@PalaeoSmith
Is it just me, or does that look like a particularly bad AI illustration? If that's the case - and I'm almost certain, the depicted anatomy is nonsensical - why the hell are you using it?? This is a shameful betrayal of the palaeo-artist community.
@Michell33650674
Can't remember who said it, but I thought it was brilliant:
"Libertarians are like house cats: they see themselves as wild and free, while being completely dependent on a support system that they neither appreciate nor understand."
@mdmitri91
What an extraordinary man. He speaks sneeringly about "so-called 'Ukraine'" as though it were merely a self-styled rabble of brigands, only to acknowledge in the next breath that they are a highly professional, motivated, superior adversary. Does he not see where he goes wrong?
@OurShallowState
I love that the administration has quietly been putting the logistics in place, while waiting for the final vote, so that now there's basically no delay at all. A typical Biden move. Impressive.
@igorsushko
I'm in awe of the merciless observational power of the online community. Like yesterday's thread about the "destroyed rebel vehicles", from the guy with tow truck experience, explaining in detail how you can see the setup is fake and how it has been achieved. Champions of truth!
Good morning, Palaeontology Community! A message to all of you, but especially to all you senior people in secure and powerful positions:
You show your true value, not by how you treat the POWERFUL in our field, but by how you treat the POWERLESS.
Thank you.
@MicrobiomDigest
Have you just had a bad experience? This sounds pretty crappy.
To answer your question, I as a man break the cycle by a) just not treating women like that, but rather the opposite, and b) in group conversations, slapping down the men who do such things and letting the women in.
@JuliaDavisNews
Happy New Year, Julia! You entertain, inform and keep me sane all in one go - not a mean feat in these crazy times.
Already looking forward to your commentary on the Russian media coverage of Putin's overthrow / death, when that day eventually comes.
OK, some more info about the DePalma paper! A🧵
1) Number of specimens: the paper states that “a total of 7 fossil adult polyodontids and 12 acipenserids were selected for histological analysis”, so 19 specimens in all. One of our main concerns with the paper - explained in 1/
Today,
@MelanieDuring
and I have submitted a formal complaint of potential research misconduct against Robert DePalma and Phil Manning, to the University of Manchester.
The matter is now out of our hands.
1/
@TheEconomist
So NATO expansion - the accession of former Soviet slave states who were desperate to join - is to blame for civilians in Bucha being raped, tortured and murdered by Russian troops. Got it. Why do I feel certain that Mr Mearsheimer has lived a life of complete safety and comfort?
@fasc1nate
That it does, but it comes from Myanmar and was likely excavated by enslaved child labour. Burmese amber is a MAJOR ethical problem in palaeontology and many of us refuse to touch it, even though it contains incredible fossils.
Spectacular aurora over Uppsala tonight. The skies have cleared and we just had a huge corona directly overhead. This was taken from the deck of my house.
@IAPonomarenko
Yes, the red arrows look impressive until you realise they aren't actually moving. Much like the huge tank convoy north of Kyiv that was always on the way but never arrived.
@MrKovalenko
It is difficult to believe that an attack that left 20 dead, presumably in the same or adjacent rooms, would leave Gerasimov with only a minor shrapnel injury. Assuming he is alive, I would guess he's very seriously injured. Perhaps he's actually lost a leg.
Hi again, one final comment from me:
The most remarkable thing of all, to my mind, is that the paper was published without primary data and without the mandatory Data Availability Statement. This isn't supposed to be possible! What persuaded the handling editor to let it 1/
@TEStoneWrites
You read it here first.
'Bergtagen' ('taken into the mountain') we would say in Swedish. She may emerge in 200 years or so, slightly dazed, convinced that only a couple of hours have passed.
@IAPonomarenko
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon, For the Fallen
@KyivIndependent
Here's a different way for you: we expel Austria from the EU* and ask again.
*Yes, I know we don't have the mechanism to do that. But frankly, it feels like an appropriate response.
@AlbertSmeee
@SamRamani2
Yes, except even worse, because Russia is at least a recognised state with a real (if corrupt) legal system. DPR is just a self-styled entity on illegally occupied Ukrainian territory. It has no legal standing and neither do its "tribunals".
@indyfromspace
Using "Cheops" instead of Khufu is always a red flag for starters...
A side comment; what I personally found most hair-standing-on-end about the Diary of Merer was that we finally got the NAME of the great pyramid: Akhet-Khufu. It would be nice to see it called that now.
