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Ben Sheldon

@sheldonbirds.bsky.social
4K followers 587 following 4.6K posts

Ornithologist and Evolutionary Ecologist at the University of Oxford - natural history, science, cycling

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Reposted by Ben Sheldon
João Menezes @jocateme.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Our new paper on bird vocal amplitude is out in @sse-evolution.bsky.social ! Across 123 species, we found two new contenders for world’s loudest bird: bare-throated bellbird and seriema Along with the white bellbird, both can reach jackhammer-level amplitudes! doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpag153
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Biological Recording Company @biologicalrecording.co.uk · 29/09/2026
Tiny parasites, big questions. What can the UK's flat flies tell us about bird health? Join Dr @denisewawman.bsky.social on 21 Oct to explore UK species, how their ranges have changed since the 1960s, and their potential role in disease transmission 🌎 🧪 🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1981718540...
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A map of records of migrating Nutcracker - seemingly all Slender-billed (machrorhynchos) - from Southern Sweden in the last week. Also this great video of 48 migrating SW at Falsterbo today. Definitely something afoot with this species this autumn... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol-I...
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I thought it was one of those verification things: "Click the squares containing a Wryneck"
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Finally managed to catch up with an Oxfordshire Wryneck with this bird at Day's Lock found by @geoffbirdy.bsky.social. At times incredibly cryptic, sitting motionless in the base of a hedge, only given away by occasional neck-stretches to lick ants from nearby branches
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I remember seeing Margaret Attwood at the IOC in Vancouver in 2018 - the closest thing to Canadian royalty?! Excellent to see a chair in Ornithology being endowed - see quoted tweet for direct details & more background in this @theguardian.com article www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
theguardian.com
‘Birdwatching is close to rapture’: Margaret Atwood on why she has given C$1m to avian research
Award-winning novelist celebrates late partner’s love of birds with gift to establish the Graeme Gibson chair in avian biology
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Oh for goodness sake. What are we doing?
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Erik Postma @erikpostma.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Delighted to see this mammoth effort led by @sevans.bsky.social, together with @mevisser.bsky.social, Arie van Noordwijk and Henri Bouwmeester out in @plosbiology.org.
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Devi Satarkar @devisatarkar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We use the covariance reaction norm method (by @jsmartin.bsky.social) on 40 years of great tit data from Wytham Woods. The natal-to-adult body mass correlation in this population is high on average (r ≈ 0.7) but appears to vary with temperature, rainfall, and density, particularly during breeding.
(A,B) Illustrative plots of strong versus weak among-individual correlation between nestling mass and adult mass; each point represents an individual and the grey line is a linear fit shown for visual reference. (C) A schematic correlation reaction norm translating these two scenarios (A,B) onto a correlation-versus-environment axis; the y-axis
tracks how consistently natal body mass predicts adult mass. Curve shape is illustrative, and does not represent real data.Among-individual correlations between nestling mass and adult body mass of great tits from Wytham Woods, UK as functions of (A) adult population density (number of pairs of great tits and blue tits in the breeding year), (B) natal population density (number of pairs of great and blue tits in the hatch year), (C) adult temperature (average daily temperature in ºC during breeding), (D) natal temperature (average daily temperature in ºC during development i.e. 0–15 days post hatching), (E) adult rainfall (average daily rainfall in mm during breeding), (F) natal rainfall (average daily rainfall in mm during development i.e. 0–15 days post hatching); Lines show the posterior median effect sizes; shaded bands show 25–75%, 10–90%, and 5–95% credible intervals. Insets show the posterior distribution of the corresponding slope (point = posterior median; thick bar = 50% CI; thin bar = 90% CI; dashed line = zero).
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Latest work from @devisatarkar.bsky.social DPhil thesis exploring the ecological effects that modulate the link between offspring and adult body mass in great tits. The correlation is really quite plastic! Fun collaboration with @lbliard.bsky.social @iremsepil.bsky.social @davididiaquez.bsky.social
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Krish Sanghvi @krishsanghvi11.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Simulate extensive range of selective [dis]appearance & ageing scenarios, life histories; explore published datasets; or analyze + diagnose your own data with sophisticated & comprehensive features, approaches, & models, which explain the mechanism & biology! Check out our shiny app, disappR!
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Denise Wawman @denisewawman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Just published in Ibis. A 15.5 year study of avian pox in Dunnocks (Prunella modularis). Quick summary: Dull brown bird doesn't die of disease & haematophagous Hippoboscidae from healthy heterotrophs help hypothesis. (Can anyone think of a better word than heterotrophs?) More details below. 1/n
doi.org
A longitudinal study of avian pox in a small passerine, the Dunnock (<fi>Prunella modularis</fi>)
Long-term, longitudinal studies of disease in wild bird populations are rare. Diseases are important determinants of bird survival and may spill-over into other species including livestock and, in so...
