banner
LightNews
schwessinger.bsky.social
The Tattooed Professor
@schwessinger.bsky.social
3K followers 2.6K following 240 posts
Professor at the Australian National University. Biosecurity, fungal and plant genomics, evolution, and biochemistry. Dad. Swimming, reading, nature.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
roeyangel.bsky.social
Roey Angel @roeyangel.bsky.social · 1d
📣 New PhD student position opening in my lab!
Soils are full of microbes, but how many are active?
Surprisingly, we still lack reliable methods to answer this.
If you are interested in microbial dormancy and are fascinated by the Alps and glacier forefields, contact me.
🏔️ 🦠 💤 🧬 🎓
The team at our research site in the alps
2 44 39
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 21h
What could burst the AI bubble? As tech firms soar in value, there are now warnings of a possible rapid correction due to concerns about how realistic such valuations actually are www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
What could burst the AI bubble?
As tech firms soar in value, there are now warnings of a possible rapid correction due to concerns about how realistic such valuations actually are
www.rte.ie
2 1
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
justinhendrix.bsky.social
Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 1d
The push to maximize productivity is at the heart of the current rush to adopt AI, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Eryk Salvaggio, but that doesn’t mean it’s useful. “On a social scale, productivity gains that don’t lead to pay raises, or lead to layoffs, are not productivity gains at all.”
Generative AI’s Productivity Myth | TechPolicy.Press
People may be using artificial intelligence, but that doesn’t mean it’s useful, writes Eryk Salvaggio.
www.techpolicy.press
2 18 48
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
mcmullan0.bsky.social
Mark McMullan @mcmullan0.bsky.social · 1d
PhD studentship
Come help us understand the wheat rhizosphere at the Earlham Institute 🦠

Working at the interface of fungal antagonists & pathogens (@rowenahill.bsky.social @neilhall.bsky.social ), host genetic diversity (Simon Griffiths -JIC) and bacterial community diversity (Jacob Malone -JIC)
Combatting wheat take-all disease with in-field and synthetic microbial communities
www.earlham.ac.uk
1 19 21
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
unenthusiast.com
Marjorie James Keenan @unenthusiast.com · 2d
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

rm -rf ~/
hammancheez.bsky.social
hammancheez @hammancheez.bsky.social · 2d
"The chancellor approved it"
tyranny.sparklenoise.com
🫧 Spark Elation 🫧 @tyranny.sparklenoise.com · 2d
In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

“a supply chain attack”
360 78 650
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
davidpocock.bsky.social
David Pocock @davidpocock.bsky.social · 3d
The Albanese govt’s first term was the second most secretive on record.

Rather than changing their ways, they’re doubling down and tightening our FOI system to make it even harder to get information. Not a single expert or member of parliament outside of the Labor party has backed their new bill.
25 210 470
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
science.org
Science Magazine @science.org · 3d
“We can continue accelerating toward an AI-powered future that amplifies existing inequities, or we can deliberately steer toward one that increases prospects for shared global prosperity,” writes Chinasa T. Okolo in a new #ScienceExpertVoices article. https://scim.ag/46JkNka
3 23 71
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 3d
AI 🤝 fascism
hypervisible.blacksky.app
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 3d
The administration “is currently pressuring OpenAI and other AI companies to make their models more conservative-friendly.”
OpenAI is trying to clamp down on ‘bias’ in ChatGPT
GPT-5 is better at resisting liberal ‘pressure,’ the company says.
www.theverge.com
1 11 38
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
biblioracle.bsky.social
John Warner @biblioracle.bsky.social · 4d
I strongly urge everyone to not just read this warning from @marcwatkins.bsky.social, but heed it, and be vocal and forceful pushing back against using AI to grade student writing. This must be anathema if we're going to have a world where learning means something. substack.com/inbox/post/1...
The Dangers of using AI to Grade
Nobody Learns, Nobody Gains
substack.com
7 130 280
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
gekido.bsky.social
Mike W @gekido.bsky.social · 4d
so Google just added a bunch (more) AI bullshit to Chrome

Go through these steps to disable it:

opus.ing/posts/how-to...

