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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 7h

This is a powerful account from a PhD student whose fellowship was terminated by NIH because it was part of a "diversity" program without any other considerations or understanding of what the program or the students were actually doing.

undark.org/2025/10/09/o...

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NIH Student Grant Cancellation Will Weaken Scientific Innovation

The termination of federal F31 diversity fellowships puts many graduate students in a bind — and U.S. science at risk.

undark.org

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 1h

Was worried that this was going to be *yet another* of the "people should all go back to Twitter" nonsense pieces, but @ianbetteridge.com's law of headlines rarely fails. The answer here is a clear "no" with good reasons:

Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one centre-right friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that that is the reason why we went is nonsense. That I’ve largely stopped posting on a site that’s done more to shape my career and social circle than the rest of the internet combined is less about avoiding rival opinions (I love arguing with people who are wrong) than with the fact the site simply became unusable. It stopped generating the things (good jokes, interesting debate, clicks) I wanted; it became extremely good at generating the things (racists, pornbots, racist pornbots) I did not.

Those who stayed behind have lost something, too: the ability to not have their worldview shaped by some of the maddest people on the internet. One of the Tories’ big conference announcements was the promise of an Ice-style border force that would deport [citation needed] 150,000 people a year. That mass deportations of most existing migrants is not actually popular in the UK – that such a policy places yet more distance between the Tories and the mainstream centre which deserted them last year – seems not to have occurred.

It’s hard not to connect this to the fact that much of the political class remains on a platform now dominated by the political extremes. They might do well to remember: Twitter is not the real world.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 1h

Abandoning Antarctic krill management measure threatens conservation progress (commentary) news.mongabay.com/2025/10/aban... 🧪🦑🌎

Abandoning Antarctic krill management measure threatens conservation progress (commentary)

All along the western Antarctic Peninsula, whales, penguins and seals in their millions depend on krill (Euphausia superba) throughout the year. In the most rapidly warming region on the continent,…

news.mongabay.com

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Katie Matthews, PhD @katieocean.bsky.social · 2h

Hey @oceanknigge.bsky.social look at our friend! :)

Oceana in Europe @oceanaeurope.bsky.social · 15h

We're happy to announce that @verampcoelho.bsky.social has been appointed as Oceana in Europe's Vice President & Executive Director!👏

She has been key in securing 20+ policy wins for our ocean and will now lead our campaigns to protect & restore European seas.

➡️ europe.oceana.org/press-releas...

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Trevor A. Branch @trevorabranch.bsky.social · 5h

Right whales in Hermanus: why their calf production is slowing down

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 5h

Southern right whales are having fewer calves: what this says about ocean health

The link between feeding and breeding makes whales a living barometer of ocean health.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Denis Gilbert 🌎 @denis-gilbert.ca · 2h

Statistics on how scientists feel about their presence on Bluesky versus Twitter. My personal experience (before closing my Twitter account in August 2023) was that engagement for my tweets had dropped to close to zero. No longer worth the effort...

#Bluesky #Twitter #X #socialmedia

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 10h

ICYMI, here is the press release for my study with @drjuliawester.bsky.social - we surveyed over 800 scientists who use social media. They overwhelmingly agree that Twitter is no longer useful or pleasant, and that for all professional online scientist goals, Bluesky is superior.
🧪 #SciComm 🌍

“Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky:” Our new survey shows that scientists no longer find Twitter professionally useful or pleasant

My colleague Dr. Julia Wester and I have a new paper out in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology reporting on the results of a survey distributed to over 800 scientists, science educator…

www.southernfriedscience.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 3h

High take of mobulid rays in East Java, Indonesia: landing trends and socio-economic context | "This study highlights a critical need for improved conservation of all mobulid ray species in Indonesia given their high extinction risk "

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

High take of mobulid rays in East Java, Indonesia: landing trends and socio-economic context - Environmental Biology of Fishes

Mobulid rays (genus Mobula) comprise ten species of highly threatened filter-feeding rays, seven of which occur in Indonesia and five of which are caught in small-scale fisheries off Muncar, East…

link.springer.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 4h

What the WTO’s deal to curb fisheries subsidies means and what it could achieve theconversation.com/what-the-wto...

