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Ben Balas

@bjbalas.bsky.social

1.4K followers 1.3K following 890 posts

Vision Scientist, Dad, Would-be artist & dreadful chess player. Check out my new #visionscience textbook here: https://www.routledge.com/Practical-Vision-Science-Learning-Through-Experimentation/Balas/p/book/9781032691121 All opinions my own.

www.routledge.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · Nov 4

Hey there #visionscience and #psychscisky friends! I wanted to take a moment to (finally) do a proper promo 🧵 about my new textbook: Practical Vision Science, which is now available from Routledge books. <1/n> www.routledge.com/Practical-Vi...

Practical Vision Science: Learning Through Experimentation

This workbook provides a collection of experiments and observations that use physical materials (rather than digital displays or resources) to reveal fundamental properties of the human visual system....

www.routledge.com

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Reposted by Ben Balas

The Oatmeal @theoatmeal.bsky.social · 1d

Let’s talk about AI art.

theoatmeal.com/comics/ai_art

A cartoonist's review of AI art - The Oatmeal

This is a comic about AI art.

theoatmeal.com

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Reposted by Ben Balas

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 16h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 23h

Is it fun, though? I couldn't tell if it was fun from the box.

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 1d

Whenever I see a monarch in Fargo, I call out "Go!" to speed 'em on their way. It's amazing that they travel so far and so cool that we can follow along.

Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 1d

Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿

Screen shot of Project Monarch app map of progress of a monarch butterfly from southern Ontario to Oklahoma.

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 1d

done!

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 2d

I didn't know that there was a "Water Tower of the Year" competition until just a moment ago, but now that I know there is one and Fargo is in 2nd place I am INVESTED. Get in there and vote for our 2.5 million gallons of water-holding majesty, people! #workwasfrustratingwhydoyouask

Fargo, North Dakota - Tnemec Company, Inc.

tnemec.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 2d

This takes me back! When I was a kid in SW Pennsylvania, we pretty reliably had groundhogs hanging around near our school bus stop and I always liked seeing them sort of ambling around munching on stuff.

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 2d

Please enjoy 10 seconds of a fat groundhog enjoying an apple at my sister's house 😊

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 2d

New post from the kiddo over at So Desensitized! This is the beginning of her October series focusing on witches, starting with THE CRAFT. Go subscribe if you like #Horror and great writing about pop culture! #HorrorSky #HorrorMovies #FilmSky

Kids These Days Don't Join Covens Anymore

Hi all, and welcome to the first week of the 2025 So Desensitized Spooky Season Spooktacular! Posts will be out on Mondays and Fridays all the way up until...

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Ben Balas

Katie Gordon @kathryngordon.bsky.social · 3d

Hi! My publisher is giving away 10 copies of The Suicidal Thoughts Guided Journal through Goodreads. If you’d like to enter, you can here:

www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

Thanks for your support! ❤️

Book giveaway for The Suicidal Thoughts Guided Journal: CBT Practices to Soothe Emotional Pain, Build Coping Skills, and Find Hope by Kathryn Hope Gordon Oct 04-Oct 16, 2025

Enter to win one of 10 free copies available. Giveaway dates from Oct 04-Oct 16, 2025. A compassionate guided journal to help you to manage suicidal thou...

www.goodreads.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 4d

I've got a little bit of #Artober drawing this evening. I'm not worrying about the drawing-a-day routine this year, but just trying to make time to draw something I'm excited about more regularly. For tonight, a scratch-art Krypto the Superdog from @jamesgunn.bsky.social's SUPERMAN.

A black-and-white scratch-art drawing of Krypto the Superdog. Krypto looks ready to do something super but would probably look better if drawn by someone with more talent.

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 4d

I love it when awardees lean into the weirdness of the Ig Nobels.

Jeffrey J. Hall @mrjeffu.bsky.social · 19d

Video: a Japanese scientist was attacked by flies while giving the acceptance speech for his Ig Nobel Prize-winning research paper that proved painting Zebra-like stripes on cows led to a decrease in biting fly attacks.

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 4d

The bedtime story example stands out to me - people CAN make up stories like that on the spot and it's fun. If you get stuck, ask your kid what happens next. They'll know. They'll know and then you'll both laugh.

