Reposted by Science SurfAfrica Center for Strategic Studies @africacenter.bsky.social · 8hIn a recent Spotlight we assessed the escalating security and economic costs to the continent: africacenter.org/spo... 3/3 002
Science Surf @wjst.de · 21hwww.theguardian.com/education/20...theguardian.comTop geneticist ‘should resign’ over his team’s laboratory fraudProfessor responsible for ‘reckless’ failure to properly oversee researchers 111
Science Surf @wjst.de · 26/09/2026www.statnews.com/2026/09/24/l...statnews.comA moment of reckoning for preventive cardiology and the precision medicine revolution“The epidemiology and genetics of heart attack and stroke risk, for now, seem to have outpaced what more we can actually do about it,” writes cardiologist Vishal Khetpal. 020
Reposted by Science SurfThe Cochrane Collaboration @cochrane.org · 24/09/2026INSPECT-SR – a tool for assessing the trustworthiness of randomized controlled trials – has been published today in @bmj.com, giving researchers a structured way to identify problematic studies before they're included in systematic reviews. 🔗 www.cochrane.org/about-us/new... #ResearchIntegrity 03124
Science Surf @wjst.de · 22/09/2026I always wished that editors would have called the last co-author on my papers and talked about the contents 010
Reposted by Science SurfAllison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 21/09/2026NEW: The Trump Administration is planning to slash human subject research regulations by redefining informed consent. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/trump-plan...muellershewrote.comTrump Plans to Redefine Informed Consent for Human Research SubjectsThe Department of Health and Human Services has noticed a forthcoming rule on the OMB regulatory information site to redefine what undue influence means for vulnerable human research subjects 1881622872
Science Surf @wjst.de · 21/09/2026Emergent issue - data mining in Africa www.woz.ch/2638/data-mi...woz.chData Mining in Afrika: Wenn die Krankenakte in den USA landetVom Strassenverkehr bis zum Gesundheitswesen: Ausländische Regierungen und internationale Konzerne haben es auf die Daten der Afrikaner:innen abgesehen. 000
Reposted by Science SurfGiorgio Gilestro @giorgio.gilest.ro · 20/09/2026Academia has seen inflation in the past 30 years but it is now entering Republic of Weimar territory, with value of knowledge moving from "paper to land". In all this, Open hardware is an act of armed resistance to Technofeudalism. giorgio.gilest.ro/the-weimar-o...giorgio.gilest.roThe Weimar of knowledge – la bottega 23316
Reposted by Science SurfRichard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"All corners of academia will soon be flooded with AI-generated research....Maths and CS go first because their entire output is symbol manipulation...Biology comes later not because biologists are cleverer but because the rate-limiting step is physical" giorgio.gilest.ro/the-weimar-o...giorgio.gilest.roThe Weimar of knowledge – la bottega 56640
Science Surf @wjst.de · 19/09/2026The most parsimonious reading: the test was run on individual dendritic segments (6 to 8 slides per brain, multiple ROIs per slide, so plausibly 50 to 300 segments per group) while the plot shows per-mouse averages: Pseudoreplication... 021
Science Surf @wjst.de · 19/09/2026Possible as already the methods sentence is self-contradictory: "One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's multiple comparison test is presented based on single measurements averaged for each group... Data are expressed as the mean ± s.e.m. of average values for each mouse." 120
Science Surf @wjst.de · 19/09/2026this does not need any comment www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...404media.co‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions." 000
Reposted by Science SurfScience Magazine @science.org · 17/09/2026An inherited genetic mutation may increase lung cancer risk among people who have never smoked, according to a new Science study. Learn more in this week’s issue: scim.ag/3Td6qQV 03515
Reposted by Science SurfMagdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Exclusive from the Nature News team! Tutankhamun’s tomb has been suspected to contain hidden chambers, holding the remains of Nefertiti. New data from a geophysical survey might offer evidence for this controversial conclusion 🧪 A story by @jomarchant.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...nature.comExclusive: New evidence for hidden chambers beyond Tutankhamun’s tombGeophysical survey yields ‘tantalizing’ data that could point to Nefertiti’s burial place – but it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions. 0128
