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Reposted by Brandon Keim

Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 10h

In which I look at animal research for The New York Times and find some surprising answers.

Opinion | Can Trump End This Impossibly Cruel Practice?

www.nytimes.com

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Matti Wilks @mattiwilks.bsky.social · Aug 4

Recent interview on Knowing Animals w @joshmilburn.bsky.social. We discuss my new paper on children's moral circles, coauthored w @juliamarshall.bsky.social @karrineldner.bsky.social @luciuscaviola.bsky.social

Podcast: knowinganimals.libsyn.com/episode-240-...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 7d

"I stopped eating meat some 50 years ago," wrote Jane Goodall, "when I looked at the pork chop on my plate and thought: this represents fear, pain, death."

Best as I can tell, not one obituary or article on her passing mentions this fact. It's worth knowing. news.janegoodall.org/2017/04/28/w...

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Colin Schultz @colinschultz.bsky.social · 6d

"By focusing on abstract, far-future scenarios, [proponents of AI accelerationism] ignore tangible harms caused by technology in the present, including algorithmic bias, worker exploitation, and systemic discrimination." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

The paradox of AI accelerationism and the promise of public interest AI

Over the past 3 years, the idea that artificial intelligence (AI) development should be accelerated without restraint to drive radical societal change—a phenomenon known as AI accelerationism—has gain...

www.science.org

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 7d

"I stopped eating meat some 50 years ago," wrote Jane Goodall, "when I looked at the pork chop on my plate and thought: this represents fear, pain, death."

Best as I can tell, not one obituary or article on her passing mentions this fact. It's worth knowing. news.janegoodall.org/2017/04/28/w...

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 8d

My very favorite, though, is this one! (This link is to a synopsis; reference at bottom): sharkresearch.earth.miami.edu/evidence-for...

Evidence for collective navigation in salmon for homeward migration – Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC) | University of Miami

sharkresearch.earth.miami.edu

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 8d

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Social interactions shape the timing of spawning migrations in an anadromous fish

Mass migrations are found throughout the animal kingdom and are often undertaken by coordinated social groups. However, surprisingly little is known a…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Mark Healey @healeyparera.bsky.social · 9d

"AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our society and our descendants will be digging it out for generations"

JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 9d

No surprise, this is very good. pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...

Pluralistic: The real (economic) AI apocalypse is nigh (27 Sep 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

pluralistic.net

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LSE Blogs @lseblogs.bsky.social · 11d

#AI is transforming the lives of animals at speed, but these huge impacts are going unchecked.

Isabella Logothetis, Spencer Jury @birchlse.bsky.social @lsephilosophy.bsky.social argue more must be done to make sure AI works for, not against the interests of other species @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social.

Should you let AI train your dog? The lawless world of AI and animals

Artificial intelligence could transform our relationships with animals, but more must be done to make sure AI works for the interests of other species.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Danai Papageorgiou @danaipapageorgiou.bsky.social · 14d

Here we propose adding an 11th criterion to UNESCO’s framework to protect animal cultures—habitat protection alone isn’t enough. Excited to collaborate with philosophers @merikatariina.bsky.social & @birchlse.bsky.social on this!

Message me for access ;-)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Protecting animal cultures as World Heritage - Nature Sustainability

It is becoming increasingly clear that animal cultures have intrinsic, irreplaceable value, and yet they are not adequately protected by preserving habitat. The time has come for UNESCO to explicitly protect non-human cultural heritage alongside human heritage.

www.nature.com

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 12d

Hi! Will it be recorded?

Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 14d

A fun study on territorial, often-solitary wall lizards becoming more gregarious and easygoing in the cities where they thrive. Social tolerance begets success 🦎✌🏽

By @averymaune.bsky.social et al. in @royalsocietypublishing.org: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 17d

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 19d

People who know reptiles well say they don't only experience fleeting pains and pleasures, but also lasting emotional states: happiness & sadness, or at least good & bad moods.

But how do you show this in a scientific way?

My latest for @nytimes.com on a clever @coldbloodedcog.bsky.social study:

Do Reptiles Have Moods, Too?

www.nytimes.com

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 19d

I do have a story in the works for @baynature.org on what it's like to be an arboreal salamander ;)

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 19d

People who know reptiles well say they don't only experience fleeting pains and pleasures, but also lasting emotional states: happiness & sadness, or at least good & bad moods.

But how do you show this in a scientific way?

My latest for @nytimes.com on a clever @coldbloodedcog.bsky.social study:

Do Reptiles Have Moods, Too?

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Brandon Keim

María R. Carreras, PhD @mariaruiz.bsky.social · 20d

Inspiring text about how seeing others with wonder invites us to understand them more deeply and treat them with greater care.

Grumpy Philosopher @stevecooke.org · 20d

Hey, look! A piece on the connection between wonder, moral motivation, & justice for animals, published at @justiceeverywhere.bsky.social and based on my paper in @the-joap.bsky.social - justice-everywhere.org/general/usin...

Using wonder to achieve animal rights

In this post, Steve Cooke, (University of Leicester) discusses his article recently published in the Journal of Applied Philosophy on the experience of wonder as a route towards justice for nonhuma…

justice-everywhere.org

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Reposted by Brandon Keim

Susana Monsó @susanamonso.com · Aug 13

Our paper on 🌱🦧ANIMAL MEDICINE🐜🍄 has been accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science!

You can find the accepted version here, open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 22d

I wish publications would have dedicated Nature sections rather than lumping the entire living world under Science or maybe Environment. IMHO this would be fabulously successful.

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 23d

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 24d

If so, it’s only because it’s become standard practice and expectation, and thus not even something people think to identify.

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 27d

Yes! Raymond Chandler’s books were eye-opening for me; I hadn’t realized that distrust of police authority was so prominent in the early to mid 20th century.

Have you read Philip Kerr’s Bernie Guenther books? They’ve always felt timely, but painfully so now.

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 27d

For example, distrust in vaccines emerging from distrust in the medical industry: aeon.co/essays/what-...

What explains the enduring grip of medical skepticism? | Aeon Essays

Why do so many see vaccines and other medical interventions as tools of social control rather than boons to health?

aeon.co

Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 27d

The way social scientists are ignored in the discourse over public distrust in science is frustrating. There's so much wisdom out there about how & why people lose confidence in systems of authority, expertise, and ultimately the science associated with those systems.

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Brandon Keim @brandonkeim.bsky.social · 27d

"There was something unusual about the beams: Sparkling white points of light spiraled slowly inside them, hundreds if not thousands, almost like confetti, but confetti wouldn’t have been visible from that distance. It also wouldn’t have risen. A few people said the lights made them think of souls."

The Birds of September 11

On 9/11, the Great Recession, and the Tribute in Light's avian rescue.

brandonkeim.substack.com

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