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mdmarques.com
mat marques, ph.d.
@mdmarques.com
2.5K followers 450 following 510 posts
bicycles, coffee, and social psychology.
researches the causes and consequences of #conspiracytheories
he/him. woiworung land.
https://mdmarques.com
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mdmarques.com
mat marques, ph.d. @mdmarques.com · Dec 4
The effect of scientific conspiracy theories on scepticism towards biotechnologies

excited to see this #conspiracytheories paper out w/ collaborators @scicomguy.bsky.social, Art Stukas, & Jim McLennan

Will write a 🧵 soon but for now here's the #openaccess link

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Abstract Many conspiracy theories implicate scientists and science. We investigated the impact of exposure to scientific conspiracies about biotechnologies. Across three preregistered online studies (Ns = 1,000), participants who read information about conspiracies involving agribiotechnology companies or biobank scientists were more likely to endorse conspiracies. Other effects of exposure to conspiracy information were mixed. In Study 1, reading about an agricultural biotechnology conspiracy had a small significant effect on reducing intentions to eat genetically modified food. In Study 2, exposure to a conspiracy involving biobank scientists decreased support for biobanks, mediated by decreased trust in biobank scientists. In Study 3, this conspiracy had no effect on wider beliefs of the role of science in society (science populism), nor support of genetically modified food-promoting policies. Overall, we found that exposure to conspiracies involving scientific claims increased conspiracy belief endorsement and can further negative effects. However, the effects of conspiracies on science populism appear limited.
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
walkerbragman.bsky.social
There’s a big story everyone is missing—but this article hits on it.

We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.

What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies
The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.
arstechnica.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
adamjkucharski.bsky.social
Want to get the data out of a PDF figure? As in, the actual data – not a rough trace-along-the-lines version?

I made an app you might like: adamkucharski.github.io/pdf2plot/

It all started a few years ago... 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
cybdetective.bsky.social
RageCheck

Free online tool to identify engagement bait, fear-mongering, and manipulation patterns in news and social media instantly.

Just copy link or upload screenshot.

www.ragecheck.com

#socmint
January 12, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
neillewisjr.bsky.social
One of my favorite clips about the Mercator projection:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-...
January 13, 2026 at 11:38 PM
mdmarques.com
nice piece on narcissism and conspiracy belief by @tylorcos.bsky.social

theconversation.com/why-do-educa...
Why do educated people fall for conspiracy theories? It could be narcissism
New research shows highly educated people are just as likely to believe conspiracies as those with less education if they have these psychological traits.
theconversation.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:57 PM
mdmarques.com
unsollicited movie recommendation. if it is still playing in your local area, go and experience this at the movie theatre. I can almost guarantee it will be an amazing 3 hours

thescoop.au/film-review-...
Film Review: Kokuhō Is A Beautiful, Brutal Portrait Of Art & Inheritance • The Scoop
In Kokuhō, Sang-il Lee’s operatic play within a film, adapting a novel about kabuki, the stage is never just a stage. It's a battleground and finally, a mirror.
thescoop.au
January 13, 2026 at 2:22 AM
mdmarques.com
“Cycling is cheap and the bicycle has impeccable environmental credentials. These companies want to associate themselves with cycling because it allows them to associate themselves with the environment, the photography, the imagery, the dream of the wilderness and peak physical human performance.”
‘It’s embarrassing’: riders say time is up for fossil fuel sponsorship of heat-affected Tour Down Under
Cyclists prepare for Australia’s big race by training in extreme temperatures – and they have noticed a contradiction in the relationship with Santos
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
mattmotta.bsky.social
RFK Jr's new vax schedule will reduce uptake by creating procedural hurdles for parents.

But I think the impact on physicians isn't talked about enough.

Replacing universal vax with shared decision-making creates a lot of extra work for already-overworked physicians.

That's bad for all of us!
NYT Article Screengrab: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/health/kennedy-vaccines-children.html?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20Daily%20Health%20Policy%20Report&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DdXOnY9TRV6eeRt9iY-pwIk0BrzMjIZTodXNrYVCGYoXuJHTeudecMTX9zqO88F6ldFg_qfEJF7jcJhs-y-Ch5-1tDA&_hsmi=398024213&utm_content=398024213&utm_source=hs_email NYT Article Screengrab: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/health/kennedy-vaccines-children.html?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20Daily%20Health%20Policy%20Report&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DdXOnY9TRV6eeRt9iY-pwIk0BrzMjIZTodXNrYVCGYoXuJHTeudecMTX9zqO88F6ldFg_qfEJF7jcJhs-y-Ch5-1tDA&_hsmi=398024213&utm_content=398024213&utm_source=hs_emai
January 13, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
johnholbein1.bsky.social
“These findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”
January 8, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
matthewmatix.bsky.social
Good to see that Gauhar (2016) is now retracted, with a pretty frank editorial note.