Reposted by Science SurfSamar Haider @samarhaider.bsky.social · 16/09/2026New paper out in Science Advances @science.org! News organizations shape public understanding through the choices they make about what to cover and how to cover it. How can we measure these differences across publishers systematically and at scale? We present the Media Bias Detector! 1216
Reposted by Science SurfTerence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026A 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.orgDeclaration — Math and AIRead the declaration and add your name. 422052926
Reposted by Science SurfQuentin André @quentinandre.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Hilarious stuff from hypocrite-in-chief Bill Ackman, currently bankrolling Francesca Gino, who has *check notes* sued three brave scholars for telling the truth. 511928
Reposted by Science SurfSTAT @statnews.com · 02/09/2026The Ig Nobel Prizes, long held in the U.S., head to Europe due to Trump policies — via @bostonglobe.com www.statnews.com/2026/09/02/i...statnews.comThe Ig Nobel Prizes, long held in the U.S., head to Europe due to Trump policiesFor the first time since they began, the Ig Nobel Prizes, a satirical version of the Nobel prizes, is being held overseas. 03714
Reposted by Science SurfSean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Ever wonder what "information" really means? Here's our new paper, led by @frosas.bsky.social, that lays out the multiple ways the term is used in natural science. rdcu.be/fCDGv 1325566
Science Surf @wjst.de · 28/08/2026digitaleconomy.stanford.edu/news/wemusta...digitaleconomy.stanford.edu“We Must Act Now”: Sixteen Nobel Laureates Join Leading Economists and AI Researchers in Call to Prepare for AI’s Economic Transformation - Stanford Digital Economy Lab 000
Science Surf @wjst.de · 27/08/2026Not a Gates fan, but credit where it's due. His 6,000 words on AI name the thing most CEOs won't: the shift hits law, medicine, software and manufacturing in a decade, not over generations, and there is no transition plan. www.gatesnotes.com/a-turbulent-...gatesnotes.comThe choices we make about AI now are critical | Bill GatesAI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice. We need to start planning now so it makes the world a fairer place. 000
Reposted by Science SurfIan Hussey @ianhussey.mmmdata.io · 14/08/2026I’ve been told for years that it’s legally and ethically impossible to share medical RCT data. In 2024, the BMJ made sharing anonymised data mandatory, and now lots* of folk do it. Interesting how the barriers evaporated like that, isn’t it? *not everyone, compliance problems exist.medrxiv.orgAvailability of clinical trial individual patient data in the BMJ before and after adoption of a stringent data-sharing policy, compared with recent rates at other major medical journalsBackground In 2024, the BMJ updated its data-sharing policy for clinical trials, requiring open deposit of deidentified individual participant data (IPD) before publication. We considered whether data... 510040
Reposted by Science SurfRichard Van Noorden @richvn.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Everyone's talking about Pangram and other AI-detection software like GPTZero. They promise impressive accuracy at spotting AI-written text. Science journals are starting to use them. How good are they? @miryamnaddaf.bsky.social and I take a look for @nature.com 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/d41...nature.comAI-detection tools have made huge leaps forward — how good are they?Scientists and publishers are testing a new breed of software that promises impressive accuracy at spotting AI-written text. 12615
Reposted by Science SurfEric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 24/08/2026On AI curing all diseases theinformation.com/articles/ai-...theinformation.comWhy Scientists See AI Leaders as False ProphetsEric Topol is a prominent cardiologist known for his research into deploying AI and other technologies to improve healthcare. He considers himself a Demis Hassabis superfan, and when I spoke to him, h... 712745
Reposted by Science SurfNick Kristof @nickkristof.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Sudan is the world's worst humanitarian crisis, fueled by the recklessness of countries sending in arms and by the complacency of the international community. UN Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher speaks eloquently to the UN Security Council on Sudan. 1133
