Megan Barker
@meganbarkerase.bsky.social
Teaching faculty member @SFU Biology! Evidence-based teaching, maker projects, Jane Austen, boardgames, data, snacks! Formerly @meganbarkerase on Twitter.
Reposted by Megan Barker
Not one fucking word from any quoted health expert on cleaning classroom air.
Yes, talk about vaccines, ofc that's important.
But there's something else we could talk about here: a measure that protects everyone but doesn't trigger endless debates on the choice to vaccinate.
Clean classroom air!
Yes, talk about vaccines, ofc that's important.
But there's something else we could talk about here: a measure that protects everyone but doesn't trigger endless debates on the choice to vaccinate.
Clean classroom air!
Children’s hospitals face flood of flu visits as physicians urge Canadian families to get vaccinated | CBC News
An early start to Canada’s flu season is hitting children hard, sending a flood of young patients into multiple pediatric hospitals as medical teams warn that emergency visits and admissions could kee...
www.cbc.ca
December 5, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Not one fucking word from any quoted health expert on cleaning classroom air.
Yes, talk about vaccines, ofc that's important.
But there's something else we could talk about here: a measure that protects everyone but doesn't trigger endless debates on the choice to vaccinate.
Clean classroom air!
Yes, talk about vaccines, ofc that's important.
But there's something else we could talk about here: a measure that protects everyone but doesn't trigger endless debates on the choice to vaccinate.
Clean classroom air!
I particularly like the 6th rule!
These are the 10 art classroom rules of Corita Kent (artist, teacher, social justice advocate and nun). They are true for any creative process, especially Rule 8: DON’T TRY TO CREATE AND ANALYZE AT THE SAME TIME. THEY’RE DIFFERENT PROCESSES. (i.e. night science / day science).
December 3, 2025 at 8:10 AM
I particularly like the 6th rule!
Reposted by Megan Barker
December 2, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Megan Barker
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
December 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas”
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.
Reposted by Megan Barker
In case you missed it
Every year we make a free-to-download-and-print-off-yourself colouring-in Advent Calendar. This year’s heavily features Bigfoots. Please share!
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
December 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
In case you missed it
Reposted by Megan Barker
This one hurts.
Tom Stoppard, playwright of dazzling wit and playful erudition, dies aged 88
A theatrical sensation since the 1960s, whose dramas included Arcadia, The Real Thing and Leopoldstadt, Stoppard also had huge success as a screenwriter
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:45 PM
This one hurts.
Reposted by Megan Barker
Every year we make a free-to-download-and-print-off-yourself colouring-in Advent Calendar. This year’s heavily features Bigfoots. Please share!
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
November 29, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Every year we make a free-to-download-and-print-off-yourself colouring-in Advent Calendar. This year’s heavily features Bigfoots. Please share!
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
Download it for free here… www.worldofmoose.com/pages/2025-b...
Reposted by Megan Barker
BC reviews post-secondary sector for "opportunities for structural and programmatic realignments and/or rationalization" to "reduce programmatic duplication across institutions" & "Identify opportunities for consolidation of institutions" as "significant structural realignments are likely required".
Province reviews public post-secondary system to ensure long-term sustainability
The Province is launching an independent review to strengthen the public post-secondary education system and ensure it is sustainable and well-positioned to support people in British Columbia and B.C.’s economic growth.
news.gov.bc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 5:25 PM
BC reviews post-secondary sector for "opportunities for structural and programmatic realignments and/or rationalization" to "reduce programmatic duplication across institutions" & "Identify opportunities for consolidation of institutions" as "significant structural realignments are likely required".
Reposted by Megan Barker
OK, I have now read the Terms of Reference in more detail. My more considered opinion of the review is that the Government has lost its damn mind.
The BC Govt has announced a review of the public post-secondary system. Review will be led by Don Avison, recently Chair of the board at Emily Carr. He's a past Deputy Minister of Education, Skills and Training, and President of the Research Universities Council of BC
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
news.gov.bc.ca/releases/202...
Province reviews public post-secondary system to ensure long-term sustainability
The Province is launching an independent review to strengthen the public post-secondary education system and ensure it is sustainable and well-positioned to support people in British Columbia and B.C.’s economic growth.
news.gov.bc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 5:57 AM
OK, I have now read the Terms of Reference in more detail. My more considered opinion of the review is that the Government has lost its damn mind.
Hi awesome @brittlestar.com I spotted your book at the awesome Novels Books in beautiful Deep Cove. I bet they’d love to host an author visit sometime!
November 25, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Hi awesome @brittlestar.com I spotted your book at the awesome Novels Books in beautiful Deep Cove. I bet they’d love to host an author visit sometime!
Reposted by Megan Barker
Excited to launch the final draft of my Viral Persistence Timeline. Enjoy 😉
Taking requests for additions.
My next priorities:
- Adenovirus
- Enteroviruses
exercisetechlab.com/viral-persis...
Taking requests for additions.
My next priorities:
- Adenovirus
- Enteroviruses
exercisetechlab.com/viral-persis...