@theAliceRoberts
This is just horrible, and a shocking abdication of responsibility. In Sweden we have done a massive job of cleaning up our waterways during the past 50 years. You can swim safely in the center of Stockholm and fish for salmon (yes, really) below the Royal Palace. It's possible!
Very much looking forward to this, especially as I was the consultant for the coal swamp sequence with baby Strepsodus being gobbled up by Anthracosaurus.
To understand life we must go back to the beginning.
Life on Our Planet — from executive producer Steven Spielberg and the team behind Our Planet — premieres October 25.
@qirimlia
Crimea was the last place in the world where the Gothic language was spoken, right up until the 16th century, so I bet you have a drop of Gothic ancestry too.
@scriptz4sale
@IwriteOK
Hyper-local is the word. He even has a xenophobic gripe about Florence being spoiled by incomers from Fiesole - which is up on the hill overlooking Florence, about a half-hour bus journey away today.
@AlexKhrebet
Dear Illya, No it won't; or not immediately. The confrontation with the West will end when Russia is a wasteland of radioactive ash, so you will have to factor in an extra 20 minutes or so to your timeline.
@peacepumpkinpic
@HiddenYorkshire
@stonegasman
The greatest historians of that age will spend entire careers struggling to reconstruct late 20th century society based solely on the first 83 minutes of The Blues Brothers.
@Bricktop_NAFO
A lesson from history: getting your enemy strung out in a straggling line moving slowly across country was how the Germanic tribes managed to annihilate the Roman legions commanded by Varus in the Teutoburgerwald. The Ukrainians know what they're doing.
@CalebBohus
@PalaeoSmith
Yes - unless we call it out at every turn. We cannot allow this kind of rubbish to become accepted. REAL palaeo art has played a huge part in the development of our science, for more than 200 years, since the time of Cuvier. It deserves to be protected and honoured.
@TheToriesOut
@KyivIndependent
No, but they should still be implemented. Long-term they will do much to degrade Russia's ability to rebuild its military. We have to think short-term and long-term at the same time.
@gregartifactus
@FluteMagician
Given that "warm water" in this context means "ice-free year round", I'm not sure that even Anchorage counts as a cold-water port.
In the middle of a 12-day stint excavating the Late Devonian tetrapod locality at Pavari in Latvia, together with Ervins Luksevics and Rob Gess. Finds so far include well-preserved plants and a tetrapod femur.
@KyivIndependent
"Tries" eh? That's an interesting choice of word. The Transnistrian troops are, presumably, under direct Russian control - so are we to understand that they are resisting orders?
To my mind, these additional issues that emerge from the 'raw data' and DePalma's statements take us from "strong suspicions" of data manipulation to "conclusive proof". I simply cannot imagine how such a self-contradictory mess could have resulted from honest analysis. END
@RonFilipkowski
As so often, Shakespeare got there first, this time in 'King Lear'. As his world falls apart, the aged king rages:
“I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world shall—I will do such things—
What they are, yet I know not, but they shall be
The terrors of the earth!”
I'm delighted to be able to report that Scientific Reports have now added an Editor's Note to DePalma et al. 2021, flagging that there may be problems with the data:
@HuitzilinF_Art
Don't know about Native Americans, but at a Cretaceous dinosaur tracksite near Broome in western Australia the Aborigines interpreted the ornithopod tracks as the footprints of an emu-footed being who danced a sacred dance there during the Dreamtime.
@rshereme
I don't get this argument. The Russians can't suddenly leap out of the bushes and attack without warning, the buildup would take weeks and be clearly visible to Western intelligence.
@artcrimeprof
Yes!
My favourite version, in Florence, is to walk past the crowd rubbernecking to try to catch a glimpse of the *copies* of Ghiberti's Paradise Doors on the Baptistry, then pop into the lovely quiet Museo dell'Opera del Duomo to study the original doors at close quarters.
@FenrirETH
@fasc1nate
Oh look, it's Gotcha Man!
I will try to explain this in simple terms: It is impossible to function in modern society without using a computer. This limits my options for morally refusing such a device. However, I CAN refuse Burmese amber because I don't need it to live.
Got it?
through without this mandatory content? The peer review seems to have been rudimentary, but that can happen through neglect and a bad choice of reviewers. Circumvention of the journal's own cardinal rule for data-based papers suggests something more...deliberate.
@THubbuch
@IAPonomarenko
Realistically it's going to be the same everywhere under 🇷🇺 control. Before the invasion, I might have predicted differential treatment of 🇷🇺 speakers in the east (better) and 🇺🇦 speakers in the west (worse), but not so: look what they have done to the 🇷🇺-speaking eastern cities!
