Prof Stephen Wood
@stephenwood8.bsky.social
Occasional chorister, professional academic
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Preaching to the choir here, but it’s worth getting all the arguments lined up.
Long and absolutely brutal article on AI and the university. Hard to decide what to emphasize...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Preaching to the choir here, but it’s worth getting all the arguments lined up.
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
In a time when governments need to learn, they continually demonstrate that they have learned exactly nothing. Government is about being the custodian of the well-being of 26 million people - this is not custodianship, it's incompetence bordering on negligence.
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
December 3, 2025 at 5:17 AM
In a time when governments need to learn, they continually demonstrate that they have learned exactly nothing. Government is about being the custodian of the well-being of 26 million people - this is not custodianship, it's incompetence bordering on negligence.
Hmm what would I put here?
Suede
Björk
PJ Harvey
The Cat Empire
Josh Pyke (possible recency bias there)
Suede
Björk
PJ Harvey
The Cat Empire
Josh Pyke (possible recency bias there)
Ok! @schizosemia.bsky.social @aldersonday.bsky.social I will list 5 of the most memorable!
Nick Cave
Rufus Wainwright
The Divine Comedy
Nouvelle Vague
Half Man Half Biscuit
[Arab Strap for a cheeky 6th]
Nick Cave
Rufus Wainwright
The Divine Comedy
Nouvelle Vague
Half Man Half Biscuit
[Arab Strap for a cheeky 6th]
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen:
Leonard Cohen
Nirvana
Public Enemy
Laurie Anderson
Brighde Chaimbeul
Leonard Cohen
Nirvana
Public Enemy
Laurie Anderson
Brighde Chaimbeul
December 2, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Hmm what would I put here?
Suede
Björk
PJ Harvey
The Cat Empire
Josh Pyke (possible recency bias there)
Suede
Björk
PJ Harvey
The Cat Empire
Josh Pyke (possible recency bias there)
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
'Our research shows long-unburnt forests act to limit fire without human intervention – even as the climate changes.
Authorities need to heavily invest in rapid fire detection & attack, training & employing more specialist remote area firefighters.'
theconversation.com/in-1939-a-ro...
Authorities need to heavily invest in rapid fire detection & attack, training & employing more specialist remote area firefighters.'
theconversation.com/in-1939-a-ro...
In 1939, a Royal Commission found burning forests leads to more bushfires. But this cycle of destruction can be stopped
After devastating fires in 1939, authorities began burning forests to reduce fuel load. But we now know this creates conditions for even worse fires.
theconversation.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:16 AM
'Our research shows long-unburnt forests act to limit fire without human intervention – even as the climate changes.
Authorities need to heavily invest in rapid fire detection & attack, training & employing more specialist remote area firefighters.'
theconversation.com/in-1939-a-ro...
Authorities need to heavily invest in rapid fire detection & attack, training & employing more specialist remote area firefighters.'
theconversation.com/in-1939-a-ro...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
We’ve talked about VR therapy for psychosis for more than a decade, but is the evidence finally catching up?
This new multi-site RCT tests a refined, immersive version of AVATAR therapy for people who still hear distressing voices despite medication.
🧵 THREAD
#Psychosis #VRtherapy #MentalHealth
This new multi-site RCT tests a refined, immersive version of AVATAR therapy for people who still hear distressing voices despite medication.
🧵 THREAD
#Psychosis #VRtherapy #MentalHealth
November 26, 2025 at 7:41 AM
We’ve talked about VR therapy for psychosis for more than a decade, but is the evidence finally catching up?
This new multi-site RCT tests a refined, immersive version of AVATAR therapy for people who still hear distressing voices despite medication.
🧵 THREAD
#Psychosis #VRtherapy #MentalHealth
This new multi-site RCT tests a refined, immersive version of AVATAR therapy for people who still hear distressing voices despite medication.
🧵 THREAD
#Psychosis #VRtherapy #MentalHealth
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
This is my prediction
Will the social media ban be like shark nets?
