Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alexandra Rosati

@alexrosati.bsky.social

340 followers 360 following 38 posts

Associate Professor at University of Michigan interested in primates, cognition, development & evolution Cognitive Evolution Group: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/cognitive-evolution/ Primate Learning in Action: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/primatelearning/

sites.lsa.umich.edu

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jun 26

Check out our new paper comparing #socialcognition in #tolerant and #despotic #macaques, by @awad-schwob.bsky.social, Rosie Bettle, Megan Mulhinch & @zeppypearl.bsky.social!

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

The social intelligence hypothesis proposes that the demands of social life shape the evolution of cognition, but different aspects of social interactions may be relevant. To test how competitive vers...

royalsocietypublishing.org

1 8 16

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · 2d

Check out this online seminar on #applying to grad school from UMich's #Psychology Department (open to all; register her: lsa.umich.edu/psych/underg...)

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Primate Learning in Action @primate-learning.bsky.social · Jul 31

Did you know #chimpanzees love to #play?

To learn more, check out this paper by our contributors @kris-sabbi.bsky.social, @zeppypearl.bsky.social, and others!

"Ecological variation in adult social play reveals a hidden cost of motherhood for wild chimpanzees"
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

3 6

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Primate Learning in Action @primate-learning.bsky.social · Jul 14

Happy World Chimpanzee Day, and pant hoots from the group at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary!

9 52

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jul 4

Proud of UMich grad student Rosa Muñoz for being awarded an @leakeyfoundation.org grant for her dissertation research on "The evolution and psychology of possession in macaques." Congrats Rosa, and all the new grantees!

leakeyfoundation.org/introducing-...

2 3 17

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · Jun 25

MERKLEY: How do you feel about being responsible for hundreds of thousands of kids dying because of your sudden interruption in these key programs?

VOUGHT: I reject the assertion

MERKLEY: I find your response both ignorant & callous. Few Americans have had a more devastating & disastrous impact

960 7.5K 23K

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jun 26

Check out the whole special issue of Philosophical Transactions B @royalsocietypublishing.org on ‘Selection shapes diverse animal minds’ chock-full of intriguing articles, and thanks to @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social‬ & @ellileadbeater.bsky.social‬ for organizing it!

1 3

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jun 26

We also applied a 'scaling ToM' approach from developmental science and found that - surprisingly - gaze following seemed to be the most 'difficult' task for monkeys to pass, and knowledge attribution the easiest (thanks to Henry Wellman for the suggestion!)

1 1 2

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jun 26

We found that rhesus and Barbary macaques are similarly successful at several metrics of social cognition, including gaze following, goal attribution & knowledge attribution, but rhesus are much bolder. This is despite major differences in their social behavior.

1 1 2

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Jun 26

Tolerant and despotic macaques show divergent temperament but similar theory of mind | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

royalsocietypublishing.org

1 8 16

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Elli Leadbeater @ellileadbeater.bsky.social · Jun 26

Selection Shapes Diverse Animal Minds: our special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans B on the diverse evolutionary processes underlying cognitive evolution is out today. Thanks to all our contributors! royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Vol 380, No 1929

royalsocietypublishing.org

31 50

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Senator Alex Padilla @padilla.senate.gov · Jun 12

If this is how this administration responds to a Senator with a question, you can only imagine what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, and to day laborers throughout California and across the country.

We will hold this administration accountable.

910 4.5K 14K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · Jun 10

The Trump administration lost a shocking 96% of rulings in federal district courts last month, according to a recent analysis by Adam Bonica, a professor of political science at Stanford.

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Trump’s stunning streak of losses in lower courts

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

41 190 700

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Senator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · Jun 9

An outspoken vaccine conspiracy theorist just fired every last member of CDC's vaccine advisory committee.

RFK Jr. is paving the way to reshape vaccine policy based not on decades of science, but on his own unhinged fanaticism.

This is unprecedented, and unthinkably dangerous.

