Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 12d

Isn’t it interesting that at least once a week we say ומפני חטאינו גלינו מארצינו?

Not מפני שאבותינו חטאו , not מפני שאויבינו חטאו

The tefilla seems to encourage an internal locus of control

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 17d

Sh’niyihe l’roast v’lo l’zanav

Silver tip roast marinated in wine, shallots & juniper berries

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Andres Bendesky @bendeskylab.com · 18d

Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Computational Ecology and/or Evolution @columbiauniversity.bsky.social.
Deadline to apply September 30.
Reach out if you have questions.

apply.interfolio.com/172496

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 18d

Make sure double check that patient’s name before giving a vaccine so it’s not a זריקה שלא לשמה

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 20d

דרך ישראל סבא

אלה בנצחנימו, ואלה ברצחנימו הבטחות

ואנחנו בשם נצח ישראל כפינו
שטוחות

🕊️ 🤲

Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 20d

מוסיפין מחול על הקודש ומקודש על החול

Picture of racks of round challos for Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 28d

R. Meilich Biderman tells an awesome story about the Ruzhiner Rebbe that subverts the expectation of a miraculous happy ending

The Ruzhiner zt'l told his chasidim a story of a businessman who lost out on a lucrative business deal because he didn't want to do business before Shacharis. He had many animal skins, and he had a hard time selling them. A customer came to his home and wanted to buy all of them, but it was before Shacharis, and the businessman didn't want to wait. So he left and bought the skins elsewhere.

The chasidim were silent, waiting for the end of the story. The Ruzhiner told them, "I see that you want to hear the end of the story, but that is the end. He kept the halachah, he didn't sell before Shacharis, and he lost a lot of money."

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 28d

What about detecting malingered psychosis? You could leave that morsel for him (to be nice).

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 29d

I’m also amused by the contrast of the klezmer violin aesthetic & the electric guitar at the end
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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 29d

The accompanying narrative video has shtetl scenes with the protagonists speaking in Poylishe Yiddish, while the singer uses Hungarian Yiddish. The kids play turn of the century games like stick & hoop. I wonder who is the audience?
3/n

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 29d

Looks dire, but no worries! The rebbe gets a heavenly message that in the merit of his compassion the child will recover. It turns out that empathy is a potent mystical tool for getting good outcomes
2/n

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · 29d

I find this video fascinating youtube.com/watch?v=hrVQ...
The Vurka Rebbe tells his chossid that he can’t perform a miracle to cure his child but he can he cry with him. That would be a lesson about the interpersonal power of empathy, BUT the chossid walks away dejected.
1/n

Vurka - Avrum Mordche Schwartz | ווארקא - אברהם מרדכי שווארץ

YouTube video by Avrum Mordche אברהם מרדכי

youtube.com

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Katharina Schmack @kathaschmack.bsky.social · Aug 29

Thrilled to join this amazing panel to talk consciousness, psychosis and the biology of experience 🧠 🧬

Get your tickets and submit your questions 👇

The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · Aug 28

What is consciousness?

Meet the panellists for an upcoming live episode recording of our new podcast, A Question of Science:

@anilseth.bsky.social, @smfleming.bsky.social, @kathaschmack.bsky.social and Alex O'Connor

📅 9 September 14:45
🎟️ Book your free tickets now ⬇️
🔗 lostintv.com/tv-show?id=1...

Brian Cox sitting on a chair on a well-lit stage, with two guests on either side. Each person has a microphone in front of them.

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 29

Does anyone have any insight into how היפיש גוט came to mean decent? Hübsch means pretty

Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 25

ChatGPT is like Zeresh: a cheerleading loved one before the fact, a wise scold after the fact.

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 10

This blew me away!

Damien Fair @drdamienfair.bsky.social · Aug 10

I still get chills

Meet Mike
*30+ years severe depression
*first hospitalized @ 13y
*20 meds
*3 rounds of ECT
*2 near-fatal suicide attempts

Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE

see videos, read paper, follow thread
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Damien Fair @drdamienfair.bsky.social · Aug 10

I still get chills

Meet Mike
*30+ years severe depression
*first hospitalized @ 13y
*20 meds
*3 rounds of ECT
*2 near-fatal suicide attempts

Mike felt joy for the first time in decades after we turned on his new brain pacemaker or PACE

see videos, read paper, follow thread
doi.org/10.31234/osf...

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · Aug 8

Here’s my top line overview:

Trump has signed a new EO that puts us firmly into authoritarian overreach territory.
Here's the top line:
1. Calls for political appointees--without science background--to approve all new funding opportunities and **every funded grant** to be sure it aligns with "the President's policy priorities".
2. Any grant that doesn't advance "agency priorities" can be cancelled at any time.
3. Funding cannot be given for research that: promotes "anti-American values", suggests sex isn't binary, and uses any selection for race. (Say good-bye to all c. elegans work!)
4. Funding will be prioritized to institutions that implement the "Gold Standard Science" and have the lowest indirect cost caps.
5. Grant peer-review is fine for now, but seems to be under threat for the future.

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 7

I dunno. You kinda make sense to me!

Can you help me vibe this code I don’t understand?

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 7

Today’s daf!

Herma of Demosthenes from the Athenian Agora, work by Polyeuktos, c. 280 BC, Glyptothek
^ Origin
In the earliest times Greek divinities were worshipped in the form of a heap of stones or a shapeless column of stone or wood. In many parts of Greece there were piles of stones by the sides of roads, especially at their crossings, and on the boundaries of lands. The religious respect paid to such heaps of stones, especially at the meeting of roads, is shown by the custom of each passer-by throwing a stone on to the heap or anointing it with oil. Later there was the addition of a head and phallus to the column,
which became quadrangular (the number four was sacred to Hermes).

Name and origin
The earliest form of the name Hermes is the Mycenaean Greek
*hermahãs, written e-ma-a2 (e-ma-ha) in the Linear B syllabic script. Other forms of the name of Hermes are Hermeias, Hermaön,
Hermãn, Hermaios, and
Hermayos. Most scholars derive Hermes from Greek (herma),
'stone heap’, Hermax, ('heap of stones'), hermaion, ('gift of Hermes'), hermaios hill were holy to Hermes.

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 5

Congratulations!!

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Aug 4

Congratulations!!!

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Merridee Lefner @merridee.bsky.social · Jul 31

Yeah dopamine encodes reward but what about when contingencies shift and behavior needs to be flexible? Turns out VTA GABA neuron activity plays a role, check it out in my first postdoctoral research article here!👇

Bita Moghaddam @bita137.bsky.social · Jul 31

New lab paper by @merridee.bsky.social identifying a novel role for VTA GABA neurons in behavioral flexibility

GABA, but not dopamine, neuron activation correlates with behavior when cues unexpectedly shift from predicting punishment to predicting reward www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Flexible updating of reward and punishment contingencies by VTA GABA neurons

In dynamic environments where stimuli predicting reward or punishment unexpectedly change, it is critical to flexibly update behavior while preserving…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Alexander Harris

Trends in Neurosciences @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social · Jul 30

'Untangling the multifaceted VTA responses to stress'

by Urszula Skupio, Alexander Harris & Abigail Polter
@ampolter.bsky.social @dralexharris.bsky.social

www.cell.com/trends/neuro...

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Alexander Harris @dralexharris.bsky.social · Jul 27

Gorgeous

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