Daniel Ethier
@dethier1958.bsky.social
I'm a retired middle school math teacher and cross country coach. Before teaching, I worked as a software engineer.
I am interested in computers, math, science, history, and politics. I enjoy running, amateur astronomy, drone photography, and programming.
I am interested in computers, math, science, history, and politics. I enjoy running, amateur astronomy, drone photography, and programming.
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
We should help teens with social media not ban them from it
Blaming social media for teen mental health issues obscures the real issues, and solutions like Australia's could make things worse
Blaming social media for teen mental health issues obscures the real issues, and solutions like Australia's could make things worse
We should help teens with social media not ban them from it
Blaming social media for teen mental health issues obscures the real issues, and solutions like Australia's could make things worse
mathewingram.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:54 PM
We should help teens with social media not ban them from it
Blaming social media for teen mental health issues obscures the real issues, and solutions like Australia's could make things worse
Blaming social media for teen mental health issues obscures the real issues, and solutions like Australia's could make things worse
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
School districts are rushing to adopt "one chatbot per child" models, but decades of research shows learning is fundamentally social.
Here’s why isolating students with AI tutors may undermine the classroom interactions that actually support brain development. buff.ly/gv76wEl
Here’s why isolating students with AI tutors may undermine the classroom interactions that actually support brain development. buff.ly/gv76wEl
The ‘one chatbot per child’ model for AI in classrooms conflicts with what research shows: Learning is a social process
AI tutors are often held up as an ideal, but prioritizing individualized teaching can detract from the benefits of learning in social environments.
theconversation.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:30 AM
School districts are rushing to adopt "one chatbot per child" models, but decades of research shows learning is fundamentally social.
Here’s why isolating students with AI tutors may undermine the classroom interactions that actually support brain development. buff.ly/gv76wEl
Here’s why isolating students with AI tutors may undermine the classroom interactions that actually support brain development. buff.ly/gv76wEl
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Girls typically stick to the classic math formulas while boys wing it with shortcuts — and researchers say that difference may help explain why men still dominate high-stakes tests and #STEM. buff.ly/Gu59lvr
Girls and boys solve math problems differently – with similar short-term results but different long-term outcomes
The reasons are not yet fully understood, but researchers consider societal influences that encourage greater compliance among girls as a potential cause.
buff.ly
December 7, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Girls typically stick to the classic math formulas while boys wing it with shortcuts — and researchers say that difference may help explain why men still dominate high-stakes tests and #STEM. buff.ly/Gu59lvr
The Pacman Nebula. This is about 20 hours of imaging over 4 nights. It is about 9500 light years away from us and about 25 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
November 28, 2025 at 9:43 PM
The Pacman Nebula. This is about 20 hours of imaging over 4 nights. It is about 9500 light years away from us and about 25 light years in diameter.
#astronomy
#astronomy
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
If we want to talk affordability, you know what would really help? Re-jiggering how we pay for college. There's a lot to learn from my native Australia, which has an incredibly fair and efficient system of income-based repayment.
November 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM
If we want to talk affordability, you know what would really help? Re-jiggering how we pay for college. There's a lot to learn from my native Australia, which has an incredibly fair and efficient system of income-based repayment.
Northern lights at about 8:20 this evening. Things had just picked up with the reds starting to appear above the green that had just become more wavy and active.
November 13, 2025 at 4:01 AM
Northern lights at about 8:20 this evening. Things had just picked up with the reds starting to appear above the green that had just become more wavy and active.
November 12, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Panorama of tonight's northern lights. Handheld with my iPhone. Stitched two photos together using Panorama Stitcher.
#astronomy
#astronomy
November 6, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Panorama of tonight's northern lights. Handheld with my iPhone. Stitched two photos together using Panorama Stitcher.
#astronomy
#astronomy
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
SNAP benefits are set to run out on Saturday. Far-right influencers and extremists are incorrectly claiming that immigrants are the main recipients of food stamps. www.wired.com/story/disinf...
No, SNAP Benefits Aren’t Mostly Used by Immigrants
SNAP benefits are set to run out on Saturday. Far-right influencers and extremists are incorrectly claiming that immigrants are the main recipients of food stamps.
www.wired.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:44 PM
SNAP benefits are set to run out on Saturday. Far-right influencers and extremists are incorrectly claiming that immigrants are the main recipients of food stamps. www.wired.com/story/disinf...
The Triangulum Galaxy. This is the result of almost 24 hours of imaging over 5 nights. This galaxy is about 2.7 million light years away. It is about 60,000 light years in diameter, a bit more than half the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
October 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The Triangulum Galaxy. This is the result of almost 24 hours of imaging over 5 nights. This galaxy is about 2.7 million light years away. It is about 60,000 light years in diameter, a bit more than half the size of our Milky Way galaxy.
#astronomy
#astronomy
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
It's always DNS. Except when it's AWS. (In this case, it was both.)
Amazon DNS outage breaks much of the internet | TechCrunch
The outage affected websites like Coinbase and Fortnite, and disrupted services like Signal, Zoom and Amazon's own products, including Ring.
techcrunch.com
October 20, 2025 at 11:28 AM
It's always DNS. Except when it's AWS. (In this case, it was both.)
