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Zen Faulkes

@doctorzen.net
2.9K followers 358 following 5.3K posts

Biologist. Better Posters book and blog. Academic hoaxes. Academic slop graphics. Home: DoctorZen.net. ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4049-7034

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1h
They're splitting Bluesky into two Bluskies: Those who preferred Swamp Thing and those who preferred Man-Thing.
Swamp Thing (left) and Man-Thing (right).
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Dan Jagger @auditorynerves.bsky.social · 10h
Open access link to new study in Nature Medicine: Global & regional reference curves for pain across the lifespan in 6.1 million individuals in 118 countries. 🧪🧠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Global and regional reference curves for pain across the lifespan in 6.1 million individuals in 118 countries - Nature Medicine
Global age- and sex-specific reference curves for 11 pain sites, from 6.1 million people in 118 countries, found higher late-life pain in the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) countries and provide...
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Nieman Lab @niemanlab.org · 6h
ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons buff.ly/YJ1mAiP
buff.ly
ChatGPT is adding real cartoonists’ signatures to fake New Yorker cartoons
OpenAI's chatbot isn't just imitating the magazine's style. It's also falsely attributing AI-generated images to real artists.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 9h
Omnivore respect omnivore
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Anna Vlasits @annaintegrated.bsky.social · 11h
Related to the #NobelPrize in #Optogenetics: I'm reflecting on the question "who invented X?" in science. 10 years ago I wrote about the people who were working on optogenetics, the patent debates and the role of race and prestige. I don't know the answer, but... www.statnews.com/2016/09/01/o...
statnews.com
He may have invented one of neuroscience’s biggest advances. But you’ve never heard of him
The saga of Zhuo-Hua Pan, perhaps the rightful inventor of optogenetics, raises the question of what it means to invent something in science.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 11h
Congratulations to the Trump administration, generating 7 millsion barrels is indeed a lot. I think. It's sorta hard to tell since that is not a number.
Screenshot of a Trump administration Facebook post with a typo in it
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 14h
Ah, got it. Thanks!
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Mr Market Miscalculates 🇪🇺🇺🇦🏴‍☠️ @mrmarketmis.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I think this wins the Nobel Prize for #ChartCrime: look at the units on the Y-axis!
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 15h
There are over 30 @dorassessment.bsky.social signatories at Monash Don’t know of that’s a critical mass, but maybe enough to start?
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 16h
Oh it’s the science awards silly season No women again? Got it. How many more days of this?
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 05/10/2026
The same reason that so many businesses use Gen AI 🤖 flyers and advertisements. Even though there’s a good chance they drive away customers. Old joke: “Fast, cheap, good. Pick two.” A lot of businesses will always pick the first two.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 05/10/2026
DAMN IT. Vale Sass Jordan. Was lucky enough to see her perform. Phenomenal singer. Her recent blues albums were great and I would have liked to have heard more from her. www.cbc.ca/news/enterta...
cbc.ca
Juno-winning singer Sass Jordan dead at 63 | CBC News
A post on Jordan's social media page on Saturday says she died the day before "surrounded by her loving family." It called her an "inimitable force of nature" and "irreplaceable being of light and joy...
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
How come it DOES feel like the software I use is getting rapidly WORSE?
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
If they ban authors from using generative AI, who’s going to read all those “Ask a question about this paper!” gen AI 🤖 summaries that publishers keep insisting we should want?
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
Hypothesis: No journal has announced such a ban because many publishers are also “all in” on generative AI and truly don’t see that any sort of problems with using it. 
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
“Any questions?“ “What’s the fastest land animal?“ From Zucker – Abrahams – Zucker.
static.klipy.com
Nervous Man Sweating in Headphones
Alt: Robert Hays looking nervous and sweating in headphones, from the movie Airplane!
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
It’s unlikely that the pre-prints are an end in itself. Pre-prints are part of the normal publication process in many fields. These pre-prints are probably seen by the authors as steppingstones to what they hope will become publications. There are many institutions that count publications.
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Charlie Stross @cstross.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Oh my: LibreOffice just made "no AI" one of their official features: blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/09...
blog.documentfoundation.org
Yes, no AI is now a feature - TDF Community Blog
One of the comments on the announcement of LibreOffice 26.8 was a simple question: “So, no AI is now a feature?” LibreOffice does not reject artificial intelligence out of hand, but an office suite us...
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
Today in, "Correlation does not necessarily imply causation."
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
If you're willing to call a unicellular organism "complex." 😉
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
For generations, parents scrimped and saved so their kids could go to university because the parents recognized that it could be a “better life” for their kids.
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Roope Kaaronen @roopekaaronen.net · 18/09/2026
This article wins the data visualisation of the month contest. www.mdpi.com/2571-550X/9/...
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
Here is her obituary in the Times (London): digital.sciencehistory.org/works/djtlkki
digital.sciencehistory.org
Obituary for Rosalind Franklin
Obituary of Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) from The Times, written by her friend and mentor J. D. Bernal (1901-1971). Bernal, director of Birkbeck College's Biomolecular Research Laboratory, invited Fr...
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Mill_lab @cilialab.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
lnkd.in/p/eTV6xSxk pretty poor placeholder #NikonSmallWorldInMotion on a Saturday evening over two weeks since this all kicked off… #ReleaseTheRawData #MicroscopyMatters #CiliaGate
lnkd.in
Nikon is aware of the inquiries concerning this year’s Nikon Small World in Motion competition, and is reviewing the available information concerning this matter at this time. | Nikon Small World
Nikon is aware of the inquiries concerning this year’s Nikon Small World in Motion competition, and is reviewing the available information concerning this matter at this time.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 03/10/2026
Yes. And not (just) the leaders of universities. It is many of the leaders of the scientific organizations too. With a few notable exceptions—like UCS and Stand Up for Science—sci orgs are choosing to maximize bipartisanship rather
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
~Approximately no one in the general public knows because the leaders of the R1 research universities - whose budgets, programs, & personnel are entirely or significantly dependent on federal funding - have been totally absent from the public square in explaining & collectively protesting this.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 04/10/2026
Impact Factors aren't worth discussing.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 03/10/2026
Millionaire Spaghetti recipe (revised, 20206 economy version): Ingredients: Spaghetti, 1 cup Methods: Boil in water. Serve.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 03/10/2026
Her contribution to DNA was forgotten, but Franklin was not. Franklin was well known for her work on viruses, and her obituary was published in outlets like The New York Times.
Rosalind Franklin’s grave, which reads “Her research and discoveries in viruses remain of lasting benefit to mankind.”
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 03/10/2026
The Nobel is still not awarded post mortem. From memory, one or two recipients died after the award decision was made.
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This is slightly out of my normal lane, and I could charge six (hell maybe seven) figure to deliver this message as a consultant, but I’m gonna do it for free. Because I’m ✨enraged✨ People in the think tank/policy/inside the beltway DC world have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE how mad people are abt Cornell. 🧵
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 03/10/2026
Researchers and academics who use AI are helping legitimize and entrench a technology that is specifically being aimed against us. The powerful WANT a lying machine that can undercut facts. neurodojo.blogspot.com/2026/09/we-w...
neurodojo.blogspot.com
“We will never let anyone tell us what to do again”
I’ve long thought that part of the anger of the right wing over the handling of the covid pandemic was the realization that, “Someone else c...
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Charlotte Ashley @charlotteashley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Fake POSITIVE Google reviews are my new least-favourite thing. They are impossible to get removed, because they aren't hateful, explicit, etc etc etc. they are just.... AI generated. The pictures aren't real, the details of the experience are wrong. There's no category for that.
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Cell Reports Methods @cp-cellrepmethods.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In vivo electrophysiology in head-fixed and freely moving mole-rats
dlvr.it
In vivo electrophysiology in head-fixed and freely moving mole-rats
Shirdhankar et al. establish a method to record from single neurons in the brain of African mole-rats while they are head-fixed or freely moving, performing natural behaviors. The method allows the study of sensory perception and neural adaptations of these strictly subterranean rodents, well known for their longevity, cancer resistance, and magnetic sense.
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National Center for Science Education @ncse.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Scientists have found the first series of dinosaur tracks suspected to be left by a t-rex, shedding some light on their walking pace. The individual who left these tracks appears to have been moving along about as fast as a human speedwalking. www.sciencenews.org/article/t-re... #FossilFriday 🦖 🧪
sciencenews.org
First series of adult T. rex footprints hints at its walking speed
The steps were poorly preserved, but still hint at an ambling pace of 1.6 meters per second, roughly equivalent to a quick walking speed for a human.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 02/10/2026
Also fish gone wrong, but trying to rectify the mistake But not succeeding all that well
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 02/10/2026
Humans We are fish gone wrong
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Dr Kat Day (she/her) 🎃🌒 @chronicleflask.katday.com · 01/10/2026
Another week, another “we’re vaguely familiar with the basic premise of the story while at the same time wilfully missing the entire point” moment
Screenshot:

Is this a 3D model?
@IsThisA3DModel

80% of the children who accepted Wonka's Golden Ticket died

Josh Daws
@JoshDaws 
Rejecting Al is like refusing Wonka's golden ticket.
Anything you want to, do it Wanna change the world?
There's nothing to it
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 01/10/2026
September 30 / October 1
Nicholas HoultNicholas Hoult in Mad Max: First Road
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 30/09/2026
This one has the sand crabs so this is the good volume. 😉
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 30/09/2026
No joke: I showed that "this is your brain on drugs" to students who were NOT BORN when the clip first aired and they got the reference.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I am pretty disappointed by the lack of public acknowledgment from the American Alliance of Museums about the situations at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel (which was AAM-accredited!) & the Sternberg. There are lots of museum crises right now, but these are particularly serious.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 30/09/2026
In case you've ever wondered what the payback is for writing a book for academics. I spent a little over a year writing the Better Posters book. I was doing teaching, etc., but still a lot of time writing. Royalties are a few hundred dollars, a couple of times a year. Steady income, but not big.
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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There's literally more human content out there than you can listen to, and you'd rather ask a machine to show you an statistical average? Loser behavior
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026
Eugenics 🤝 ai www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Mr. Kennedy said during the Tuesday session.

“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ A.I. may tell you otherwise,” he added. “If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ A.I. may correct that. And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, A.I. may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
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Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo @multicellgenome.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We have a new branch in the family tree of animals: Atreyea- a previously unrecognized lineage among the closest unicell relatives of animals. Led by @konsmitsi.bsky.social & @freejakoba.bsky.social together with a fantastic team of collaborators. 🔗 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #protistsOnSky
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 30/09/2026
Though I don’t know if this is a teachable skill, or whether it is only gained through experience.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 30/09/2026
Making a call on when a project is probably publishable versus when a project probably needs more data.
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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 29/09/2026
"Ozymandias? Loser. Very bad at branding. Didn't change the names of enough things. Didn't put his name on enough things. But people are saying that I am the most powerful person in history. So I can change the names of things and people will love the new names."
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Cathy Newman ⚜️🐘 @cenewman0.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Devastated for the Fort Hays community about the closure of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, and this letter from the univ president makes clear how dramatic reductions in state funding leave universities with no good options viable long-term. www.fhsu.edu/news/2026/09...
fhsu.edu
To the Fort Hays State University Community
I need to share a difficult decision with you, and I want to be transparent about how we arrived here, what it means, and who ultimately holds the power to change the path we are on.
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