Kennedy guts CDC's vaccine panel of independent experts

The Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices helps the agency make recommendations on who should get certain vaccines.

www.nbcnews.com

140 750 2K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

ACLU @aclu.org · Jun 8

President Trump's deployment of federalized National Guard troops is unnecessary, inflammatory, and an abuse of power.

The Trump administration is putting people in LA in danger and undermines the democratic principle that the military should not police civilians.

www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...

White House aide calls Los Angeles anti-ICE protests an 'insurrection'

Senior White House aide Stephen Miller on Saturday condemned protests in downtown Los Angeles against federal immigration raids as an "insurrection" against the United States.

www.reuters.com

60 660 1.9K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · Jun 8

The Los Angeles Police Department has stated that demonstrations in the city have remained peaceful. Let that sink in.

420 7.3K 29K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Reuters @reuters.com · Jun 2

Exclusive: FEMA staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say reut.rs/3SxBvuL

Exclusive: FEMA staff confused after head said he was unaware of US hurricane season, sources say

Staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency were left baffled on Monday after the head of the U.S. disaster agency said during a briefing that he had not been aware the country has a hurricane season, according to four sources familiar with the situation.

reut.rs

31 150 260

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · May 31

There are 2 previous historical cases of countries destroying their science and universities, crippling them for decades: Lysenkoism in the USSR and Nazi Germany. The Trump administration will be the 3rd.
It's not just budgets but research, institutions, expertise, and training the next generation.

Graphs showing 25 years of budgets for the National Institute of Health, NASA, and the NSF. In all cases, the proposed budget for next year is far, far below any year of the previous quarter century.

460 7.9K 15K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

ACLU @aclu.org · May 28

President Trump is using the same law to deport immigrants as the U.S. government used in WWII to justify the internment of Japanese Americans, including George Takei.

We're fighting Trump’s unlawful use of the Alien Enemies Act in court.

George Takei: How the Alien Enemies Act Was Weaponized to Incarcerate My Family | ACLU

www.aclu.org

7 160 550

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · May 28

What an embarrassment, and so destructive.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/u...

State Department Halts Interviews for Student and Exchange Visas

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · May 27

Some context for my comment above about higher ed as a valuable export: In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

11 250 670

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

ACLU @aclu.org · May 21

Secretary Rubio can't answer the question because there's no constitutional reason why Rümeysa Öztürk was detained.

Writing an op-ed is not a crime.

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · May 21

I just asked Marco Rubio if he really thinks that Rümeysa Öztürk’s op-ed is a foreign policy threat to the United States.

He couldn’t even answer the question.

11 140 630

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · May 16

Possible due to years of US #federal #grant #funding, both to understand and develop CRISPR in the first place, and for this specific baby's treatment

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

World’s first personalized CRISPR therapy given to baby with genetic disease

Treatment seems to have been effective, but it is not clear whether such bespoke therapies can be widely applied.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

ACLU @aclu.org · May 9

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.

📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

Two woman walking and embracing each other in front of an ICE detention center. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress and heels. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. Members of the press are in the background.

Two women standing, smiling, and embracing each other with grass, water, and the sky in the background. The woman on the left is wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. The woman on the right is wearing a black dress.

Two woman stand next to each other and hold onto one another. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. In the background is the fence of an ICE detention center.

550 5.7K 31K

Reposted by Alexandra Rosati

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · Apr 29

Federal court says First Amendment bars government from arresting, deporting foreign students on basis of pro-Palestine advocacy. Important ruling from Judge Young just now in case brought by @aaup.bsky.social @mesa1966.bsky.social @knightcolumbia.org. knightcolumbia.org/content/fede...

27 740 2.4K

Alexandra Rosati @alexrosati.bsky.social · Apr 24

Interestingly, chimpanzees become more #selective in where they use tools with #age: younger chimpanzees are more likely to try tools at alternative locations than older ones, suggesting they learn over #development where to most efficaciously use drinking tools