Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · 1d

Bad: on hold with our learning platform support team.
Good: they've changed the hold music! The audio doesn't clip any more, and it's electronica without sounding like gym music or a corporate flythrough video. I even heard flange on the lead into the break!

1

Reposted by Dr Emma Muhlack

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 11d

why not opt-in? just ask permission first

if this is truly a positive feature then surely copyright holders will be happy to participate and have their work included if asked

just ask permission first

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 11d

Exclusive: OpenAI is planning to release a new version of its Sora video generator, which creates videos featuring copyrighted material unless copyright holders opt out of having their work appear.

OpenAI’s New Sora Video Generator to Require Copyright Holders to Opt Out

Executives at the startup notified talent agencies and studios over the last week.

on.wsj.com

82 430 2.1K

Reposted by Dr Emma Muhlack

Katherine Stiles @katherinestiles.org · Sep 4

“Writing is a technology that helps us understand our own ideas better. Where people are involved in thinking and invention — including at universities — it needs to be taught in that spirit.” #AcademicSky

What are the key purposes of human writing? How we name AI-generated text confuses things

As another school year returns, large language models (LLMs) present difficult questions around learning, thinking, plagiarism and authorship for educators.

phys.org

8 23

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 27

From the article:

"As the statistician and political scientist Andrew Gelman wrote, “It is by writing that I... state my assumptions, work out their implications, and confront the places where these implications do not comport with reality or with my current understanding of the world.” "

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · Aug 26

Opinion: Failure to explain how AI-aided academic writing is a form of plagiarism leaves graduate students horribly compromised, says E.M. Wolkovich
#academicsky #edusky #AI

PhD students are let down by sector’s silence on ChatGPT misuse

Failure to explain how AI-aided academic writing is a form of plagiarism leaves graduate students horribly compromised, says E.M. Wolkovich

www.timeshighereducation.com

1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 27

So the consultation draft for Australia's National Health and Medical Research strategy has been released. Apparently I am at terrible person because I saw this and thought "what, are they commissioning Gorman to make labcoats?" #health #australia

A screenshot with the following text:

Clinical trials: Enable a vibrant clinical trials sector that improves patient outcomes and supports equitable access to clinical trials, regardless of demography or geography.

3

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 25

Are you just looking for respondents within the UK, or are you interested in a global audience?

1

Reposted by Dr Emma Muhlack

Helen Bowes-Catton (she/her) @hbowescatton.bsky.social · Jul 24

Are you neurodivergent & have done, or considered, a PhD? We’re researching how doctoral study works (or doesn’t) for neurodivergent people. Take our 30min survey & help make academia more inclusive forms.office.com/e/ft9jyWsPUW

Questions? Email [email protected]

#PhD #Neurodivergent

Three shelves of brightly coloured books

4 35 34

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 14

This resonates on so very many levels. Academia in Australia is reaching (yet another?) crisis point, and I don't know how many we have left in us. #AcademicSky #HigherEducation #Australia

Izzy Jayasinghe @ijayas.bsky.social · Aug 13

Many of you in #AcademicBsky in the northern hemisphere might not know the dire state of Australian academia. This essay by Andrew Dean is a fair snapshot of the state of the sector.

Thinking today especially of academics in some Aus unis facing mass job cuts ~ 3,000 jobs on the chopping block now.

Dropping out, burning out, tuning out • Andrew Dean

Nobody’s happy about the state of Australian universities, but a seasoned academic has some remedies

insidestory.org.au

4

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 11

Need to generate random numbers for the purposes of data sampling so I've cracked out the mini polyhedral dice I keep at my desk for #TTRPG emergencies.

I swear it's for academic rigor, and not because my mini dice don't get enough love...

#AcademicSky

Three dice in green swirling colours on a cream background. A 20-sided dice is showing a value of 9, and two 10-sided percentile dice are showing a value of 61.

2 15

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 7

Hey @sydney.edu.au - Palestinians are starving in a systematic genocide being carried out by the state of Israel. Your pulling this flag down is very clearly partisan and also very clearly not a good look.