Reposted by Science SurfFragDenStaat @fragdenstaat.de · 21/08/2026Wissenschaftler*innen @maxplanck.de erläutern, warum die Einschränkung des Informationsfreiheitsgesetzes eine Gefahr für die Demokratie darstellt. Sie widersprechen dabei auch explizit dem Argument der Bundesregierung, dass die sicherheitspolitische Bedrohungslage die Änderungen erforderlich mache. 12422240
Science Surf @wjst.de · 17/08/2026journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...journals.plos.orgIs the scientific paper still a fraud?How we write scientific papers does not reflect how we do science, masking the human in the process by design. This Perspective invites us to consider the structure of the scientific paper, and the ne... 000
Science Surf @wjst.de · 15/08/2026www.theguardian.com/science/2017... Timeless. This could easily be published again a decade later and still be just as relevant. Some pieces simply don’t age.theguardian.comIs the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science?The long read: It is an industry like no other, with profit margins to rival Google – and it was created by one of Britain’s most notorious tycoons: Robert Maxwell 010
Science Surf @wjst.de · 14/08/2026New paper: lab mice are too clean. Inbred SPF colonies produced decades of immunology and infection data on the wrong model for human disease. www.cell.com/trends/micro...cell.comGame of microbes: a wildling’s guideLaboratory mice housed under specific pathogen-free conditions are the standard model in biomedical research. However, frequent germ-free rederivation and barrier housing restrict microbial exposure a... 011
Science Surf @wjst.de · 13/08/2026www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6... renowned group, they invited me to Harvard some years ago ;-)medrxiv.orgCirculating microRNAs Predict Longitudinal Asthma Control and Treatment ResponseBackground GINA-based clinical assessment of asthma control provides limited insight into the molecular mechanisms driving disease progression and treatment response. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) ar... 110
Science Surf @wjst.de · 13/08/2026Methods are sound (RNA sequencing baseline serum Norgen Biotek Small RNA Library Prep Kit / Illumina NextSeq) but www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6... comes up with names not in the db?medrxiv.org 100
Science Surf @wjst.de · 12/08/2026So far, I knew the word only from the system font. The legend says that during development, designer Vincent Connare heard a riddle at the Microsoft headquarters: "Could you build a trebuchet to launch a person from the main campus to the new consumer campus?" 000
Reposted by Science SurfRetraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 01/08/2026A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Informa of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges.retractionwatch.comFederal lawsuit accuses four major publishers of extorting article processing chargesiStock A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges… 05837
Science Surf @wjst.de · 28/07/2026„Fauci has saved more lives, created more amazing infrastructures for developing research opportunities, cured more people, provided health care to more people both in the United States and abroad, probably, than any single scientist in his lifetime,” 031
Reposted by Science SurfKai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 23/07/2026“Seven days after the girl’s medical team infused trillions of viruses carrying the recipe for the base editor into her spinal fluid, she died of a severe immune reaction linked to the therapy…” This, in @science.org, is an important and tragic story. (It’s also an incredibly well reported one.) 🧪science.orgExclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made publicParents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals 614661
Reposted by Science SurfCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 21/07/20261. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024: The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.arxiv.orgThe unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in scienceAs a labor-augmenting technology, large language models (LLMs) have the potential to accelerate scientific activity across the research pipeline. But even if LLMs perform on par with human experts at ... 10838338
Reposted by Science SurfGlobal Health Otherwise @gh-otherwise.bsky.social · 22/07/2026𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀. 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲) 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Link: doi.org/10.1136/bmjg...doi.orgMaking experts accountable in global healthInternational donors are transnational actors that pursue various strategies to influence policy decisions in Global South countries. In addition to conditionality, which typically involves imposing p... 001
