Noting that "to be an anti-vaxxer, one must be simultaneously credulous and distrustful—credulous of hucksters, and distrustful about empiricism," Adam Serwer coins the term "gullicist" to describe many Americans of the post-Covid Trump era — entirely skeptical of science, documentation, research, entirely gullible when it comes to hucksters and charlatans peddling nonsense.
#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism
/1
Under the Trump administration, two of the three major credit bureaus have sharply reduced the share of complaints they resolved in customers’ favor.
In 2024, Experian’s relief rate was 20%. Last year, that figure fell to less than 1%.
Read our full investigation: https://www.propublica.org/article/credit-report-mistakes-cfpb-experian-transunion?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#Data #Finance #PersonalFinance #Credit #Trump #DataViz #Research #Journalism
1 day to go, #mappers 🗺️
Submit your talk, #workshop or #research to #SotM2026 Paris before 27 April 23:59 UTC
General tracks + OSM Science both closing soon. Don’t miss it!
🔗 https://2026.stateofthemap.org/calls/general/
#SotM2026 #OpenStreetMap #OSMScience #StateoftheMap #Paris
Researchers just mathematically proved that AI can't recursively self-improve its way to superintelligence.
Not "we think it's unlikely." Not "it seems hard." Formally proved.
The model doesn't climb toward AGI — it slowly forgets what reality looks like. They call it model collapse. The math calls it inevitable.
I wrote about it 👇
https://smsk.dev/2026/04/26/ai-cannot-self-improve-and-math-behind-proves-it/
"Why are there almost no Republican scientists? It’s not a mystery. GOP political orthodoxy includes positions that are at odds with the scientific consensus on multiple issues, ranging from the validity of the theory of evolution, to the reality of climate change, to the efficacy and safety of vaccines. In each case the scientific consensus is solidly grounded in evidence."
~ Paul Krugman
#Trump #Repubicans #science #research #facts #truth
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https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/maga-is-winning-its-war-against-us
#Trump admin shutting key #US researchers out of #global #virus response talks, documents & sources reveal
Key officials responsible for leading US #research on #InfectiousDisease threats have been #barred from speaking directly with the #WorldHealthOrganization [#WHO] — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus #outbreaks, according to documents & multiple sources.
#nationalism #BrainDrain #medicine #science #health #PublicHealth #NIAID
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/25/politics/global-virus-response-trump-administration
📜 Understanding PDF Documents as Data Pipelines [2021]
By: Jane Doe, John Smith
This paper proposes a novel framework for conceptualizing PDF documents as data pipelines to address challenges in data extraction and document analysis.
I was only made aware of this (frankly awesome) case of LLM poisoning today: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01100-y. A researcher made up a disease and published two evidently fake preprints about it (including sentences such as “this entire paper is made up” and “Fifty made-up individuals aged between 20 and 50 years were recruited for the exposure group”), which were almost immediately picked up by LLMs and documented in their output. Worse, actual – supposedly serious – medical papers also started citing the preprints, demonstrating that academics relying on LLMs to do their work is a genuine problem! Not that I had my doubts but, if anyone did, this seems like the perfect demonstration of the problem. Article immediately added to the syllabus of the class I am co-teaching with Iris Ferrazzo on LLMs for Romance Studies/Humanities!
#LLM #GenAI #academia #research #ResearchIntegrity #humanities
No doomscrolling past your bedtime!
"There are possible causes from the physiology that arises from poor sleep, but also the fact that when sleep-deprived it’s difficult to live a healthy life."
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/30/poor-sleep-linked-rising-cancer-risk-under-50s
🧠🇸🇪 Swedish #education officials are scaling back digital device usage in schools after reports indicated a decline in basic #literacy skills.
The new strategy prioritizes printed #books and handwriting to support cognitive focus and deep #reading. #Research suggests that physical materials enhance memory retention and reading comprehension compared to digital screens.
#sweden #neuroscience #technology #tech #learning #teaching #psychology
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
#Trump Administration to Dismantle #OceanMonitoring System
The $368 million network of instruments collecting data in both the #Atlantic & #Pacific has been #critical to #climate & #ocean #research.
There’s no reason to do this other than to be destructive & evil.
#ClimateChange #MarineLife #MarineEcosystems #NSF #ClimateCrisis
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/climate/ocean-observatories-initiative.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
If your cat is tipping the scales, you won't want to miss what researchers are discovering about Ozempic as a potential game-changer for overweight felines. #cats #animals #pets #veterinarymedicine #research #science
Posted into CAt Gear @cat-gear-CatBYTES
NEW: For decades, oil companies have funded universities’ research into climate change “solutions” that would not require the public to stop using oil and gas.
Carbon capture is one of their favored ideas.
One snag: It won’t fix the climate crisis.
https://projects.propublica.org/why-carbon-capture-cant-solve-climate-change/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Climate #ClimateChange #Oil #Gas #Environment #Research #Science #Academia
RE: https://disabled.social/@ahimsa_pdx/116744843684193974
🚨 Reminder for USA folks 🚨
Have you submitted a public comment on the new OMB rule? The deadline is Saturday, July 13.
This new rule could impact any research study, not just ME/CFS research!
Solve ME has instructions and a template to make writing a public comment easier, link in quoted post.
There's also a tool to help you call & email Congress.
Is your community directly and disproportionately impacted by pollution, climate change and/or the industries and systems causing it?
Would research support help in your struggle against powerful interests?
