Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
@lemoustier.bsky.social
Archaeologist, word-witcher, scicomm, consultancy
📚 KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death & Art
🖋️ MATRIARCHA: Prehistory Re-imagined
🏛️ Honorary Researcher U. Cambridge & U. Liverpool
1/4 @trowelblazers.bsky.social
Rep: PEW Literary
📚 KINDRED: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death & Art
🖋️ MATRIARCHA: Prehistory Re-imagined
🏛️ Honorary Researcher U. Cambridge & U. Liverpool
1/4 @trowelblazers.bsky.social
Rep: PEW Literary
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Always love that Star Trek correctly predicted everything about tablets except the idea you could keep more than one thing on them at a time, so every character has dozens of them.
THE WORST!! when i can't remember which ipadd I saved the delivery service menu on and DIVATOX! is pushing me to finally place my order
November 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Always love that Star Trek correctly predicted everything about tablets except the idea you could keep more than one thing on them at a time, so every character has dozens of them.
🧪🏺 Shocking.
Hope that the archaeological /anthropologicsl community resists this kind of thing
Hope that the archaeological /anthropologicsl community resists this kind of thing
Abstracts submitted to LPSC 2026 are required to comply with White House (non-legally binding) executive orders forbidding mention of topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
At least USRA/LPI isn't hiding it.
But is this what our community wants? Or deserves? I don't think so.
At least USRA/LPI isn't hiding it.
But is this what our community wants? Or deserves? I don't think so.
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
🧪🏺 Shocking.
Hope that the archaeological /anthropologicsl community resists this kind of thing
Hope that the archaeological /anthropologicsl community resists this kind of thing
Forest sunset, before the frost (Cefn Digoll/Long Mountain)
November 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Forest sunset, before the frost (Cefn Digoll/Long Mountain)
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Tonight, I'm in conversation with @lizzicollinge.bsky.social MP. As a humanist and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, she offers a rare, clear view from Parliament on @humanists.uk's campaigns in action. She also happens to be very fun! humanists.uk/events/in-co...
In conversation with Lizzi Collinge MP
Lizzi Collinge is the Labour MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale and chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group which brings together around 130 MPs and peers.
humanists.uk
November 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Tonight, I'm in conversation with @lizzicollinge.bsky.social MP. As a humanist and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, she offers a rare, clear view from Parliament on @humanists.uk's campaigns in action. She also happens to be very fun! humanists.uk/events/in-co...
🧪 Perhaps it's time for some conversations in science community about the ethics of doing research for TV when it seems to create so many compromises, including their broadcast schedules being prioritised over the publication or other peer review of results & interpretation.
Putting aside the deeper issues of why this analysis was done and how it has been promoted, the choice to broadcast a tv show before releasing a preprint should make people skeptical of the results. How can one be sure of their scientific claims?
As I told the CNN, without details and data it is not possible to assess the claims.
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
More importantly, the scientific value of this media campaign, balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real conditions today, is highly questionable. edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/s...
November 15, 2025 at 11:12 PM
🧪 Perhaps it's time for some conversations in science community about the ethics of doing research for TV when it seems to create so many compromises, including their broadcast schedules being prioritised over the publication or other peer review of results & interpretation.
🏺 Taphonomy of social crises
I've been collecting pandemic era signs that nobody can be bothered to take down or remove. There's something grimly fascinating about this. Putting them up was urgent and important; removing them is nobody's job. How long will some of these hang around?
November 15, 2025 at 11:25 AM
🏺 Taphonomy of social crises
🧳🏺 Looking for Santorini travel tips, specifically for visiting Akrotiri, the archaeological museum and any other Bronze Age-related things...
Anyone stayed near Akrotiri itself? Any good places for the 'fava' (lathryis) and wine?
Anyone stayed near Akrotiri itself? Any good places for the 'fava' (lathryis) and wine?
November 15, 2025 at 10:53 AM
🧳🏺 Looking for Santorini travel tips, specifically for visiting Akrotiri, the archaeological museum and any other Bronze Age-related things...
Anyone stayed near Akrotiri itself? Any good places for the 'fava' (lathryis) and wine?
Anyone stayed near Akrotiri itself? Any good places for the 'fava' (lathryis) and wine?
Now wondering if any dinos made the same gross eye-rolling vomm-grimace that one of my cats used to do 🦕🐈⬛
For #FossilFriday & in honor of @alinemghilardi.bsky.social & colleagues' fantastic discovery of a new Cretaceous pterosaur in Brazil in a dinosaur regurgitalite ("fossil vomit"), here's a diagram I made for my book 'Dinosaurs Without Bones' (2014) showing the physics of a puking brachiosaur. 🧪🦕🤮🪨
November 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Now wondering if any dinos made the same gross eye-rolling vomm-grimace that one of my cats used to do 🦕🐈⬛
More and more convinced that one day we are going to find Palaeolithic mammoth-fibre textiles: who could resist that floof?!
November 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
More and more convinced that one day we are going to find Palaeolithic mammoth-fibre textiles: who could resist that floof?!
Favourite part about this is the lack of informed consent:
"I just need a quick video...
Just 3 minutes"
"I just need a quick video...
Just 3 minutes"
November 14, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Favourite part about this is the lack of informed consent:
"I just need a quick video...
Just 3 minutes"
"I just need a quick video...
Just 3 minutes"
Always worth bigging up #MaryHornerLyell who was into geology before she met her husband, Charles
trowelblazers.com/2014/08/07/m...
trowelblazers.com/2014/08/07/m...
November 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Always worth bigging up #MaryHornerLyell who was into geology before she met her husband, Charles
trowelblazers.com/2014/08/07/m...
trowelblazers.com/2014/08/07/m...
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
How do neuromyths undermine learning? The #BlackhamLecture explores the gap between brain science and classroom practice with Professor Paul Howard-Jones. 19 November online. Book now! humanists.uk/events/black...
Neuromyths: classrooms, culture, and climate change | The Blackham Lecture 2025, with Professor Paul Howard-Jones, chaired by Dr Ginny Smith
humanists.uk
November 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
How do neuromyths undermine learning? The #BlackhamLecture explores the gap between brain science and classroom practice with Professor Paul Howard-Jones. 19 November online. Book now! humanists.uk/events/black...
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
*crumbles into dust*
The difference in time between now and I can has cheezburger
Is the same between I can has Cheezburger and the Berlin Wall falling
Is the same between I can has Cheezburger and the Berlin Wall falling
November 14, 2025 at 12:12 PM
*crumbles into dust*
🧪🏺
In the immortal words of Sir Mix-a-Lot: "And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh".
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
2 doggy papers are so much better than 1. Both studies a testament to slow science & international collaboration between brilliant people. What it's all about.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The emergence and diversification of dog morphology
Dogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been con...
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 12:43 PM
🧪🏺
🏺
Day 14: Heavy. Weight, bulk, heft are important aspects of the materiality of ancient objects, and hard to convey visually or through text. This Red Polished bowl is surprisingly heavy in the hand, like a full mug of tea, and it rests centred and self-contained despite its rounded base. #Museum30
November 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
🏺
🏺 Love a bit of well-junk...
The oldest thing I know that's been dropped into a well (though far after its own time) is the Harbin skull, which is older than 145,000 years.
Anyone know of anything older, a handaxe maybe?
The oldest thing I know that's been dropped into a well (though far after its own time) is the Harbin skull, which is older than 145,000 years.
Anyone know of anything older, a handaxe maybe?
I find the phrase “makes history” nonsensical. Have you seen the stuff historians study? Just dropping an old piece of farm equipment down a well or accidentally freezing to death in a glacier gives you a good shot at the history books
November 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM
🏺 Love a bit of well-junk...
The oldest thing I know that's been dropped into a well (though far after its own time) is the Harbin skull, which is older than 145,000 years.
Anyone know of anything older, a handaxe maybe?
The oldest thing I know that's been dropped into a well (though far after its own time) is the Harbin skull, which is older than 145,000 years.
Anyone know of anything older, a handaxe maybe?
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
How about "Where is our heritage demonstrably most risk from metal detecting"? It isn't lost, it's part of the archaeological record.
Cc @Tess_Machling🏺
#FindsFriday
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Cc @Tess_Machling🏺
#FindsFriday
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Where in the UK is the greatest amount of hidden treasure?
Objects uncovered have included precious Viking coins and a Roman earwax scoop
www.independent.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:05 AM
How about "Where is our heritage demonstrably most risk from metal detecting"? It isn't lost, it's part of the archaeological record.
Cc @Tess_Machling🏺
#FindsFriday
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Cc @Tess_Machling🏺
#FindsFriday
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
"These generative AI systems give sometimes correct and sometimes wrong information. The errors are not bugs, but by design. They "predict" next words based on probabilities. Facts are not their forte."
The European Commission uses ChatGPT outputs in public documents.
@iccl.bsky.social has filed a complaint to the European Ombudsman as this use likely violates Commission's own guidelines and its obligation under EU treaties
www.iccl.ie/news/europea...
@iccl.bsky.social has filed a complaint to the European Ombudsman as this use likely violates Commission's own guidelines and its obligation under EU treaties
www.iccl.ie/news/europea...
European Commission breaches own AI guidelines by using ChatGPT in public documents
ICCL has filed a complaint to the European Ombudsman against the European Commission for its use of generative AI in public documents, which likely violates its own guidelines and its obligation under...
www.iccl.ie
November 14, 2025 at 9:49 AM
"These generative AI systems give sometimes correct and sometimes wrong information. The errors are not bugs, but by design. They "predict" next words based on probabilities. Facts are not their forte."
🏺🗃️ Tell me again why history & archaeology & anthropology don't matter
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 9:47 AM
🏺🗃️ Tell me again why history & archaeology & anthropology don't matter
🏺
Several minute piece on the BBC.
Lots of detectorists.
No archaeologists.
No-one from PAS.
No-one from museums.
No discussion of the costs or responsibilities involved.
😡
#Archaeology #Detecting #Treasure #BBC #News
Lots of detectorists.
No archaeologists.
No-one from PAS.
No-one from museums.
No discussion of the costs or responsibilities involved.
😡
#Archaeology #Detecting #Treasure #BBC #News
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 PM
🏺
🧪🦣 Interesting new perspective on why some stalagmite forms develop
The droplet contains CO2, and that CO2 evaporates as the droplet moves along the ceiling and falls down. If the droplet reaches the ground quickly, it contains more CO2 on impact, quickly depositing calcium carbonate at one point and forming a pointy tip — a cone.
November 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
🧪🦣 Interesting new perspective on why some stalagmite forms develop
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
🏃For anyone else who actually enjoys running but gets irrationally anxious & therefore avoids it: today I was rewarded with glorious autumn sun backlighting the oaks; zillions of squirrels; a shy foal letting me give it muzzle strokes; and three does picking their way through the hill pines 🍂🐿️🐴🦌
November 13, 2025 at 10:15 AM
🏃For anyone else who actually enjoys running but gets irrationally anxious & therefore avoids it: today I was rewarded with glorious autumn sun backlighting the oaks; zillions of squirrels; a shy foal letting me give it muzzle strokes; and three does picking their way through the hill pines 🍂🐿️🐴🦌
Reposted by Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes
This is an insightful discussion about using LLM AI for science communication (please don't). Among the *many* problems, it can't distinguish correlation from causation. By @em-underwood.bsky.social with Abigail Eisenstadt
The Last Word On Nothing | Why AAAS won’t be using AI to write press releases anytime soon
www.lastwordonnothing.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This is an insightful discussion about using LLM AI for science communication (please don't). Among the *many* problems, it can't distinguish correlation from causation. By @em-underwood.bsky.social with Abigail Eisenstadt
Everything positive thing we do at scale matters in regard to #ClimateCrisis.
We have the tech, the resources to do so much more; what is missing is cognitive and emotional connection with the future and its reality.
We have the tech, the resources to do so much more; what is missing is cognitive and emotional connection with the future and its reality.
Ten years after the Paris climate agreement, the limited progress we’ve made in reducing global warming means that there will be less extreme heat in the future than there would be without the accord
Has the World Made Any Real Progress on Extreme Heat?
Ten years after the Paris climate agreement, the limited progress we’ve made in reducing global warming means that there will be less extreme heat in the future than there would be without the accord
www.scientificamerican.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Everything positive thing we do at scale matters in regard to #ClimateCrisis.
We have the tech, the resources to do so much more; what is missing is cognitive and emotional connection with the future and its reality.
We have the tech, the resources to do so much more; what is missing is cognitive and emotional connection with the future and its reality.
Intrigued by the idea that anyone can write a thing, call it a "memo", and it then must be treated as an extraordinary source of objective wisdom
November 13, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Intrigued by the idea that anyone can write a thing, call it a "memo", and it then must be treated as an extraordinary source of objective wisdom