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The good birds keep coming in Oxfordshire in 2026: Today's highlight was a county first Baird's Sandpiper - this superb juvenile found on the lagoon at Ardley this morning by Gareth Casburn
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Oxfordshire's excellent run of good birds in 2026 continuing with a 1st winter Grey Phalarope found by Steve Sansom along the north shore of Dix Pit this morning. Mostly rather distant while I was there - watched it walking around on floating weed picking insects
First winter Grey Phalarope at Dix Pit, Oxfordshire, 19 Sept 2026. Grey and white bird, with black mask, crown and nape, and blackish wing coverts and tertials, bobbing over a small wavelet
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
The Bayeux Tapestry of Fascism: The Stephen Collins cartoon
Contemporary British political life is a rich tapestry indeed
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Such an impressive compilation of data from tracked birds across (most of) the global range and diversity of Whimbrel in this new collaborative paper in Ibis: look at the map - so many major transoceanic movements onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
New preprint led by @rona-learmonth.bsky.social testing how plasticity to temperature affects life-cycle events & how it carries-over between stages in the winter moth. Lots of focus on how spring temperature affects phenology, but climate varies through life cycle www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Life cycle of the winter moth - figure drawn by Hannah Glendell, MBiol student in the lab 2025-26Winter moth caterpillar on an oak leaf
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Almost 40 years old - the brochure for the 1988 trip to Marojejy in Madagascar which we (5 students - later joined by Frank Hawkins & Joanna Durbin) put together to send to various charitable trusts hoping for funds. I think we mailed ~1000 out: we received many generous donations in cash & kind
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Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
mathandai.org
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A trip to catch Mute Swans at Abbotsbury was a bit of a personal failure as car broke down & was confined to garage. I did get to spend extra time at @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social though. Bird-wise fairly quiet, though hard to beat crisp autumn Wheatears, but a Death's Head Hawkmoth was superb!
Death's Head Hawkmoth at Portland Bill, 9 Sept 2026Adult male Northern Wheatear on a concrete fencepostNorthern Wheatear on a concrete fencepost
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Roger Highfield @rogerhighfield.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
In 1992 I introduced Tom Stoppard to Bob May, who'd put chaos into biology. A year later I was reviewing Arcadia. It closes Saturday, at the theatre that now carries Stoppard's name. My story, plus my lost 1993 review rogerhighfield.substack.com/p/on-the-ori...
rogerhighfield.substack.com
On the Origins of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia
In 1992, I introduced Stoppard to the professor who put chaos into biology. A year later I reviewed the play that came out of it. As Arcadia is about to leave the West End, here's what happened.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Couldn't resist returning for a longer & more leisurely look at the juvenile Red-necked Phalarope this evening. Where is this tiny jewel headed for the winter? Across Europe & the Middle-east to winter in the Indian Ocean? Or across the Atlantic and the Caribbean to winter in the Pacific?
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Having missed an Oxfordshire Red-necked Phalarope this spring it was a shock when another appeared so soon with this cracking juvenile found by Nick Marriner on the lake at the Oxfordshire Golf Course this morning. Only had moments & bird distant but really superb to luck in on this autumn’s influx
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daniel cadena @cdanielcadena.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
our in memoriam piece, celebrating the academic life and multifaceted, seminal scientific contributions of the great bob ricklefs is now out in the american naturalist www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
journals.uchicago.edu
In Memoriam: Robert E. Ricklefs (1943–2026) | The American Naturalist: Vol 0, No ja
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BTO | British Trust for Ornithology @btobirds.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We're seeking a Research Ecologist to develop & apply methods for analysing large-scale passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) datasets & to lead work on the collection/analysis of restoration & rewilding data. Apply via www.bto.org/jobs Closing date: 22 September. #Ornithology #bioacoustics
The heads of two Puffins appear above a bank. Wording above reads: We're hiring! Senior Research Ecologist: Landscape Restoration & Monitoring Science.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Summary of 2026 summer 🔥 from @metoffice.gov.uk. Summer runs 1/6-31/8, so omits late May '26 heatwave, possibly even more anomalous in statistical terms. We have a new preprint led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social which analyses effects on growth & survival of Wytham tits 🧵⬇️ bsky.app/profile/davi...
Temperature fluctuations in Wytham Woods between 15 May and June 15 for 2023-2026. Orange and green lines represent mean hourly temperatures from 218 temperature loggers in 2026 (orange) and 2023-2025 (green). The grey line and ribbon represent the mean daily temperature ± mean daily temperature range from the Central England Temperature dataset (CET; 1772-2025)
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Hugh Harrop @hughharrop.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Enjoyed some wonderful views of this juvenile Pallid Harrier in the south Mainland of Shetland for the last few evenings. An absolute stunner! #BirdingScotland #UKbirding #RareBirdsUK #Birds #UKWildlife
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Hey @jorgensoraker.bsky.social - you know Norwegian ring sizes etc. Do you think enough can be seen to identify the ring series on this Red-backed Shrike in the UK? I think you can make out the sequence 8719 [not 100% sure about the 8] directly above the Stavanger part of the address
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
This second calendar Yellow-legged Gull at Farmoor this morning was pretty ambitious about the size of its next meal...
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
A grey, wet and almost autumnal-feeling morning at Farmoor with my first Meadow Pipit of the autumn overhead. A fruitless search for yesterday's Wryneck, but enjoyed this approachable adult Black-tailed Godwit
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Now published, work led by @rona-learmonth.bsky.social @andreaestandia.bsky.social testing scale of local adaptation in winter moth to tree phenology. We combined lab & field experiments & genomics to show no evidence for LA at the individual tree level: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Three illustrations of techniques used in this paper (clockwise from left): trap deployed to collect gravid female winter moths on an oak tree; deploying winter moth eggs in the canopy of focal trees using a mobile elevated work platform; DNA samples ready for analysis.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The juvenile Little Gull at Farmoor this morning was at times showing very nicely, flycatching near the causeway, looking almost monochrome in the gloomy conditions.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Quality reservoir birding at Farmoor this morning in rainy south easterlies, with yesterday's Little Gull , a smart juv Knot, a brief fly-through Curlew Sandpiper & a juv Black-necked Grebe that seemed to drop in with heaviest rain the highlights of a mixed wader, tern & gull passage
Juvenile Little Gull sitting on rain-drop disturbed waterJuvenile Knot on the reservoir shore at FarmoorJuvenile Black-necked Grebe swimming on smooth water at Farmoor
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Late August, south-easterlies and a bit of cloud this morning delivered that classic duo of Black Tern & Little Gull to Farmoor. The terns had gone by this evening but enjoyed this very fresh juvenile Little Gull - such superb birds. Even a few drops of rain fell!
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Extremely low water at Farmoor has created a lot more wader habitat along the edges, but also reduced disturbance from joggers, fishers (& birders!) Shy species like Greenshank are usually hard to see well here, but enjoyed super views of this juvenile feeding along the shore this evening.
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Maria Filippou @mariafilippou.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
If you’re interested in herps and would like to write an article for The Natterjack, we’d love to read it! 🐸🦎🐍 It can be about anything herp-related, and we’d love to hear from anyone who wants to contribute. Have a look at previous issues here: www.thebhs.org/publications...
thebhs.org
The Natterjack | British Herpetological Society
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Another productive morning visit to Ynys-hir RSPB reserve, with the Wood Sandpiper count now up to 3. Also a Spoonbill at distance out on the saltings of the Dovey Estuary ebird.org/checklist/S3...
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Tough walk up and around Caeder Idris with the eldest yesterday - brooding landscape set off by clouds and a bit of welcome rain! Flyover of my hike on Strava. strava.app.link/BTDrVX98I5b
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Family week in West Wales with cottage by chance just up the road from Ynys-hir RSPB reserve. Really attractive site with woodland/estuary/pools including a couple of fresh juvenile Wood Sandpipers this morning
Back of camera picture of two juvenile Wood Sandpipers wading through muddy poolWoodland view at Ynys-hir RSPB reserve
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Nilo @nilomr.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
A pleasure to have contributed some science and graphics to The Wonder of Birds at the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk; inspired by @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social’s words and Jackie Morris’s art, curated by Antonia Harrison. Free admission, through 3 January 2027.
Exhibition gallery showing a large black panel titled “The Shape of Song: A Living Cultural Soundscape”, featuring colourful visualisations of bird song, alongside displays of bird illustrations and books. Text explains bird song as animal culture and maps recordings of great tits from Wytham Woods. A QR code links to an interactive version of the graphic.
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Before/After - 45 mins on the beach at Yns-hir
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Another trip to Farmoor to see another excellent find by Andy Last: a smart juv White-winged Black Tern which stayed for all of 90 mins before circling up very high and leaving to SE. Mostly distant, sitting on buoy or feeding actively over F1. Pink staining (?) on left breast & throat.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
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Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
ÄIO
Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
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depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
amazing article
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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Enjoyed it more than expected!! It’s been pretty cool and special!
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Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I thought we were better than this
Google Trends chart showing spiking search interest in "eyes hurt" in the UK just after the eclipse
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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Sequence from the hill above Beckley near Oxford - lovely to see lots of families out enjoying this, and speculating about which of them would be around to see the next one
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Oxford Biology @biology.ox.ac.uk · 11/08/2026
Join us on 3 October for a day of discovery, curiosity, and hands-on science! 🌳🧠 We’re hosting a free science fair with @oxexppsy.bsky.social where you can visit stalls, take part in activities, and hear about exciting research 👇 bit.ly/insidelam
Inside Life & Mind - Saturday 3 October 12:00-17:00, Life & Mind Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3EL. Images of a tree, brain, and bird plus logos for the University of Oxford, Department of Biology, and Department of Experimental Psychology
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...
carlsonlab.bio
The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab
Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 14/10/2023
🌓🌎🌞 <-- lunar eclipse 
🌎🌓🌞 <-- solar eclipse 
🌎🌞🌗 <-- apocalypse
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