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Zen Faulkes

@doctorzen.net

2.2K followers 310 following 3.1K posts

Home page: http://DoctorZen.net. Biologist. Author of Better Posters book and blog. Collector of academic hoaxes.

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Environmental science 49%

Geography 13%

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 4h

Hanco Kolk is surely the winner 🏆 of the “Comic Artist whose name sounds most like a Star Wars character” competition.

(Also, thanks for introducing me to his art!)

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 7h

“Not safe for autoclave.”

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Reposted by Zen Faulkes

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · 9h

Paleoanthropology can be confusing with names. Why would scientists use “Denisovan” instead of coming up with a species name? Or “modern human” instead of Homo sapiens? And why didn’t some names ever catch on, like the Heidelbergers or the chumanzees?

www.johnhawks.net/p/informal-h...

Informal hominins, from Denisovan to superarchaic

In a new research article, I review the ways that paleoanthropologists name ancient groups outside the Linnaean system.

www.johnhawks.net

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 23h

Every sign, they say, has a story behind it.

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 23h

I also appreciated this sign in the Globe gift shop ⚔️🚫

A sign that says “No Sword-Fighting in the Shop” next to a display of toy swords

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Reposted by Zen Faulkes

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 23h

I also appreciated this sign in the Globe gift shop ⚔️🚫

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

It must look even worse with the hat on, which is emphatically NOT a Mountie’s Stetson.

rcmp.ca/en/history-r...

Stetson

An RCMP stetson hat. With the possible exception of the Red Serge tunic, no other element of the RCMP uniform has the mystique of the stetson hat.

rcmp.ca

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

This is professional misconduct.

Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P @clairezagorski.bsky.social · 1d

A student on TikTok has been documenting her journey with a professor who “wrote” the anatomy textbook and it’s all a bunch of AI hallucinations.

She’s saying that, understandably, the students are doing super poorly!

Behold what we’re teaching the healthcare professionals of tomorrow:

A diagram of the bones and (some) deep muscles of the hand and forearm. AI says that we only have four digits. It’s also identified a tendon as the median nerve, another tendon as the ulnar nerve, among other issues.

An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the neck. It hallucinated the “ennocleidomasid” muscle, and the “anterior scalpalin muscle”.

An AI generated diagram of the muscles of the lateral thigh. It says that the gluteus Maximus (the big juicy butt muscle) is on the anterior side. It also points to the quadriceps muscle and says “attattment”. It also says that the same structure is the tibia AND the deep fascia of the leg.

An AI generated diagram of the bones of the hand and forearm. This time AI says we have 6 digits. It also says that the radius is the ulnar artery. Among other many issues.

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Gavin A. Schmidt, Zen Faulkes

Claire Zagorski, MSc, EMT-P @clairezagorski.bsky.social · 1d

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

Thanks to this post, I’ve caught myself whistling this multiple times this morning

Dang it

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

National Center for Science Education @ncse.bsky.social · 1d

It’s the last day to order an NCSE t-shirt or hoodie! Every order makes an impact by helping us provide resources for teachers and classrooms under pressure. https://www.bonfire.com/science-makes-you-strong-1/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=Bonfire&utm_content=link #EduSky

Science Makes You Strong | Bonfire

Buy Science Makes You Strong merchandise that supports National Center for Science Education. Featuring Solid Black Blend Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA.

www.bonfire.com

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

New from Men Without Hats: youtu.be/V6wLlHpZz4I

Never stop making art

In Glorious Days

YouTube video by Men Without Hats - Topic

youtu.be

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

Frog 🐸: Chemical neurotransmission.

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 1d

Squid 🦑: Ionic basis of actions potentials.

Crayfish 🦞: Electrical synapses.

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

Wait what?

I mean, it's nice and all. But what makes this such a high value collector's item?