@andersostlund
This would indeed have been horrible, but thankfully it seems to be a case of misreporting. Scientists at the institution report that the Russians destroyed some kind of warehouse for seed distribution, but the actual gene bank is safe.
@MuellerSheWrote
@gideonheilpern2
You don't HAVE to lose $100B; as Andrew Tate showed today you can get yourself arrested by Romanian police for human trafficking instead - caught out because your pathetic attempt to flame Greta T. accidentally revealed your whereabouts. Olympic-grade self-own.
@iam_lalipop
@McFaul
The sanctions are not, in any sense, the cause of the food crisis. Russia is creating it deliberately by stopping Ukrainian grain exports. Their aim is to starve YOU in Africa and use that as a weapon against the West. You may want to think about that.
@EuromaidanPress
Honestly, it's like they have been in cryogenic suspension since the mid-19th century and were only thawed out in February. Guys! Listen! The world doesn't work like that anymore. You are embarrassing yourselves.
@rooobertek
@IAPonomarenko
Interesting, but I still cannot believe this is a false flag operation; Russia would not risk such damage to their own critical infrastructure. Did Russia evacuate because they had advance intel that SOMETHING was likely to happen?
@Bella_Shiraz
@KyivIndependent
And the result was entirely satisfactory: all the ammunition exploded, just as it was meant to do. 10/10! Putin will be pleased.
@BlackWolfDNA
Well, it damn well shouldn't be part of Russia! There are several potential takers with legit claims for the Königsberg Territory within Europe, so perhaps it should be administered directly by the EU. Or some kind of deal could be struck among the claimants.
@wylfcen
Sweden's kinda covered in forest, but within this general tree cover certain ancient, densely forested areas stand out, areas that even today are only sparsely settled - and they have ancient, resonant names: Tiveden, Finnveden, Kolmården, Ödmården... "ved" corresponds to "wood".
@jonlionfineart2
@IAPonomarenko
Sorry Jon, if you want to buy Illia a beer you will have to join the queue in an orderly manner; there are many of us. 😉 Love the drawing!
I would ask ALL readers of this tweet to note the following statement from the University of Manchester:
"Victimisation of anyone involved in a complaint of research misconduct may be considered a serious disciplinary offence."
Any attempt at such will be reported to ManU.
@LouiseMensch
@DefenceU
@Russia
Russia had its chance and blew it. After 91 they had every opportunity to do things differently, to show themselves a good neighbour and reliable partner. Respect and friendship would have flowed from that...but no! The temptation of the old ways was too strong. 1/
@BradfordPearson
Very good! As someone who actually works on these creatures I give it my professional approval. 😉
Mind you, my favourite-ever headline was in the journal Nature, reporting on over-fishing of North Sea cod: COD STOCKS BATTERED.
@UnitedWeComment
@KyivIndependent
C'mon, they have taken complete control of the interior of that elevator and denazified it. I for one welcome our elevator overlords!
@igorsushko
We used to have a joke about that kind of thing in Sweden, back in the days when moonshine-making was popular here. Kid goes to the grocery store counter and says "10kg of sugar and half a kilo of yeast please! Daddy's baking."
@jurgen_nauditt
Vidkun Quisling has returned.
Ukraine may yet survive this, but the damage to America's reputation as a trustworthy partner is irreparable.
@thejackhopkins
I absolutely don’t understand why recusal is voluntary in such cases in the US. It should be compulsory, for obvious reasons, and could easily be made so.
A landmark day for me and Janet on Saturday, when our daughter Anna received her MBiol from Oxford. The end of four wonderful years and the beginning of a new adventure as she begins a DPhil in the autumn.
@OurShallowState
This is surely the fundamental disconnect between the law and psychology, not just in the US but everywhere. Classic mental illness, which distorts perceptions of reality, has always been accepted as real and relevant in legal proceedings; personality disorders have not. /1
@IuliiaMendel
Milder today, but it has been cold (down to -18C) and snowy in Uppsala. The picture shows the view from my kitchen window a few days ago. Nice and warm inside. Electricity prices are high this year, but not unmanageable. Ukraine is constantly in our thoughts. 1/
@spanishcossack
@IAPonomarenko
Many of them are probably still stuck, and now abandoned. Others have been destroyed. It will take them a while to drive round to Donbass - and what with yesterday's air strike against the fuel depot in Belgorod, it is not clear if 🇷🇺 has fuel for a new Donbass offensive.
and overlaying them with the published graphs attributed in the paper to the same specimen number. The discrepancies are startling. Here are two examples: