Travis Holland
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travish.co
Travis Holland
@travish.co
500 followers 1.4K following 270 posts
untethered researcher, writer, and podcast host. thinking about science, media, dinosaurs, birds, space, LEGO
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travish.co
I am submitting a AUD$500 bid for Warner Bros.
December 8, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
iansociologo.bsky.social
Another example of how AI - a supposedly productivity-enhancing technology - is creating more work for others and overwhelming/polluting communal goods.
socarxiv.bsky.social SocArXiv @socarxiv.bsky.social · 16d
In light of record submission rates and a large volume of AI-generated slop, SocArXiv recently implemented a policy requiring ORCIDs linked in the OSF profile of submitting authors, and narrowing our focus to social science subjects. Today we are taking two more steps:
/1
November 28, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
snurb.info
Wheee, a very fast-paced session (mostly) on conspiracy theories to end #AANZCA25, also featuring my @qutdmrc.bsky.social colleague @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social presenting our audit of how GenAI chatbots respond to conspiracy theory-curious questions.

Final liveblog here:
AANZCA 2025 | Snurblog — Axel Bruns
Australia Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association conference, Sunshine Coast, 26-28 Nov. 2025
snurb.info
November 28, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
fossilsfiction.co
Live recording of Fossils and Fiction at Suburban Brew (Adelaide) on November 29. Palaeontologists Aiden Couzens and Matt Herne join our panel to talk about Australia's oddest fossils. The show begins with Professor Flint's Palaeojam followed by Fossils live! www.eventbrite.com.au/e/1964100016...
November 14, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
fossilsfiction.co
Learn all about Wellington Caves in the newest episode of Fossils and Fiction now in your favourite podcast player
November 23, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
snurb.info
A great keynote by @karinwahlj.bsky.social on the rise of boutique news media to start off the #AANZCA25 conference on the Sunshine Coast. Liveblog is up:
Understanding Boutique News Media as a Novel Form of Journalism | Snurblog — Axel Bruns
For my last conference of the year, I’ve made the short trip up to the Sunshine Coast to attend t
snurb.info
November 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
whalepetunias.bsky.social
"we would like to assure you that the guided missiles currently converging with your ship are part of a special service we extend to all of our most enthusiastic clients, and the fully armed nuclear warheads are of course merely a courtesy detail."
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 AM
travish.co
The robot mower at my work just ran over a sprinkler and I think they're both stuffed now. There's a metaphor in there somewhere.
November 17, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
colincarlson.bsky.social
OVER A MILLION USERS

DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT

EVERY *WEEK*

what the fuck are we DOING here
ryanmarino.bsky.social Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · Nov 7
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.

This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
jonathancohn.bsky.social Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · Nov 7
I fully believe in the corporate death penalty and believe we would be a better world if OpenAI lost its corporate charter and was forcibly dissolved.

www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
fossilsfiction.co
Episode 53: The deals with seals
Episode 53: The deals with seals
www.fossilsfiction.co
October 28, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
sexomarxist.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
drdemography.com
Unless there’s a reset of senior officials at the top, universities won’t change. Toxic cultures are embedded. Broken governance is breaking people. theconversation.com/there-are-ne...
There are new plans to fix how universities will run. But will they work?
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says, ‘if you don’t think there are challenges in university governance, you’ve been living under a rock’.
theconversation.com
October 21, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
asherelbein.bsky.social
Your Sunday read! In 2010, a scientist argued that 2.1 billion-year-old African specimens showed complex life appearing far ahead of schedule. In doing so, he's run headlong into a very difficult question:

How on earth do you prove it?

My cover story (!) for @sciam.bsky.social!

🧪
These Enigmatic ‘Fossils’ Could Rewrite the History of Life on Earth
Controversial evidence hints that complex life might have emerged hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought—and possibly more than once
www.scientificamerican.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:03 PM
travish.co
Living in regional Australia, you become used to (if not accepting of) roadkill roos, wombats, birds, snakes. The fix for koalas is relatively simple and easy compared to those, and we can't get it done. Photo ops over real improvements.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
How a koala conservation success story became a political embarrassment
Koala deaths on Appin Road are not unusual this time of year, but the fatality of rescued koala Gage is cause for more than the usual frustration and despair.
www.abc.net.au
October 13, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
huwcdavies.bsky.social
When was the last time we heard anyone who represents universities let alone any politician defend the public university as a fundamentally important social institution that transforms lives and improves societies?
ukhenews.bsky.social UK HE News @ukhenews.bsky.social · Oct 12
University managers used tuition fees to justify a model where the 'product' is simple information transmission, which ultimately can be delivered via an AI app.

That the market value for such 'degrees' will soon reach zero is not management's problem.

They get paid even as the sector implodes.
October 12, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
aunz.theconversation.com
📚 EXCERPT: In 2002, an online database was set up allowing birdwatchers to record their species observations. It is now a vast resource, shaping scientific research.

