Karen Poole
@renpoole.bsky.social
Dinosaur paleontologist teaching human anatomy to medical students. Interests: ornithischians, systematics, diversity in science and medicine.
Avi by @blackmudpuppy
Avi by @blackmudpuppy
Reposted by Karen Poole
I made an infographic for this very reason!
Every year I encourage my viewers to print it out for their Thanksgiving turkey dinner, Christmas goose feast, Boxing Day budgie buffet, or any other ritual when people gather to dismember bird carcasses. I'm not a meat eater, but I try not to judge
Every year I encourage my viewers to print it out for their Thanksgiving turkey dinner, Christmas goose feast, Boxing Day budgie buffet, or any other ritual when people gather to dismember bird carcasses. I'm not a meat eater, but I try not to judge
November 26, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I made an infographic for this very reason!
Every year I encourage my viewers to print it out for their Thanksgiving turkey dinner, Christmas goose feast, Boxing Day budgie buffet, or any other ritual when people gather to dismember bird carcasses. I'm not a meat eater, but I try not to judge
Every year I encourage my viewers to print it out for their Thanksgiving turkey dinner, Christmas goose feast, Boxing Day budgie buffet, or any other ritual when people gather to dismember bird carcasses. I'm not a meat eater, but I try not to judge
Reposted by Karen Poole
There is NO FUCKING EXCUSE for this to be happening.
I had a baby die in my arms of pertussis some fifty years ago. It was a HORRIBLE death. But my fellow nurses said to me, "It's almost stamped out now, they're all getting the shots, we won't be seeing this again."
HOW THE FUCK ARE WE HERE. 😡
I had a baby die in my arms of pertussis some fifty years ago. It was a HORRIBLE death. But my fellow nurses said to me, "It's almost stamped out now, they're all getting the shots, we won't be seeing this again."
HOW THE FUCK ARE WE HERE. 😡
A third infant has died in Kentucky, KYDPH adds:
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
“These are Kentucky’s first pertussis deaths since 2018. None of the infants nor their mothers received the recommended pertussis vaccinations during pregnancy or early infancy.”
s3.amazonaws.com/nursing-netw...
November 25, 2025 at 10:01 PM
There is NO FUCKING EXCUSE for this to be happening.
I had a baby die in my arms of pertussis some fifty years ago. It was a HORRIBLE death. But my fellow nurses said to me, "It's almost stamped out now, they're all getting the shots, we won't be seeing this again."
HOW THE FUCK ARE WE HERE. 😡
I had a baby die in my arms of pertussis some fifty years ago. It was a HORRIBLE death. But my fellow nurses said to me, "It's almost stamped out now, they're all getting the shots, we won't be seeing this again."
HOW THE FUCK ARE WE HERE. 😡
Reposted by Karen Poole
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
November 25, 2025 at 1:09 AM
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
Reposted by Karen Poole
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Reposted by Karen Poole
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 Karen Poole
the economic success of the U.S. is significantly built on the land grant universities and in particular their excellent agricultural science tradition.
Really important to stress that the Crown Jewels of the US higher education system were never the Ivies or elite SLACs (other countries have equivalents of these) but the well-funded, large, cheap, and excellently staffed public state university systems bringing high quality education to the masses.
One of the bragging rights that the US ed system had in the 20th century is that we didn't have education tracks. Essentially, any kid could go to a CC or state school & major in whatever they wanted to (obviously an oversimplification). I fear this aspect of the American dream is dying.
November 23, 2025 at 5:26 PM
the economic success of the U.S. is significantly built on the land grant universities and in particular their excellent agricultural science tradition.
Reposted by Karen Poole
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Reposted by Karen Poole
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Karen Poole
Nice 3-year teaching+research postdoc at NYIT!
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)
careers-nyit.icims.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Nice 3-year teaching+research postdoc at NYIT!
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.
Reposted by Karen Poole
Mainstream news covered the Jeffrey Epstein emails related to ppl like Trump. Today, I want to take a look at Epstein's correspondence with prominent atheist and physicist Lawrence Krauss, who asked the pedophile's advice on responding to accusations of sexual assault skepchick.org/2025/11/so-i...
