Kathryn Weber-Boer
@kowb.bsky.social
Enjoys digging into data about science, a good principled argument, and human dignity. Super annoyed by disinformation and anything that hurts researchers or knowledge. Sometime archaeologist (I like animal bones...)
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news
A piece I wrote for @lseimpactblog.bsky.social
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
A piece I wrote for @lseimpactblog.bsky.social
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news - LSE Impact
Andy Tattersall shows how research is poorly presented in the media & argues better community standards for linking to research could improve trust in media.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
January 26, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news
A piece I wrote for @lseimpactblog.bsky.social
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
A piece I wrote for @lseimpactblog.bsky.social
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
📢 Great news: The 10th Anniversary edition of the State of Open Data Report is here! 🎉 #StateOfOpenData
🌐 The report combines survey data from more than 4,700 responses across 151 countries.
🔗 Download now: https://ow.ly/i5gN50Y3ECi
A collaboration of Digital Science, Springer Nature & Figshare.
🌐 The report combines survey data from more than 4,700 responses across 151 countries.
🔗 Download now: https://ow.ly/i5gN50Y3ECi
A collaboration of Digital Science, Springer Nature & Figshare.
January 26, 2026 at 11:01 AM
📢 Great news: The 10th Anniversary edition of the State of Open Data Report is here! 🎉 #StateOfOpenData
🌐 The report combines survey data from more than 4,700 responses across 151 countries.
🔗 Download now: https://ow.ly/i5gN50Y3ECi
A collaboration of Digital Science, Springer Nature & Figshare.
🌐 The report combines survey data from more than 4,700 responses across 151 countries.
🔗 Download now: https://ow.ly/i5gN50Y3ECi
A collaboration of Digital Science, Springer Nature & Figshare.
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Politician:
Voters won't let me do what I think is right/science says on animal welfare/climate/environment/refugees.
Journalist can ask:
Are you not experienced in persuasion?
Are you not paid to be a leader?
Are you giving voters the relevant facts?
Voters won't let me do what I think is right/science says on animal welfare/climate/environment/refugees.
Journalist can ask:
Are you not experienced in persuasion?
Are you not paid to be a leader?
Are you giving voters the relevant facts?
October 9, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Politician:
Voters won't let me do what I think is right/science says on animal welfare/climate/environment/refugees.
Journalist can ask:
Are you not experienced in persuasion?
Are you not paid to be a leader?
Are you giving voters the relevant facts?
Voters won't let me do what I think is right/science says on animal welfare/climate/environment/refugees.
Journalist can ask:
Are you not experienced in persuasion?
Are you not paid to be a leader?
Are you giving voters the relevant facts?
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
AND WOULD THAT BE IN ANY PARTICULAR ANIMAL MODEL BY ANY CHANCE
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
December 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
AND WOULD THAT BE IN ANY PARTICULAR ANIMAL MODEL BY ANY CHANCE
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
IS THERE SOME IMPORTANT CONTEXT MISSING FROM YOUR HEADLINE PERHAPS
SAY IT WITH ME FOLKS
That weird feeling when the world is burning, but life is good...
December 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
That weird feeling when the world is burning, but life is good...
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Funders and who's still on X
Out of 15 national funding bodies and orgs, 10 have ceased posting on the platform, with pretty much no posts in 2025.
An 11th funder, @nuffieldfoundation.org is the only one to have announced they were no longer engaging on X.
Four remain active on the platform.
Out of 15 national funding bodies and orgs, 10 have ceased posting on the platform, with pretty much no posts in 2025.
An 11th funder, @nuffieldfoundation.org is the only one to have announced they were no longer engaging on X.
Four remain active on the platform.
December 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Funders and who's still on X
Out of 15 national funding bodies and orgs, 10 have ceased posting on the platform, with pretty much no posts in 2025.
An 11th funder, @nuffieldfoundation.org is the only one to have announced they were no longer engaging on X.
Four remain active on the platform.
Out of 15 national funding bodies and orgs, 10 have ceased posting on the platform, with pretty much no posts in 2025.
An 11th funder, @nuffieldfoundation.org is the only one to have announced they were no longer engaging on X.
Four remain active on the platform.
Another helpful reminder that the Altmetric Score is not an indicator of quality, but of attention. Not all attention is good attention!
This paper with this unbelievable #AI generated yet peer-reviewed Figure 1, is still available online (pending editiorial response). It has now a whopping 932 altmetric score, with - quite interestingly - only 18 posts on X (<93k followers), while on Bluesky there are 1453 posts (<3.4M followers).
