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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 24m

Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Record leap in CO2 fuels fears of accelerating global heating

CO2 in air hit new high last year, with scientists concerned natural land and ocean carbon sinks are weakening

www.theguardian.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 1h

Why burning food for land-hungry biofuels is fuelling the climate crisis

www.transportenvironment.org/articles/cro...

Burning food for land-hungry biofuels is fuelling the climate crisis

For the first time ever, Cerulogy, on behalf of T&E, looks at the global biofuels landscape today and what a growing market will look like in 2030.

www.transportenvironment.org

Reposted by Paula 🌹

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

2. the strange but often repeated cultish mantra that we need to "embrace the future" — this is so bizarre given, e.g. how destructive industry forces have proven to be in science, from petroleum to tobacco to pharmaceutical companies.

(Section 3.2 here doi.org/10.5281/zeno...)
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3.2 We do not have to ‘embrace the future’ & we can turn back the tide
It must be the sheer magnitude of [artificial neural networks’] incompetence that makes
them so popular.
Jerry A. Fodor (2000, p. 47)
Related to the rejection of expertise is the rejection of imagining a better future and the rejection
of self-determination free from industry forces (Hajer and Oomen 2025; Stengers 2018; van Rossum
2025). Not only AI enthusiasts, but even some scholars whose expertise concentrates on identifying
and critically interrogating ideologies and sociotechnical relationships — such as historians and gender scholars — unfortunately fall prey to the teleological belief that AI is an unstoppable force. They
embrace it because alternative responses seem too difficult, incompatible with industry developments,
or non-existent. Instead of falling for this, we should “refuse [AI] adoption in schools and colleges,
and reject the narrative of its inevitability.” (Reynoldson et al. 2025, n.p., also Benjamin 2016; Campolo and Crawford 2020; CDH Team and Ruddick 2025; Garcia et al. 2022; Kelly et al. 2025; Lysen
and Wyatt 2024; Sano-Franchini et al. 2024; Stengers 2018). Such rejection is possible and has historical precedent, to name just a few successful examples: Amsterdammers kicked out cars, rejecting
that cycling through the Dutch capital should be deadly. Organised workers died for the eight-hour
workday, the weekend and other workers’ rights, and governments banned chlorofluorocarbons from
fridges to mitigate ozone depletion in the atmosphere. And we know that even the tide itself famously
turns back. People can undo things; and we will (cf. Albanese 2025; Boztas 2025; Kohnstamm Instituut 2025; van Laarhoven and van Vugt 2025). Besides, there will be no future to embrace if we deskill
our students and selves, and allow the technology industry’s immense contributions to climate crisis

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Reposted by Paula 🌹

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
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Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues.

Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA).

Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe.

Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 22h

“They do this by creating a top-down form of politics where “the rulers control the ruled, rather than the other way around”. This managerial mode ultimately weakens democratic accountability, scrutiny and transparency.”

Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 22h

Why the rise of ‘cartel parties’ in Australia threatens our democracy

theconversation.com/why-the-rise...

Why the rise of ‘cartel parties’ in Australia threatens our democracy

When politicians act like managers rather than representatives, accountability, transparency and scrutiny suffer.

theconversation.com

Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 22h

Why the rise of ‘cartel parties’ in Australia threatens our democracy

theconversation.com/why-the-rise...

Why the rise of ‘cartel parties’ in Australia threatens our democracy

When politicians act like managers rather than representatives, accountability, transparency and scrutiny suffer.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Paula 🌹

Brianna Chesser @chessercat.bsky.social · 1d

Actual safety notice from my alma mater:

Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses being used exactly as everyone expected

The techbros are not okay (it’s a completely open campus…not all the buildings, obviously)

UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Office of Public Safety

Crime Safety Advisory:
Suspicious Occurrence Reported

Dear USF Community,

We want to make you aware of recent reports of a suspicious occurrence on and around campus. Multiple community members have reported contact from an individual, described as male and wearing Ray-Ban Meta sunglasses, who has approached women with unwanted comments and inappropriate dating questions. Reports indicate that this individual may be attempting to post these interactions online under the account name "pickuplines.pov" on TikTok, Instagram, and possibly other social media platforms.

While no threats or acts of violence have been reported, we want our community to stay informed and take steps to support one another.
If you encounter this individual or any suspicious activity:

Take immediate action to report the incident at the time it occurs by calling Public Safety Dispatch.
.

