Scott K. Johnson
@sjonearth.bsky.social
sci comm person, controversially anti-nazi
Pinned
the great thing about black box systems is that they do exactly whatever you think they do
If only there were another way to see it communicated, in words, what was new in the world. A sort of paper copy of the new, if you will. A connected web of such sights.
New misinformation vector just dropped.
Meta's Chatbot Will Provide AI-Powered Live News via CNN, Fox News
Meet your new news anchor, Meta AI.
gizmodo.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:30 PM
If only there were another way to see it communicated, in words, what was new in the world. A sort of paper copy of the new, if you will. A connected web of such sights.
This Chairry from Pee Wee's Playhouse costume is only $1850.
I thought I was having a stroke when I saw this. But, nope, it’s real
www.bergdorfgoodman.com/p/marc-jacob...
www.bergdorfgoodman.com/p/marc-jacob...
December 2, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This Chairry from Pee Wee's Playhouse costume is only $1850.
I've had to think a lot about YouTube's AI invasion from the perspective of hazard communication, where you take great care because of the stakes.
So it was interesting to hear Steve @gamersnexus.bsky.social talk about reputation effects and manipulation potential.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwJ...
So it was interesting to hear Steve @gamersnexus.bsky.social talk about reputation effects and manipulation potential.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwJ...
Our Future of Subtle Corporate Manipulation: AI Overviews of Independent Content
YouTube video by GNCA - GamersNexus Consumer Advocacy
www.youtube.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:14 AM
I've had to think a lot about YouTube's AI invasion from the perspective of hazard communication, where you take great care because of the stakes.
So it was interesting to hear Steve @gamersnexus.bsky.social talk about reputation effects and manipulation potential.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwJ...
So it was interesting to hear Steve @gamersnexus.bsky.social talk about reputation effects and manipulation potential.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrwJ...
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
We have a mission!
Both HydroGNSS satellites have sent their first signals 📡
HydroGNSS is a Scout mission under FutureEO: compact in size, but built to deliver big science insights into Earth’s water cycle💧
🔗 www.esa.int/Applications...
Both HydroGNSS satellites have sent their first signals 📡
HydroGNSS is a Scout mission under FutureEO: compact in size, but built to deliver big science insights into Earth’s water cycle💧
🔗 www.esa.int/Applications...
November 28, 2025 at 10:01 PM
We have a mission!
Both HydroGNSS satellites have sent their first signals 📡
HydroGNSS is a Scout mission under FutureEO: compact in size, but built to deliver big science insights into Earth’s water cycle💧
🔗 www.esa.int/Applications...
Both HydroGNSS satellites have sent their first signals 📡
HydroGNSS is a Scout mission under FutureEO: compact in size, but built to deliver big science insights into Earth’s water cycle💧
🔗 www.esa.int/Applications...
"Flood the zone with shit", the political project, has been a resounding success that destroyed our information environment.
"Flood the zone with shit", the genAI tragedy of the commons, feels real near the threshold of destroying the internet and social media.
"Flood the zone with shit", the genAI tragedy of the commons, feels real near the threshold of destroying the internet and social media.
November 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"Flood the zone with shit", the political project, has been a resounding success that destroyed our information environment.
"Flood the zone with shit", the genAI tragedy of the commons, feels real near the threshold of destroying the internet and social media.
"Flood the zone with shit", the genAI tragedy of the commons, feels real near the threshold of destroying the internet and social media.
Has there *ever* been something with this adoption pattern?
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Has there *ever* been something with this adoption pattern?
How have daily marketing emails become the default rather than a glitch that gets followed by an apology? Did some marketing conference have a negging pickup artist as a keynote speaker or something?
November 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
How have daily marketing emails become the default rather than a glitch that gets followed by an apology? Did some marketing conference have a negging pickup artist as a keynote speaker or something?
"Furthermore, he put his hand in front of his face and briefly disappeared from this plane of reality. Therefore, I am reinstating the Salem Witch Trials, which were stupidly ended by Barack Obama."
November 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
"Furthermore, he put his hand in front of his face and briefly disappeared from this plane of reality. Therefore, I am reinstating the Salem Witch Trials, which were stupidly ended by Barack Obama."
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
I whipped up a new post/newsletter extra for the Hayli Gubbi eruption. First time I've had to post an extra edition! #volcano #eruption eruptions.beehiiv.com/p/eruptions-...
Eruptions Newsletter Extra for November 23, 2025
Unexpected eruption from Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia.
eruptions.beehiiv.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I whipped up a new post/newsletter extra for the Hayli Gubbi eruption. First time I've had to post an extra edition! #volcano #eruption eruptions.beehiiv.com/p/eruptions-...
