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Michael Skvarla

@napoleonicento.bsky.social
1.3K followers 558 following 747 posts

PhD in entomology, professor of insect ID. Co-host of @Arthro_Podshow. Slava Ukraini. Views are my own.

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Reposted by Michael Skvarla
anil oza @aniloza.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
wow — the preprint host, arxiv, is banning authors for a year if they submit papers with hallucinated citations 🤖
Twitter thread from Thomas Dietterich, reading "Attention 
@arxiv
 authors: Our Code of Conduct states that by signing your name as an author of a paper, each author takes full responsibility for all its contents, irrespective of how the contents were generated. 1/
3:03 PM · May 14, 2026
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Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
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1h
If generative AI tools generate inappropriate language, plagiarized content, biased content, errors, mistakes, incorrect references, or misleading content, and that output is included in scientific works, it is the responsibility of the author(s). 2/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
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1h
We have recently clarified our penalties for this. If a submission contains incontrovertible evidence that the authors did not check the results of LLM generation, this means we can't trust anything in the paper. 3/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
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1h
The penalty is a 1-year ban from arXiv followed by the requirement that subsequent arXiv submissions must first be accepted at a reputable peer-reviewed venue. 4/
Thomas G. Dietterich
@tdietterich
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1h
Examples of incontrovertible evidence: hallucinated references, meta-comments from the LLM ("here is a 200 word summary; would you like me to make any changes?"; "the data in this table is illustrative, fill it in with the real numbers from your experiments") end/"
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James Davenport @jradavenport.com · 14/05/2026
Four: The motivation for program is a Memorandum to make American "Science and Technology" double plus good. But here in the real world we don't make science great simply through disruption, destruction, and hype. That approach is childish and fundamentally cannot achieve stated goals
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Cool, so NSF is now going to be used to essentially launder money to tech bros because universities are just too cumbersome and disciplinary oversight and regulations and accountability are all just too stifling for innovation. $1.5B for “X-Labs.”
nsf.gov
NSF X-Labs
NSF's mission is to advance the progress of science, a mission accomplished by funding proposals for research and education made by scientists, engineers, and educators from across the country.
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In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 14/05/2026
On May Day, the Trump admin fired a mine safety commissioner & closed the Pittsburgh office of the agency that handles mine safety disputes. @kimkelly.bsky.social reports on what that could mean for coal miners already facing black lung, silica dust & dangerous work: inthesetimes.com/article/trum...
inthesetimes.com
Trump’s Latest Target: Coal Miners’ Safety
In one fell swoop, the Trump administration took an axe to the agency tasked with handling legal disputes around mine worker safety. It could signal even deeper cuts to worker protections coming down…
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A Tea Walks Home Alone at Night @teaberryblue.net · 14/05/2026
There are approximately 2.8 million trans people in the US. That means FOURTEEN PERCENT of American trans people have moved across state lines in the past 18 months.
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Haus of Decline @hausofdecline.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
A phlebotomist says to a patient "we're going to draw some blood." A photograph of a hand with a pen comes from outside the panels and colours in the blood bag with red. The phlebotomist says "see? that wasn't so bad." The patient, dumbfounded, asks "wa that... was that God?"
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Tim Mak @timkmak.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Good morning readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands. Russia launched a massive 30-hour attack across Ukraine: 1,500+ drones and 50+ missiles. With 100+ dead and 50 homes hit, it’s one of the heaviest attacks in 4 years.
counteroffensive.news
NEWSFLASH: Putin launches massive attacks after signaling war’s end
Some say it was the largest aerial attack since the full-scale invasion began. Over 100 people dead and 50 residential buildings hit across Ukraine.
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Aidan McGlynn @aidanmcglynn.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Never forget:
A google search for 'are there snakes at thesis defenses', with an AI overview that starts 'Yes, some universities have a tradition of including a "snake fight" portion in thesis defenses." and then goes on to give details just lifted from the McSweeney's article.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 14/05/2026
The honest version of this post would note that these are white Republicans trying to eliminate the district of the state's only Black US rep. You cannot tell this story properly without headlining the racism.
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Bronwen Scott @snailseyeview.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Reposting this thread because I think we could all do with a lil green snail with two shells.
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Michael Caterino @mcaterino.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Pollinator declines are leading to human impoverishment and malnutrition. This study in Nepal bodes poorly for the future of food. www.livescience.com/animals/inse...
livescience.com
'Insect apocalypse' is already fueling malnutrition in some regions, first-of-its-kind study reveals
In a first, researchers quantify how pollinator declines contribute to food insecurity.
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Lin Codega @lincodega.com · 12/05/2026
Four Pillars Gaming published hundred of AI-generated profiles over the past four months and when people asked to be taken down, they doubled down, defended their process, and refused. The ramifications of hallucinatory LLM "histories" threaten to erode truth and destroy the historical record.
rascal.news
AI-generated profiles of TTRPG designers ignite fury across social media
4 Pillars Gaming’s new website adds AI-generated slop to an already ephemeral online historical record.
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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 14/05/2026
Satellite imagery shows that at least 46 towns and villages in southern Lebanon have been heavily damaged or, in some cases, entirely flattened by the Israeli Defence Forces. Bellingcat’s interactive map reveals the scale of the destruction: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05...
bellingcat.com
Satellite Imagery Shows Ongoing Demolitions Across Southern Lebanon - bellingcat
Dozens of towns and villages within the IDF's “Yellow Line” in southern Lebanon have been heavily damaged or destroyed in recent months.