Viral Persistence Timeline — The Unseen Journey
exercisetechlab.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Excited to launch the final draft of my Viral Persistence Timeline. Enjoy 😉
Taking requests for additions.
My next priorities:
- Adenovirus
- Enteroviruses
exercisetechlab.com/viral-persis...
Taking requests for additions.
My next priorities:
- Adenovirus
- Enteroviruses
exercisetechlab.com/viral-persis...
@vancew.bsky.social I think you’d appreciate
🔥We released a new episode of the Night Science Podcast today, all about the power of improvisation in life, the arts and the sciences. We talked with Stephen Nachmanovitch who wrote the classic book "Free Play". Check it out and please me know what you think!
November 11, 2025 at 5:14 AM
@vancew.bsky.social I think you’d appreciate
Reposted by Megan Barker
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Megan Barker
I miss the incredible science writer Sharon Begley every day. She‘s gifted us with this remembrance (written before her untimely passing) of Jim Watson + his “public and unrepentant racism and sexism that made him a pariah in life and poisoned his legacy in death.”
www.statnews.com/2025/11/07/j...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/07/j...
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I miss the incredible science writer Sharon Begley every day. She‘s gifted us with this remembrance (written before her untimely passing) of Jim Watson + his “public and unrepentant racism and sexism that made him a pariah in life and poisoned his legacy in death.”
www.statnews.com/2025/11/07/j...
www.statnews.com/2025/11/07/j...
Reposted by Megan Barker
PSA: Last week, Affinity Studio (major Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop alternative) went completely 'free forever'.
Pro design software, now accessible to all PhD students. May start recommending this in my workshops.
www.affinity.studio/graphic-desi...
Pro design software, now accessible to all PhD students. May start recommending this in my workshops.
www.affinity.studio/graphic-desi...
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
PSA: Last week, Affinity Studio (major Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop alternative) went completely 'free forever'.
Pro design software, now accessible to all PhD students. May start recommending this in my workshops.
www.affinity.studio/graphic-desi...
Pro design software, now accessible to all PhD students. May start recommending this in my workshops.
www.affinity.studio/graphic-desi...
Reposted by Megan Barker
When ChatGPT was asked to rate 40,000 résumés, it ranked the older male candidates as better quality than the younger female applicants.
Age and gender distortion in online media and large language models - Nature
Stereotypes of age-related gender bias are socially distorted, as evidenced by the age gap in the representations of women and men across various media and algorithms, despite no systematic age differ...
www.nature.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:47 PM
When ChatGPT was asked to rate 40,000 résumés, it ranked the older male candidates as better quality than the younger female applicants.
Reposted by Megan Barker
Time to introduce the more casual Jays fans to the words of former MLB commissioner Bartlett Giamatti:
November 2, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Time to introduce the more casual Jays fans to the words of former MLB commissioner Bartlett Giamatti:
Reposted by Megan Barker
microfabricated stamps, fresh off the printer :)
October 26, 2025 at 4:24 PM
microfabricated stamps, fresh off the printer :)
PSA: Many of you may have noticed a website floating around called formatmypaper(dot)com. People rightly noted something was fishy. I dig into what happened here:
open.substack.com/pub/ubadah/p...
open.substack.com/pub/ubadah/p...
Beware giving this site your unpublished data
Users noticed the website had fake testimonials and a domain name registered seemingly overnight.
open.substack.com
October 25, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Megan Barker
We are recuiting two new Associate Professors here in Oxford Biochemistry. Come join us! Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! tinyurl.com/mr3m7bd3
October 17, 2025 at 2:56 PM
We are recuiting two new Associate Professors here in Oxford Biochemistry. Come join us! Reach out to me if you have any questions. Please repost! tinyurl.com/mr3m7bd3
Reposted by Megan Barker
Looking forward to seeing @marthawells.com tonight in Vancouver. #YVR 🤩
Book Launch: Queen Demon by Martha Wells | Iron Dog Books
Indigenous-owned bookshop serving metro Vancouver
irondogbooks.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Looking forward to seeing @marthawells.com tonight in Vancouver. #YVR 🤩
Reposted by Megan Barker
Friday Papers Club! 🍿In light of Pubmed going down, the collapse of social media, and my recent success at getting recommendations for interesting papers from those still around, I am starting a new tradition! - Recommend a good scientific manuscript! 👇
October 3, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Friday Papers Club! 🍿In light of Pubmed going down, the collapse of social media, and my recent success at getting recommendations for interesting papers from those still around, I am starting a new tradition! - Recommend a good scientific manuscript! 👇
@agberistain.bsky.social to think about for next sabbatical…!
Interested in a sabbatical in Lyon? The Collegium de Lyon provides accommodation and attractive interdisciplinary environment for 1 or 2 semesters. Open to all disciplines. You can be affiliated with any local department/lab. Apply now for 2026-27. collegium.universite-lyon.fr/2026-2027-un...
September 2, 2025 at 9:32 PM
@agberistain.bsky.social to think about for next sabbatical…!
Reposted by Megan Barker
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
August 31, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Reposted by Megan Barker
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:47 PM
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how
Part 1: is your work in Libgen?
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...