Andrew Mountcastle
@mounty.bsky.social
I investigate how insects are so good at crashing into things. 🐝Insect Biomechanist, 🏒Pond Hockeyologist, 📸Photographer-ish, Dad, Mainer, Biology prof at Bates College
Pinned
Andrew Mountcastle
@mounty.bsky.social
· Mar 10
Happy #BlueSkyMonday
Nikon FM
Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI Micro
Portra 400
#believeinfilm #filmphotography #PhotographersUnited #EastCoastKin #minimalism
Nikon FM
Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI Micro
Portra 400
#believeinfilm #filmphotography #PhotographersUnited #EastCoastKin #minimalism
Reposted by Andrew Mountcastle
January 22, 2026 at 1:58 PM
It's hard to underestimate just how much damage Citizens United has done to democracy in the US. That 2010 Supreme Court decision allowed wealthy donors and corporations to consolidate political influence to the point that the vast majority of our politicians now act primarily in service to them.
January 20, 2026 at 5:47 PM
It's hard to underestimate just how much damage Citizens United has done to democracy in the US. That 2010 Supreme Court decision allowed wealthy donors and corporations to consolidate political influence to the point that the vast majority of our politicians now act primarily in service to them.
Reposted by Andrew Mountcastle
This isn’t good
Investment spending on information processing equipment, software, data centers and R&D drove 39% of American GDP growth in the first 3Q of 2025. Those same categories were responsible for 28% of GDP growth in 2000, during the dot-com boom. www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-econo...
Tracking AI’s Contribution to GDP Growth
This analysis suggests recent investments in AI-related categories have contributed significantly to the real U.S. economic growth in the first nine months of 2025.
www.stlouisfed.org
January 17, 2026 at 7:14 PM
This isn’t good
January 16, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Nowhere in this article does anyone even begin to reflect on the ethics involved in isolating the DNA of a person who is unable to give consent to such a personal intrusion.
Scientists have turned to artifacts associated with Leonardo da Vinci on a quest to track down the legendary polymath’s elusive DNA. https://cnn.it/4qpzHDh
January 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Nowhere in this article does anyone even begin to reflect on the ethics involved in isolating the DNA of a person who is unable to give consent to such a personal intrusion.
Nikon FM | Ilford HP5 Plus
#believeinfilm
#believeinfilm
January 14, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Nikon FM | Ilford HP5 Plus
#believeinfilm
#believeinfilm
This old head needs a good tutorial on Negative Lab Pro because my marginally-informed strategy of sliding all the sliders until I get in the vicinity of what I envisioned is not very efficient.
Anyway, here's a shot of Saguaro NP.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
Anyway, here's a shot of Saguaro NP.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
January 12, 2026 at 6:20 PM
This old head needs a good tutorial on Negative Lab Pro because my marginally-informed strategy of sliding all the sliders until I get in the vicinity of what I envisioned is not very efficient.
Anyway, here's a shot of Saguaro NP.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
Anyway, here's a shot of Saguaro NP.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
January 11, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Our neighborhood Barred Owl has made his way into my neighbor's chimney...and down into his living room...for a second time.
January 10, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Our neighborhood Barred Owl has made his way into my neighbor's chimney...and down into his living room...for a second time.
Antelope Canyon, AZ is one of those places that you could point your camera in almost any direction and get an amazing shot. Go visit if you can.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
January 9, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Antelope Canyon, AZ is one of those places that you could point your camera in almost any direction and get an amazing shot. Go visit if you can.
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
Nikon FM | Kodak 250D
#believeinfilm
January 9, 2026 at 2:55 AM
The first time I read Nineteen Eighty-Four in HS, I remember thinking that the idea of a ruling party telling you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears was too far-fetched; that it would be absurd for any party to expect such a strategy could possibly suppress truth.
How naive I was.
How naive I was.