#chrome #aibullshit
How to Remove AI From Your Google Chrome Experience - Opus
Follow these steps to resist the AI-pocalypse in your everyday web browsing.
opus.ing
40 1.1K 1.4K
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
keithfrankish.com
Keith Frankish @keithfrankish.com · 3d
I think AI could, in principle, be ethical and a force for good. It could be used to assist and empower people in ways that are responsive their needs and wishes. But as it's currently owned, developed, employed, and promoted, well, this is spot on.
michaelspicer.bsky.social
Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 3d
stop thinking right now
4 4 19
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
plantenzo.bsky.social
Femke de Jong @plantenzo.bsky.social · 5d
Do you know how to distinguish between a protein or a gene, sole based on the style or typeface it is written in? If you are not so sure todays post is for you.
aboutacademicwritingandzo.substack.com/p/is-it-a-ge...

#AcademicWriting #Jargon
Is it a gene or a protein?
Today I like to talk about you distinguish between a gene or a protein, and between a wild type version and a mutant or allelic version.
aboutacademicwritingandzo.substack.com
2 1
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social
Carolyn Bertozzi @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social · 5d
My HPLC was definitely overlooked

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery
The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality.
www.nature.com
20 57 300
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
gittacoaker.bsky.social
Gitta Coaker @gittacoaker.bsky.social · 5d
FRET sensor for SA developed. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance
Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone that orchestrates immune responses against pathogens, including Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The timing and extent of SA accumulation are tightly controlled...
www.science.org
1 22 41
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
clauswilke.com
Claus Wilke @clauswilke.com · 7d
Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...
We still can’t predict much of anything in biology
Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com
5 60 150
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
getwired.com
Wes Miller @getwired.com · 5d
1 32 120
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
eliothiggins.bsky.social
Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 5d
Big presence on the beaches of Normandy in 1944 too.
premthakker.bsky.social
Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 6d
From Donald Trump's Roundtable on Antifa just now —
"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."
— special guest Jack Posobiec
40 390 1.5K
schwessinger.bsky.social
The Tattooed Professor @schwessinger.bsky.social · 6d
Must be at least 100 years old that girlfriend.
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
tryangregory.bsky.social
T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 6d
🫧

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really?
Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?
www.nature.com
1 11 18
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
corriemoreau.bsky.social
Corrie Moreau @corriemoreau.bsky.social · 25d
UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
ecoevojobs.net 2025-26
docs.google.com
3 220 230
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
rorinstitute.bsky.social
Research on Research Institute (RoRI) @rorinstitute.bsky.social · 7d
“Using metrics to assess researchers can be ‘very dodgy terrain,’” says @jameswilsdon.bsky.social.

Great overview of how research assessment is changing worldwide in @nature.com , featuring recent work by RoRI with the Global Research Council: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
1 10 15
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
rmounce.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Ross Mounce @rmounce.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 7d
I think scholarslop might be my new favourite word https://stunlaw.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-coming-threat-of-algorithmic-idea.html?m=1

HT @Samuelmoore
Scholarslop: The Dangers of an Algorithmic Idea of the University
Understanding digital media, technology, theory, culture and society.
stunlaw.blogspot.com
1 7 7
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
thesiswhisperer.bsky.social
Thesiswhisperer @thesiswhisperer.bsky.social · 7d
Can you help us boost this signal? UTS colleagues are doing a governance project to talk back to the consultant led 'reform' of their university.

Please repost!! UTS people please have your say!

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
UTS Governance Project Survey: A Staff-Led Collaborative Project
The UTS Governance Project is an independent, staff-led initiative to strengthen transparency, accountability and participation in how our university is run. Inspired by the ANU Governance Project, ...
docs.google.com
18 14
Reposted by The Tattooed Professor
markrubin.bsky.social
Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 9d
New analysis by The Australia Institute finds the Australian National University has a $90 million surplus, not a $142 million deficit!
The ANU’s hidden $90m budget surplus
New analysis by The Australia Institute reveals there is no financial crisis at the Australian National University.
australiainstitute.org.au
1 5 16
schwessinger.bsky.social
The Tattooed Professor @schwessinger.bsky.social · 8d
Yes!
2