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ct_bergstrom

@ct_bergstrom@fediscience.org

I am a biology professor at the University of Washington. I study how information flows in biology, science, and society.

I wrote a book: Calling Bullshit: http://tinyurl.com/fdcuvd7b

I love ravens and crows.

he/him

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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I've seen the Northern Lights before, but never like this.

Snoqualmie Summit, WA

Northern lights: Reds and violets and pinks exploding over the trees with a background of stars.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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I just love this duck: a first-winter male common goldeneye from back in February.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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Yeah lots of bad shit going on but it's also gosling season.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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Next Wednesday, May 8th, I'll be speaking at Harvard's Berkman-Klein center on "Information Foraging in a Social Media World."

I believe the talk will also be streamed live for those not in the area.

https://cyber.harvard.edu/events/information-foraging-social-media-world

ct_bergstrom , to random
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Timeline cleanse.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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It's International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day, everybody. (h/t @neurovagrant and @Nonya_Bidniss )

Not kidding. No idea who gets to make these things up but I'm not complaining.

Anyway, to celebrate here's a caramel crow photo I've never posted before.

ct_bergstrom , to random
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There is losing your mind and then there is this. I don't even know what to call it.

https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat

“What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,” he said, after comparing his movement to those started by the biblical Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Theodor Herzl (“spiritual father” of the state of Israel), and Lee Kuan Yew (former authoritarian ruler of Singapore). Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. “And if you see another Gray on the street … you do the nod,” he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray.” The Grays’ shirts would feature “Bitcoin or Elon or other kinds of logos … Y Combinator is a good one for the city of San Francisco in particular.” Grays would also receive special ID cards providing access to exclusive, Gray-controlled sectors of the city. In addition, the Grays would make an alliance with the police department, funding weekly “policeman’s banquets” to win them over. “Grays should embrace the police, okay? All-in on the police,” said Srinivasan. “What does that mean? That’s, as I said, banquets. That means every policeman’s son, daughter, wife, cousin, you know, sibling, whatever, should get a job at a tech company in security.”
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    • ct_bergstrom , to random
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    By now many of you are probably well aware of the H5N1 "bird flu" epidemic sweeping through US dairy cattle.

    How on earth are we not deploying wastewater testing?

    Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/bird-flu-cow-outbreak.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nE0.54h4.DdDyUUQIVGKi&smid=url-share

    All this makes catching potential human cases so urgent. Dr. Bright says that given a situation like this, and the fact that undocumented farmworkers may not have access to health care, the government should be using every sophisticated surveillance technique, including wastewater testing, and reporting the results publicly. That is not happening. The C.D.C. says it is monitoring data from emergency rooms for any signs of an outbreak. By the time enough people are sick enough to be noticed in emergency rooms, it is almost certainly too late to prevent one.
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    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Every thing I think I have my head around what a shithole Florida is, they find a new way to shock me with their evil.

    Here, instead of helping inmates get back on their feet, they're charging them $50/day for the cell they would be occupying if they had not been granted early release.

    https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/i-team-investigates/pay-to-stay-florida-inmates-charged-for-prison-cells-long-after-incarceration

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    It's striking how often non-compete clauses are deployed in contracts for jobs that pay minimum wage, taking advantage of the massive power and information asymmetries between employer and employee to frighten employees out of seeking better wages.

    This statement from the FTC is exactly right.

    "If you want to retain your workers, pay them well and make the job not suck."

    Instead of using non-competes to lock in workers, the Commission finds that employers that wish to retain their workers can also compete on the merits for the worker’s labor services—i.e., they can provide a better job than competing employers by paying their workers more, offering them better hours or better working conditions, or otherwise improving the conditions or desirability of their employment. These are all viable tools for protecting human capital investments and other investments an employer may make that do not rely on suppressing competition.
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    • + Npars01
    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    When I think about what has happened with camera technology over the past quarter-century, I can't get my head around how it's possible to shoot a chestnut-backed chickadee at twilight at 1/100th second with a handheld 800mm lens.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    A beautiful red-naped sapsucker in southern New Mexico last month.

    Black and white bird with a bright red head and chin clinging to a pine trunk.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Golden hour is for rabbits too.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    For once this bushtit held still long enough for me to squeeze off a couple of frames.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Golden-crowned sparrow.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    1. I'm supposed to be finishing my taxes but I've got another four hours. So let's talk about an absolute disaster in the US science ecosystem.