January 7, 2026 at 10:17 PM
The first time I read Nineteen Eighty-Four in HS, I remember thinking that the idea of a ruling party telling you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears was too far-fetched; that it would be absurd for any party to expect such a strategy could possibly suppress truth.
How naive I was.
How naive I was.
My kids’ neighborhood gang decided they wanted to shovel someone’s driveway so I told them they could do our neighbor’s provided they complete the job and don’t accept payment. Work has begun.
January 7, 2026 at 6:51 PM
My kids’ neighborhood gang decided they wanted to shovel someone’s driveway so I told them they could do our neighbor’s provided they complete the job and don’t accept payment. Work has begun.
Happy 50th, Blue Hill Twinkie!
(Maine news is the best)
(Maine news is the best)
I love getting the local paper. There’s no comments section, I get to donate the papers to the herbarium or the parrot rescue after, and you get gems like today’s front-page story.
January 7, 2026 at 2:32 AM
Happy 50th, Blue Hill Twinkie!
(Maine news is the best)
(Maine news is the best)
Pitchers and catchers report in 5 weeks
this website desperately needs baseball season to start
January 6, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Pitchers and catchers report in 5 weeks
Ahh, that time of year in Maine when my hands, ridiculously chapped from the dry air, are also enlisted to tighten the skates of half a dozen kids in the locker room every-other-day. Doing well.
January 5, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Ahh, that time of year in Maine when my hands, ridiculously chapped from the dry air, are also enlisted to tighten the skates of half a dozen kids in the locker room every-other-day. Doing well.
LLM's like ChatGPT and Grok are behind an increasing number of horrific stories. The humans designing and promoting this tech should be held accountable.
"ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances."
"ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances."
“None of this should have been possible, according to the rules set by OpenAI, the San Francisco company that created ChatGPT. Sam’s chats show how the multibillion-dollar company has lost full control of its blockbuster product.”
www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
www.sfgate.com/tech/article...
A Calif. teen trusted ChatGPT for drug advice. He died from an overdose.
"Who on earth gives that advice?"
www.sfgate.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:27 PM
LLM's like ChatGPT and Grok are behind an increasing number of horrific stories. The humans designing and promoting this tech should be held accountable.
"ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances."
"ChatGPT started coaching Sam on how to take drugs, recover from them and plan further binges. It gave him specific doses of illegal substances."
Reposted by Andrew Mountcastle
The Yukon
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f4
Kodak 5203
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f4
Kodak 5203
January 3, 2026 at 6:51 AM
The Yukon
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f4
Kodak 5203
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Sonnar 150mm f4
Kodak 5203
After explaining the concept of a New Year's resolution to my youngest son, he immediately asked if he could give resolutions for other people.
January 2, 2026 at 1:14 AM
After explaining the concept of a New Year's resolution to my youngest son, he immediately asked if he could give resolutions for other people.
Why is the latest iOS so unrelentingly bad?
December 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Why is the latest iOS so unrelentingly bad?
Finishing up my grading for the semester and let me tell you, there is nothing more soul-sucking as a teacher than grading work that was obviously generated by a computer. Gen AI subverts our core mission of helping students grow their brains, and steals from them the joys and rewards of learning.
December 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Finishing up my grading for the semester and let me tell you, there is nothing more soul-sucking as a teacher than grading work that was obviously generated by a computer. Gen AI subverts our core mission of helping students grow their brains, and steals from them the joys and rewards of learning.
A hill I will die on: using gen-AI to write papers that cite non-existent literature is a form of academic misconduct and those papers should be retracted by the journal. This is not just a small oversight by the authors; it is symptomatic of a sloppy and negligent research process.
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
A hill I will die on: using gen-AI to write papers that cite non-existent literature is a form of academic misconduct and those papers should be retracted by the journal. This is not just a small oversight by the authors; it is symptomatic of a sloppy and negligent research process.
Good job grown-ups.
December 19, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Good job grown-ups.