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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Nick Fox @nickfoxnz.bsky.social · 26m

tldr: we found very limited evidence for distress subsequently increasing belief in conspiracy theories using a longitudinal survey sampling participants 7 times over ~6 months - and no evidence for belief in conspiracy theories worsening distress over time

New research challenges the idea of a ‘vicious cycle’ between psychological distress and conspiracy beliefs

One prominent theory says conspiracy beliefs are triggered by elevated distress. But a new study finds limited evidence to support this claim.

theconversation.com

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Nick Fox @nickfoxnz.bsky.social · 26m

Excited for my doctoral research to be published, thanks to the support of @matthewmatix.bsky.social @srhastraea.bsky.social

Do Stress, Depression, and Anxiety Lead to Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories? - Nick D. Fox, Matt N. Williams, Stephen R. Hill, 2025

Previous research has found positive correlations between manifestations of psychological distress, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, and belief in consp...

doi.org

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Abigail Goben @hedgielib.bsky.social · 1h

Why higher ed's AI rush could put corporate interests over public service and independence phys.org/news/2025-10...

Why higher ed's AI rush could put corporate interests over public service and independence

Artificial intelligence technology has begun to transform higher education, raising a new set of profound questions about the role of universities in society. A string of high-profile corporate partne...

phys.org

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The Press @thepress.co.nz · 1h

Hundreds of scientists and global leaders are converging on Christchurch for the world's largest and most influential climate adaptation gathering.

Global leaders, scientists gather for NZ's largest ever climate event

Hundreds of scientists and global leaders are converging on Christchurch for the world's largest and most influential climate adaptation gathering.

dlvr.it

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Tairāwhiti Doc @tairawhitidoc.bsky.social · 3h

Monday, 13 October dawning, from Okitu Beach, Aotearoa / New Zealand.

Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️

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Mel Andrews @bayesianboy.bsky.social · 2h

AI usage accounted for less than 1% of online activity and “the most consistent predictors of AI use across studies were…Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy,” i.e., dark triad personality traits. Nice. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Evaluating Artificial Intelligence Use and Its Psychological Correlates via Months of Web-Browsing Data | Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

Despite widespread discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on society, little work has objectively measured how often people use this technology in the wild. The present article ...

www.liebertpub.com

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Christina Hood @christinahood.bsky.social · 14h

If you are fuming about the derailment of climate ambition in AoNZ, how about helping fund an investigation into where this came from 👇

Byron C Clark @byroncclark.bsky.social · 1d

The crowdfund for a podcast investigating how the idea of quitting the Paris climate accords went from fringe to mainstream is getting closer and closer to the goal. If 25 more people pledge $5 we'll be three quarters of the way there

www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/861...

Podcast: Quit Paris? How pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords went from fringe media to the mainstream | PledgeMe

Quit Paris? This podcast will investigate how a fringe idea moved from being a fringe position to one advocated by mainstream politicians

www.pledgeme.co.nz

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Michael Spicer @michaelspicer.bsky.social · 1d

stop thinking right now

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 15h

Oh that’s interesting. Fingers crossed for Kaydee.

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Kirsty Johnston @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social · 20h

Can’t wait to see the regulatory impact statement that outlines the impact of this decision on everyone who isn’t a farmer

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Government lowers methane target, rules out methane taxes

The government is lowering its biogenic methane target for the next 25 years and is ruling out agricultural taxes on methane emissions.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 1d

Some of us have the privilege to just ignore/refuse to use AI in teaching. Others have so little time it's obvious why it will sneak in. But our institutions pushing LLMs as learning resources to students? Strikes me as untenable if they can be easily tuned by anti-academic sentiment and grievance.

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Paul_BarlowNZ @paulbarlownz.bsky.social · 1d

One final bit of good news - 234600 people across the motu voted to remove Māori wards, 245800 to keep them - 51.1% of all votes were to keep them, 48.9% not to. The majority of the country that voted were in favour so suck it coalition!

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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 1d

Genuine question: for those enthusiastically pushing AI tools into every part of our education system—what checks/guardrails are there around algorithmic biases like this?

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 1d

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

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 1d

Everyday now there is new information detailing just how economically unviable AI is. Data centers will be the new abandoned Walmarts, but on an even larger scale.

futurism.com/future-socie...

AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought

An investment manager realized he made a crucial mistake — and that his grim prediction about AI investments may not have been cynical enough.

futurism.com

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Jonathan Marshall @jmarshallnz.bsky.social · 1d

Palmy keeps

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Louise Hutt @saycheeselouise.bsky.social · 1d

Here's what I know:
Lower Hutt, Whanganui, Nelson, Masterton, Rotorua, Whakatāne all keeping their Māori wards

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Morgan Davie @fromthemorgue.bsky.social · 1d

Lower Hutt:

I VOTE TO KEEP THE MĀORI WARD / 14,816

I VOTE TO REMOVE THE MĀORI WARD / 9,279

Yessss

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-...

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Alice Soper @alicesoapbox.bsky.social · 1d

And my city voted overwhelmingly to retain Māori wards. That’s right up my Hutt Valley!

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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 2d

as a cognitive scientist, I can confirm we don't know how humans think

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 1d

I wasn’t prepared for the satire to be so non-satire-y.

the Juice Media @thejuicemedia.com · 2d

The Government of New Zealand has made a new tourism ad and it's surprsingly honest and informative!

Honest Government Ad | Visit New Zealand!

YouTube video by thejuicemedia

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

the Juice Media @thejuicemedia.com · 2d

The Government of New Zealand has made a new tourism ad and it's surprsingly honest and informative!

Honest Government Ad | Visit New Zealand!

YouTube video by thejuicemedia

www.youtube.com

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RNZ News Feeds @rnzrss.bsky.social · 2d

Shrinking job market forces scientists to pursue careers offshore

After 13 years studying for a biology degree, Ian has had to apply - unsuccessfully - for labouring jobs.

www.rnz.co.nz

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econmaett @econmaett.github.io · 2d

Ross Ihaka: The Open-Hearted Data Hero
#rstats
www.historyofdatascience.com/ross-ihaka-t...

“R changed my opinion of humanity to some extent, to see how people are really willing to freely give of themselves and produce something larger than themselves without any thought of personal glory.”

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Christina Hood @christinahood.bsky.social · 2d

Heads up - New Zealand government's annoucements on 2050 climate target will be made midday Sunday NZ time. Will we be the first country to weaken a legislated 2050 target?

Email from the Ministry for the Environment:

Tēnā koe,
On Sunday at 12.00pm (12th October) the Government will make an announcement about New Zealand’s 2050 climate change targets.

The Ministry for the Environment will also release the 2025 emissions projections at 5.00pm on Sunday.

Ngā mihi
Ministry for the Environment

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 2d

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