MiMi Aye @meemalee.bsky.social · 4d

Author and filmmaker Justine Bateman on generative AI

"They're trying to convince people they can't do the things they've been doing easily for years - to write emails, to write a presentation. Your daughter wants you to make up a bedtime story about puppies - to write that for you." We will get to the point, she says with a grim laugh, "that you will essentially become just a skin bag of organs and bones, nothing else. You won't know anything and you will be told repeatedly that you can't do it, which is the opposite of what life has to offer. Capitulating all kinds of decisions like where to go on vacation, what to wear today, who to date, what to eat.
People are already doing this. You won't have to process grief, because you'll have uploaded photos and voice messages from your mother who just died, and then she can talk to you via AI video call every day. One of the ways it's going to destroy humans, long before there's a nuclear disaster, is going to be the emotional hollowing-out of people." - author and filmmaker Justine Bateman from a piece by Emine Saner for the Guardian

Reposted by Ben Balas

Amanda Deibert @amandadeibert.bsky.social · 6d

Click to send a Halloween Card to a child at Children's Hospital LA. It cost you NOTHING, it takes 30 seconds and they donate $1 for every card sent between now and Halloween secure1.chla.org/site/SPageNa...

Send a Halloween card to a child in the hospital!

You can help a child in the hospital have a spook-tacular Halloween. Send a special card before the deadline.

secure1.chla.org

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Reposted by Ben Balas

Tobias Carroll @tobiascarroll.bsky.social · 5d

Last month I talked about animated literary adaptations, and now I've published the text online... tobiascarroll.substack.com/p/animation-...

Animation, Adaptation, and the Fantastic

Sometimes a live-action literary adaptations isn't the way to go

tobiascarroll.substack.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 6d

My #Chess improvement continues to go slowly, but I am definitely seeing more good stuff during the games. Just a little proud of seeing the right idea here: White to move and mate in 3!

A chessboard with the following position (FEN format): 1r1q3k/pb5r/2np3Q/2p2p2/2P2P2/3B2R1/P1P3PP/4R1K1 w - - 1 23

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Reposted by Ben Balas

Eric LaRocca @ericlarocca.bsky.social · 6d

Excellent, fairly comprehensive analysis of the current landscape of horror fiction:

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/02/h...

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 6d

Another night at the Fargo Theatre for a classic movie: Tonight's feature was the incomparable SNEAKERS. Absolutely packed cast, great script, and still way up there on my list of favorite movies.

a close up of a man wearing sunglasses with iworm written in the corner

ALT: a close up of a man wearing sunglasses with iworm written in the corner

media.tenor.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 7d

Your perspective is interesting. I disagree with it almost entirely, but I suspect that we're starting from very different premises. I guess we'll all see, won't we?

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 7d

Right - why do you agree with the utopian take? Also, a journal relying on it doesn't mean that it's any good.

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 7d

Man, talk about a development that would get me to change careers in a heartbeat. What makes you put "should" in that first sentence?

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 8d

Really excited to check this one out - Jesse Lonergan's work is always incredible.

Comic Book Couples Counseling @cbccpodcast.bsky.social · 8d

We spoke with cartoonist Jesse Lonergan about Drome, his new OGN about the agony and ecstasy of creation. Best comic of the year??? www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com/post/jesse-l...

Jesse Lonergan Catches the Uncatchable in Drome

We chat with cartoonist Jesse Lonergan about Drome, his new OGN about the agony and ecstasy of creation.

www.comicbookcouplescounseling.com

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 9d

A minor #chess improvement milestone: Made it over 1600 in Blitz over at @chess.com! If past trends continue, I'll see-saw around this for a while, but nice to be making (slow) progress. www.chess.com/awards/ndpat...

Blitz 1600

You got a rating of 1600 in Blitz!

www.chess.com

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 9d

I came across a monograph at a rare book store here in Fargo that had diagrams of the supposed Martian canals by Percival Lowell that were amazing #SciArt! I still sometimes think I should go back to see if it's still there, even if it was pricey.

bookswain.bsky.social @bookswain.bsky.social · 10d

A post for #SciArtSeptember day 28: scientific art is not just biological (imo). There is beauty in this depiction of the trajectory of a comet by American astronomer David Rittenhouse based off his 1770 observations.
From my 1789 copy of Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 🔭

A fold out diagram on browning laid paper depicting astronomical observations of a comet in what was assumed to be an assumed a parabolic trajectory, later corrected to an elliptical trajectory by Johan Lexell. The Sun has a face and looks like the emoji.

#Astronomy #HistSci #HistStem

Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 10d

There are so many talented artists out there that will do excellent work and talk with you about your design so it's really yours. Hire humans, friends, it's way more fun!

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 10d

I've worked with 3 graphic designers in my lab's first decade and am happy to put you in touch. they don't cost a lot and are great to work with

not only will your lab's visual brand language being cool and unique to your lab but you won't be implicitly endorsing the replacement of artists with AI

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Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks, Jud.