aber sowieso "Das Hauptproblem […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 23/05/2026
"where are wild animals living and dying?" BBC report on the ICARUS project tracking animals from space www.bbc.com/future/article/20260521…
bbc.com
We can now track animal panic from space. Here's why it matters
The new Icarus satellite is tracking signals hidden in animal behaviour – which could save the lives of cheetahs, rhinos and elephants.
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Christian Schwägerl @christianschwaegerl.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/05/2026
Oft fährt man als Journalist für einen Tag zum Ort des Geschehens und ist dann wieder weg. Ich mache es seit einer Woche anders, um die Zukunft von Landschaften zu erkunden, die für Biodiversität und Klima enorm wichtig sind. Mit dem Fahrrad kann ich mich meinen Zielorten langsam nähern und sehe […]
mastodon.social
Original post on mastodon.social
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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 20/05/2026
"an important reminder that when using LLMs to analyse datasets, it’s worth checking you’re not getting familiar stereotypes in place of real signals" kucharski.substack.com/p/real-signa… though I would think that this is just an amplification of the biases […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 20/05/2026
Just stumbled across this great letter on #IQ by Ruth Mace. The notion that hunter-gatherers who painted in Lascaux Caves or medieval cathedral builders are more stupid than people today is total rubbish! But still the pseudoscience racists will cling to this.
Letter from Prof Ruth Mace to The Economist in Aug 2024 on why the idea people are getting 'cleverer' today, measured by the culturally specific notion of 'IQ' is actually dumb.
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Teresa Bücker @teresabuecker.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Ist so. Egal wie qualifiziert Zu viele Männer verhalten sich so. Call it out. „Zusätzlich habe es Einladungen auf Hotelzimmer gegeben, über Berufspolitik sei eher mit den männlichen Kollegen gesprochen worden, nicht mit den Frauen aus der Delegation.“ www.aerzteblatt.de/news/deutsch...
aerzteblatt.de
Deutscher Ärztetag: Medizinstudentinnen berichten von Übergriffen – Deutsches Ärzteblatt
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 13/05/2026
interesting new fellowship for people studying child development, available for early-career folk (10 years since PhD, US$300K over 3 years, worldwide eligibility)
ssrc.org
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship: Application Details
The LEGO Foundation Fellowship is a global initiative supporting researchers working to deepen our understanding of how children thrive. Spanning disciplines from education and psychology to public he...
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Elen Le Foll 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @elenlefoll.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026
I am trying my best not to be too pessimistic about the state of academia, but then there are mornings like today when I see that the Deutscher Hochschulverband [the German association of university professors] is offering a further training course entitled "Der Weg zum Forschungsantrag mit […]
fediscience.org
Original post on fediscience.org
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Elen Le Foll 🇫🇷 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @elenlefoll.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · 11/05/2026
This coming Wednesday (!) 13 May ReproducibiliTea in the HumaniTeas is delighted to welcome Andrey Anderson dos Santos to speak about Open Peer Review. After a short input talk, we will have plenty of time to discuss this rather controversial topic! Join us […] [Original post on fediscience.org]
Drawing of two cars.
The first looks like a normal, simple car drawing and is entitled: "Your manuscript os submitted" while the second has lots of additional, silly-looking features and is entitled: "... and after peer review and revision". 

By REDPEN/BLACKPEN  http://redpenblackpen.jasonya.com
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Radical Anthropology @radicalanthro.c.im.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026
Interesting essay on the new role of palaeogenetics in understanding the peopling of India, in relation to the history of linguistics. aeon.co/essays/ancient-india-was-sh…
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