Notices by chiasm (chiasm@mastodon.online)

One of those charities I support whole heartedly -- help everyone meet and interact with working scientists, understand the methods and arguments in multiple domains, and how scientific consensus comes to be.

I try to give a talk regularly, but these days that's once a year. But talking with kids around the country about the brain, science, etc.--highlight of the semester, when I can do it. So I give $$ too.

#SkypeAScientist #science

https://givebutter.com/SupportSAS25

Also going thru memorabilia, I have a trunk full of diaries from 1985 to 2005, when I pretty much took it on line. 😀 When they need a young adult's view of life at the end of the 20th century USA, I'm ready. 😂

But it is fun to re-read and remember.

I am thinking our ability to sense fairness is tied up in our ability to feel pain. But empathy, pain, and fairness are also bound up together conceptually in my head.

Skip the philosophy, what does the neuroscience say? (Tongue in cheek there, since the concepts entail philosophy and are ambiguous at best 😁)

This is truly horrible. But we have a responsibility to not look away and to acknowledge the effects of the community's choices, unfortunately.
#CovidIsNotOver #CovidLong

https://www.thegauntlet.news/p/long-covid-is-now-the-number-one

Sigh. I bought a piece of furniture, having measured out the space in the room and checking against the online reported dimensions. Everything was hunky dory.

What I failed to take into account was that to *build* it, given how it went together, you needed an equivalent amount of floor space, in a direct line from its final position.

Guess who forgot to take into account bends in the hallway??

#dimbulb 😂

Beautiful day for a rally and protest march! I loved the "DEI until I DIE" sign, but every time I tried to get a picture it was blocked. 😉

I signed the Stop SB1 petition, sang along to a revived Woody Guthrie song about all fascists gonna lose, had a nice stroll with like-minded people chanting anti fascist slogans, and generally had a lovely afternoon. 😆 #10may2025 #uspol #antifascism #indivisible

Now back to calling Senators etc.

@aral quite a few of us need to hear that! Can I repost elsewhere?

Scenes from the Cincinnati protest today! And I'm told the Columbus one was even bigger than the big one on April 12th-- it's growing. #uspol #handsoff #indivisible 💗

https://open.substack.com/pub/davidpepper/p/bending-the-arc-one-protest-at-a?r=2n867n&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

It was cold and snowy and I was too busy keeping my fingers warm to take pictures, but @standupforscience.bsky.social here in Ohio was amazing! The chants were militant, and the speakers were firecrackers!! 💜

"The arc of history bends toward justice--because we force it to!"

#standupforscience #science

@silverwizard yeah that's the tricky part, from what I understand! My mom always described it as working herself out of a job as our parent. 😉 I don't have kids myself but I can appreciate the challenges, a little bit. You'll do great! 👍

@silverwizard When I was little I knew there were books in the library I was not supposed to read, and as I got older I could venture into those areas, but my mom still kept an eye on what I was reading and would talk to me about it, exploring how various groups were presented, etc.

Simpler days, eh? You can't know what all websites or whatever your kids lands on unless you've got a parental control in place, I would imagine.

#threegoodthings

1) my eyes are ok, after a scare earlier in the week. All functions are as they were a few months ago. (phew!)
2) Students continue to have great ideas and keep working on research analyses identifying some interesting things!
3) Extra-office lines of communication are getting sorted out, so we can support each other in science and DEI advocacy without upsetting our employer. Woot.

@silverwizard !!! Not for cooking cakes and brownies!!

I got an email from an NIH employee who's handling one of my proposals, letting me know the review panel was cancelled, hopefully to be rescheduled. I sent words of encouragement, and got a surprisingly heartfelt response.

I let her know I'm badgering my reps about it and trying to inform people about the impact of NIH shutdown, and she was really moved.

If you know a federal employee, send words of support. They are in a truly hard place. #science

@silverwizard oh wow, first I've heard of *that*. 😄 I hope you find a reference!

@silverwizard That is what I was thinking of. What's the coffee mug story?

@silverwizard Wasn't it MIT? And a coffee pot rather than a mug? or am I thinking of a different story?

So... I may have started a resistance cell at work. 🤣 #uspol Not exactly! but a bunch of us want to share resources, brainstorm as needed, and act where we can as individuals (not employees!), so we started a Coffee for Science Advocacy meeting. In person, at a coffee shop.

Wish us luck. First meeting next week, and we'll see if anyone joins in.

I love this.

"People tend to go along with majorities. If we say the majority of people are becoming hateful, people tend to become more hateful, for instance. Spreading messages of hope can make people more hopeful. And hope is the cure to nihilism, and nihilism is the fuel of authoritarianism. So we need to be hopeful — and we need to be hopeful in ways that are concrete... We need to actually talk about what can be achieved."

(shortened from WagingNonViolence site)
https://rb.gy/bmfkt0

I did not know Black History month had a yearly theme!

"2025 Black History Month theme, African Americans and Labor, focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people."

#blackhistorymonth

https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/