Professor, UW Biology / Santa Fe Institute I study how information flows in biology, science, and society. Book: *Calling Bullshit*, http://tinyurl.com/fdcuvd7b LLM course: https://thebullshitmachines.com Corvids: https://tinyurl.com/mr2n5ymk he/himhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muzt62jtfk2vThis merlin just flew into my house and landed on my desk while I was taking a zoom call. I now have at least one colleague who thinks I need to come up with better excuses to get out of meetings.08 Sep 2026 20:07 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzt62jtfk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muzyi3kbzs2lAnyone remember how Ma Bell used to dox the the whole damn city and deliver it your doorstep free of charge?08 Sep 2026 21:42 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzyi3kbzs2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muzw6t4gss2sThere are going to be some tragicomic news stories about this one coming very soon. https://www.wired.com/story/meta-releases-muse-a-personal-ai-agent-with-privacy-built-into-it/08 Sep 2026 21:01 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzw6t4gss2shttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muzt62jtfk2vThis merlin just flew into my house and landed on my desk while I was taking a zoom call. I now have at least one colleague who thinks I need to come up with better excuses to get out of meetings.08 Sep 2026 20:07 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muzt62jtfk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muydulb7bs25My coauthor Lee Dugatkin's latest book was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal this weekend: (You should be able to simply click to minimize the "sign up now!!!" bar and read the whole thing.) https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/nary-a-horse-left-standing-review-a-nation-dismounted-65a4be3f?st=Te53wB08 Sep 2026 06:00 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muydulb7bs25https://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muy6upcmys2lMichigan painter Jef Bourgeau has come across my feed a few times in the last two days. His website: detroitmona.wixsite.com/artgarage To my untrained eye his snowscapes seem to nod to Lawren S. Harris, who often painted thenorth shore of Superior. First two: Bourgeau; second two: Harris.08 Sep 2026 04:31 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muy6upcmys2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muxwsziqyk2jThis "so dangerous it has to be useful" narrative is tedious, and highlights how little these companies have fear regulation in the current US environment. But it's worse. If and when the technology actually gets dangerous, the boy will have already cried wolf so many times we'll ignore him. [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Sep 2026 02:07 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muxwsziqyk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muvrhps55s2iLookout tower07 Sep 2026 05:26 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muvrhps55s2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muvrhps55s2iLookout tower07 Sep 2026 05:26 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muvrhps55s2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muuowpmpok2tTransferring vast sums of money to a so-called "department of war" to do infectious-disease related work doesn't exactly assuage anyone's fears about bioweapons now does it? [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Sep 2026 19:08 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muuowpmpok2thttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mutgq2dlds2tGoodnight, everyone. 🪶06 Sep 2026 07:08 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mutgq2dlds2thttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mutfzfscn22tYeah everything sucks now, but OCMS holds up after 22 years. https://album.link/t/21419602306 Sep 2026 06:56 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mutfzfscn22thttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mut37fgtvs2fTalk about boundary violation, emeritscience.com/en/ !06 Sep 2026 03:42 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mut37fgtvs2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muqmbspiys23The current NIH director is a grievance-driven weasel, a sycophant so desperately out of his league that he lacks even the most basic of bureaucratic reflex arcs: the impulse to protect if not expand his own domain. [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Sep 2026 04:10 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muqmbspiys23https://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mupwngdowk2mLife comes at you fast. One minute you're an unknown health economist rushing to publish a hasty study of COVID incidence in Santa Clara and the next thing you know you're signing away a good fraction of the NIH's budget to the Department of Defense.04 Sep 2026 21:42 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mupwngdowk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mupviyct7k2m“We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected...When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work, because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down…We want to put them in trauma.” -Russell Vought [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Sep 2026 21:22 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mupviyct7k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muppaivy4k26Trump is actually underqualified for a position in the Trump administration. [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 Sep 2026 19:30 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muppaivy4k26https://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mulxn5pug22m"Why is it so hard to find peer reviewers?", asks guy who has been publishing 15 papers a year for the last decade. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 07:50 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mulxn5pug22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muigwmkutc2fPhysicists detect surprising event in the LZ experiment; psychologists discover dark matter. [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Sep 2026 22:13 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muigwmkutc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muigttcy5s2f"The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds." https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/09/01/lz-sees-surprising-result-in-search-for-dark-matter/01 Sep 2026 22:11 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muigttcy5s2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3mui2nud2yk24"Under systems of intimidation and fear, seemingly impartial processes [for hiring, promotion, and recognition] will tend to reward whoever is least targeted by censorship. " - J. Nathan Matias @natematias.bsky.social Essential reading. https://blog.ucs.org/guest-commentary/protecting-science-from-government-intimidation/01 Sep 2026 18:33 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3mui2nud2yk24https://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muhz4q7j722pWillie Watson / Old Crow Medicine Show thread. [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Sep 2026 18:05 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhz4q7j722phttps://bsky.app/profile/carlbergstrom.com/post/3muhtf4hho22eOK, I’m not a Sequoia partner so maybe I’m missing the 4D chess  here but why not just reschedule for tomorrow?01 Sep 2026 16:23 +0000at://did:plc:tbqqvyv6pjjww44glrmycaxl/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhtf4hho22e