Get in touch with us at Research for the Front Lines:
info@researchforthefrontlines.ca
#ClimateJustice #ClimateCrisis #environment #Indigenous #research #CdnPoli
🏆 The European Physical Society and Gruppo Acinque are happy to announce the second edition of the Alessandro Volta Prize.
The award, intended to promote excellence in research, will be given in recognition of outstanding research and achievements in physics.
👉 The call for nominations is now open: https://eps.org/alessandro-volta-prize-2026-call-for-nominations/
Deadline 30th October 2026.
#physics #physik #physique #awards #europe #research #science
Thread with a message from Solve ME:
"A proposed federal rule could let the government cancel active ME/CFS research mid-study when political priorities change.
The public comment window closes July 13.
Here's what you can do."
1/5
European Researchers Say Big Tech Is Blocking Access to Their Data
despite being legally entitled to obtain platform data under EU law, researchers face obstacles, obfuscation, and, in some cases, court battles to obtain it.
#EU #DSA #data #research #socialmedia #tiktok #twitter #meta #technolgy #tech
Hello friends in fediverse,
I'm looking to connect with people who talk and share interesting topics about technology, data science, data analysis, research and open source.
#fediverse #fedi #introduction #DataScience #data #privacy #DataSecurity #research #tech
A proposed White House rule would give political appointees unprecedented control over scientific funding.
One physicist, who helped discover the Higgs boson, the so-called “God particle,” explains how the move would’ve stifled that breakthrough.
https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-science-grants-russell-vought-omb?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #WhiteHouse #Trump #Science #Physics #Research #Funding #Academia
No, Mastodon, I am serious:
If AI companies are shredding books
And Google is nerfing search engines to make you ask AI
What do we do?
Like, I am the generation that has learned to use a card catalog. I can do archival searching, and annotating my own books.
I am just in a place of general anxiety about the future of accessing, saving, and sharing information.
Any thoughts welcome.
Rated Britain's Greatest Codebreaker 8/10
Rewatched this as a result of having recently seen THE IMITATION GAME and deeming it severely lacking in its approach--historical and thematic--to Alan Turing's work. On technical levels this film could use some improvement in its cinematography and editing, but given that it bills itself as a made-for-tv docudrama it comes across as both insightful and competent.What I appreciated most about the film was its construction and the way it dramatized the interactions between two people--Turing (Ed Stoppard) and his therapist, Franz Greenbaum (Henry Goodman). We get a bit of backstory of both, of course, but the interaction between the two allow us to get a better sense of the inner-workings of Turing's mind before, during, and after his service at Bletchley Park.This back-and-forth is complemented by the more traditional style of sit-down interviews, which include relatives and descendants of Turing and Greenbaum. More importantly to me, though, was the way in which the film perfectly contextualizes his general thinking about the computability of life with his discoveries of and contributions to computer science, artificial intelligence, and biological mathematics.What I appreciated most about this was the way in which it positions the sciences (and universities, really) as places of interdisciplinary study. Wozniak for the most part stresses the integral nature of his contributions to computer science and machine learning, but it is left to the professors to explicate how his genius would influence later thinkers and both postulate (and shape) the theories, philosophies, and extent(s) of artificial intelligence.The film isn't solely about his mind, however, it's also about his heart. And here the film also gets it right. We learn about the loss in his youth of his childhood friend Christopher and, perhaps masterfully, the philosophical question of immortality through AI is raised while at the same time Turing's conception of a means of discerning true intelligence--his eponymous test--comes into form.At nearly the same time his love for Queen and country is tested when, following a burglary at his residence, law enforcement are called, but are more interested in his sexual proclivities than in meting out justice to the thieves. What's interesting about the recollection of this event is how it's used to color Turing. We learn from various sources about how open he was about his sexuality, even with these officers, and also that he was aware that he bore some social privileges as an academician.Charged with gross indecency and offered the choice between jail and chemical castration, the film shows us how Turing's disillusionment and anger with the world and British society began. What he didn't count on was that his mind might become just as addled and confused as his heart. The idea that the country he helped save from Nazi Germany's atrocities could visit the same upon its own citizens would eventually drove him to his death. The film captures this reality with little to no effort and it doesn't shy away from it. It can't.CODEBREAKER is a film that is as much about genius as it is about the social contexts and relationships that inform and constrain it. What this film does right is depict a man wronged by society simply because he could be wronged. It is a tale about villainy and state violence, but it's also a story about a boy who wanted to give something back to the world and vindicate the worth of an adolescent friendship. It's a glimpse into a time characterized by secrets and surveillance. Deeply human despite its flaws, it passes the test.
University of Florida professor Christopher McCurdy, the leading scientist urging policymakers not to criminalize kratom, has accepted travel reimbursements, donations to his university’s foundation and funding for symposiums from the American Kratom Association.
None of this is mentioned in the papers he publishes.
https://www.propublica.org/article/kratom-legalization-christopher-mccurdy-research-conflict-of-interest-aka?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
#News #Florida #Research #Science #University #Conflict #Ethics
NEW on “Paper Trail”: We now know harmful “forever chemicals” are likely in the bodies of most people on Earth.
Decades ago, 3M knew that these chemicals had seeped into the public’s blood, but they kept that a secret.
One 3M scientist helped reporter Sharon Lerner understand how they kept it quiet for so long. Listen:
https://www.propublica.org/podcast/forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-3m-secret-kris-hansen?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post