November 29, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Another helpful reminder that the Altmetric Score is not an indicator of quality, but of attention. Not all attention is good attention!
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
This paper with this unbelievable #AI generated yet peer-reviewed Figure 1, is still available online (pending editiorial response). It has now a whopping 932 altmetric score, with - quite interestingly - only 18 posts on X (<93k followers), while on Bluesky there are 1453 posts (<3.4M followers).
November 28, 2025 at 3:30 PM
This paper with this unbelievable #AI generated yet peer-reviewed Figure 1, is still available online (pending editiorial response). It has now a whopping 932 altmetric score, with - quite interestingly - only 18 posts on X (<93k followers), while on Bluesky there are 1453 posts (<3.4M followers).
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Today we give thanks for non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) & the repositories where they're found. 🙌
Let's celebrate by revisiting the Altmetric Top 25 compiled by our VP of Research Futures, Simon Porter.
Why are these #NTROs capturing public attention?
🔗 https://ow.ly/QRnP50XyFL6
Let's celebrate by revisiting the Altmetric Top 25 compiled by our VP of Research Futures, Simon Porter.
Why are these #NTROs capturing public attention?
🔗 https://ow.ly/QRnP50XyFL6
November 27, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Today we give thanks for non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) & the repositories where they're found. 🙌
Let's celebrate by revisiting the Altmetric Top 25 compiled by our VP of Research Futures, Simon Porter.
Why are these #NTROs capturing public attention?
🔗 https://ow.ly/QRnP50XyFL6
Let's celebrate by revisiting the Altmetric Top 25 compiled by our VP of Research Futures, Simon Porter.
Why are these #NTROs capturing public attention?
🔗 https://ow.ly/QRnP50XyFL6
Horrifying
The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food.
The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of what are called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.
November 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Horrifying
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
How are people establishing and dealing with different attitudes to LLMs with their collaborators and co-authors?
Two colleagues have told me they now have an explicit conversation at the beginning of every new project to establish a clear agreement on what is/not acceptable to all partners.
Two colleagues have told me they now have an explicit conversation at the beginning of every new project to establish a clear agreement on what is/not acceptable to all partners.
Look, LLM use in academia isn't just students. You need to be speaking clearly with your collaborators about your writing standards from the beginning. Make people say out loud that they don't write their own articles anymore.
November 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM
How are people establishing and dealing with different attitudes to LLMs with their collaborators and co-authors?
Two colleagues have told me they now have an explicit conversation at the beginning of every new project to establish a clear agreement on what is/not acceptable to all partners.
Two colleagues have told me they now have an explicit conversation at the beginning of every new project to establish a clear agreement on what is/not acceptable to all partners.
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
📣 A keynote not to be missed: "Crimeless Whispers: The Forensics of Deceit in Modern Science," by our VP of #ResearchIntegrity & Security, Dr Leslie McIntosh.
🗓️ Wednesday 26 November 2025
📍 Leicester, UK - or attend virtually
🔗 More details: https://ow.ly/mkaQ50Xxqcx
🗓️ Wednesday 26 November 2025
📍 Leicester, UK - or attend virtually
🔗 More details: https://ow.ly/mkaQ50Xxqcx
November 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
📣 A keynote not to be missed: "Crimeless Whispers: The Forensics of Deceit in Modern Science," by our VP of #ResearchIntegrity & Security, Dr Leslie McIntosh.
🗓️ Wednesday 26 November 2025
📍 Leicester, UK - or attend virtually
🔗 More details: https://ow.ly/mkaQ50Xxqcx
🗓️ Wednesday 26 November 2025
📍 Leicester, UK - or attend virtually
🔗 More details: https://ow.ly/mkaQ50Xxqcx
Every time I'm at the airport this month, I'm reminded how much I hate Brexit. Also because it pushes the train into no advantage. Ugh.
November 25, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Every time I'm at the airport this month, I'm reminded how much I hate Brexit. Also because it pushes the train into no advantage. Ugh.
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
I interviewed 108 ML researchers. They had a lot to say about this!
Lessons learned from machine learning researchers about the terms “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning.”
compstudiesjournal.com/wp-content/u...
Lessons learned from machine learning researchers about the terms “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning.”
compstudiesjournal.com/wp-content/u...
compstudiesjournal.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
We tried to tell y'all to stop calling everything "AI" many years ago and you just wouldn't listen and now the poor machine learners must also suffer alongside the statisticians 😜
so I can explain this: it's not generative AI: it's usually deep learning models trained on meteorology tasks and it can be quite effective
I know It would only annoy me, but if you are using weather balloons for data, where does the AI come in?