They make people feel better - and politicians can say ‘look what we did to protect you’ - but really they don’t work, may make the issue worse - & stop real solutions being found & implemented 🤔🤔 #auspol
They make people feel better - and politicians can say ‘look what we did to protect you’ - but really they don’t work, may make the issue worse - & stop real solutions being found & implemented 🤔🤔 #auspol
November 25, 2025 at 7:26 AM
This is my prediction
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
on this logic all the alleged rapists could be sacked without notice. So as to you know cut off their income based on “serious” allegations. Oddly nobody is proposing that employed rapists be punished without a guilty plea or guilty verdict.
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Poverty is not evidence, the presumption of innocence must apply to everyone
In the final days of October, the Federal Government quietly inserted a last-minute amendment into an unrelated bill. It has been trying to rush through a change that would allow police and the Home A...
thepoint.com.au
November 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
on this logic all the alleged rapists could be sacked without notice. So as to you know cut off their income based on “serious” allegations. Oddly nobody is proposing that employed rapists be punished without a guilty plea or guilty verdict.
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Read our new paper!
How do we close the 17-year evidence-to-practice gap?
Master protocols (which streamline treatment trials) could be adapted to accelerate implementation
Key is long-term, place-based partnerships w/ co-production, collaboration & embedded evaluation
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
How do we close the 17-year evidence-to-practice gap?
Master protocols (which streamline treatment trials) could be adapted to accelerate implementation
Key is long-term, place-based partnerships w/ co-production, collaboration & embedded evaluation
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
Could master protocols be adapted for effectiveness-implementation hybrid studies? - BMC Medical Research Methodology
Background Master protocols leverage a common trial infrastructure for launching multiple sub-studies. Translational research aims to progress scientific discoveries toward public health impact, which...
doi.org
November 24, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Read our new paper!
How do we close the 17-year evidence-to-practice gap?
Master protocols (which streamline treatment trials) could be adapted to accelerate implementation
Key is long-term, place-based partnerships w/ co-production, collaboration & embedded evaluation
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
How do we close the 17-year evidence-to-practice gap?
Master protocols (which streamline treatment trials) could be adapted to accelerate implementation
Key is long-term, place-based partnerships w/ co-production, collaboration & embedded evaluation
doi.org/10.1186/s128...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
This kind of big modern cruise ship is always so funny to me, because it's basically 'hey, what if we took a bunch of things you like to do on holiday, then added a thing that made it slightly more dangerous that also increases the price and means you can't leave'.
November 24, 2025 at 12:53 AM
This kind of big modern cruise ship is always so funny to me, because it's basically 'hey, what if we took a bunch of things you like to do on holiday, then added a thing that made it slightly more dangerous that also increases the price and means you can't leave'.
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
November 23, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:51 PM
"Getting a robot to use the treadmill for you at the gym doesn't make you any fitter"
You don't say?
You don't say?
One of the great threads
I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
a statue of a hippopotamus with its mouth open and teeth showing .
Alt: A hippo being tossed a watermelon, which it crushes in its massive jaws.
media.tenor.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 AM
One of the great threads
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
I seriously cannot get over how stupid it is to be cutting back on research right now #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
CSIRO 350 job cuts a damning indictment on Government priorities, misses 'golden opportunity' on research
The announcement this week that CSIRO are to cut 350 research jobs is another damning indictment on Australia’s ongoing failure to prioritise research and development.
thepoint.com.au
November 19, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I seriously cannot get over how stupid it is to be cutting back on research right now #ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
This is why for a long time I've found the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science a rather insulting propaganda exercise
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
CSIRO funding as a percentage of GDP:
1982-83 = 0.17
2024-25 = 0.03
...
Scientific extinction event imminent?
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
CSIRO funding as a percentage of GDP:
1982-83 = 0.17
2024-25 = 0.03
...
Scientific extinction event imminent?
The CSIRO cuts are just the tip of the iceberg for Australia's science funding
Australia is known as a country of innovators, but with a combination of brain drain, continuous cuts, and a loss of critical science projects, is Australia losing its edge?
www.abc.net.au
November 19, 2025 at 7:01 AM
This is why for a long time I've found the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science a rather insulting propaganda exercise
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
CSIRO funding as a percentage of GDP:
1982-83 = 0.17
2024-25 = 0.03
...
Scientific extinction event imminent?