So I’m in the Epstein Files
Transcript: Look. I know that on this channel, I often criticize prominent people for actions that I find detestable: accepting dark money and failing to disclose it, producing propaganda for Big O…
skepchick.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Mainstream news covered the Jeffrey Epstein emails related to ppl like Trump. Today, I want to take a look at Epstein's correspondence with prominent atheist and physicist Lawrence Krauss, who asked the pedophile's advice on responding to accusations of sexual assault skepchick.org/2025/11/so-i...
Reposted by Karen Poole
So, this is wild:
In 2015, the podcast Invisibilia featured a woman with a very unusual condition.
Whenever Amanda (not her real name) sees someone else experiencing something - sneezing, getting stung by a wasp, eating chocolate - she physically echoes a version of what they’re feeling.
1/
In 2015, the podcast Invisibilia featured a woman with a very unusual condition.
Whenever Amanda (not her real name) sees someone else experiencing something - sneezing, getting stung by a wasp, eating chocolate - she physically echoes a version of what they’re feeling.
1/
November 19, 2025 at 1:23 PM
So, this is wild:
In 2015, the podcast Invisibilia featured a woman with a very unusual condition.
Whenever Amanda (not her real name) sees someone else experiencing something - sneezing, getting stung by a wasp, eating chocolate - she physically echoes a version of what they’re feeling.
1/
In 2015, the podcast Invisibilia featured a woman with a very unusual condition.
Whenever Amanda (not her real name) sees someone else experiencing something - sneezing, getting stung by a wasp, eating chocolate - she physically echoes a version of what they’re feeling.
1/
Reposted by Karen Poole
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
November 19, 2025 at 7:27 AM
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?
ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.
conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
Reposted by Karen Poole
incredible! a gorgeously preserved skull from tupandactylus imperator has been described, offering new insights into its dietary ecology and soft tissues 😻
www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/6Hv...
(art by maurilio oliveira)
www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/6Hv...
(art by maurilio oliveira)
November 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
incredible! a gorgeously preserved skull from tupandactylus imperator has been described, offering new insights into its dietary ecology and soft tissues 😻
www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/6Hv...
(art by maurilio oliveira)
www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/6Hv...
(art by maurilio oliveira)
Reposted by Karen Poole
OpenAI needs to be shuttered permanently, its assets appropriated for public use, & Altman punted into the phantom zone.
"Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model by default...tests repeatedly showed that the AI toy dropped its guardrails the longer a conversation went on, until hitting rock bottom on incredibly disturbing topics."
AI-Powered Stuffed Animal Pulled From Market After Disturbing Interactions With Children
FoloToy says it's suspended sales of its AI-powered teddy bear after researchers found it gave wildly inappropriate and dangerous answers.
futurism.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:59 AM
OpenAI needs to be shuttered permanently, its assets appropriated for public use, & Altman punted into the phantom zone.
Reposted by Karen Poole
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
I thing I sometimes thing about is that university departments were still doing job interviews in hotel rooms in the mid aughts
November 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
Reposted by Karen Poole
Dr. @renpoole.bsky.social: Sauropods were offensively big because they were actually photosynthesizing.
Send tweet.
#2025SVP
Send tweet.
#2025SVP
November 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Dr. @renpoole.bsky.social: Sauropods were offensively big because they were actually photosynthesizing.
Send tweet.
#2025SVP
Send tweet.
#2025SVP
Hey SVPers, how's your travel going for #2025SVP?
I've had one flight cancellation, but a fairly smooth process rescheduling. Should still make it on schedule.
I've had one flight cancellation, but a fairly smooth process rescheduling. Should still make it on schedule.
Laughs in traveling to and from a conference next week.
November 10, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Hey SVPers, how's your travel going for #2025SVP?
I've had one flight cancellation, but a fairly smooth process rescheduling. Should still make it on schedule.
