Krista Koeller
@kristalerista.bsky.social
Researching why legless lizards and snakes don't have feet. (She/her) 😷
convergent evolution, paleontology, ADHD, disability rights, grants, whatever my hyperfixation is this week.
kkoeller3115.wixsite.com/kristakoeller
https://twitter.com/KristaLerista
convergent evolution, paleontology, ADHD, disability rights, grants, whatever my hyperfixation is this week.
kkoeller3115.wixsite.com/kristakoeller
https://twitter.com/KristaLerista
Reposted by Krista Koeller
🎓 Grad School Interviews: DOs & DON’Ts
Getting ready for your graduate school interviews? Join us for a session where we break down what to say, how to prepare, and how to show up as your most authentic self.
🗓 When: December 2nd at 10am ET
🔗 Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/grad-schoo...
Getting ready for your graduate school interviews? Join us for a session where we break down what to say, how to prepare, and how to show up as your most authentic self.
🗓 When: December 2nd at 10am ET
🔗 Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/grad-schoo...
November 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
🎓 Grad School Interviews: DOs & DON’Ts
Getting ready for your graduate school interviews? Join us for a session where we break down what to say, how to prepare, and how to show up as your most authentic self.
🗓 When: December 2nd at 10am ET
🔗 Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/grad-schoo...
Getting ready for your graduate school interviews? Join us for a session where we break down what to say, how to prepare, and how to show up as your most authentic self.
🗓 When: December 2nd at 10am ET
🔗 Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/grad-schoo...
Reposted by Krista Koeller
They grow bacteria on those hairy arms and then lick the bacteria off for a delightful snack, isn't that gross and cool?
November 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
They grow bacteria on those hairy arms and then lick the bacteria off for a delightful snack, isn't that gross and cool?
Reposted by Krista Koeller
One of my favorite things is getting to tell friends who are new to NYC that the subway "stand clear of the closing doors please" voice is a trans woman named Bernie Wagenblast and she's amazing.
November 24, 2025 at 6:19 PM
One of my favorite things is getting to tell friends who are new to NYC that the subway "stand clear of the closing doors please" voice is a trans woman named Bernie Wagenblast and she's amazing.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
New seasonal paleontology positions available for Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park and Fossil Butte National Monument. Apply soon, they close after they receive a certain number of apps! #NPSpaleo #PaleoJobs
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816000
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816700
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816000
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816700
USAJOBS connects job seekers with federal jobs across the United States and around the world as the official employment site for the federal government
These positions may be filled for a six month seasonal period, but can vary due to weather conditions, project needs, or funding. Anticipated Entry on Duty: <strong>April 2026</strong>
<p>For more par...
www.usajobs.gov
November 24, 2025 at 6:28 PM
New seasonal paleontology positions available for Dinosaur National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park and Fossil Butte National Monument. Apply soon, they close after they receive a certain number of apps! #NPSpaleo #PaleoJobs
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816000
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816700
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816000
www.usajobs.gov/job/850816700
Reposted by Krista Koeller
So there you have it, twin study estimates were greatly inflated, and molecular data sets the record straight. I walk through possible counter-arguments, but ultimately the uncomfortable truth is that genes contribute to traits much less than we always thought.
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 PM
So there you have it, twin study estimates were greatly inflated, and molecular data sets the record straight. I walk through possible counter-arguments, but ultimately the uncomfortable truth is that genes contribute to traits much less than we always thought.
Representation matters.
This afternoon, I was playing a role playing game with some friends who are mostly gen X.
We were playing a pre-written adventure that included a nonbinary npc.
The DM started out saying “he or she” or “this person” but ended the day comfortably using they/them pronouns.
This afternoon, I was playing a role playing game with some friends who are mostly gen X.
We were playing a pre-written adventure that included a nonbinary npc.
The DM started out saying “he or she” or “this person” but ended the day comfortably using they/them pronouns.
November 23, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Representation matters.
This afternoon, I was playing a role playing game with some friends who are mostly gen X.
We were playing a pre-written adventure that included a nonbinary npc.
The DM started out saying “he or she” or “this person” but ended the day comfortably using they/them pronouns.
This afternoon, I was playing a role playing game with some friends who are mostly gen X.
We were playing a pre-written adventure that included a nonbinary npc.
The DM started out saying “he or she” or “this person” but ended the day comfortably using they/them pronouns.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Krista Koeller
If you look carefully, they market this fact.
They hype "personalized" learning, by which they mean "algorithmically generated per student"
So if I'm given a word problem I can't talk to my classmates about it, bc they don't have the same one
They hype "personalized" learning, by which they mean "algorithmically generated per student"
So if I'm given a word problem I can't talk to my classmates about it, bc they don't have the same one
November 23, 2025 at 1:28 PM
If you look carefully, they market this fact.
They hype "personalized" learning, by which they mean "algorithmically generated per student"
So if I'm given a word problem I can't talk to my classmates about it, bc they don't have the same one
They hype "personalized" learning, by which they mean "algorithmically generated per student"
So if I'm given a word problem I can't talk to my classmates about it, bc they don't have the same one
Reposted by Krista Koeller
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
the adjunct problem
YouTube video by Angela Collier
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 2:09 AM
This (youtu.be/2AvfOhtmCZY?...) is an older @acollierastro.bsky.social video I must have missed, but it is brilliant in explaining the intensity of the bullshit of the adjunct system, for students and instructors.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
the great sneeper
November 23, 2025 at 12:45 AM
the great sneeper
Reposted by Krista Koeller
GenAI has polluted image search results, especially for animal pics. It’s now basically impossible to find accurate art references.