Because it sounds like they’re just doing meteorology and complicating it with AI.
Because it sounds like they’re just doing meteorology and complicating it with AI.
October 24, 2025 at 4:23 PM
We tried to tell y'all to stop calling everything "AI" many years ago and you just wouldn't listen and now the poor machine learners must also suffer alongside the statisticians 😜
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Warning for North Carolina: Scams are increasing, and the confusion is being made worse by ICE agents failing to properly identify themselves and wearing masks. As a result, residents are becoming targets of immigration fraud.
November 23, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Warning for North Carolina: Scams are increasing, and the confusion is being made worse by ICE agents failing to properly identify themselves and wearing masks. As a result, residents are becoming targets of immigration fraud.
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
I have found so many MDPI papers from the same authors that seem to include near carbon copies of data from their other papers that are in other journals, sometimes MDPI!
November 22, 2025 at 1:38 PM
I have found so many MDPI papers from the same authors that seem to include near carbon copies of data from their other papers that are in other journals, sometimes MDPI!
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
November 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
if anyone remembers anything from the biden experience, it should be that electing blue no matter who isn't going to be enough to cut it in the fight against fascism. you need politicians suited for this moment. primarying them all is the most straightforward way to send that message
Primary Every Democrat
It’s exhausting to watch poll-tested, donor-beholden congressional Democrats continue to be too old, too cloistered, and too bumbling to do anything as the government burns.
newrepublic.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:55 PM
if anyone remembers anything from the biden experience, it should be that electing blue no matter who isn't going to be enough to cut it in the fight against fascism. you need politicians suited for this moment. primarying them all is the most straightforward way to send that message
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
MoveOn, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and 6 Democrats have called on Chuck Schumer to step aside as leader.
So we asked all 40 Democratic senators who didn’t cave to Republicans if they still think Schumer is the right leader.
Here's what they said.
@andrewperez.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social
So we asked all 40 Democratic senators who didn’t cave to Republicans if they still think Schumer is the right leader.
Here's what they said.
@andrewperez.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social
Furious Liberals Call for Schumer to Step Aside, Senate Dems Mostly Quiet
After their shutdown surrender, liberal lawmakers are begging their base to unite behind them anyway – as Trumpland celebrates that their opposition is a bunch of 'p*ssies.'
zeteo.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:00 AM
MoveOn, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and 6 Democrats have called on Chuck Schumer to step aside as leader.
So we asked all 40 Democratic senators who didn’t cave to Republicans if they still think Schumer is the right leader.
Here's what they said.
@andrewperez.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social
So we asked all 40 Democratic senators who didn’t cave to Republicans if they still think Schumer is the right leader.
Here's what they said.
@andrewperez.bsky.social @swin24.bsky.social
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
BREAKING: At Pope Leo XIV’s urging, U.S. Catholic bishops just delivered the strongest rebuke of a sitting president in Church history — condemning Trump-Vance raids as “inhumane” and “dehumanizing” in a 216–5 vote.
NEW: At Pope Leo’s Urging, Bishops Issue Historic Rebuke of Trump’s Raids
Nearly all U.S. Catholic bishops united in Baltimore to denounce the Trump administration’s “inhumane” deportation campaign — a near-unanimous, unprecedented moral stand against a sitting president.
www.thelettersfromleo.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:21 AM
BREAKING: At Pope Leo XIV’s urging, U.S. Catholic bishops just delivered the strongest rebuke of a sitting president in Church history — condemning Trump-Vance raids as “inhumane” and “dehumanizing” in a 216–5 vote.
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
A staggering statistic: "North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year." What are we doing?
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
November 12, 2025 at 1:58 PM
A staggering statistic: "North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year." What are we doing?
I am *so* protected 😅
Study of 86,000 participants across 27 European counties suggests that speaking multiple languages may halve the risk of accelerated brain ageing and help protect against cognitive decline.
Want a younger brain? Learn another language
A vast study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive ageing.
www.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I am *so* protected 😅
Reposted by Kathryn Weber-Boer
Still my favourite "What is GIS" video explainer. 60 seconds long, great animation and interesting narrative. Perfect as a class starter or refresher #geographyteacher #GIS
November 11, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Still my favourite "What is GIS" video explainer. 60 seconds long, great animation and interesting narrative. Perfect as a class starter or refresher #geographyteacher #GIS