    The NIH's BRAIN (Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) suffered catastrophic budget cuts—under Biden, no less—and now is unlikely to fund any new grants and will likely cut funding to existing grantees.

    https://braininitiative.nih.gov/news-events/blog/brain-director-funding-neuroscience-uncertain-budget-climate

    ct_bergstrom OP ,
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    1. To be clear, I don't have a horse in this race. I've never applied to this initiative and very much doubt I ever will.

    But this is literally a catastrophe for US science. It's bad not to fund this research, but what is so much worse is to create the perception it would be funded and then bail.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    A better view of the wild solar prominences during Monday's eclipse.

    (Quick hand-held shot with Nikon Z9 + Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 PF)

    Close-up of prominences.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Posted without comment from a recently published paleobiology paper.

    https://www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/wp-content/uploads/bulletin28_02.pdf

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Next up: Tesla's Autopilot is actually just some dude in India driving your car with a Playstation controller.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-just-walk-out-actually-1-000-people-in-india-2024-4?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=topbar

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Total solar eclipse, April 8 2024.
    Lake Champlain, Vermont.

    Photo is the full frame, completely unedited, straight out of the camera. (Except for a modest reduction in image dimensions necessary to post to fediscience.)

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Ravens, Santa Fe Ski Basin

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Vaccination saves lives and money in two ways.

    1. Directly reducing hospitalization and other health care costs in those vaccinated

    2. Reducing transmission and thereby protecting even the unvaccinated.

    Free COVID boosters would be an excellent public health investment.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/covid-boosters-are-a-gamechanger-if-they-are-free-for-everyone?CMP=share_btn_url

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Gorgeous dark-eyed junco at Santa Fe Ski Basin in New Mexico. So very different than the dark-eyed juncos here in Seattle.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    f you were a bluebird, you'd be a sad one....

    (Mountain bluebird, Valles Caldera, NM)

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    If you are asking about beautiful geese, here's the anser.

    Graylag geese (Anser anser) in Barcelona last month.

    ct_bergstrom OP ,
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    @loren Thank you for taking a gander at my post.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Another Elsevier paper with obvious AI-written text.

    “In summary, the management of bilateral iatrogenic I'm very sorry, but I don't have access to real-time information or patient-specific data, as I am an AI language model.”

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1930043324001298

    In summary, the management of bilateral iatrogenic I'm very sorry, but I don't have access to real-time information or patient-specific data, as I am an AI language model. I can provide general information about managing hepatic artery, portal vein, and bile duct injuries, but for specific cases, it is essential to consult with a medical professional who has access to the patient's medical records and can provide personalized advice. It is recommended to discuss the case with a hepatobiliary surgeon or a multidisciplinary team experienced in managing complex liver injuries.

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Partially disenshittify google:

    https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-to-get-more-accurate-google-search-results

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    A long shot but let's try.

    When I was photographing birds with a very long lens on the empty beach south of 's airport, this magnificent gentleman waved to me, pointed to himself, and immediately struck a pose. I fired off this frame, we shared a laugh from 50m apart, and went on our respective ways.

    I'd love to get it to him. Anyone know him?

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Science can be really fun.

    Baseball fans will delight in a new preprint from
    @kordinglab, entitled "Bayesball: Bayesian Integration in Professional Baseball Batters", in which the authors look at the launch angles of over a million contacted MLB pitches.

    https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.12.511934v1

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    It takes, er....big balls, and lots of them, to publish AI generated nonsense art in a scientific paper.

    Also I don't ever want to hear that Frontiers is not a predatory publisher.

    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcell.2023.1339390/full

    "Scientifc" drawing: internal anatomical view of a rat with one ginormous testicle and three smaller ones, attached to what appears to be a truly monstrous member extending upward into the aether. Three subpanels with dissection of testes. Labels are nonsense text: "senctolic stem cells", "testomcells", "iollottee sserotgomar cell", "spermatocial stem cells", etc.
    ALT
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    • + jpGattuso
    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    Yes, this brings the CDC guidelines for COVID into line with guidelines for RSV and influenza.

    It's not just that is COVID more severe. The guidelines for RSV and influenza are not right either. We need universal paid sick leave, not permission to return to work while still contagious.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/health/covid-isolation-cdc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VU0.jViR.n7R1fvDM_WEv&smid=url-share

    ct_bergstrom , to random
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    From this time last year, an eagle in the rainy predawn twilight of Sitka, Alaska.

    ct_bergstrom OP ,
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    An hour later....

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