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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
unmute, i beg you
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Michael Skvarla @napoleonicento.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Nothing here is incorrect
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Mom for Ghoulberty👻 @fakegreekgrill.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Irony is dead
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Jene O'Ween @luckymud.myatproto.social · 14/05/2026
In case you wondered, this is ongoing in Minneapolis. They are still stealing our neighbors. Just because the rest of the country decided to move on doesn't mean it stopped.
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Michael Skvarla @napoleonicento.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
When can I get my letter of marque from this private navy?
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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Watching a series of former Confederate states rush to eliminate any vestige of black representation in the House pretty much answers the question whether the Voting Rights Act was still necessary.
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Georgia's governor signs a comically transparent law. It makes local elections in 5 big blue counties nonpartisan, to give GOP candidates a chance to win without a party label in places like Atlanta. And it doesn't change anything in the rest of the state, for red counties to know who's GOP.
ajc.com
Brian Kemp signs law making many metro Atlanta races nonpartisan
The law applies to most local government races in Democratic-dominated areas. A court challenge is expected.
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Kevin Wertman @kevin.wertman.org · 13/05/2026
A rather unique one today, this is a leucistic northern cardinal that frequents our botanical gardens. Many volunteers and other photographers had told me about her for months but I finally spotted her myself a couple weeks ago. 😍 #BirdOfTheDay #FeatheredFemmes #Birds #Cardinals #Photography
A mostly white and pinkish bird stands a gently sloping tree covered with moss and small leafy growths.
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Bryan Andrews @bryanandrewsmusic.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Make Country Outlaw Again
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Madisyn Parisi (they/them) @madisyn-writes.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
SOURCE CALL: I’m looking to talk to a doctor who treats trans patients and can speak to the reality of how much fat actually impacts surgical outcomes for gender-affirming surgeries. It’s for an @assignedmedia.org article about the unique experiences of fat trans folks.
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Paul Barrett @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
We’re hiring a herpetology curator @nhm-london.bsky.social - come join us! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/internal/Job...
jobs.nhm.ac.uk
Senior Curator in Charge, Herpetology:South Kensington
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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 13/05/2026
#ProcB in @nytimes.com | A marine stem-myriapod from the Silurian Waukesha Lagerstätte, Wisconsin, USA: terrestrial traits pre-date the transition to land: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
nytimes.com
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Range of motion and myology support a digging function for the forelimbs of alvarezsauroid dinosaurs royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Range of motion and myology support a digging function for the forelimbs of alvarezsauroid dinosaurs
Abstract. Numerous lineages of theropod dinosaurs display notable modification of the forelimb, particularly reduction in size and number of digits. Alvare
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Please enjoy baby Alligator Gars feeding on brine shrimp (Artemia), set to a Bluey instrumental 🙂 🐟🧪gars are planktivorous at this stage (20 mm, 12 days post-hatch), but will soon switch to eating insects and fish! They’re also already breathing air!
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Alexandra Heller-Nicholas @horrornonna.com · 12/05/2026
Huge news! I'm co-producing Alexandre O Philippe's new doc IN SEARCH OF NOSFERATU. Our team (including @pattonoswalt.bsky.social) is scouring the world for uniquely aged prints of Murnau's classic. 🚨 CAN YOU HELP? 🚨 Any leads on old prints, VHS, etc, please hit me up! Our treasure hunt is global!
bloody-disgusting.com
Patton Oswalt Joins ‘In Search of Nosferatu’ Doc from ‘Chain Reactions’ Filmmaker
Patton Oswalt previously appeared as a talking head in Alexandre O. Philippe‘s wholly original Texas Chain Saw Massacre documentary, Chain Reactions. The pair are officially reteaming on Philippe’s ne...
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Steve Lieber @stevelieberart.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Thinking today of my late studiomate Jesse Hamm. He drew a lot of great pictures and wrote wonderful essays on the art and craft of illustration and cartooning. Here's a link to one of my favorite of his essays, on Alex Toth and cartoon realism: sirspamdalot.livejournal.com/89372.html
Jesse Hamm in his trademark bandana, smiling and breaking the 4th wall in the midst of a crowd I drew on a comic book cover. He's seated with other folks from Helioscope and the DCU.
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Michael Skvarla @napoleonicento.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
If we can manage to create Reconstruction 2.0, we should take thr lesson and not make the same mistake again
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utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 12/05/2026
I struggle to adequately explain how any project of national rebuilding (a la Reconstruction v2, etc) will require the democratic party to fundamentally illegitimate republican rule. Not just in rhetoric but via explicit and overt acts of political dispossession, disenfranchisement, and ruination.
