Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
@wamsleylab.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist, runs a sleep lab. Studying sleep, dreaming, memory and rest. Uses EEG, interested in open science, women in STEM. 🧠📈😴 Frustrated with the higher-education industrial complex. Luddite-adjacent. #AAUP. Views are my own.
Pinned
I'm going to start a new university, and it's going to be just some faculty and some students meeting in the forest.
No buildings, administrators, landscaping, trustees, development, general counsel, registrar, climbing walls...
Everyone gets a computer and books, that's it.
1/x
#Academicsky
No buildings, administrators, landscaping, trustees, development, general counsel, registrar, climbing walls...
Everyone gets a computer and books, that's it.
1/x
#Academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Three babies in Kentucky have died of whooping cough.
They weren’t vaccinated and neither were their mothers.
This is RFK Jr’s legacy. A trail of dead kids who never had a chance.
They didn’t get to decide about vaccination. Adults chose for them & they paid with their life.
They weren’t vaccinated and neither were their mothers.
This is RFK Jr’s legacy. A trail of dead kids who never had a chance.
They didn’t get to decide about vaccination. Adults chose for them & they paid with their life.
November 26, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Three babies in Kentucky have died of whooping cough.
They weren’t vaccinated and neither were their mothers.
This is RFK Jr’s legacy. A trail of dead kids who never had a chance.
They didn’t get to decide about vaccination. Adults chose for them & they paid with their life.
They weren’t vaccinated and neither were their mothers.
This is RFK Jr’s legacy. A trail of dead kids who never had a chance.
They didn’t get to decide about vaccination. Adults chose for them & they paid with their life.
🚨🚨🚨
Science will be much more efficient without scientists.
Universities are being destroyed because we don't NEED them anymore.
Instead, all existing data will be fed to AI "agents" who will mine them to "test new hypotheses" and "generate scientific breakthroughs". 🤨🤢🤮
#academicsky #edusky 🟦🧠
Science will be much more efficient without scientists.
Universities are being destroyed because we don't NEED them anymore.
Instead, all existing data will be fed to AI "agents" who will mine them to "test new hypotheses" and "generate scientific breakthroughs". 🤨🤢🤮
#academicsky #edusky 🟦🧠
Launching the Genesis Mission
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
November 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
🚨🚨🚨
Science will be much more efficient without scientists.
Universities are being destroyed because we don't NEED them anymore.
Instead, all existing data will be fed to AI "agents" who will mine them to "test new hypotheses" and "generate scientific breakthroughs". 🤨🤢🤮
#academicsky #edusky 🟦🧠
Science will be much more efficient without scientists.
Universities are being destroyed because we don't NEED them anymore.
Instead, all existing data will be fed to AI "agents" who will mine them to "test new hypotheses" and "generate scientific breakthroughs". 🤨🤢🤮
#academicsky #edusky 🟦🧠
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Setting aside the whole AI debacle for a second, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why a government that has so much contempt for science, scientists, and scientific thinking would ever want to "accelerate scientific advancement". So they can destroy more of it in a record amount of time??
Launching the Genesis Mission
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose.
www.whitehouse.gov
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Setting aside the whole AI debacle for a second, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why a government that has so much contempt for science, scientists, and scientific thinking would ever want to "accelerate scientific advancement". So they can destroy more of it in a record amount of time??
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Out now in @commsbio.nature.com!
We studied brain-heart interactions during mind wandering and mind blanking.
Mind blanking is associated with a greater heart/brain decoupling, complicating the idea of an attentional switch between external & internal environments!
🧠🔄🫀🧪
We studied brain-heart interactions during mind wandering and mind blanking.
Mind blanking is associated with a greater heart/brain decoupling, complicating the idea of an attentional switch between external & internal environments!
🧠🔄🫀🧪
Multimodal analysis of spontaneous attentional state dynamics during sustained task performance reveals distinctive profiles of brain-heart interaction in mind-wandering and mind-blanking.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
When your heart isn’t in it anymore: cardiac correlates of task disengagement - Communications Biology
Multimodal analysis of spontaneous attentional state dynamics during sustained task performance reveals distinctive profiles of brain–heart interaction in mind-wandering and mind-blanking.
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Out now in @commsbio.nature.com!
We studied brain-heart interactions during mind wandering and mind blanking.
Mind blanking is associated with a greater heart/brain decoupling, complicating the idea of an attentional switch between external & internal environments!
🧠🔄🫀🧪
We studied brain-heart interactions during mind wandering and mind blanking.
Mind blanking is associated with a greater heart/brain decoupling, complicating the idea of an attentional switch between external & internal environments!
🧠🔄🫀🧪
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Science is a collective effort, but @simine.com is a singular force. She is an exemplary model for all of us to follow in her commitment and action to improving science, on every dimension.
She is so deserving of the award. The only uncertainty is whether the award deserves her!
She is so deserving of the award. The only uncertainty is whether the award deserves her!
Congratulations to @simine.com well deserved winner of the Einstein Foundation Individual Award for Promoting Quality in Research 2025 🎉 www.einsteinfoundation.de/en/media/pre...
November 24, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Science is a collective effort, but @simine.com is a singular force. She is an exemplary model for all of us to follow in her commitment and action to improving science, on every dimension.
She is so deserving of the award. The only uncertainty is whether the award deserves her!
She is so deserving of the award. The only uncertainty is whether the award deserves her!
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Wheeled toys were all the rage in the ancient world. Here are four lovely examples: a Greek horse, a Mesopotamian ram, an Iranian hedgehog & a Mesoamerican jaguar. The jaguar one is particularly cool because it shows that Mesoamericans knew about wheels; they just didn't use them for transport.
