theiconoclast
@theiconoclast.bsky.social
tech entrepreneur, democratic socialist, atheist, pet lover, straight guy with deep interest in biology and neuroscience and appreciation of the value of diversity and cooperation.
Reposted by theiconoclast
Nice coverage on the recent article from my lab in @currentbiology.bsky.social in the Defector.
Rewilding mice alters fear and anxiety behaviors
Rewilding mice alters fear and anxiety behaviors
What a week of freedom can do for a lab mouse: defector.com/what-a-week-...
What A Week Of Freedom Can Do For A Lab Mouse | Defector
Each time Matthew Zipple, a behavioral ecologist at Cornell University, releases a mouse that was born and raised in a laboratory into the green expanse of a field, he is amazed. He transports the…
defector.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Nice coverage on the recent article from my lab in @currentbiology.bsky.social in the Defector.
Rewilding mice alters fear and anxiety behaviors
Rewilding mice alters fear and anxiety behaviors
Whether one supports the removal of Maduro or not is irrelevant now. Breaching the world order without any coordination with allies and other foreign powers has lit a fuse that will be hard to control.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: “China is deeply shocked by and strongly condemns the US’ blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president."
January 3, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Whether one supports the removal of Maduro or not is irrelevant now. Breaching the world order without any coordination with allies and other foreign powers has lit a fuse that will be hard to control.
Reposted by theiconoclast
Is one of your goals for 2026 to write more? One question I get all the time is, "How do you make time to write?" So, here is my unsolicited writing advice for the new year:
December 31, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Is one of your goals for 2026 to write more? One question I get all the time is, "How do you make time to write?" So, here is my unsolicited writing advice for the new year:
Reposted by theiconoclast
One of my old college textbooks discussed how some areas have tried indexing citations/fines to the person’s income
Which I think would also be a greater deterrent.
If you pay $250 for a traffic ticket, for example - that’s barely lunch money for some people. Not exactly a deterrent.
Which I think would also be a greater deterrent.
If you pay $250 for a traffic ticket, for example - that’s barely lunch money for some people. Not exactly a deterrent.
December 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM
One of my old college textbooks discussed how some areas have tried indexing citations/fines to the person’s income
Which I think would also be a greater deterrent.
If you pay $250 for a traffic ticket, for example - that’s barely lunch money for some people. Not exactly a deterrent.
Which I think would also be a greater deterrent.
If you pay $250 for a traffic ticket, for example - that’s barely lunch money for some people. Not exactly a deterrent.
Reposted by theiconoclast
Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.
December 26, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.
Fucking brilliant. Using 9:1 of the creditors own money to pay off the debt.
The actor Michael Sheen used all his money to start a fake debt collecting business, buy 900 people in Wales's debt, and excused it. If Musk bought ALL $194 billion in medical debt in the U.S. and excused it in the same way, he'd still be the world's riches man by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Michael Sheen spent his own money to write off $1.3 million of neighbors’ debts | CNN
Actor Michael Sheen has bought $1.3 million of his neighbors’ debts and written them off using $129,000 of his own money.
www.cnn.com
December 21, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Fucking brilliant. Using 9:1 of the creditors own money to pay off the debt.
Fascinating accessible science writing...
What it's like to be an owl – the fascinating science of seeing with sound www.themarginalian.org/2023/12/24/o...
December 19, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Fascinating accessible science writing...
Reposted by theiconoclast
Woah.
Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success.
The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points.
The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.
Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success.
The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points.
The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.
December 15, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Woah.
Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success.
The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points.
The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.
Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success.
The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points.
The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.
Great reporting....
This is appalling — and bad for the Jews
www.propublica.org/article/ucla...
www.propublica.org/article/ucla...
Trump’s DOJ Pressured Lawyers to “Find” Evidence that UCLA Had Illegally Tolerated Antisemitism
An investigation by ProPublica and The Chronicle of Higher Education reveals how the U.S. government ignored due process to gin up its attack on the University of California.
www.propublica.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Great reporting....