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
BREAKING from PP
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 4:06 PM
BREAKING from PP
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Young children are capable of finding systematic solutions to complex problems without any instruction, contradicting long-held assumptions about cognitive development, according to a psychologist
buff.ly/226VzMZ 🧪
buff.ly/226VzMZ 🧪
Children can be systematic problem-solvers at younger ages than psychologists had thought – new research
By cranking up the difficulty on the test task, researchers found that children are capable of finding systematic solutions to complex problems far earlier than psychologists had believed.
buff.ly
October 3, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Young children are capable of finding systematic solutions to complex problems without any instruction, contradicting long-held assumptions about cognitive development, according to a psychologist
buff.ly/226VzMZ 🧪
buff.ly/226VzMZ 🧪
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
Trump officials discussed sending elite Army division to Portland, text messages show
A high-ranking White House official was indiscreetly texting about the Portland, Ore., planning last weekend, according to messages shared with the Minnesota Star Tribune.
bit.ly
October 4, 2025 at 12:05 AM
The messages show high-level officials in the Trump administration discussing the possible deployment of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, an infantry force that has dropped into combat zones in both World Wars, Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The Andromeda Galaxy. We had 6 consecutive nights of very clear skies, just beautiful weather, with the moon new to a thin crescent setting before imaging began. This is a mosaic of five individual images totaling about 25 hours.
September 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
The Andromeda Galaxy. We had 6 consecutive nights of very clear skies, just beautiful weather, with the moon new to a thin crescent setting before imaging began. This is a mosaic of five individual images totaling about 25 hours.
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Serious scholars have examined what happens when we change the number of H1-B visas issued.
Cities that get more H1-B immigrants subsequently see the wages of natives *rise* substantially.
Skilled immigrants bring new ideas, fill labor shortages and make us all more productive.
Cities that get more H1-B immigrants subsequently see the wages of natives *rise* substantially.
Skilled immigrants bring new ideas, fill labor shortages and make us all more productive.
September 22, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Serious scholars have examined what happens when we change the number of H1-B visas issued.
Cities that get more H1-B immigrants subsequently see the wages of natives *rise* substantially.
Skilled immigrants bring new ideas, fill labor shortages and make us all more productive.
Cities that get more H1-B immigrants subsequently see the wages of natives *rise* substantially.
Skilled immigrants bring new ideas, fill labor shortages and make us all more productive.
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Vertical rows are the agrivoltaic winner!
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
Double harvest: Vertical solar panels and crops thrive side by side
Imagine a field where solar panels and crops coexist—with no trade-off. It sounds like science fiction, but that's precisely what researchers from Aarhus University have now documented in a full-scale...
techxplore.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Vertical rows are the agrivoltaic winner!
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
“The vertical panels produce slightly less electricity—but with higher value, as generation peaks coincide with morning and late afternoon demand…The crops don't seem to mind the presence of solar panels and they like the wind protection they provide.”
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
“DOGE, he said, began acting like “a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing, with ideas of how government should run — thinking it should work like a McDonald’s or a bank — screaming all the time.”
The Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social Security
DOGE has ignored urgently needed reforms and upgrades at the Social Security Administration, according to dozens of insiders and 15 hours of candid interviews with the former acting chief of the agenc...
www.propublica.org
September 17, 2025 at 1:49 AM
“DOGE, he said, began acting like “a bunch of people who didn’t know what they were doing, with ideas of how government should run — thinking it should work like a McDonald’s or a bank — screaming all the time.”
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
NEW: The messages on the bullets are from a video game called Helldivers2. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/new-the-me...
NEW: The Messages on the Bullets are From a Video Game
The phrases engraved on the bullets found by law enforcement during the investigation into the shooting of Charlie Kirk come from a video game called Helldivers2
www.muellershewrote.com
September 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
NEW: The messages on the bullets are from a video game called Helldivers2. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/new-the-me...
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
#AI in #education: Is it a brain booster or a brain drain?
A cognitive psychologist explains why genuine mental effort remains crucial for learning and mastery.
buff.ly/JViMka4
A cognitive psychologist explains why genuine mental effort remains crucial for learning and mastery.
buff.ly/JViMka4
How does AI affect how we learn? A cognitive psychologist explains why you learn when the work is hard
Chatbots can facilitate ‘cognitive offloading,’ or taking shortcuts when learning. But emerging research on AI and cognitive science shows that learning is like a workout.
theconversation.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:30 AM
#AI in #education: Is it a brain booster or a brain drain?
A cognitive psychologist explains why genuine mental effort remains crucial for learning and mastery.
buff.ly/JViMka4
A cognitive psychologist explains why genuine mental effort remains crucial for learning and mastery.
buff.ly/JViMka4
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
Believing community to be the key to ending chronic homelessness, the Sacred Settlement model uses religious land use law to overcome opposition.
Minnesota churches are sharing land with homeless people. They say it’s the Christian thing to do.
Believing community to be the key to ending chronic homelessness, the Sacred Settlement model uses religious land use law to overcome opposition.
bit.ly
September 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Believing community to be the key to ending chronic homelessness, the Sacred Settlement model uses religious land use law to overcome opposition.
Reposted by Daniel Ethier
NEW: Trump has targeted political foes — including Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — for claiming more than one primary residence on their loan papers.
But ProPublica found that at least three of the president’s Cabinet members have done the same thing.
But ProPublica found that at least three of the president’s Cabinet members have done the same thing.
Trump Is Accusing Foes With Multiple Mortgages of Fraud. Records Show 3 of His Cabinet Members Have Them.
The White House has targeted opponents, including a Fed governor, for having more than one primary residence on their loan papers. ProPublica found that, in one case, a Trump cabinet secretary got two...
www.propublica.org
September 4, 2025 at 7:18 PM
NEW: Trump has targeted political foes — including Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook — for claiming more than one primary residence on their loan papers.
But ProPublica found that at least three of the president’s Cabinet members have done the same thing.
But ProPublica found that at least three of the president’s Cabinet members have done the same thing.
Hint of the northern lights visible low in the sky from the Twin Cities this evening.
September 2, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Hint of the northern lights visible low in the sky from the Twin Cities this evening.