Author | Lightnews

Lori Palen

@loripalen.bsky.social

390 followers 320 following 210 posts

Research communicator, social scientist, crafter, gardener, reader, board game enthusiast, wife, mom to humans and cats and dog, fan of social justice and the Oxford comma datasoapbox.com

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Nov 20

I tend to get on my soapbox about research communication. Sometimes I blog about it. Here's a thread with my Top 10 blog posts from the past year, according to Google clicks. #SciComm #dataviz

10. A review of the great baseball infographic book, Flip Flop Fly Ball: datasoapbox.com/book-review-...

Book Review: Flip Flop Fly Ball - Data Soapbox

Sports geekery meets dataviz geekery in Flip Flop Fly Ball: An Infographic Baseball Adventure by artist and illustrator Craig Robinson. As a baseball fan and research communicator, this book has been ...

datasoapbox.com

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Reposted by Lori Palen

Accessibility Awareness @a11yawareness.bsky.social · 6d

When possible, use simple and familiar data visualization techniques. Complex data visualizations can be visually appealing, but they can also be more difficult to understand. If a visualization gets overly complex, consider alternate chart types for the sake of understanding.

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · 9d

What lessons from YOUR grade school days do you still use in your job? I talk about three of mine in my latest blog post: datasoapbox.com/lessons-from...

Lessons From My Grade School Writing - Data Soapbox

As I’ve mentioned previously, when I was a kid, I liked to write. Recently, I was reflecting on the quality and kinds of writing I did as a kid, and I realized that some lessons I learned back then th...

datasoapbox.com

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · 16d

Important information about screen readers!

Accessibility Awareness @a11yawareness.bsky.social · 16d

Screen readers are software applications that convert on-screen content into audio, reading aloud what’s displayed on your laptop or mobile screen. In this blog post, @tetralogical.com debunks common myths about screen readers.

tetralogical.com/blog/2025/10...

Common misconceptions about screen readers - TetraLogical

Screen readers are familiar to many in digital, but how they work in practice can be less clear. In this post, we shed some light on the topic.

tetralogical.com

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · 16d

Over recent years, charts and graphs in data reports have improved a LOT. But graphs in academic journals are still pretty rough. Here's my take on the two ways to improve them: datasoapbox.com/quick-journa...

A Quick Journal Graph Revamp - Data Soapbox

Recently, a colleague asked if I could provide examples of good data visualizations to share with an academic research center. Thanks to widespread education and evangelism, there are many good (or, a...

datasoapbox.com

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · 23d

What's a data object, and why are they innovative as hell?! Check out today's blog post! datasoapbox.com/book-review-... Edited by @cybunk.bsky.social @tnagel.bsky.social Lora Oehlberg & Wesley Willett, featuring projects by @dietoff.bsky.social @flowingdata.com @kimsauve.bsky.social & many others!

Book Review: Making with Data - Data Soapbox

If you’ve been around Ye Olde Blog for a while, you may have seen me geek out about data art. So, when I heard about Making with Data (MWD), I had to check it out.* MWD features more than 25 physical ...

datasoapbox.com

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Reposted by Lori Palen

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · Aug 13

Related to our previous post- if you had a grant terminated, Pro Publica wants to hear from you. Your work was funded because it was good, important science meant to help Americans. Reach out, and make your voice heard.

www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...

Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You.

The National Institutes of Health is canceling grants that are seen as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities. We want to hear from researchers who have been affected.

www.propublica.org

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Aug 12

This is the first I've seen it (and it didn't show up when I was doing similar work last week)!

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Aug 12

OMG, did Office implement a color accessibility checker in the past week?!?!

Color picker window indicating whether text and background have good color contrast

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Jul 22

Thanks for the feature, @boldjourney.com.web.brid.gy! boldjourney.com/meet-lori-pa...

Meet Lori Palen - Bold Journey Magazine

We recently connected with Lori Palen and have shared our conversation below. Lori, so many

boldjourney.com

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Jun 23

Thanks so much to @bunsenbernerbmd.bsky.social (and Dad Guy, Jason) for having me on the latest episode of the Science Pawdcast! Check it out to learn more about some cool paint, furry strategies to prevent work rage, and science communication! bunsenbernerbmd.buzzsprout.com/413041/episo...

Episode 19 Season 7: Cooling Paints, Anger Management, and Dr. Lori Palen with Data Soap Box - The Science Pawdcast

Innovations in science are making daily life better through passive cooling paint and insights into pet interactions. In the Science News section we explore technologies that could transform how ...

bunsenbernerbmd.buzzsprout.com

Reposted by Lori Palen

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

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Reposted by Lori Palen

Neil Renic @ncrenic.bsky.social · Jun 18

I am once again pitching my romantic comedy:

- two academics start dating
- discover they are each other's terrible reviewer
- hijinks ensue

Working title: Love is Double-Blind

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Jun 15

And yay, W&M!! 💚💛

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Jun 4

Office assistant dozing on the job…

Small dog sleeping with his front half on a desk and back half on a lap

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 22

Yes! But one important thing to keep in mind is that, for scientists outside academia (and some within it), defunding = unemployment. It isn’t fair to expect scientists to forge ahead for the greater good when they can’t feed their families.

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 22

Among others, my 10-year-old needle-hater is going to be pissed!

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · May 22

This is absolutely terrible news.

With the shifting regulatory climate (i.e., antivax ratfuckery), Moderna has withdrawn their application for their eagerly anticipated COVID-flu combo vaccine. This vaccine offered better protection than getting each shot separately.

h/t @merz.bsky.social

Moderna withdraws application for COVID-flu combination vaccine

Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate after discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

www.reuters.com

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 17

I hope this comes to the US soon!

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 14

Dataviz + fashion? Love!! from @reuters.com www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...

Why Met Gala looks have gotten bigger and bolder

A look back at red carpet pictures from the mid-1990s to 2024 shows how exaggerated outfits have become a hallmark of the event.

www.reuters.com

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 13

For presentations, Garr Reynolds uses the analogy of a bento box. If you eat one, you’re left (pleasantly) about 80% full…rather than eating so much that you need to unbutton your pants! 😁

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Reposted by Lori Palen

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · May 4

It is a little weird to me countries aren’t more aggressively, formally trying to take advantage of the U.S. science brain drain. Once in a lifetime opportunity to buy low on Non-Dumbass Americans with PhDs who just wanna look into microscopes and quietly cure ass cancer as our country eats shit.

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Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · May 2

I enjoyed workshopping with students from UNC’s Curriculum in Toxicology and Environmental Medicine (CiTEM) today! Pretty sure it was my first time with a skeleton in the audience. 💀

Projected presentation slide on creating effective graphical abstracts

A medical skeleton hanging in the corner of a classroom

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Apr 22

I agree, I really love Kitchen Garden Revival! Beautiful and practical. Groundbreaking Food Gardens and Starter Vegetable Gardens also offer great-looking options!

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Apr 19

Yeah, that wasn’t enough either: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congres...

Congressional baseball shooting - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Lori Palen @loripalen.bsky.social · Apr 15

Reposted by Lori Palen

Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · Apr 15

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

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