Natasha Mhatre
@natashamhatre.bsky.social
I introduce Biology to Physics, Science to Art. Good things happen. I like thinking about thinking.
Canada Research Chair in Invert Neurobio @ Western U.
Views always my own.
Canada Research Chair in Invert Neurobio @ Western U.
Views always my own.
Pinned
Natasha Mhatre
@natashamhatre.bsky.social
· Dec 16
Just briefly, my tenure was approved, I'll be tenured and an associate professor as of July 25.
None of this seems to matter, almost at all to me right now, in this historical moment.
But I've had a lot of support here, and I owe you thanks for your part in it, thank you.
None of this seems to matter, almost at all to me right now, in this historical moment.
But I've had a lot of support here, and I owe you thanks for your part in it, thank you.
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
In case you had any doubt that peer review doesn't work in pay-to-publish journals, including those with a Nature badge....
#academicSky
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/28/n...
#academicSky
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/28/n...
Nature’s latest AI-generated paper — with medical frymblal and Factor Fexcectorn
Nature’s open-access sideline Nature Scientific Reports is the “we’ve got Nature at home” of scientific publishing. It appears to run any garbage for a mere $2,690 processing charge. A snip, I’m su…
pivot-to-ai.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:54 AM
In case you had any doubt that peer review doesn't work in pay-to-publish journals, including those with a Nature badge....
#academicSky
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/28/n...
#academicSky
pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/28/n...
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.
November 28, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Universities are assembling larger and larger teams to deal with academic integrity issues--mostly focused on AI--while simultaneously holding AI "writing" contests, AI-themed events, "hey, come play with these fun tools!" The messages are so mixed, it's criminal. Because AI is bloated with money.
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Another one for the "we are ruled by hollowed-out husks who believe in nothing but their own untouchability" files
A study by Dayforce shows 87% of executives use AI for work, compared to 57% of managers and just 27% of employees.
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
I think this explains the massive disconnect we see in how CEOs talk about AI versus everyone else. It also raises the question of how useful it truly is for frontline work?
Execs are embracing AI more than their employees are, new research suggests
Research from HR software company Dayforce suggests that executives are leaning into AI far more than their employees.
www.businessinsider.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Another one for the "we are ruled by hollowed-out husks who believe in nothing but their own untouchability" files
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Please repost: another kind of Black-Friday deal!
November 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Please repost: another kind of Black-Friday deal!
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Desperately clung-to hypothesis: Carney is acting purely in the interest of average Canadians and is a 4D chess playing genius.
Alternative hypothesis: Carney is a banker and just here to enrich extractive, tech, and defense industries.
Which is consistent with basically all observation to date? 🤔
Alternative hypothesis: Carney is a banker and just here to enrich extractive, tech, and defense industries.
Which is consistent with basically all observation to date? 🤔
November 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Desperately clung-to hypothesis: Carney is acting purely in the interest of average Canadians and is a 4D chess playing genius.
Alternative hypothesis: Carney is a banker and just here to enrich extractive, tech, and defense industries.
Which is consistent with basically all observation to date? 🤔
Alternative hypothesis: Carney is a banker and just here to enrich extractive, tech, and defense industries.
Which is consistent with basically all observation to date? 🤔
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
H5N1 in bats - what should we think about this?
@itingtu.bsky.social explains her recent preprint (a collaboration with multiple @cvrinfo.bsky.social groups) in a really nice interview with @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
@itingtu.bsky.social explains her recent preprint (a collaboration with multiple @cvrinfo.bsky.social groups) in a really nice interview with @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
November 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
H5N1 in bats - what should we think about this?
@itingtu.bsky.social explains her recent preprint (a collaboration with multiple @cvrinfo.bsky.social groups) in a really nice interview with @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
@itingtu.bsky.social explains her recent preprint (a collaboration with multiple @cvrinfo.bsky.social groups) in a really nice interview with @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
🚨We're hiring! A tenure track position at McGill University in the area of #bioethics and / or philosophy of science, with a special focus on the ethics of medical technologies. Please share widely. #philsky #ethics #philsci philjobs.org/job/show/30402
Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Department of Equity, Ethics, and Policy and Department of Philosophy, McGill University
- PhilJobs:JFP
Assistant Professor (Tenure Track), Department of Equity...
