Parts for today’s class of my Introductory Environmental Science/Research Methodology course. Students built an #Arduino based portable low-cost PM2.5 #airquality monitor for a personal measurement project (indoors or outdoors).

(This is project no 2 after the field trip to the abandoned Eustis mine, where students studied trace metals in water and soil using ICP-MS.) #teaching #academia #Concordia

The #overleaf git interface could use some love, because commit messages like "Update on Overleaf." are a total waste of opportunity. Why not indicate by who, and at which sections/subsections in the commit message?

Hi scientific Fedi!
If you are or you know someone looking for a postdoc in environmental/sustainability sciences with an interdisciplinary focus, have a look here:
https://tiris.univ-toulouse.fr/en/programs/atout

There are 44 fellowship opportunities for 24 months in Toulouse (south of France) related to MSCA COFUND.

Obviously, if you'd like to work on sustainable sanitation and food systems, the water-food-energy nexus, sustainable cities, sustainable process engineering, life-cycle analysis, etc, hit me up

Even if it wasn't my field of research I think I would subscribe to this journal just for the cover art, there is one like that every time

https://www.mbsj.jp/en/gtc/cover_gallery.html

Anyone here has used both #Zotero and #Endnote?

If so, which one do you prefer (if we set aside the fact that one is non-profit and the other is an exploitative for-profit)? Like, on the features and ease of use only?

It’s that time of the semester: final paper draft check-in meetings. 14 short Teams meetings later and I’m free to stand up, or think about other things. #Academia

How to avoid reading – and how to avoid finishing a book.
https://philosophics.blog?utm_source=masto&utm_medium=social/2025/11/05/how-to-avoid-reading/
Whilst mired in adminstrivia, I happened upon The Intellectual Origins of Modernity – a favourite whipping boy (or girl, lest I come across as sexist).

I asked ChatGPT to parse it for me, and it told me – despite it is well structured and written – to skip it.

#books #reading #amwriting #technology #chatgpt #ai #critique #philosophy #history #modernity #society #origins Publishing #tenure #academia #blog

Extreme depression when a student who just started a Master thesis asked the supervisor (apparently thinking it was a cool move), after receiving the first set of data for his thesis:

"I downloaded the data and I can read them. I HAVE ALREADY ASKED AI WHAT TO DO WITH THESE DATA AND AI TOLD ME..."

we're so doomed

Can I just say that some of my colleagues are an absolute joy to work with? Honestly, I feel like making today colleague-appreciation day! Not because anyone has done me a massive favour, but just because some collaborations just work out-of-the-box. Thank you! #academia #AcademicChatter

China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show / BBC

｢ The documents she obtained showed the university "had negotiated directly with a foreign intelligence service to trade my academic freedom for access to the Chinese student market," she told the BBC ｣

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq50j5vwny6o

From spam email that is actually serious email:

"I’ll be attending the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) Conference in San Diego, CA, on November 16–17, and I’d love to meet for a quick 15-minute chat. It’s a great opportunity to share your thoughts and learn how <product X> can continue evolving to meet your needs in this ever-changing research landscape."

"As a thank you, everyone who meets with me will be entered into a drawing to win an iPad — so be sure to book a time early!"

Between this and the continuous reminders that there is leftover food in this or that seminar room or atrium, clearly being an academic isn't anywhere near as glamourous or pompous as it's often depicted in the media. The imagery and predicament of "starving artists" comes much closer.

Combine this with the barrage of requests for free work from scientific journals and grant agencies alike, and the picture is complete. Would you like a free pizza slice with that?

Another exciting tech question for the Masto massive.

I need advice for Wordpress[com] assistance. I have a friend who is locked out of their site - theyve had it for a long time but recently got locked out and cant recover it bc they dont have any proof its their account. Does any Wordpress guru have a tip on how to rescue this situation?

I have a bunch of old textbooks - especially related to speech therapy
- anyone on #mastodon or #academic #academia #university interested
or know someone who might be?

We're talking donation but I'm in #France so a couple are #french but the majority are English language, and I don't want to face the cost of shipping them, but a road trip visit would be a great excuse!

Boosts welcome #books #bookstodon #textbooks #alsace #grandest

The DeCenter at Princeton is hiring a cohort of postdocs to work on decentralization of power through decentralization of trust. HCI folks encouraged to apply https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply/application.xhtml?listingId=40762 #academia #postdoc

8 min

Another example as somebody who is left academia for multiple reasons, but very high up on the list is how shitty academia has become. Chalk another one up to the super rich destroying the thing that makes the modern world modern.

The very richest people in the world are doing this to demonstrate who is subordinate. Science is a structural threat to them, to their authority .

You can’t have science and tyrants.

https://youtu.be/mw6miP-v1Ds

Some of my wonderful colleagues at the department of #Maths at the University of #Bologna managed to open a call for 2 scholarships (10kE each) reserved to students from #Gaza . Students can apply just after enrolling online to a single exam, which is cost-free and easy to do.

It's a drop in the ocean, which still required some bureaucratic magic by them. We hope to soon follow also from other Departments (including mine)

link here:
https://bandi.unibo.it/s/mat/department-of-mathematics-2-scholarships-in-favor-of-students-from-the-gaza-strip

JabRef 6.0-alpha.3 Release

Trick or treat! Happy Halloween from the JabRef team! We are happy to announce the release of JabRef 6.0 Alpha 3

Release Highlights:

- Arm64 Linux support,
- Improved UI for Citations
- New Fetchers: #OpenAlex and #EuropePMC
- Initial Cite As You Write endpoint
- First CLI version #JabKit with integrity check
- #CSL style fixes for #LibreOffice
- #JavaFX 25

NEW ARTICLE ALERT from me, Victoria Simon & Nathaniel Laywine

"What’s with All the Tapestries?
Intersectionality and the Discursive Vacuum of Generative AI”

We use methods called “kibbitzing” and “futzing” to critique the representation of intersectional identity in ChatGPT & MidJourney.

https://criticalai.org/2025/10/30/sneak-preview-article-victoria-simon-nathaniel-laywine-and-aram-sinnreichs-whats-with-all-the-tapestries-intersectionality-and-the-discursive-vacuum-of-generative-ai/