Reposted by theiconoclast
Gleichschaltung with American characteristics www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
Proposed Model Bill Would Change College Tenure, Teaching, & Research
Three conservative groups have proposed model legislation that would dramatically change faculty tenure paths, teaching loads, research activities and hiring authority
www.forbes.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Gleichschaltung with American characteristics www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
Reposted by theiconoclast
The “Habitat,” a complex experimental environment for rats, gives researchers insight into greater behavioral nuance than traditional cages do, say Peter Kind and Raven Hickson at the University of Edinburgh.
By Holly Barker
www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/hom...
By Holly Barker
www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/hom...
Home makeover helps rats better express themselves: Q&A with Raven Hickson and Peter Kind
The “Habitat”—a complex environment with space for large social groups—expands the behavioral repertoire of rodent models, Hickson and Kind say.
www.thetransmitter.org
December 4, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The “Habitat,” a complex experimental environment for rats, gives researchers insight into greater behavioral nuance than traditional cages do, say Peter Kind and Raven Hickson at the University of Edinburgh.
By Holly Barker
www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/hom...
By Holly Barker
www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/hom...
Reposted by theiconoclast
This is my "Dutch Auction" theory of authoritarianism.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
The most dangerous moment in every authoritarian regime is when it realizes that its power has crested and is now falling. This is when they realize that if they are to achieve their maximalist ambitions, now they have to throw the dice — because no matter how bad the odds, their odds are best now.
December 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM
This is my "Dutch Auction" theory of authoritarianism.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
It's no coincidence, for example, that the Wannsee Conference, where the Nazi top leadership signed off on the Final Solution, took place just after the military tide turned outside Moscow, and the U.S. declared war on Germany.
Reposted by theiconoclast
“But the Trump administration cut the money, claiming it fell under DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Remarkable story of a Georgia high school team who used CRISPR to make a rapid diagnostic test strip for Lyme disease, speeding dx from 2 weeks to days
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-m...
Teens may have come up with a new way to detect, treat Lyme disease using CRISPR gene editing
To compete at iGEM, a sort of science Olympics, teens at a Georgia high school set their sights on finding a better way to detect and treat Lyme disease. Their approach uses CRISPR gene editing.
www.cbsnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:32 AM
“But the Trump administration cut the money, claiming it fell under DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Reposted by theiconoclast
Such classic gaslighting it's an instructive moment. The question is not whether generic is better or worse, it's that a list with more expensive brand names is not the same as a list with cheaper generics. Perverting that truth into an attack on those calling it out is Manipulation 101.
Hassett: "On one of the Sunday shows, the anchor criticized the fact Walmart said the Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper by about $10. Then he said, 'Oh yeah, but they substituted generic stuff,' as if having a generic something is a crime for ordinary folks! It shows how out of touch these people are."
November 26, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Such classic gaslighting it's an instructive moment. The question is not whether generic is better or worse, it's that a list with more expensive brand names is not the same as a list with cheaper generics. Perverting that truth into an attack on those calling it out is Manipulation 101.
Thinking one of the McCarthyism movies might be a good Thanksgiving choice. But which one, Good Night, Good Luck, Trumbo or The Front?
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Thinking one of the McCarthyism movies might be a good Thanksgiving choice. But which one, Good Night, Good Luck, Trumbo or The Front?
Reposted by theiconoclast
Saying "vaccines are safe" is an irrelevant detail when you voted to hand all of the US government's health organizations over to someone who adamantly insists they are not.
TAPPER: Dr Cassidy, RFK Jr lied to you
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
CASSIDY: First let me say what's most important -- vaccines are safe.
November 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Saying "vaccines are safe" is an irrelevant detail when you voted to hand all of the US government's health organizations over to someone who adamantly insists they are not.
Reposted by theiconoclast
If a legitimate form of constitutionally-backed rule of law is ever to be restored, perpetrators MUST go to jail for these depredations, the money made MUST be clawed back, and the political enablers MUST be lustrated. The penalties must be so severe that no one will ever dare try this shit again.