An international database of jobs for philosophers
philjobs.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:02 AM
🚨We're hiring! A tenure track position at McGill University in the area of #bioethics and / or philosophy of science, with a special focus on the ethics of medical technologies. Please share widely. #philsky #ethics #philsci philjobs.org/job/show/30402
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Hi, so just to check in on your awareness: since the ceasefire, how many Palestinians do you think Israel has murdered or maimed directly with weapons, indirectly with the effects of the genocide, and how many sovereign nations has it attacked directly outside of Palestine?
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Hi, so just to check in on your awareness: since the ceasefire, how many Palestinians do you think Israel has murdered or maimed directly with weapons, indirectly with the effects of the genocide, and how many sovereign nations has it attacked directly outside of Palestine?
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet.
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait.
www.theverge.com/news/826902/...
Google denies ‘misleading’ reports of Gmail using your emails to train AI
Google says “we do not use your Gmail content for training our Gemini AI model.”
www.theverge.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:30 PM
since the "google is now training gemini on your email contents" thing keeps bumping around here: it's _not happening_. I say this not to defend google but because I know a lot of people that have broken their filtering and made their lives much more annoying from sheer misinformation.
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Neural dynamics outside task-coding dimensions drive decision trajectories through transient amplification
Most behaviors involve neural dynamics in high-dimensional activity spaces. A common approach is to extract dimensions that capture task-related variability, such as those separating stimuli or choice...
www.biorxiv.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
“Our findings challenge the conventional focus on low-dimensional coding subspaces as a sufficient framework for understanding neural computations, demonstrating that dimensions previously considered task-irrelevant and accounting for little variance can have a critical role in driving behavior.”
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Israel's military has bombed Beirut for the first time since June, claiming to target a Hezbollah member in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
It's the latest violation of a ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah a year ago, which Israel has broken with near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon.
It's the latest violation of a ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah a year ago, which Israel has broken with near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon.
November 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Israel's military has bombed Beirut for the first time since June, claiming to target a Hezbollah member in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
It's the latest violation of a ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah a year ago, which Israel has broken with near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon.
It's the latest violation of a ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah a year ago, which Israel has broken with near-daily attacks on southern Lebanon.
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Apply now to become a speaker at our Institute! We invite excellent postdocs in neuroscience, ecology and other fields related to our research to apply for our Emerging Scientist Talk Series. Apply by October 24: www.bi.mpg.de/ess
@chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social
@chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Apply now to become a speaker at our Institute! We invite excellent postdocs in neuroscience, ecology and other fields related to our research to apply for our Emerging Scientist Talk Series. Apply by October 24: www.bi.mpg.de/ess
@chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social
@chr-mayer.bsky.social @fleyes.bsky.social @michaelahau.bsky.social
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
🚨Good news, everyone!
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
November 22, 2025 at 4:53 PM
🚨Good news, everyone!
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026.
2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
These same folks extremely committed to fighting antisemitism in universities
Exclusive: The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika, nooses and the Confederate flag as hate symbols.
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
The military service drafted a new policy that classifies them as “potentially divisive.”
U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:34 PM
These same folks extremely committed to fighting antisemitism in universities
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
My alma mater, Leicester University, is dissolving its Geology Department leading to the loss of 14 staff. Palaeo is being completely axed, despite Leicester's long and storied history in this area (and its current strengths). Please sign this petition!!: www.change.org/p/save-geolo...
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
www.change.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:10 AM
My alma mater, Leicester University, is dissolving its Geology Department leading to the loss of 14 staff. Palaeo is being completely axed, despite Leicester's long and storied history in this area (and its current strengths). Please sign this petition!!: www.change.org/p/save-geolo...
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Hey Toronto: Mask up! Get your vaccines (Covid, Flu, RSV). Big jump in waste water values and that data is 2 weeks old.
Source: @young.me (thanks!)
wwater.ca/Ontario/Toro...
