Brigitte Nerlich

@bnerlich.bsky.social

2.3K followers 520 following 8.2K posts

Metaphor hunter, linguist, social scientist, blogger

blog: https://makingsciencepublic.com/
also sorted into categories at https://wakelet.com/@bnerlich
ORCID: 0000-0001-6617-7827

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Psychology 23%

Communication & Media Studies 23%

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Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · Nov 17

So, I have created a starter pack for people interested in #metaphor. I bet I left a lot of people out. Please let me know if you want to be added. go.bsky.app/DvxejFX

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 4h

Oh I was just about to read your post, now I will!

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 5h

exactly!!!!

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 6h

Science and culture.....

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 9h

Last week I wrote a blog post on the Moltbook spectacle of 'autonomous' 'AI' 'agents', which nobody read. So I have now turned it into a podcast with NotebookLM so that nobody can listen to it. It's quite fun though. You can find it at the top of blog post makingsciencepublic.com/2026/02/13/m...

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Steve Peers, Margot C. Finn

Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 1d

Since a handful of hate filled people protested outside RNLI HQ yesterday because they're angry that crews don't discriminate in their rescues and work to save all lives at sea you might want to show your support with a one off or regular donation.

rnli.org/pages/ig/new...

Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea

Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.

rnli.org

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, David Stott

Matthew Collins @matthewcollins.bsky.social · 1d

The Bronze Age vs The AI Age
1/ Can archaeology predict the future of Big Tech?

Economists usually look back 50-150 years; archaeologists look back further.
When you look at the Bronze Age Collapse (c. 1200 BCE), are there any parallels to our current AI trajectory?
#AI #TechHistory #Archaeology

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks, I'll try that!

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d

Wow, why isn't that done yet!?

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 1d

I have tried to keep up with AI/LLMs as an emerging technology. But for the life of me, I don't understand AI agents. There is talk about social, reasoning etc. agents, agentic systems etc. Are there any #scicomm people out there who could do some good old 'filling people's knowledge gaps' stuff??

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Brigitte Nerlich

Fabian Wittmers @academic-integrity.bsky.social · 1d

I was recently interviewed by German journalist Florian Sturm about my sleuthing work for a podcast episode: www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/urn:...
(it's unfortunately only available in German language)

Podcast: Massenhaft Fake-Studien durch KI (2) - So arbeiten Wissenschaftsdetektive

KI macht es Paper Mills leichter denn je, wissenschaftliche Arbeiten zu fälschen. Immer wieder werden solche Fake-Studien veröffentlicht - auch weil die Prüfmechanismen an ihre Grenzen stoßen. Doch es...

www.ardaudiothek.de

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Stefan C. Aykut

Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 1d

PM Tusk:

Some say that Ukraine should be grateful for everything.
The truth is exactly the opposite. The rest of us should be grateful to Ukraine.

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

ok, but stock brokers do late shifts.... but that's stretching it :)

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

me too

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

taxis :)

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

I have been charting the linguistic and cultural framing of emerging tech from Dolly the Sheep onwards. This week's post is about Moltbook, a social networking platform for AI agents which was a bit of a viral sensation makingsciencepublic.com/2026/02/13/m... #AI #metaphor #AIMetaphorObservatory

Moltbook: Snapshots of a metaphorical firework

In late January 2026, a social network appeared where only AIs could post and within days, the internet had responded with an explosion of parodies, panic, and metaphors that revealed as much about…

makingsciencepublic.com

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Gavin A. Schmidt

Sean Sublette @subletteweather.com · 2d

Today from my professional society, the @ametsoc.org:

"The repeal of the [EPA] Endangerment Finding does not alter the central unambiguous scientific conclusion: The climate change that people are causing threatens human lives and well-being."

Full statement:

www.ametsoc.org/ams/about-am...

A Response to the Decision to Rescind EPA's 2009 Endangerment Finding

The AMS is a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service.

www.ametsoc.org

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

Wow, I have just seen this chapter, which should be of interest to linguists, metaphor analysts and critical AI scholars - a comparative study of AI metaphors in English and Italian!! #AIMetaphorObservatory
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1....

AI Through a Bilingual Lens: Unveiling Metaphors in Italian and English AI Discourses

This chapter proposes a comparative study of metaphors used in Artificial Intelligence (AI) discourse in both Italian and English, uncovering how linguistic and cultural differences shape public and a...

link.springer.com

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 2d

I remember that! makingsciencepublic.com/2018/11/26/b...

Blueprint, a broken metaphor?

Three things came together that made me write this post: observing an increased discussion of the blueprint metaphor in genetics and genomics around the publication of a book called Blueprint, read…

makingsciencepublic.com

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

It really is a lovely article and it ends up exploring a new language-based #metaphor! Great stuff!!

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

I love that article!

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

oh metaphor as 'a third way of knowing' - I like that!!! (at about 1.21 in)

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

I think you are right and it's nice

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich

Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 3d

Myth of the Genetic Blueprint - Life isn’t constructed along pre-drawn plans. It grows. pioneerworks.org/broadcast/ge... - Super article by the always on-point @elisecutts.bsky.social

Myth of the Genetic Blueprint | Broadcast

Life isn't constructed along pre-drawn plans. It grows.

pioneerworks.org

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

I am glad, especially as it's coming from you!😀

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, it just occurred to me that this decade-old post on 'carbon pollution' might be of interest makingsciencepublic.com/2015/08/06/c...

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

In this week's post I finally catch up with #Moltbook in my quest to hunt for #AI #metaphors and cultural framing makingsciencepublic.com/2026/02/13/m...

Moltbook: Snapshots of a metaphorical firework

makingsciencepublic.com

Brigitte Nerlich @bnerlich.bsky.social · 3d

One should write something about revoke, refuse, retract etc in science. But what grated on me was that an 'administration' 'revoked'....without good reason it seems

Reposted by Brigitte Nerlich, Catriona Seth

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 3d

Foreign languages help children decode English says @susiedentwords.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/article/4730...

Susie Dent: Foreign languages help children decode English

Britain’s best-loved wordsmith cautions against the decline in the study of French and German — try our quiz to test your knowledge of etymology

www.thetimes.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Brigitte Nerlich

Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 3d

Today’s action “is a rejection of the most basic laws of physics”, says #climate scientist Friederike Otto.

I report on the EPA revoking its own ruling on the danger of greenhouse gases:

www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