👉 theconversation.com/the-rem...
October 8, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
merriam-webster.com
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 1, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
markwitton.bsky.social
New #paleoart posted to #Patreon: woolly mammoths around a duck-filled lake. Accompanying the hi-res and WIPs of this image is a discussion about mammoth colour: the uniform red-brown mammoths of classic palaeoart seem unlikely now. Check it out at www.patreon.com/posts/night-...
#fossil #sciart
A herd of mammoths, with three large individuals up front, and lots of smaller, more distant individuals in the background, surrounding a shallow Pleistocene lake. They stand on browning, yellowing grass in front of a blue, partly cloudy sky. The mammoths are variable in colour, some being dark, some pale. A juvenile mammoth, blonde all over, has broken ranks and started chasing mallards around a pond. He has made a little grebe nervous. Why has this baby mammoth started attacking other species? Well, animals are a lot like people, Mrs. Simpson. Some of them act badly because they’ve had a hard life or have been mistreated. But, like people, some of them are just jerks.
October 1, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
hollykirk.bsky.social
Some lovely things on the Aussie #urbanNature scene this week!

First up - the work and creativity of friend-colleague @drkyliesoanes.bsky.social has been beautifully profiled by the ABC.

If you use TikTok or Insta I highly encourage you to add Kylie to your feeds!🌏
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
One woman's mission to rewild our cities
Kylie Soanes says urban development should not come at the expense of nature and there's no reason why we should not spot a fairy wren on the way to the bus stop.
www.abc.net.au
October 1, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
travish.co
Are podcasts legitimate research outputs? My new survey is exploring how Australian academics view podcasting as a scholarly practice. Research-active staff are invited to share experiences here forms.cloud.microsoft/r/mYr4KvsiND
Microsoft Forms
forms.cloud.microsoft
September 18, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
edzitron.com
Newsletter: This is The Case Against Generative AI, a comprehensive analysis of a financial collapse built on myths I’ll dispel, the markets’ unhealthy obsession with NVIDIA's growth, and the fact that there is not enough money in the world to fund OpenAI.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-aga...
The Case Against Generative AI
Soundtrack: Queens of the Stone Age - First It Giveth Before we go any further: This is, for the third time this year, the longest newsletter I've ever written, weighing in somewhere around 18,500 wo...
www.wheresyoured.at
September 29, 2025 at 5:37 PM
travish.co
It's not a pyramid scheme when publicly listed companies are doing it
ketanjoshi.co Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · Sep 23
"The FT sought to categorise the expected positive benefits of the technology. Most of the anticipated benefits, such as increased productivity, were vaguely stated and harder to categorise than the risks"

www.ft.com/content/e93e...

(note: Entergy is the fossil fuel company supplying Meta)
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/e93e56df-dd9b-40c1-b77a-dba1ca01e473 While non-tech companies are upbeat about AI, their filings suggest less clear upsides. During an earnings call in February, Coca-Cola was excited about the technology — even though the key use was in the production of a TV commercial.  The FT sought to categorise the expected positive benefits of the technology. Most of the anticipated benefits, such as increased productivity, were vaguely stated and harder to categorise than the risks. Companies anticipated being able to optimise workflows through automation, and hope to achieve market differentiation through their use of AI. Some hoped to be able to use the technology to improve the personalisation of their products. Filings do reveal that the companies able to give clear AI upsides include those that serve the rising AI-driven data centre boom. Energy companies First Solar and Entergy cited AI as a demand driver. Freeport-McMoran, which has a stockpile of copper, stated that “data centres and artificial intelligence developments” would support the metal’s price. The company also said the technology can help with material characterisation and mineral extraction. Equipment manufacturer Caterpillar reported that its energy business was benefiting from supporting “data centre growth related to cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence”.
September 23, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Travis Holland
brkeogh.bsky.social
It remains so bewildering why we as a country let entirely unexperienced non-experts who have no real knowledge of the sector run the country’s universities for million+ salaries.
September 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
travish.co
Are podcasts legitimate research outputs? My new survey is exploring how Australian academics view podcasting as a scholarly practice. Research-active staff are invited to share experiences here forms.cloud.microsoft/r/mYr4KvsiND
Microsoft Forms
forms.cloud.microsoft
September 18, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Travis Holland
timmclellan.bsky.social
Private consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run.

My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.

www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...

A thread
Image shows a screenshot of the conclusion of the linked Senate inquiry submission. This text can be found on page 10. The text is too long for alt text, but here is the first three quarters of the text: Conclusion Over the past decade, Nous Group’s UniForum data has quietly taken on the status of authoritative benchmark for the quality of a range of professional and academic services performed by public universities in Australia and across the world. This authoritative status is performed through scientific-looking graphs and scientific-sounding jargon designed to imply UniForum data is generated through rigorous methods and backed by expert consensus. This performance of authority is significant: it lends UniForum data an air of credibility and facticity that makes acting upon its results irresistible. When one begins to open the black box and examine how UniForum data is actually produced, however, it becomes difficult to justify the degree to which Australian university executives are relying upon it in their decision-making. My analysis is based on a review of publicly available documents, and it is therefore possible that Nous or its clients would point to things not in the public domain that address some of the conceptual and methodological flaws that I have highlighted in UniForum. But the fact that the underlying UniForum data and methodology is not in the public domain is itself one of the key causes for concerns. When the stakes are so high, it cannot be acceptable for Nous Group and its clients to simply tell university staff and governing councils, ‘trust us, these numbers are based on rigorous methods and analysis.’ The lack of rigor, external scrutiny, and transparency in UniForum’s underlying data and methodology would be a cause for concern in any public institution, but it is especially concerning in the context of universities where rigorous, transparent, and accountable knowledge production is a core part of what we do. ...
September 17, 2025 at 5:54 AM