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
CSIRO funding as a percentage of GDP:
1982-83 = 0.17
2024-25 = 0.03
...
Scientific extinction event imminent?
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Are you autistic and living in Australia? If so, please consider completing my research survey. It takes 45-60min and will help us understand the experience and impacts of autism identification, to try improve access to autism identification. tinyurl.com/autism-uc14359 #autismresearch #psychresearch
September 30, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Are you autistic and living in Australia? If so, please consider completing my research survey. It takes 45-60min and will help us understand the experience and impacts of autism identification, to try improve access to autism identification. tinyurl.com/autism-uc14359 #autismresearch #psychresearch
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Every state apart from Tas is pulling their weight with hospital expenditure. The Feds not wanting to pay for the additional demand on hospitals that the FEDS CREATE from underfunding their primary health, NDIS and aged care system responsibilities is pathetic bullshit www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
'Beyond belief': PM tells states to spend less on hospitals
Health ministers are furious with a letter from the prime minister demanding they rein in spending if they want a public hospital funding deal honoured.
www.abc.net.au
November 17, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Every state apart from Tas is pulling their weight with hospital expenditure. The Feds not wanting to pay for the additional demand on hospitals that the FEDS CREATE from underfunding their primary health, NDIS and aged care system responsibilities is pathetic bullshit www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Australian/NZ academia has deep and entrenched problems, but throughout my career I have learnt the most bonkers things about US academia and this “job interviews in hotel rooms” stuff is right up there
Every interview I’ve ever had has been in a meeting room or office like normal goddamn people
Every interview I’ve ever had has been in a meeting room or office like normal goddamn people
November 17, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Australian/NZ academia has deep and entrenched problems, but throughout my career I have learnt the most bonkers things about US academia and this “job interviews in hotel rooms” stuff is right up there
Every interview I’ve ever had has been in a meeting room or office like normal goddamn people
Every interview I’ve ever had has been in a meeting room or office like normal goddamn people
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Uh
this is
enormous
this is
enormous
British and Australian chemists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic called pre-methylenomycin C lactone, hiding in a well-known soil bacterium. This molecule kills drug-resistant bacteria without triggering resistance. buff.ly/YlXaONo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Scientists find hidden antibiotic 100x stronger against deadly superbugs
A team of scientists discovered a hidden antibiotic 100 times stronger than existing drugs against deadly superbugs like MRSA. The molecule had been overlooked for decades in a familiar bacterium. It…
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Uh
this is
enormous
this is
enormous
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
When right-wingers talk about how easy some nebulous group of sponging “others” have it compared to the ordinary decent hardworking citizen, the easy question to ask is “would you want to swap places with one?” And they wouldn’t ever want to. So that’s that problem dealt with. Next issue, please.
November 16, 2025 at 9:32 AM
When right-wingers talk about how easy some nebulous group of sponging “others” have it compared to the ordinary decent hardworking citizen, the easy question to ask is “would you want to swap places with one?” And they wouldn’t ever want to. So that’s that problem dealt with. Next issue, please.
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Kevin Mitchell tells it as it is. There nothing there! We're easily captured by a simple narrative for an incredibly complex etiology. www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/goi...
Going against the gut: Q&A with Kevin Mitchell
A new review of 15 years of studies on the connection between the microbiome and autism reveals widespread statistical and conceptual errors.
www.thetransmitter.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Kevin Mitchell tells it as it is. There nothing there! We're easily captured by a simple narrative for an incredibly complex etiology. www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/goi...
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
THEN YOU PURCHASE THEM AND DO NOT USE THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS
Open AI loses copyright case in Germany.
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Judge Elke Schwager summarized the case saying that if you want to build something and need components, "then you purchase them and do not use the property of others."
Blow for OpenAI in Germany as court rules song lyrics used illegally
A German court ruled on Tuesday that OpenAI violated copyright on nine popular songs in a lawsuit that marked another attempt to prevent the free use of artists' content online. The Munich Regional Co...
www.yahoo.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 PM
THEN YOU PURCHASE THEM AND DO NOT USE THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS
Reposted by Prof Stephen Wood
Magnificent
If you need me, tap me on the shoulder. I’ll be happily working all day listening to this on a loop.
November 14, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Magnificent