Gareth Leng
@g-leng.bsky.social
270 followers 330 following 70 posts
Neuroendocrinologist, retired, living in France but still writing. Author of 'The Heart of the Brain' and (with Rhodri) 'The Matter of Facts' https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262043885/the-matter-of-facts/
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Reposted by Gareth Leng
bsneuroendo.bsky.social
Are you a postdoc or student working on a neuroendocrine research project? 🔬

Get up to £8,000 support for consumables/other research costs to enable you to carry out the best possible neuroendocrine research project.

Deadline 1 Oct 2025

Apply: www.neuroendo.org.uk...
Reposted by Gareth Leng
socendocrinology.bsky.social
Do you have any students passionate about science communication and busting myths?
Why not encourage them to enter the our Student Media Award to show off their skills.
Whether it’s videos, blogs, podcasts, or graphics there’s a chance to win up to £300!
bit.ly/SfEStudentMe...
Student Media Award 2025 in bold white writing on a blue background. There is an old fashioned projector with a shining light in the background. and then icons to represent podcasts, gaming, writing and media.
Reposted by Gareth Leng
g-leng.bsky.social
Lovely piece of research debunking a wee bit of nonsense - but with an important message for anyone who might trust ChatGTP or any other AI to retrieve truth from trawling the web!
g-leng.bsky.social
Fantastic job by Hedi Young for the Champalimaud Foundation - thanks!!
Reposted by Gareth Leng
g-leng.bsky.social
Just read it. Spot on.
g-leng.bsky.social
I think this is right from my (historical)experience on Wikipedia. There is an assumption that secondary sources are sound; in fact they are very variable in quality (increasingly so in recent times), and few are systematic (and many that claim to be are not). Scholarly reviews are rare.
g-leng.bsky.social
I think you have this analysis right. It's what happens when you listen to people who don't understand what Universities are for, who don't understand what builds a reputation and how important that is, and who haven't thought about what students and the country needs from its Universities.
Reposted by Gareth Leng
psmaldino.bsky.social
As grant money starts drying up, it's more important than ever not to waste it on paying publishers' open access "article processing fees" when we can host PDFs for free. Tom Morgan and I wrote a paper on this, forthcoming at Science and Public Policy. Accepted draft here: osf.io/preprints/os...
Author-Paid PublicationFees Corrupt Science and Should Be Abandoned 
Thomas J. H Morgan & Paul E. Smaldino
g-leng.bsky.social
Easy to forget how far we have come over the last 50 years. In 1972 the last pit pony that worked underground in the coal mines of South Wales was brought above ground and retired. Our world has become more enlightened in so many ways - but we have to defend those gains.
g-leng.bsky.social
Maybe don't tell RFK this?
g-leng.bsky.social
I so miss Terry Pratchett. Would have loved to read his Discworld take on the Trump universe.
g-leng.bsky.social
Mindless vandalism.
g-leng.bsky.social
"... how important it is to create a laboratory filled with young scientists from all aspects of our cultural and societal mosaic."
@denisebelsham.bsky.social is the Alison Douglas lecturer at @bsneuroendo.bsky.social Bradford, and this is from her abstract. Alison would have been so pleased.
Reposted by Gareth Leng
markrubin.bsky.social
Consensus vs Convergence

"Unlike declarations that a consensus exists...a claim that convergent evidence exists honors science’s norms of critique and correction by inviting discussion of the extent of existing knowledge and the multiple ways in which it was developed”

By @holdenthorp.bsky.social
Convergence and consensus
In these days of political instability, geopolitical tensions, and social discontent around the world, there are continued threats to the principles, conduct, and findings of science. This assault on ...
www.science.org
g-leng.bsky.social
Fully agree. There are problems with peer review - but mainly because too often it's not rigorous enough.
g-leng.bsky.social
pa idiot rhwysgfawr!
g-leng.bsky.social
From Nature Index, the top 10 academic institutions in the world ranked by number of papers published in 2023-24 in the most prestigious scientific journals (all fields of science). Harvard is first by a long way; the next 9 are all Universities in China.
Table showing the top Universities in the world ranked by papers in top journals in 2023-4. Harvard is first, the next 9 are all Chinese.
Reposted by Gareth Leng
g-leng.bsky.social
You might find this helpful, from the UK Research Integrity Office
ukrio.org/wp-content/u...
ukrio.org
Reposted by Gareth Leng
georgetakei.bsky.social
And yet Joe Rogan puts guests on who say "Vaccines aren't actually responsible for the reduction in infectious diseases.”
The image is a heatmap titled "Measles," showing measles cases across U.S. states from 1928 to 2003. States listed on the y-axis include Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The x-axis spans years from 1928 to 2003. A vertical line marks the introduction of the measles vaccine around 1963. The color scale at the bottom ranges from blue (0 cases) to red (4,000+ cases), with shades of green, yellow, and orange indicating intermediate values (1,000, 2,000, 3,000 cases). Before 1963, many states show frequent high case numbers (yellow to red), while after 1963, cases drop significantly, with mostly blue indicating near-zero cases.
g-leng.bsky.social
You've done a good job in my view. I added a comment in the Talk section suggesting that Fraud doesn't really belong there (not in my User name - I left WP many years ago tho my user page is probably still there and easy to find (Gleng). The feedback you got exemplifies whats wrong with WP.