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter's The Karen Carpenter Story

John Carpenter's A Carpenter Christmas Story

John Carpenter's The Carpenter's Son

John Carpenter's The Carpenter

minty tear gas @nihilamacabre.bsky.social · 3d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter's The Crying Game

⚧️Marionette: Little Tin Goddess🏳️‍⚧️ @marionette.bzky.team · 3d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter‘s Les Miserables

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

mossworm.bsky.social @mossworm.bsky.social · 2d

still amazing to me the number of movies, games, etc. which have Venus Flytrap-based creatures in some form compared to the actual native range of Venus Flytrap, which is like, the great untamed jungles of a few wet pine savannas in North Carolina

map illustrating the native range of Venus Flytrap plants, just a little half circle around coastal North and South Carolina in USA

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

Because he was awesome from every direction, one assumes

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

Riley Black 🦕 🏳️‍⚧️ @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 2d

Word of mouth is so important for books.

If you’ve read something you like, shout it out, leave a review somewhere, ask your library to carry it.

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

🟩 Jealous! 🟩

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

The trend line for Sasquatch is far too generous. It’s going down, not flat.

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

Miki Perkins @mikiperkins.bsky.social · 2d

This is desperately sad. Professor John Woinarski breaks the news for @aunz.theconversation.com that Australia's next animal - the tiny Christmas Island Shrew - has officially been declared extinct.

theconversation.com/and-then-the...

And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct

Australia’s only known shrew has been declared extinct. Its loss emphasises the need for national protection of Australia’s rare and unique wildlife.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Zen Faulkes

DORA @dorassessment.bsky.social · 2d

NASEM is doing a Consensus Study on Corrections and Retractions. Join the Europe Regional Learning Session on Tuesday, 14 October, from 2:00–5:00 PM CEST to share your views on improvements to the processes used to correct errors in scientific articles. 👉 www.nationalacademies.org/event/45836_...

www.nationalacademies.org

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Reposted by Matthew Kelly, Zen Faulkes

Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 2d

It's also not "just another" extinction, it's the first from mainland Europe in centuries. CENTURIES.

And there will be others within our lifetime.

That's biodiversity loss.

We'll never hear this sound, ever again xeno-canto.org/398794

XC398794 Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris)

Awful wind noise in the original! See sonogram and notes of the recording circumstances on p12 of Gretton A. (1991) The ecology and conservation of the Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris). ...

xeno-canto.org

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Reposted by Jonathan A. Eisen

Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 2d

“First time I’ve had a Muppet as a waiter.”

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 3d

Maybe a relevant difference in these scenarios is that calculators did not occasionally insist that 27 divided by 3 was 11.5.

😉

Reposted by Zen Faulkes

minty tear gas @nihilamacabre.bsky.social · 3d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter's The Crying Game

⚧️Marionette: Little Tin Goddess🏳️‍⚧️ @marionette.bzky.team · 3d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter‘s Les Miserables

Beyond the Machina! @beyondthemachina.bsky.social · 3d

Make a movie better by adding John Carpenter's to the title:

John Carpenter‘s Inception

Reposted by Peter Thorne, Carl T. Bergstrom, Gavin A. Schmidt , and 8 more Peter Thorne, Carl T. Bergstrom, Gavin A. Schmidt, Stacie B. Dusetzina, Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn, Zen Faulkes, David Murakami Wood, Wolfgang Huber, Klaus Oschema, Philip Bell

Prof Anna Watts @profannawatts.bsky.social · 3d

Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.

Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."

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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Margaret Mitchell , and 25 more Stephen M. Walt, Lisa W. Fazio, Margaret Mitchell, Richard S.J. Tol, Brian A. Nosek, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Garry Peterson, Joshua S. Weitz, Tom Clark, Steve Peers, Jamie Morgan, Elizabeth Stokoe, Henning Melber, Sanford F. Schram, Daniel W. Drezner, Trevon D. Logan, Smith, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Lesley Bartlett, Zen Faulkes, Kate Starbird, Henry Jones, Pauline Stafford, Jason Williams, Dana Howard, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."

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Zen Faulkes @doctorzen.net · 3d

🦀 feed

Ariel Slamet Ries @arielries.bsky.social · 3d

crabs

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Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Mary L. Dudziak, Zen Faulkes , and 2 more Shannon Vallor, Mary L. Dudziak, Zen Faulkes, Hisham Zerriffi, Finis Dunaway

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 3d

A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.

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