November 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Wheeled toys were all the rage in the ancient world. Here are four lovely examples: a Greek horse, a Mesopotamian ram, an Iranian hedgehog & a Mesoamerican jaguar. The jaguar one is particularly cool because it shows that Mesoamericans knew about wheels; they just didn't use them for transport.
Universities can win against fascism when faculty, students and staff come together to take action.
This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.
It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.
#edusky
#academicsky
This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.
It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.
#edusky
#academicsky
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
Judge Orders Trump Not to Threaten University of California’s Funding
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Universities can win against fascism when faculty, students and staff come together to take action.
This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.
It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.
#edusky
#academicsky
This decision is huge for not just UC, but all of us.
It was driven by faculty with #AAUP, and wouldn't have happened if they had waited for administration to save them.
#edusky
#academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
UCLA is *us*: Faculty, students, and staff.
Not administrators.
Not administrators.
November 15, 2025 at 12:06 AM
UCLA is *us*: Faculty, students, and staff.
Not administrators.
Not administrators.
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
It's clear it would be pretty easy to build a real-life Chucky. All we lack is the willpower.
"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 12:25 PM
It's clear it would be pretty easy to build a real-life Chucky. All we lack is the willpower.
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
A dangerous new policy requires a campus President's approval for profs to teach race & gender topics in Texas.
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
Texas A&M University professors now need approval for some race and gender topics
Texas A&M University System regents on Thursday adopted a new policy requiring professors to first get approval to discuss some race and gender topics.
apnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A dangerous new policy requires a campus President's approval for profs to teach race & gender topics in Texas.
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
"It strikes at the heart of what education means...which is circulate the exchange of knowledge without fear of retaliation.”
— Rana Jaleel, AAUP Chair of Committee on Academic Freedom
College Students are Adults
Infantilizing adult students harms them, and all of us.
medium.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:15 PM
One thing I am learning from these Epstein emails is that rich people suck at writing emails.
In which Epstein proposes a new US-China particle collider.
"the cinese are willing to build a new collider. they will put up the money and build it , but need american tech. if he were to call it the obama xi collider. his legazy would be great in scinece and the project takes 15 -30 years."
"the cinese are willing to build a new collider. they will put up the money and build it , but need american tech. if he were to call it the obama xi collider. his legazy would be great in scinece and the project takes 15 -30 years."
November 13, 2025 at 12:13 PM
One thing I am learning from these Epstein emails is that rich people suck at writing emails.
Cornell will:
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
Breaking News: Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would restore hundreds of millions in funding to the university. It's expected to pay a $30 million fine to the government and to invest $30 million in agriculture and farming programs.
Cornell Reaches Deal with Trump Administration to Restore Research Funds
The Ivy League university had warned of layoffs after the Trump administration stripped it of funds this year. The cuts were among the deepest in higher education.
nyti.ms
November 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Cornell will:
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 AM
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
Racial diversity is good, because no racial group is inherently any better than others, so all racial groups should be included.
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
November 1, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Racial diversity is good, because no racial group is inherently any better than others, so all racial groups should be included.
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
My paper 'Dreaming in Focus: Cognitive and evolutionary perspectives on the functions and mechanisms of sleep cognition' is available on the online first of 'International Journal of Dream Research', and will be in print of April of next year.
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
October 31, 2025 at 1:58 AM
My paper 'Dreaming in Focus: Cognitive and evolutionary perspectives on the functions and mechanisms of sleep cognition' is available on the online first of 'International Journal of Dream Research', and will be in print of April of next year.
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
🎃 Halloween meets sleep science💤:
Our ECSM team's “Polysomnography Pumpkin” brought sleep science to the spooky season - earning second place at Oxford’s Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building Games!
Brains, electrodes, and a few spiders included.🧠
Our ECSM team's “Polysomnography Pumpkin” brought sleep science to the spooky season - earning second place at Oxford’s Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building Games!
Brains, electrodes, and a few spiders included.🧠
October 31, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
Grokipedia and the Coup Against Reality Itself
Grokipedia, the copycat of Wikipedia launched by Elon Musk isn’t just a string of AI generated slop, it is a weapon. The launch of "grokipedia" is a calculated, strategic escalation by the billionaire...
www.thedissident.news
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
OK... but if you brag about your Google Scholar sH-index you have to pronounce it "Shindex".
#academicsky #metasci
#academicsky #metasci
Google Scholar-based tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
OK... but if you brag about your Google Scholar sH-index you have to pronounce it "Shindex".
#academicsky #metasci
#academicsky #metasci
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
"And as millions face the prospect of starving, the president is obsessed over the fun minutiae of party-planning... Trump has spoken to senior administration officials about the idea of putting his name or image (like a bust) in the ballroom." - @swin24.bsky.social
Trump to the Poor: Let Them Eat Ballroom
Millions of Americans are about to lose food aid from the government, but the man in charge is focused on his ‘MAGA-Saddam,’ multi-million-dollar White House ballroom.
zeteo.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"And as millions face the prospect of starving, the president is obsessed over the fun minutiae of party-planning... Trump has spoken to senior administration officials about the idea of putting his name or image (like a bust) in the ballroom." - @swin24.bsky.social
When frustrated with manuscript submission, I keep it in perspective by flashing back to the early 2000s, when "Build PDF" took hours, you had to keep your browser open, and when it inevitably crashed you'd lose your data and have to start over. (At least that's how I remember it..)
#academicsky
#academicsky
October 27, 2025 at 8:55 PM
When frustrated with manuscript submission, I keep it in perspective by flashing back to the early 2000s, when "Build PDF" took hours, you had to keep your browser open, and when it inevitably crashed you'd lose your data and have to start over. (At least that's how I remember it..)
#academicsky
#academicsky