When the top JAG at Southern Command told the Pentagon that their plans to blow up fishing boats based on suspicions that they might have drugs in the cargo hold was certainly illegal, Hegseth simply ignored him, while others told him his career was over. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Top military lawyer concerned about Trump ‘drug boat’ strikes was ignored: report
The senior judge advocate general reportedly raised concerns that the airstrikes against the alleged ‘narco-terrorists’ could amount to extrajudicial killings
www.independent.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 6:09 PM
If a legitimate form of constitutionally-backed rule of law is ever to be restored, perpetrators MUST go to jail for these depredations, the money made MUST be clawed back, and the political enablers MUST be lustrated. The penalties must be so severe that no one will ever dare try this shit again.
Reposted by theiconoclast
This is really a startling example of how treating women like shit publicly teaches the men around her to behave so they don’t catch a smack too. Literally domestic violence frame but the workplace
"When an off-camera female reporter... began to ask if there was anything 'incriminating' in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face. 'Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,' he said menacingly."
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Tell me again how it's women who are ruining the workplace?
people.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'
Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files
people.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This is really a startling example of how treating women like shit publicly teaches the men around her to behave so they don’t catch a smack too. Literally domestic violence frame but the workplace
Reposted by theiconoclast
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by theiconoclast
Found the tweet that Joyce Carol Oates bodied Elon Musk with and it's so beautiful in its eloquent, simple take down. So much so he's crashing out trying to prove he reads books now. Put this in the Louvre.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Found the tweet that Joyce Carol Oates bodied Elon Musk with and it's so beautiful in its eloquent, simple take down. So much so he's crashing out trying to prove he reads books now. Put this in the Louvre.
Reposted by theiconoclast
Simple Truth:
Insurance and financing's purpose is to mask imbalances in wealth distribution.
Sustaining them amplifies wealth concentration because capital earns returns faster than wages grow, while those without capital pay premiums and interest that sustain the system.
Insurance and financing's purpose is to mask imbalances in wealth distribution.
Sustaining them amplifies wealth concentration because capital earns returns faster than wages grow, while those without capital pay premiums and interest that sustain the system.
November 9, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Simple Truth:
Insurance and financing's purpose is to mask imbalances in wealth distribution.
Sustaining them amplifies wealth concentration because capital earns returns faster than wages grow, while those without capital pay premiums and interest that sustain the system.
Insurance and financing's purpose is to mask imbalances in wealth distribution.
Sustaining them amplifies wealth concentration because capital earns returns faster than wages grow, while those without capital pay premiums and interest that sustain the system.
Reposted by theiconoclast
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Reposted by theiconoclast
The Vienna Circle was not that coherent politically, but its one consistent theme is hostility to populism: "While positivism was ultimately unsuccessful as an antidote against metaphysics, it remains valuable as an antidote against anti-scientific politics." www.oxonianreview.com/articles/in-...
“In science there are no ‘depths’; there is surface everywhere”
The Vienna Circle was by all accounts a motley crew. As their manifesto states, “not one of the members [is] a so-called ‘pure’ philosopher; all of them have done work in a special field of science”. ...
www.oxonianreview.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The Vienna Circle was not that coherent politically, but its one consistent theme is hostility to populism: "While positivism was ultimately unsuccessful as an antidote against metaphysics, it remains valuable as an antidote against anti-scientific politics." www.oxonianreview.com/articles/in-...
A short list of deceptions to make wage earners ignore the loss of buying power:
Home equity loans
College loans
Two earner households
7 year auto loans
Two earner households
....
Home equity loans
College loans
Two earner households
7 year auto loans
Two earner households
....
The corporate propaganda machine colluding with the Trump propaganda machine to lie to the American people about Thanksgiving.
November 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
A short list of deceptions to make wage earners ignore the loss of buying power:
Home equity loans
College loans
Two earner households
7 year auto loans
Two earner households
....
Home equity loans
College loans
Two earner households
7 year auto loans
Two earner households
....