Source: @young.me (thanks!)
wwater.ca/Ontario/Toro...
November 15, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Hey Toronto: Mask up! Get your vaccines (Covid, Flu, RSV). Big jump in waste water values and that data is 2 weeks old.
Source: @young.me (thanks!)
wwater.ca/Ontario/Toro...
Source: @young.me (thanks!)
wwater.ca/Ontario/Toro...
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
You can't convince me that that this isn't a war on women.
Not when miscarrying can potentially cause a longer sentence than forcibly impregnating someone against their will does.
Not when miscarrying can potentially cause a longer sentence than forcibly impregnating someone against their will does.
Women who get an abortion and anyone who helps them could face up to 30 years in prison under the bill.
It appears to ban any contraception that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting. That would ban IUDs and could strictly limit in-vitro fertilization.
It appears to ban any contraception that prevents a fertilized egg from implanting. That would ban IUDs and could strictly limit in-vitro fertilization.
Women Who Have Abortions Would Face Decades in Prison Under South Carolina Plan
Women who get abortions could spend decades in prison and IUDs would be outlawed under proposed legislation in South Carolina.
buff.ly
November 18, 2025 at 10:57 AM
You can't convince me that that this isn't a war on women.
Not when miscarrying can potentially cause a longer sentence than forcibly impregnating someone against their will does.
Not when miscarrying can potentially cause a longer sentence than forcibly impregnating someone against their will does.
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Capitalism is incredible. Sorry, former teacher, your retirement fund is gone because 5 guys who've collectively never worked a full hour told the banks to put all the money in the country into virtual girlfriend futures
WSJ: “.. If the AI market blows up, the blast radius would be wide, hitting not only Wall Street firms, but also pensions, mutual and exchange-traded funds and individual investors, because of how debt is often sliced and resold across the financial landscape.”
@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
November 18, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Capitalism is incredible. Sorry, former teacher, your retirement fund is gone because 5 guys who've collectively never worked a full hour told the banks to put all the money in the country into virtual girlfriend futures
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
I mean jesus christ, it was not that long ago that "papers please" was damn near universally accepted as a 2-word shorthand for the kind of oppressive society that we beat our chests over being better than
Email just went out on my campus that the Immigration Goons ("federal immigration agents") will be in town (Raleigh).
Inter alia, it says,"International students, faculty and staff should carry evidence of their immigration status with them at all times."
The fuck kind of country are we living in?
Inter alia, it says,"International students, faculty and staff should carry evidence of their immigration status with them at all times."
The fuck kind of country are we living in?
November 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I mean jesus christ, it was not that long ago that "papers please" was damn near universally accepted as a 2-word shorthand for the kind of oppressive society that we beat our chests over being better than
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
To study how animals understand the physical world (and the rules that govern its dynamics), @jinyao-y.bsky.social trains rats to play fetch with robots 🐀🤖🎾
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
November 18, 2025 at 1:16 AM
To study how animals understand the physical world (and the rules that govern its dynamics), @jinyao-y.bsky.social trains rats to play fetch with robots 🐀🤖🎾
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
To learn more, come to our poster Tuesday morning!
[Board W11] Rats learn and use intuitive physics knowledge to solve fetch tasks.
#SfN2025
Reposted by Natasha Mhatre
Incredibly honored and utterly excited to have been asked to give a plenary at @isbe2026.bsky.social hope to see you in Turin! #ISBE2026 #sleep #behavior
Meet our Plenary Speaker Daniela Rößler
Fueled by curiosity and a deep love of natural history Daniela discovered a REM-like sleep state in spiders and uses integrative field, lab and comparative approaches to investigate the function, ecology, and evolution of sleep across the spider tree of life.
Fueled by curiosity and a deep love of natural history Daniela discovered a REM-like sleep state in spiders and uses integrative field, lab and comparative approaches to investigate the function, ecology, and evolution of sleep across the spider tree of life.
November 17, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Incredibly honored and utterly excited to have been asked to give a plenary at @isbe2026.bsky.social hope to see you in Turin! #ISBE2026 #sleep #behavior