I've had one flight cancellation, but a fairly smooth process rescheduling. Should still make it on schedule.
Reposted by Karen Poole
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
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 8:14 PM
This obit of Watson is *amazing*.
Laughs in traveling to and from a conference next week.
November 8, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Laughs in traveling to and from a conference next week.
Reposted by Karen Poole
Bluetorial-Jim Watson
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Bluetorial-Jim Watson
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.
What follows is my personal perspective.
1/41
Even the worst misogynists sometimes support certain women. I don’t doubt Hopkins when she says Watson was a good mentor to her. The more important question is how many women did he harass/disparage/discourage and thus push them out of science?
There is one part of his legacy that is hard to align with this view. He was a committed and effective mentor and supporter to a number of women in science at a time when this was relatively rare. Nancy Hopkins from MIT who worked with him as an undergrad has written and spoken about this.
39/41
39/41
November 8, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Even the worst misogynists sometimes support certain women. I don’t doubt Hopkins when she says Watson was a good mentor to her. The more important question is how many women did he harass/disparage/discourage and thus push them out of science?
Reposted by Karen Poole
To mark the 85th Annual SVP Meeting 2025, we've assembled an open access collection of landmark JSP vertebrate palaeontology papers.
Next study to highlight is.. The phylogeny of ornithischian dinosaurs by Butler et al. (2008) buff.ly/O0hipyA
#2025SVP #PaleoSky @richardjbutler.bsky.social
Next study to highlight is.. The phylogeny of ornithischian dinosaurs by Butler et al. (2008) buff.ly/O0hipyA
#2025SVP #PaleoSky @richardjbutler.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 8:00 AM
To mark the 85th Annual SVP Meeting 2025, we've assembled an open access collection of landmark JSP vertebrate palaeontology papers.
Next study to highlight is.. The phylogeny of ornithischian dinosaurs by Butler et al. (2008) buff.ly/O0hipyA
#2025SVP #PaleoSky @richardjbutler.bsky.social
Next study to highlight is.. The phylogeny of ornithischian dinosaurs by Butler et al. (2008) buff.ly/O0hipyA
#2025SVP #PaleoSky @richardjbutler.bsky.social
Reposted by Karen Poole
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
November 7, 2025 at 11:43 PM
When people celebrate the individual genius of folks in science, they should also
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
mourn the collective loss of genius of folks who were actively discouraged or disadvantaged from a career in science because of the same person(s)
Reposted by Karen Poole
#2025SVP USA 🇺🇲 🗽 alert: as your travel begins make sure to check your flights proactively! ✈️
One of my legs was cancelled due to the US Govt shutdown, but luckily I caught it. Worse before it'll get better.
Stay frosty!
See you in Birmingham. 😅🇬🇧🫖
One of my legs was cancelled due to the US Govt shutdown, but luckily I caught it. Worse before it'll get better.
Stay frosty!
See you in Birmingham. 😅🇬🇧🫖
November 7, 2025 at 6:53 PM
#2025SVP USA 🇺🇲 🗽 alert: as your travel begins make sure to check your flights proactively! ✈️
One of my legs was cancelled due to the US Govt shutdown, but luckily I caught it. Worse before it'll get better.
Stay frosty!
See you in Birmingham. 😅🇬🇧🫖
One of my legs was cancelled due to the US Govt shutdown, but luckily I caught it. Worse before it'll get better.
Stay frosty!
See you in Birmingham. 😅🇬🇧🫖
Reposted by Karen Poole
Just a reminder, that possibly the oldest piece of palaeoart dates to the Neolithic. The petroglyphs of horned characters with trumpets, recorded on the same rock as a ornithischian footprints (Zagaje Formation) in Poland, might be an early reconstruction of the Jurassic tracemaker.
November 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Just a reminder, that possibly the oldest piece of palaeoart dates to the Neolithic. The petroglyphs of horned characters with trumpets, recorded on the same rock as a ornithischian footprints (Zagaje Formation) in Poland, might be an early reconstruction of the Jurassic tracemaker.