What the WTO’s deal to curb fisheries subsidies means and what it could achieve

For decades, government subsidies have helped industrial fishing fleets to expand, often with little regard for sustainability.

theconversation.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 5h

Southern right whales are having fewer calves: what this says about ocean health

The link between feeding and breeding makes whales a living barometer of ocean health.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 10h

ICYMI, here is the press release for my study with @drjuliawester.bsky.social - we surveyed over 800 scientists who use social media. They overwhelmingly agree that Twitter is no longer useful or pleasant, and that for all professional online scientist goals, Bluesky is superior.
🧪 #SciComm 🌍

“Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky:” Our new survey shows that scientists no longer find Twitter professionally useful or pleasant

My colleague Dr. Julia Wester and I have a new paper out in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology reporting on the results of a survey distributed to over 800 scientists, science educator…

www.southernfriedscience.com

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 5h

I've become much freer with blocking over the past year or so. Basically, in addition to blocking for insults, I now also block for being tedious.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 21h

Someone in my mentions is upset because these people haven’t suffered the worst at ICE’s hands and therefore they shouldn’t be praised for being out on the streets?

Yeah, no. To push back on these people we need everyone — especially those with relative privilege — to get up and get involved.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

Portland, you magnificent weirdos

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 7h

Robotic underwater glider sets out to circumnavigate the globe | New Scientist

Robotic underwater glider sets out to circumnavigate the globe

Redwing, a robotic submarine about the size of a surfboard, is embarking on a five-year journey that will follow the famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage around the world

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Leah Shaffer @leahshaffer.bsky.social · 8h

#ScienceSky, tell your colleagues to leave X, delete those x buttons on your lab page and replace with a butterfly. I declare #Bluesky the official social network for science and by scientists (you and your network of colleagues operate as your own algorithm determining what you see here). 🩺 🧪

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 10h

ICYMI, here is the press release for my study with @drjuliawester.bsky.social - we surveyed over 800 scientists who use social media. They overwhelmingly agree that Twitter is no longer useful or pleasant, and that for all professional online scientist goals, Bluesky is superior.
🧪 #SciComm 🌍

“Twitter sucks now and all the cool kids are moving to Bluesky:” Our new survey shows that scientists no longer find Twitter professionally useful or pleasant

My colleague Dr. Julia Wester and I have a new paper out in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology reporting on the results of a survey distributed to over 800 scientists, science educator…

www.southernfriedscience.com

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 8h

Friends,

If I do not know you, and we have never communicated before about any topic, instead of reaching out to tell me that you found an insignificant typo in something I wrote months ago, you could instead just...say nothing.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 8h

Someone asked me to consider sharing stories and legends from indigenous communities about sharks.

My professional development training for working in this space stressed the idea of "nothing about us without us," i.e., I should not be the one to tell their stories.

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

CJ Mo000oo00ooSe 🫎👻 @cjmoose.bsky.social · 8h

I don’t know what the parameters are for the Discovery feed, but I somehow ended up on it ONE TIME with a rather innocuous post and honestly I don’t know how y’all deal with that insanity on a regular basis.

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 8h

definitely noticing this past 100 shares

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 8h

The Trump administration removed the 5th National climate assessment, which was congressionally mandated and taxpayer funded, because they deny science. It’s now back online on a non-government website.

Fifth National Climate Assessment

The Fifth National Climate Assessment is the US Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. It is a congressionally mandated interagency effort that provides the…

nca5.climate.us

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 9h

Ok but what we said was when *our* posts show up on Discover, it means that people who love to scream about nonsense reply to it.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 9h

Yup, that seems to be it.

Or getting shared by someone with a huge audience that doesn't overlap with my audience. I seem to be followed by some of the #Resistance people with tens of thousands of followers, and they share my stuff seeminly at random.

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 9h

The lack of a central algorithm prevents most of the nonsense, since the vast majority of your skeets are only seen by your audience.

But regardless of the number of reposts, it's hitting the Discovery feed that causes containment breach.

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Lizard @lizardky.bsky.social · 9h

Well, that's the problem with trolls. If you chop them to bits, each bits grows back into a new troll. Stock up on flaming oil, vials of acid, and scrolls of fireball.

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Timo Koola @timokoola.bsky.social · 9h

As a "regular person", I hit this in Twitter already somewhere around 100 RTs. I wish social media had this option that I could block too many shares beyond my immediate circle of people. Maybe something like "only let people I follow repost this" and it would be on by default

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Reposted by David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈

Word_Geek @word-geek.bsky.social · 9h

Probably when your post hits Discover. But also, users here just change the settings so people can't respond or quote post, which has to make it slightly less frustrating

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 9h

24-48 hours is enough to qualify I think.

And I think 50-100 is a reasonable estimate as well

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