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Said to be starting December 1st, so less than 2 weeks before the start of the AGU Fall Meeting. 🫠
New Orleans, the laid-back city known as the Big Easy, where lavish parades, bead-throwing debauchery and Creole cuisine attract tourists from around the globe, is about to become the next staging ground for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. https://to.pbs.org/4oZRBfu
Multicultural New Orleans is the next battleground in Trump's immigration crackdown
New Orleans, the laid-back city known as the Big Easy and the birthplace of jazz, is about to become the next staging ground for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
www.pbs.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Said to be starting December 1st, so less than 2 weeks before the start of the AGU Fall Meeting. 🫠
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Many have asked for the LLM Survey paper. The release was bungled a bit by PNAS, but it is live now: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The potential existential threat of large language models to online survey research | PNAS
The advancement of large language models poses a severe, potentially existential threat
to online survey research, a fundamental tool for data coll...
www.pnas.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Many have asked for the LLM Survey paper. The release was bungled a bit by PNAS, but it is live now: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Via Underpants Gnomes?
No one seemed to notice or make a fuss about it, but the International Energy Agency's latest World Energy Outlook estimates that AI will save ~6 to 7 times more energy than it consumes by 2035.
November 20, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Via Underpants Gnomes?
Welp, the first example I've seen of an "agentic" LLM functioning like at all is... completing an entire course's quizzes for you with a single prompt.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4qN...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4qN...
Perplexity Comet completes quizzes
YouTube video by Anna Mills
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Welp, the first example I've seen of an "agentic" LLM functioning like at all is... completing an entire course's quizzes for you with a single prompt.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4qN...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4qN...
Daily Mail stories may have made a prominent appearance in a video I recently did on Yellowstone...
youtu.be/xPN8h3NEbKU?...
youtu.be/xPN8h3NEbKU?...
November 19, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Daily Mail stories may have made a prominent appearance in a video I recently did on Yellowstone...
youtu.be/xPN8h3NEbKU?...
youtu.be/xPN8h3NEbKU?...
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
OpenAI’s Sora 2 Floods Social Media With Videos of Women Being Strangled
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions rise again in 2024, up 2.3%.
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions rise again in 2024, up 2.3%.
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
This is quite a story: the US employed every strongarm tactic available, including personal threats against delegates and their families, to derail an agreement on reducing shipping emissions that was almost finalized. on.ft.com/47lq3dZ
November 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
This is quite a story: the US employed every strongarm tactic available, including personal threats against delegates and their families, to derail an agreement on reducing shipping emissions that was almost finalized. on.ft.com/47lq3dZ
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
NOAA’s National Weather Service holds the federal responsibility for tsunami warnings, and has historically been a primary supporter of seismic data collection in Alaska
NOAA cancels longstanding funding for seismic data collection crucial to tsunami warning systems
The Alaska Earthquake Center has long provided NOAA with seismic data for tsunami monitoring and warning purposes. That work will wind down in November, after the federal agency said it can no longer fund the contract.
akpub.io
November 1, 2025 at 2:50 AM
NOAA’s National Weather Service holds the federal responsibility for tsunami warnings, and has historically been a primary supporter of seismic data collection in Alaska
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Interested in science writing degree programs? Here’s a list of more than 50 in the U.S. that offer specialized undergraduate or graduate degree programs or individual courses in science, health, or environmental writing. 🧪
Science Writing Resources (Elsewhere) That We Like - The Open Notebook
We aren't the only show in town when it comes to supporting high-quality science journalism! On this page, you’ll find lots of other resources (elsewhere) that center on science journalism craft, incl...
www.theopennotebook.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Interested in science writing degree programs? Here’s a list of more than 50 in the U.S. that offer specialized undergraduate or graduate degree programs or individual courses in science, health, or environmental writing. 🧪
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
I don’t think I have ever been this burnt out and demoralized and part of this is because institutions are not taking our concerns about the pedagogical harms of widespread and uncritical adoption of LLMs in higher education seriously.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
October 27, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I don’t think I have ever been this burnt out and demoralized and part of this is because institutions are not taking our concerns about the pedagogical harms of widespread and uncritical adoption of LLMs in higher education seriously.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
This document is … insane? Incredible?
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
Here is the proposed agreement the Trump admin sent to UCLA, which administrators fought tooth and claw to keep secret ucop.edu/communicatio...
ucop.edu
October 25, 2025 at 10:19 AM
This document is … insane? Incredible?
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American