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Madisyn Parisi (they/them) @madisyn-writes.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Reporters stop giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt challenge! Level: IMPOSSIBLE IK we’re trained to be balanced, but that should mean looking at situational context and naming likely options, not boosting the microscopic offchance that the Lying Liar Who Lies might be spitting facts lol
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🌒💀 evelynn 💀🌘 @ladyartaud.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
i have yet to see a single cis person say something about the fact that the government just designated trans people a terrorist group and threatened to kill all of us.
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David Clark @clarkeocrinus.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Something different for #TrilobiteTuesday This is a Devonian aged Eldredgeops from the Silica Shale of Ohio. They often enrolled to protect soft parts like legs and gills. This specimen broke before I found it and has a geodized center full of crystals.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 12/05/2026
Microsoft researchers find that for non-programming tasks, LLM agents aren't ready for work. For long, truly complex work, they're only currently ready for Python programming. It's great that MS researchers have the independence to publish papers like this.
arxiv.org
LLMs Corrupt Your Documents When You Delegate
Large Language Models (LLMs) are poised to disrupt knowledge work, with the emergence of delegated work as a new interaction paradigm (e.g., vibe coding). Delegation requires trust - the expectation t...
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Alice Risely @alice-risely.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Please don’t put out hair for bird nests. Chicks get entangled in hair balls. Just had to cut hair strands that were tying 3 blue tit chicks together, and wrapped round the throat of one skinny chick that couldn’t swallow food. Hopefully saved in time 🤞
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The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 11/05/2026
Of the 355 comments submitted by Box Elder County residents, 242 (68%) were flatly against the data center, 106 (30%) expressed concerns about it and 7 — just 2% — said they supported it. The Box Elder County Commission approved it unanimously.
sltrib.com
How do Box Elder County locals feel about the massive data center plan? The numbers are overwhelming, records show.
Hundreds of locals filled out a county form to share their thoughts, with most falling on one side of the issue.
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Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Hahaha YES found the one tiny weird monotypic Afrotropical dipteran we were asked for, real needle in a haystack moment
A point mounted specimen of what I’m p sure is Anaphalantus longicornis, a tiny fly known mostly from Southern AfricaAnterior view of A. longicornis showing the very fancy fringed booties he wears for (almost certainly) sex reasons
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Dr. Emily Arndt 🏳️‍⚧️ @brachinus.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
apropos of nothing, the consensus amongst the science community is that 1) glyphosate does not cause cancer in humans and 2) there is no conceivable chemical mechanism by which glyphosate could cause cancer in humans
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Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The 1903 Méliès film THE MONSTER portrays an Egyptian man asking for his wife to be revived under the eyes of a bored Sphinx. Instead, the magician summons a creepy dancing ghoul. Let that be a lesson.
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JH @jhemiptera.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Finally, @tupandactyl.bsky.social finished revising all the size chart for our upcoming dinosaur book which we will sell at the upcoming event. I appreciate him for revising We deeply appreciate @albertonykus.bsky.social for fruitful comments.
Size chart of representative Mesozoic euornitheansSize chart of representative Mesozoic euornitheans
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The Roberts Court, the Trump White House, and the national GOP are acting like this is their one big shot. Either they secure the lasting end of US Constitutional democracy, or they’re in very serious trouble from the backlash. And they’ve already gone so far that there’s no other possibility.
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I wish stories like these would emphasize when important advances are funded by NIH, as this study was. NIH is now politicized and weakened by the Trump regime, putting advances like these at risk.
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Michael Skvarla @napoleonicento.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I watched Cassablanca with my 10 year old last winter and he enjoyed it
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Marcos K. Pinheiro / "Marcos Wyvern" (Marcosaurus) @mmarcosaurus.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/09/w...
cowboystatedaily.com
Wyoming Woman Discovers Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Near Alpine
A paleontologist said Heather Zamora's discovery of a small dinosaur skeleton near Alpine, Wyoming, is one of the best fossils he's ever seen of the…
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nate abbott @n-abbott.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
i have this condition. have had from youth. it is debilitating. sometimes i medicate to ease the issue. i am terrified for my future. it is not benign. and i wouldnt put an 80 year old with the condition in the senate
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
SCOTUS, which ordered Alabama to create a second Black opportunity district just 3 years ago, has lifted that order a week before the primary. The Purcell principle says courts shouldn't permit chaos too close to an election—it's now an open question whether there will even be a primary on schedule.
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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
This result took 40 years to emerge. Not 3. Not 5. Not a funding cycle. Four decades. We’re trying to understand planetary systems with attention spans measured in quarters and election cycles.
scitechdaily.com
After 37 Years, the World’s Longest-Running Soil Warming Experiment Uncovers a Startling Climate Secret
A decades-long experiment in a Massachusetts forest is uncovering unexpected behavior in soil carbon.
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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Smithsonian Fish Curator position announcement! Note the application dates of May 12 – June 2, 2026. Should be posted here tomorrow: trustcareers.si.edu#js-careers-j...
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