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 1d

‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns

Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns

Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus

www.theguardian.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 1d

For the first time, we linked a new fossil fuel project to hundreds of deaths. Here’s the impact of Woodside’s Scarborough gas project

theconversation.com/for-the-firs...

For the first time, we linked a new fossil fuel project to hundreds of deaths. Here’s the impact of Woodside’s Scarborough gas project

The results challenge claims that the climate risks posed by an individual fossil fuel project are negligible or cannot be quantified.

theconversation.com

Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 1d

Why Santos is behind your soaring electricity and mortgage costs

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

How a boardroom mistake in Adelaide 15 years ago cost you a fortune

It was a primary force behind Australia’s inflationary surge, it’s forced businesses either to the wall or to shift offshore, undermined national industry policy and resulted in the loss of countless ...

www.abc.net.au

Reposted by Paula 🌹

Hisham Zerriffi @hishamzerriffi.bsky.social · 2d

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

My students often ask what tech I think is the most promising for the energy transition. There is no silver bullet. But I do tell them that batteries and other energy storage solutions (and other energy carriers) are an exciting and important space

The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels

An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air battery facility is finally set to power up in 2026.

www.bbc.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 2d

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com

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Denise Shrivell @deniseshrivell.bsky.social · 5d

What???
They threw a former Wallabies Captain out of their Parliamentary sporting club because he spoke up about gambling!!!! What???
#auspol #4Corners > www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

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eX Citizen @snotrejected.bsky.social · 5d

They threw the sportsman out of their gambling club. It makes more sense like that.

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 7d

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead

Every name on a list compiled by health authorities in Gaza of the child victims of Israel’s offensive

www.theguardian.com

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 8d

There are some people whom the media has decided are "leading intellectuals", regardless of the views of their academic colleagues. Invariably they are people who justify - or at the very least do not challenge - economic power. Steven Pinker is a stand-out example.
www.monbiot.com/2018/03/09/c...

Contrary to Reason

Steven Pinker claims to champion Enlightenment values. But his latest book is an affront to them

www.monbiot.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 8d

Deloitte AI report: Firm admits to using AI in error-filled government report

www.afr.com/companies/pr...

Deloitte to refund government, admits using AI in $440k report

Deloitte will issue a partial refund to the government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a report littered with errors.

www.afr.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 8d

The Gaza flotilla gives us hope because we can see SOMEONE is doing SOMETHING!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Gaza flotilla gives us hope because we can see SOMEONE is doing SOMETHING! | First Dog on the Moon

It reminds us of what people can do even though we have not (yet) stopped the genocide

www.theguardian.com

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 9d

Australians overwhelmingly back sanctions on Israel, new poll finds

'Sizeable majority' of voters across political lines want Israel to end genocide in Gaza

www.deepcutnews.com/p/australian...

Australians overwhelmingly back sanctions on Israel, new poll finds

'Sizeable majority' of voters across political lines want Israel to end genocide in Gaza

www.deepcutnews.com

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Jason Thorne @jasonthorne.bsky.social · 9d

The Venn diagram of urban density and average household GHG emissions is pretty much a circle. Interesting study on “Mapping household GHG emissions in the Greater Golden Horseshoe” from the University of Toronto School of Cities schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/mapping-hous...

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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 9d

In light of the National Climate Risk Assessment, surely our governments have a responsibility to address Australia’s contribution to climate change, writes Professor Nicholas J. Talley AC insightplus.mja.com.au/2025/39/figh...

Fighting for our health in the wake of the National Climate Risk Assessment - InSight+

In light of the National Climate Risk Assessment, surely our governments have a responsibility to address Australia’s contribution to climate change, writes Professor Nicholas J. Talley AC. The recent...

insightplus.mja.com.au

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Jo VanEvery @jovanevery.bsky.social · 10d

Good things. 🧵

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 10d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

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Paula 🌹 @paularose.bsky.social · 10d

EAT-Lancet 2025: Global food transformation needed to ease pressure on the planet and save millions of lives

www.stockholmresilience.org/research/res...

EAT-Lancet 2025: Global food transformation needed to ease pressure on the planet and save millions of lives

Five of the seven breached planetary boundaries are linked to food systems. By transforming production and adopting a “planetary health diet,” we can halve food-related climate emissions and prevent m...

www.stockholmresilience.org

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The Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 10d

Not just that you will be punished for standing up for the oppressed, but that you will be ritually humiliated and made an example of.
Hello, world?

ed @macaulaybalkan.bsky.social · 10d

The word I keep grasping at these days is ‘impunity’

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The Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 11d

You said it, Ronni.

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