spj.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
January 8, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
katestarbird.bsky.social
A concise encapsulation of how Trump and his supporters and enablers have rewritten the history of their insurrection attempt.
adambonin.bsky.social Adam Bonin @adambonin.bsky.social · 7d
According to the White House, this is the "true" timeline of January 6th.
January 6, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
maibached.bsky.social
So little was known 18 years ago when I started researching climate comms. I'm blown away by how much we now know. This study, led by the incomparable Jan Voelkel with his all-star band, and released today in @natclimate.nature.com confirms that many distinct message strategies can work...
A registered report megastudy on the persuasiveness of the most-cited climate messages - Nature Climate Change
How to effectively communicate climate change to the public has long been studied and debated. Through a registered report megastudy, researchers tested the ten most-cited climate change messaging str...
www.nature.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:17 AM
mdmarques.com
exploring rockpools
Rockpools (and reflections) at low tide with some people around them. blue skies im background with light cloud cover
January 2, 2026 at 6:58 AM
mdmarques.com
often imitated, never surpassed

buy the original zapatopi.net/afdb/
side image of a dummy wearing tin foil on their head
January 1, 2026 at 10:12 PM
mdmarques.com
"It enables working while teleporting"

what an ingenious way to involve people not able to work in traditional ways to engage with others

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...
Tokyo venture allows housebound people to 'work while teleporting'
Ory Yoshifuji's Tokyo business employs housebound individuals to operate robots as waitstaff at a cafe and as personal tour guides in the city.
www.abc.net.au
December 31, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
katestarbird.bsky.social
The rumors about daycare centers are extremely "fit" for virality: having both novelty & familiarity (drawing on anti-immigrant tropes of criminality & exploitation); making emotional/identity appeals; are *participatory* in that ppl can create their own “evidence” by investigating local centers.
What makes an election rumor go viral? Look at these 10 factors
A guide for journalists and news organizations assessing voting- and election-related rumors in the weeks leading up to the 2022 midterms.
www.niemanlab.org
December 31, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
rianjohnson.bsky.social
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
jayhulmepoet.bsky.social Jay Hulme @jayhulmepoet.bsky.social · 16d
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.

I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video A screenshot from Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give you up music video A photograph of the seminary gym in knives out. It has the same window.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
mdmarques.com
managed 10,000km for the year on the bike and it was only possible as I was supported by a wonderful family. only fitting most of them joined me for the final few kms to hit the milestone
boy riding a bike on a side gravel bike path out of saddle woman following young boy both on bicycles on a road
December 29, 2025 at 10:39 PM
mdmarques.com
thankful to have friends who also enjoy the joys of riding in the hills
two cyclists side by side heading up a windey road climb surrounded by lush forest greenery
December 28, 2025 at 8:49 AM
mdmarques.com
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or alice in chains
Jeff Buckley Grace cover
December 28, 2025 at 3:14 AM
mdmarques.com
wood fired pizza prep for family tonight
Bench with pizza ingredients. Vaseline with tomato, condiments and a few pizza balls ready to roll out
December 27, 2025 at 5:29 AM
mdmarques.com
Testing the socio-functional model: Does precarity
cause conspiracy belief?
TLDR; probably not
huge thx: Antipodean Misinformation and Conspiracies Club @matthewmatix.bsky.social @lingtax.bsky.social @scicomguy.bsky.social @srhastraea.bsky.social @eddieclarke.bsky.social & students osf.io/nq3y7/
Abstract Research seeking to explain why people believe conspira- cies has largely focused on intrapsychic factors, but there is growing research examining structural-level elements of dis- advantage. The socio-functional model of conspiracy belief (Adam-Troian et al., 2023, British Journal of Social Psycholog y, 62, 136) posits that subjective feelings of permanent inse- curity arising from objective material strain (i.e., precarity) cause conspiracy belief directly or indirectly through insti- tutional distrust. Across three preregistered studies using observational longitudinal designs over 3 (n = 637) and 11 months (n = 832), and a between-group experimental de- sign (n = 285), we use various methods to estimate causal ef- fects for this proposition during the current cost-of-living crisis. In Studies 1 and 2 using random intercept cross- lagged panel models, we find no evidence that increases in precarity temporally precede increases in conspiracy belief (or vice versa) but find stable between-persons effects over time. In Study 3, despite successfully manipulating precarity using a self-imagine paradigm, we find no direct or indirect effect on conspiracy belief through decreased government trust. We discuss the importance of using methods that per- mit credible causal inferences and key directions for future studies investigating the socio-functional model.
December 27, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
katestarbird.bsky.social
Nina Jankowicz: “They’re not doing this because they have any evidence of censorship — they lost a Supreme Court case that made those claims… They’re doing this because the group of researchers and advocates have stood up to liars like Donald Trump and the platforms that enable them.”
December 24, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Reposted by mat marques, ph.d.
niedermeyer.online
my festive spirit amidst our grimly stupid reality (2025)
a red original Mini Cooper parked between two Tesla Cybertrucks
December 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
mdmarques.com
Belief in science-related conspiracy theories is not just a matter of knowledge: The democratic quality of countries as a protective factor
@irelopeznavarro.bsky.social & Santos-Requej

journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Abstract Concerns regarding the increasing prevalence of conspiracy theory beliefs are growing in public discourse. This study investigates science-related conspiracy theories due to their significant potential impact on individual and global health. Using data from a Special Eurobarometer survey (n = 37,079), our research demonstrates the importance of considering public perceptions of science when trying to understand the acceptance of such conspiracy theory beliefs. They are strongly associated with mistrust in scientists and lower level of knowledge. But there is a key factor at the country level, the quality of democracy, which plays a protective role against the acceptance of unwarranted beliefs. Even individuals with lower levels of knowledge or greater mistrust of scientists are less likely to believe in science-related conspiracy theories if they live in democratic countries than in authoritarian states.
December 22, 2025 at 12:14 AM