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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 1h

"“We’re sort of counterfeiting the human experience at scale across several dimensions simultaneously and then putting that in the hands of children and hoping that works out. That’s a high-stakes gamble.” www.sfexaminer.com/news/technol...

Students raise alarms about AI use

Study connects schools’ adoption with concerns.

www.sfexaminer.com

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 19h

Dunno - I can’t picture @simine.com in that hat.

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 1d

Treasury: "Because of this, it is hard to reconcile (from a purely logical perspective) how building a new medical school is going to be better than any non-build option, if we aren’t facing a capacity constraint."

The University of Waikato paid Steven Joyce $1m to get $82.85m of taxpayers' money.

Matthew Littlewood @matthewdunedin84.bsky.social · 1d

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin... Treasury repeatedly criticised Waikato Medical School proposal, but those complaints fell on deaf ears. @publicaddress.bsky.social

Treasury warnings over medical school ignored

The government ignored repeated warnings from Treasury not to approve the new Waikato Medical School amid concerns about cost overruns. The...

www.odt.co.nz

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Public Health Communication Centre @phcc.bsky.social · 22h

The health effects of climate change are unevenly distributed. Communities with fewer resources face higher risks and fewer protections. Policy responses in Aotearoa must prioritise equity. #climateaction #publichealth www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/cli...

Climate change is harming health: The need for urgent action

With mounting evidence of climate change’s health consequences, the case for urgent action is stronger than ever.

www.phcc.org.nz

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Psychonomic Society @psychonomicsociety.bsky.social · 1d

Does Googling make you more creative? 🧐 A new blog post by Heather Manitzas Hill highlights research in #psynomMC by Oppenheimer & Patterson showing that while the internet can spark ideas for individuals, it may limit creativity in groups. buff.ly/fzmVpuo

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Noelle Cook @noellecook.com · 1d

The Conspiracists draws us into the lives of women who’ve “done their research” straight out of shared reality. It explores how and why so many found belonging through conspiracy.
Preorder now: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging

Women, Extremism, and the Lure of Belonging

bookshop.org

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Musical Chairs @musicalchairs.bsky.social · 2d

Worth noting that we only see decent job growth for young kiwis when the economy is running hot - that's when employers give less experienced people a chance.
RBNZ respond to hotness by hiking interest rates to slow the economy down. Youth unemployment is a feature of our economic model, not a bug.

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 2d

Two of the most common climate misconceptions I see, even among knowledgeable folks, are that (1) most people aren't worried about climate change, and (2) if they were, they'd act.

Not true! Data show (1) most people are worried, but (2) they won’t act if they don’t know what to do-and most don’t.

A map of the world showing how levels of worry in most countries are greater than 70%. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, International Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2023.

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 2d

In a lot of countries this kind of thing would automatically trigger an election.

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Newsroom NZ @newsroom.co.nz · 2d

In NZ there are chilling moves towards illiberal democracy. While they are being strong resisted so far, political leaders and others must wake up.

Anne Salmond: Academic freedom and its enemies

newsroom.co.nz

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 2d

Very interesting - a pre-Covid PhD student of mine ran a bunch of studies exploring the theoretically-driven hypothesis that task switching ability should be related to a collection of working memory tasks - she could find no evidence of a relationship at all no matter what she tried.

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 2d

I have been back at The Spinoff for a while and once again I am doing very well thank you thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-...

Hello, are you in the hospital? OK you are using government. But did you do a poo in the hospital toilet? That’s pipes. Council. Did you get driven to the hospital on a road? Probably council unless it was a motorway straight to the hospital door. Are you in school? Fine that’s government. But did you use a pedestrian crossing to get to school? Council. Did you go on a bus? Again, council.

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 4d

🫡

How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More - Consumer Reports

AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.

www.consumerreports.org

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

André Alessi @andrealessi.bsky.social · 5d

A doctor and "Science, Innovation and Technology Minister" using the term "functional foods" is (at best) an orange flag here. It'd be like a Health Minister using "allopathic" to describe healthcare.

Government announces more funding for natural pharmaceutical sector

It's announced a $42.8 million funding boost to go towards a 'Biodiscovery Platform'.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 5d

What does he think roads are made of I wonder?

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

PessoaBrain @pessoabrain.bsky.social · 5d

Beyond "innate versus learned"
Amazing thread 🧵

Gregory Kohn @kohngregory.bsky.social · 5d

This is an awe-inspiring and fascinating study that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. However, the overall framing in terms of "innate versus learned” is unnecessary. The innate versus acquired dichotomy is outdated and has been for a long time. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Learned use of an innate sound-meaning association in birds - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Musical Chairs @musicalchairs.bsky.social · 5d

Roughly this nationally (image 1)... Whanganui not looking too pretty (image 2).

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 5d

The situation with Blackboard - now its owner is bankrupt and it's coming under new private equity ownership and control - is serious enough the UK agency for HE tech is advising all affected universities to seek assurances regarding data security inspiringlearning.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/10/s...

Data protection (UK GDPR)
Obtain confirmation that Anthology will continue to meet its UK GDPR Article 28 obligations as your data processor throughout the process.
Get clarification of sub processor stability (no changes planned; if changes are anticipated, please provide advance notice and details).
Confirm that no organisational changes arising from the restructuring will alter how your personal data is accessed, processed, or transferred; if any changes are envisaged, please outline controls, locations, and safeguards.

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · Dec 6

‘There will never be enough computing power to create AGI using machine learning that can do the same [as human cognition], because we’d run out of natural resources long before we'd even get close,’
— @olivia.science

www.ru.nl/en/research/...

Don’t believe the hype: AGI is far from inevitable | Radboud University

Will AI soon surpass the human brain? If you ask employees at OpenAI, Google DeepMind and other large tech companies, it is inevitable. However, researchers at Radboud University and other institutes ...

www.ru.nl

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Individual K @hahahahakev.bsky.social · 5d

Stephen Colbert, the Newest Zealander

Thumbnail of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's monologue on Wednesday 2 Oct 2025 (US time) as uploaded to YouTube.

Caption on thumbnail: A TOTAL SHUTSHOW

Video title: ICE Deportations Continue Amid Gov't Shutdown | Bernie: We Won't Back Down

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 5d

Nice one Matt!

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

LostArcNZ @lostarcnz.bsky.social · 6d

OK this one made me laugh.

Every dead body on Mt. Everest was once a highly motivated person, so maybe calm the fuck down.

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Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · 5d

prefer them for what though? food? company? walks along the beach?

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Reposted by Stephen Hill

Andrew Digby @digs.bsky.social · 6d

Sad to report that we've lost another #kakapo, and a particularly significant one. Solstice was the last kākāpō rediscovered, found on Rakiura in 1997. She died on the weekend as a result of complications from the #disease cloacitis. There are now 237 kākāpō left. #conservation #parrots #birds

An adult female kākāpō in an underground nest next to three eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

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