Reposted by Science SurfNeil Selwyn @neilselwyn.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Why are academics using GenAI to write articles, grade assignments, compose emails and a lot of other tasks that they would/should otherwise be doing themselves? A brief summary of our anonymous survey of over 200 academics' 'grey uses' of GenAI ... researchwhisperer.org/2026/07/21/a...researchwhisperer.orgAcademic (mis)uses of GenAIThis second post by Neil Selwyn and his collaborators shares some of the preliminary results from their research survey, which was discussed in an RW post earlier this year ‘Academics’ … 03319
Reposted by Science SurfCheshire @thatsregrettab1.bsky.social · 18/07/2026“[@SpringerNature’s] Whitehead also says that, like many other publishers, she and her colleagues work closely with external sleuths who draw attention to problematic papers. “We find the work they do really valuable,” she says.” Via @retractionwatch.com’s Weekend Reads bit.ly/3T3p8KBresearchprofessionalnews.com‘Everything we catch is a huge win’: the rise of integrity specialists - Research Professional NewsPublishers have massively expanded their research integrity teams to combat fraud. Will it work? 12811
Reposted by Science SurfCarl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 15/07/2026Tim Harford writes about me in the Financial Times. He claims I think it’s hopeless for scientists to try to explain their work to the public. That’s false. I suspect link rot and Harford’s faulty memory are to blame. I’ll explain my actual view below. 🧪 1/10 giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...giftarticle.ft.comExplain it to me like I’m 10Simplifying how we explain complex concepts can lead to surprising benefits 512637
Reposted by Science SurfArvind Narayanan @randomwalker.bsky.social · 15/07/2026I had the honor of giving a keynote at the International Conference on Machine Learning last week. I addressed the widespread anxiety about how we should adapt as AI capabilities increase. I was thrilled by the talk’s reception, so I have made my slides available www.cs.princeton.edu/~arvindn/tal...cs.princeton.eduWhat will be left for us to work on?ICML 2026 invited keynote — slides and edited transcript, presented click-by-click as delivered. Arvind Narayanan, Princeton University. 613948
Reposted by Science SurfScience Integrity Alliance @sci-integrity.com · 15/07/2026The April–June 2026 issue of REACH is now live! 🎉 🔗 www.sci-integrity.com/reach Our special coverage takes you inside the 9th World Conference on Research Integrity in Vancouver, where 700+ people from 57 countries met to confront the forces reshaping how science is done and trusted. 🧵 1/7 103
Science Surf @wjst.de · 14/07/2026paulkrugman.substack.com/p/oligarchy-...paulkrugman.substack.comOligarchy in Action: The Case of Corporate Tax CutsHow big money trumps the people’s will — and how to reclaim democracy 000
Reposted by Science SurfEdward Hopper @edwardhopper.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Chop Suey (1929) captures interwar cosmopolitanism and modern emotional distance: two women talk, detached, while a couple behind sits in silence. The public solitude contrasts with the restaurant’s vivid color, sharpening the isolation. 09115
Science Surf @wjst.de · 14/07/2026The most spectacular 2026 retraction? www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/... 011
Reposted by Science SurfSaloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 11/07/2026I just fulfilled my annual pledge today by donating 21% of my income this year to clean water projects in DRC and Somalia. The biggest aid cuts took place over a year ago, but because of runways & emergency bridge funding, some of the worst effects are still to come. We can help reduce them.scientificdiscovery.devWe don't have to sit back and just watch the horror unfoldThis month, I signed a pledge to donate at least 10% of my lifetime income to effective charities. 113823
Science Surf @wjst.de · 11/07/2026Something I always suspected but couldn‘t prove: immoral behavior in scientific environments is contagious journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...journals.plos.orgSocial learning dynamically shapes moral decision-making by biasing subjective valuationObserving others’ immoral behavior can increase one’s own dishonesty, but the neurocomputational mechanisms driving this moral contagion remain unclear. This study shows that cheating increases in dis... 010