Enter this: a repository of open-access, AI-free images of wild & exotic taxa. Artists creating *without AI* have blanket permission for derivative/transformative use.
Enter this: a repository of open-access, AI-free images of wild & exotic taxa. Artists creating *without AI* have blanket permission for derivative/transformative use.
Exotic Animal Photo Reference Repository
www.animal-photo-references.com
January 27, 2025 at 9:45 AM
GenAI has polluted image search results, especially for animal pics. It’s now basically impossible to find accurate art references.
Enter this: a repository of open-access, AI-free images of wild & exotic taxa. Artists creating *without AI* have blanket permission for derivative/transformative use.
Enter this: a repository of open-access, AI-free images of wild & exotic taxa. Artists creating *without AI* have blanket permission for derivative/transformative use.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Very interesting contrast to the infamous exploding whale story
(gift link)
(gift link)
‘An incredible privilege and a daunting task’: Oregon tribe harvests beached whale for the first time in generations
The Siletz tribe took apart the 20,000 pound humpback after it was euthanized Monday.
www.oregonlive.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Very interesting contrast to the infamous exploding whale story
(gift link)
(gift link)
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
The Tupi (indigenous Brazilian language) word for Potoos is Urutau, which means “ghost bird”
O famoso Urutau no Brasil [o nome urutau é tupi e significa “ave fantasma”]
Ugh too mad to work. I’m taking a potoo break.
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
November 22, 2025 at 12:57 PM
The Tupi (indigenous Brazilian language) word for Potoos is Urutau, which means “ghost bird”
Reposted by Krista Koeller
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
November 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
What might be my favourite fossil has been just published by Kiat et al. 2025. Years ago I saw a pic of this Anchiornis specimen in nat geo article and I audibly gasped.preserving not only the feathers but also the original patterns as well. I made this drawing on the spot. Maybe its time to do v2.0
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
What might be my favourite fossil has been just published by Kiat et al. 2025. Years ago I saw a pic of this Anchiornis specimen in nat geo article and I audibly gasped.preserving not only the feathers but also the original patterns as well. I made this drawing on the spot. Maybe its time to do v2.0
Ugh too mad to work. I’m taking a potoo break.
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
November 21, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Ugh too mad to work. I’m taking a potoo break.
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
📸Sparkle Motion, Sebastian Lescano, unknown, Melissa Garoo
Reposted by Krista Koeller
per vought’s own admission, their strategy is to attack every element of government they can, and if they attract too much pushback for one attack, they shift their focus to another target. sometimes they return, sometimes they don’t. but the bottom line is that public outrage is working
Important to understand that shame has no power over these people, because they feel no shame over doing things like promoting Nazism, but sufficient "noise" in the form of media attention and complaints from embarrassed Republicans can have some effect on policy.
wapo.st/4rdDQew
wapo.st/4rdDQew
In reversal, Coast Guard again classifies swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The new order came hours after The Post reported the service would instead classify such symbols as “potentially divisive” under guidelines set for release next month.
wapo.st
November 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
per vought’s own admission, their strategy is to attack every element of government they can, and if they attract too much pushback for one attack, they shift their focus to another target. sometimes they return, sometimes they don’t. but the bottom line is that public outrage is working
On ai use by university students
The problem is that a University degree is now a product, not something we do for the betterment of society. Thus, this is just the logical consequence of the enshittification of our institutions and why companies should stay away from anything public
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
On ai use by university students
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
Reposted by Krista Koeller
It's hard to get neurotypicals to understand "I didn't do the task because I was so intensely aware of the need to do this that my brain built a wall around the concept of doing it", so we just say "I didn't do the task because I forgot."
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 AM
It's hard to get neurotypicals to understand "I didn't do the task because I was so intensely aware of the need to do this that my brain built a wall around the concept of doing it", so we just say "I didn't do the task because I forgot."
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Scientists around former IMP group leader David Keays (@lmumuenchen.bsky.social show that #pigeons detect magnetic fields through their inner ear. Their discovery was now published in the journal @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
A global screen for magnetically induced neuronal activity in the pigeon brain
How animals detect the Earth’s magnetic field remains a mystery in sensory biology. Despite extensive behavioral evidence, the neural circuitry and molecular mechanisms responsible for magnetic sensin...
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Scientists around former IMP group leader David Keays (@lmumuenchen.bsky.social show that #pigeons detect magnetic fields through their inner ear. Their discovery was now published in the journal @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
More: www.imp.ac.at/news/article...
Gloom Gloom!
I know I'm spamming you all with the world's largest flower this week but look at THIS! A rare glimpse inside Rafflesia arnoldi!
November 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Gloom Gloom!
Reposted by Krista Koeller
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.
![Excerpt from a BBC article: ""We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day," says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. "On Sundays we work around three hours less."
She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.
They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.
This is Shein's supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order - some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.
The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract - and the chinos are an option.
"We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high," she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.
"We get paid per piece," she explains. "It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.""](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreiber7g4o5pujmzmjjzsp5dkz7blfexburuwjispfpv6dki7akjb7a@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
The people who make Shein's clothes labor for ten to twelve hours per day (in violation of China's labor laws), some up to seven days a week, and earn as little as 15 to 30 cents per t-shirt.