Mike Wiser
@drmikewiser.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist, teaching-track professor (knowledge transmitter), board game and cat enthusiast, budding archer, teller of Dad jokes. Sarcasm doesn't have to be mean. Also a "damn greenblooded hobgoblin". Ursula said I'm cool. I read a lot.
🏳️🌈🧫 👨
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Mike Wiser
@drmikewiser.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Since I seem to suddenly have a bunch of new followers: Hello!
I'm a full time, non tenure track, teaching-focused biology faculty member. (There are some non abusive options here; it isn't all just adjuncting) My PhD is in evolutionary biology, but half the time I'm teaching molecular biology.
I'm a full time, non tenure track, teaching-focused biology faculty member. (There are some non abusive options here; it isn't all just adjuncting) My PhD is in evolutionary biology, but half the time I'm teaching molecular biology.
I find myself debating whether or not to become the sort of person who actually uses a home filing cabinet.
November 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I find myself debating whether or not to become the sort of person who actually uses a home filing cabinet.
Adult life offers fairly few opportunities for three legged races or water balloon tosses, which I think is unfortunate.
November 15, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Adult life offers fairly few opportunities for three legged races or water balloon tosses, which I think is unfortunate.
I do posit it's possible to have an outstanding brain and also have an MRI done on it.
But that is probably going to be in connection with reasonable suspicion of something like a stroke.
But that is probably going to be in connection with reasonable suspicion of something like a stroke.
November 15, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I do posit it's possible to have an outstanding brain and also have an MRI done on it.
But that is probably going to be in connection with reasonable suspicion of something like a stroke.
But that is probably going to be in connection with reasonable suspicion of something like a stroke.
Reposted by Mike Wiser
Yesterday I learned that the US Navy has a tiara option for female sailors to wear in dress uniform and I for one think they are missing a huge opportunity for recruitment by not making this more well-known. I did not know the Navy had tiaras when I was picking my service branch. I feel cheated.
November 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Yesterday I learned that the US Navy has a tiara option for female sailors to wear in dress uniform and I for one think they are missing a huge opportunity for recruitment by not making this more well-known. I did not know the Navy had tiaras when I was picking my service branch. I feel cheated.
Sadly, we still must find someone to wield the power of HeartBnB, and allow us to -- by our powers, combined -- summon CaptainBnB
AirBnB implies the existence of EarthBnB, WaterBnB, and FireBnB.
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Sadly, we still must find someone to wield the power of HeartBnB, and allow us to -- by our powers, combined -- summon CaptainBnB
Reposted by Mike Wiser
Whether your grant is discussed is often a criterion for whether you're eligible for internal bridging funds.
I hope department heads will work to communicate to the people making bridging decisions about this new 'tweak'.
I hope department heads will work to communicate to the people making bridging decisions about this new 'tweak'.
November 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Whether your grant is discussed is often a criterion for whether you're eligible for internal bridging funds.
I hope department heads will work to communicate to the people making bridging decisions about this new 'tweak'.
I hope department heads will work to communicate to the people making bridging decisions about this new 'tweak'.
The problem with books set in the modern world is that we readers can potentially have outsized reactions to things.
In the one I'm reading at the moment, the protagonist doesn't go to the library of their new town until they've lived there for about 4 months. Heresy!
In the one I'm reading at the moment, the protagonist doesn't go to the library of their new town until they've lived there for about 4 months. Heresy!
November 15, 2025 at 1:55 AM
The problem with books set in the modern world is that we readers can potentially have outsized reactions to things.
In the one I'm reading at the moment, the protagonist doesn't go to the library of their new town until they've lived there for about 4 months. Heresy!
In the one I'm reading at the moment, the protagonist doesn't go to the library of their new town until they've lived there for about 4 months. Heresy!
Reposted by Mike Wiser
Remember that shooting someone into the sun requires a lot of energy to cancel out the appropriate velocity vectors. It takes less energy to fling them into the icy void between stars.
Ask your local scientist whether Interstellar Disposal is the right choice for your disposal needs.
Ask your local scientist whether Interstellar Disposal is the right choice for your disposal needs.
November 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Remember that shooting someone into the sun requires a lot of energy to cancel out the appropriate velocity vectors. It takes less energy to fling them into the icy void between stars.
Ask your local scientist whether Interstellar Disposal is the right choice for your disposal needs.
Ask your local scientist whether Interstellar Disposal is the right choice for your disposal needs.
Reposted by Mike Wiser
[To the tune of Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison]
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Walking down the street
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵House with chicken feet
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Walking down the street
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵House with chicken feet
🎵Baba Yaga
November 14, 2025 at 1:24 PM
[To the tune of Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison]
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Walking down the street
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵House with chicken feet
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵Walking down the street
🎵Baba Yaga
🎵House with chicken feet
🎵Baba Yaga
I will similarly never not be astonished by "Yes, this is one of the most deadly things known to science, let's inject it into our faces so that we look younger"
Botox is botulinium toxin, and causes muscle paralysis, which is why its injected to smooth out wrinkles.
It will never not be weird to me that this is what we decided to do with it.
AMAZING stuff for migraine, but also "yes I'd love to paralyze my face for societal expectations!"
It will never not be weird to me that this is what we decided to do with it.
AMAZING stuff for migraine, but also "yes I'd love to paralyze my face for societal expectations!"
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I will similarly never not be astonished by "Yes, this is one of the most deadly things known to science, let's inject it into our faces so that we look younger"
Reposted by Mike Wiser
I've been on the road so I'm behind the times—but if you wanted to destroy US science, I can think of no more expedient action.
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
November 14, 2025 at 3:03 AM
I've been on the road so I'm behind the times—but if you wanted to destroy US science, I can think of no more expedient action.
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.
www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
So, for those who don't know: the Ediacaran is what immediately predated the Cambrian. It's known from a number of fossil sites, including the Ediacara Hills in Australia, the White Sea in Russia, and the Avalon peninsula in Canada (which contains Mistake Point, great name, no notes).
How do you feel about <looks both ways> Ediacaran assemblages?
November 14, 2025 at 2:20 AM
So, for those who don't know: the Ediacaran is what immediately predated the Cambrian. It's known from a number of fossil sites, including the Ediacara Hills in Australia, the White Sea in Russia, and the Avalon peninsula in Canada (which contains Mistake Point, great name, no notes).
This is actually a completely reasonable question.
As I do not feel like being reasonable, I am answering: Dolly Parton.
I am having a hard time coming up with another person almost everyone would agree would not selectively edit the names.
As I do not feel like being reasonable, I am answering: Dolly Parton.
I am having a hard time coming up with another person almost everyone would agree would not selectively edit the names.
This may be a dumb, obvious question, but should Congress prevail in demanding the release of Epstein investigation materials, who would facilitate that and how do we know they could be trusted to not selectively edit?
An interesting tidbit in the joint status report filed in the Broadview ICE facility case today:
ICE says video from inside the facility "between October 19, 2025, and October 31, 2025, has been irretrievably destroyed" and can't be produced in discovery.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/71832...
ICE says video from inside the facility "between October 19, 2025, and October 31, 2025, has been irretrievably destroyed" and can't be produced in discovery.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/71832...
November 14, 2025 at 12:30 AM
This is actually a completely reasonable question.
As I do not feel like being reasonable, I am answering: Dolly Parton.
I am having a hard time coming up with another person almost everyone would agree would not selectively edit the names.
As I do not feel like being reasonable, I am answering: Dolly Parton.
I am having a hard time coming up with another person almost everyone would agree would not selectively edit the names.
The problem is that I LIKE cherries and I will pick them most of the time when grocery shopping during the appropriate season.
ONE MORE THING: Try not to cherry pick.
People keep pulling Sulzberger out of a contextless list of proper nouns Epstein sent, basically because it fits their priors.
But that list also includes Mongolia, Castro and Dubai. So … ?
People keep pulling Sulzberger out of a contextless list of proper nouns Epstein sent, basically because it fits their priors.
But that list also includes Mongolia, Castro and Dubai. So … ?
A really valuable practice is to ask yourself what you want to be true — not like how you want the world to be, but what you would find emotionally gratifying and what would fit your priors — and pump the breaks when a piece of information seems to fit that bill.
November 13, 2025 at 10:33 PM
The problem is that I LIKE cherries and I will pick them most of the time when grocery shopping during the appropriate season.
Reposted by Mike Wiser
The application deadline for these has been extended (due to them being open an unreasonably short time initially, not b/c we got too few applications). Dust off your CV, friends. 🧪⚒️
🚨FOUR tenure track positions in my dept @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social in applied & computational geophysics, subsurface geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and sustainable soil science. careers.ucalgary.ca/search/jobs?...
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
Opportunities
matching 'earth'
Search 4 Careers available at University of Calgary.
careers.ucalgary.ca
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 PM
The application deadline for these has been extended (due to them being open an unreasonably short time initially, not b/c we got too few applications). Dust off your CV, friends. 🧪⚒️
Sentence of the day (so far) for which I was not prepared:
"If you counted up all of the submarines and ships that PepsiCo bought and sold around this time [~1990], they technically managed the world’s seventh-largest navy. "
slate.com/news-and-pol...
"If you counted up all of the submarines and ships that PepsiCo bought and sold around this time [~1990], they technically managed the world’s seventh-largest navy. "
slate.com/news-and-pol...
In 1990, One of the Most Thrilling International Capers in U.S. History Unfolded. It’s Been Forgotten. It Shouldn’t Be.
A delicious caper of vodka bribes and world-altering salad bars.
slate.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Sentence of the day (so far) for which I was not prepared:
"If you counted up all of the submarines and ships that PepsiCo bought and sold around this time [~1990], they technically managed the world’s seventh-largest navy. "
slate.com/news-and-pol...
"If you counted up all of the submarines and ships that PepsiCo bought and sold around this time [~1990], they technically managed the world’s seventh-largest navy. "
slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Mike Wiser
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
NSF is open again!
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
A few comments:
*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.
*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.
*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.
Reposted by Mike Wiser
a “Space Force”, if you will
November 13, 2025 at 2:27 PM
a “Space Force”, if you will
Reposted by Mike Wiser
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the problems with not going through proper IRB channels.
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
November 13, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the problems with not going through proper IRB channels.
Reposted by Mike Wiser
Do you like logic puzzles? Sudoku? Futoshiki? Um, other? Try our new daily puzzle browser game, Fivefold!
fivefold.ca
The puzzle rules change every day. Today's puzzle is a Medium difficulty, but you can find Easy puzzles in the Dojo to try first, if you want!
fivefold.ca
The puzzle rules change every day. Today's puzzle is a Medium difficulty, but you can find Easy puzzles in the Dojo to try first, if you want!
November 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Do you like logic puzzles? Sudoku? Futoshiki? Um, other? Try our new daily puzzle browser game, Fivefold!
fivefold.ca
The puzzle rules change every day. Today's puzzle is a Medium difficulty, but you can find Easy puzzles in the Dojo to try first, if you want!
fivefold.ca
The puzzle rules change every day. Today's puzzle is a Medium difficulty, but you can find Easy puzzles in the Dojo to try first, if you want!
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the problems with not going through proper IRB channels.
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
November 13, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the problems with not going through proper IRB channels.
While I know they are not supposed to be set in the same universe, I've recently started Snake-Eater from @tkingfisher.com and I keep wanting to call this small desert community with a strange radio host Night Vale.
November 13, 2025 at 3:06 AM
While I know they are not supposed to be set in the same universe, I've recently started Snake-Eater from @tkingfisher.com and I keep wanting to call this small desert community with a strange radio host Night Vale.
The official position seems to become "You people just aren't suffering enough".
(From my skimming the literature a few years back, acetaminophen is statistically significantly effective as a fever breaker, but its usefulness as an analgesic is less robust than ibuprofen's or naproxen's)
(From my skimming the literature a few years back, acetaminophen is statistically significantly effective as a fever breaker, but its usefulness as an analgesic is less robust than ibuprofen's or naproxen's)
JD Vance calls ibuprofen "useless medication" and implies it's not "necessary, safe and effective."
November 13, 2025 at 2:52 AM
The official position seems to become "You people just aren't suffering enough".
(From my skimming the literature a few years back, acetaminophen is statistically significantly effective as a fever breaker, but its usefulness as an analgesic is less robust than ibuprofen's or naproxen's)
(From my skimming the literature a few years back, acetaminophen is statistically significantly effective as a fever breaker, but its usefulness as an analgesic is less robust than ibuprofen's or naproxen's)
Reposted by Mike Wiser
In 2005, Summers said women aren't as mentally equipped to be scientists as men (link below). Harvard didn't fire his ass then.
Now in this 2017 email, he's making an insufferable, faux-clever "joke" about women's supposedly inferior IQ.
He's been garbage for decades.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...
Now in this 2017 email, he's making an insufferable, faux-clever "joke" about women's supposedly inferior IQ.
He's been garbage for decades.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...
Harvard President Summers' Remarks About Women in Science, Engineering
Harvard President Lawrence Summers faced intense criticism for remarks he made about the shortage of women in the sciences and engineering at a Jan. 14 closed-door conference.
www.pbs.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:18 PM
In 2005, Summers said women aren't as mentally equipped to be scientists as men (link below). Harvard didn't fire his ass then.
Now in this 2017 email, he's making an insufferable, faux-clever "joke" about women's supposedly inferior IQ.
He's been garbage for decades.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...
Now in this 2017 email, he's making an insufferable, faux-clever "joke" about women's supposedly inferior IQ.
He's been garbage for decades.
www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...
So, this is just my personal opinion, but:
Every single person about whom there exists credible evidence concerning sexual interactions with children or human trafficking should be investigated and then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Every single person about whom there exists credible evidence concerning sexual interactions with children or human trafficking should be investigated and then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
November 12, 2025 at 5:56 PM
So, this is just my personal opinion, but:
Every single person about whom there exists credible evidence concerning sexual interactions with children or human trafficking should be investigated and then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Every single person about whom there exists credible evidence concerning sexual interactions with children or human trafficking should be investigated and then prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.