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 7

This morning when I checked the headlines, I discovered that USyd was carrying out shenanigans.

If you work for USyd, maybe now would be a great time to hang a flag out your office window... they can't remove them all!

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

University of Sydney removes Palestinian flag from academic’s window after accusing him of breaching policy

Dr David Brophy claims new flag policy introduced in June was ‘precisely in response to people like me hanging Palestinian flags’

www.theguardian.com

1 2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 7

This morning when I checked the headlines, I discovered that USyd was carrying out shenanigans.

If you work for USyd, maybe now would be a great time to hang a flag out your office window... they can't remove them all!

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

University of Sydney removes Palestinian flag from academic’s window after accusing him of breaching policy

Dr David Brophy claims new flag policy introduced in June was ‘precisely in response to people like me hanging Palestinian flags’

www.theguardian.com

2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 6

If it's always that exact phrase, you should be able to use NOT ("[exact phrase]") to exclude those results from the search without excluding all AI content, I would think? It's a pain in the arse though.

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 6

This is such a fascinating idea! What's your context for this? I teach in areas that don't really lend themselves to quizzes, but I love the idea.

1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 1

Quotes from actual drafts (not comments on said drafts):
"getting women to drink less without doing patriarchal bullshit in policing women’s behaviour"
"Go full Donne with “no man is an island” (can I quote Donne here? I’d love that)."
"Problems encountered: wheels falling off"

1 1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Aug 1

Oh my... I was showing my PhD student drafts from my PhD as part of a conversation about how early drafts don't need to be "prose" and can instead be a bit more conceptual and vibes-based, and found some absolute gems demonstrating my slowly loosening grip on sanity.

1 1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Jul 31

I'm five-years post PhD and I still do this, it's just my line manager (school L&T head) instead of my PhD supervisors...

1 2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Jun 30

I don't... but that's because I don't have exams in my courses. I do, however, often leave marking to the absolute last minute (stares at the papers I should have marked last week).

Tatjana Scheffler @tschfflr.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · Jun 29

Daughter, slightly outraged: I hope *MY* teacher doesn’t prepare their exam questions the night before! 😬 #academicchatter

1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Jun 24

Update: man was not made for two straight hours of chasing down broken lookup functions in excel. #AcademicSky

1

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · Jun 23

It's now the first week of the exam period, and I'm doing all those little tidy-up jobs that seem to proliferate at this time of semester. On the one hand, ugh micro-jobs. On the other hand, I get to spend an afternoon futzing about with a spreadsheet which is super fun. #AcademicSky

1 1 4

Reposted by Dr Emma Muhlack

Denis - The COVID Info Guy @thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social · Jun 13

"More than 500 people have died from Covid so far this year, and we could see many more by the time winter is finished," Professor Paul Griffin said

Reported deaths so far this year:

🔹2025 - COVID: 514
🔹2025 - Influenza: 124
🔹2025 - RSV: 14

Data source: www.abs.gov.au/statistics/h...

24 32

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · May 30

Pretending to be a functional human in the last two weeks of the semester.

Carrie -- Yes, That Carrie, PhD @doctorcarrie.bsky.social · May 29

Musicians spend a lot of time with music to become artists. Athletes spend hours toning and honing their bodies. Painters, sculptors, designers, illustrators, authors, bakers, carpenters, equestrians, comedians...they master their craft and art by the hours spent on it.

What have I mastered?

2 2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · May 29

I printed off the first page of my first paper and framed it - it still sits on my wall at home! It's such a lovely thing to do, and I love the mug idea!

1 2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · May 28

My very first honours student? Of course!

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · May 26

For me, I prioritise enthusiasm, curiosity, and willingness to ask questions as they're almost impossible to teach, but vital to being a researcher.

2

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · May 26

Meeting with a potential honours student in an hour or so, and I've been meditating on my supervision practices and how I decide whether or not to take on a student. #AcademicSky; what do you look for in a potential student, whether undergraduate, honours, or higher degree research?

3 1