Jeffrey C. Erlich @jerlich@qoto.org

Heard about MyST, a nice new way of writing papers using Markdown, but overwhelmed by how to get started? You could try this GitHub template I just created. Each time you edit and commit files in the repo, GitHub automatically builds a docx and pdf.

This is a pretty simple implementation for the moment, but I'll hopefully be adding some more features to it as I experiment with MyST. Thanks to Rowan Cockett and team for building the tech and advice.

https://github.com/neural-reckoning/myst-paper-template

Catastrophic (and to be frank - hugely depressing)

This new research in @PNASNews suggests earth will cross the 1.5 degrees C temperature increase threshold in the next decade (within just 10 to 15 years) and is likely to exceed 2 degrees C by around 2060.

This should be THE lead story on the news today (and onwards) and the lead action point for our governments. It should trigger a massive call for real global action to combat the #climateemergency - sadly though I fear this news will barely register.

We have to stop believing the siren calls of future technology solutions and #carbonoffsets - the immediate need is a rapid end to the use of #fossilfuels and a massive rollout of #renewableenergy

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2207183120

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Just sent this email to a student who is in that final stage of paper-writing where you tweak shit endlessly and just can't let it go. It's advice I wish I'd realised a lot sooner, and I think many of us in #academia could do with internalising...

It's a simple experiment. Take some of the ChatGPT generated content, then cut and paste into a browser in quotes.

BAM.

Word for word lifting from some sources.

Zotero just informed me that a paper in my database has been retracted. What an excellent feature for a reference management system to have! As if I needed additional reasons to love Zotero even more than I already did 🤩

this looks good!
"Trial-history biases in evidence accumulation can give rise to apparent lapses"
from @dikshagupta
Diksha Gupta, Brian DePasquale, Charles D. Kopec, Carlos D. Brody
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.18.524599v2
#neuroscience #cognition

Scientists! Have you read Gopen and Swan's 1990 classic "The science of scientific writing"? If not, you are in for a treat.

It's here, albeit weirdly formatted: https://www.americanscientist.org/blog/the-long-view/the-science-of-scientific-writing.

And if you prefer good pagination, check out this scan of the pre-web version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R9urPA7NWC5qdBqkCTim10tzwRYaLZC3/view?usp=share_link

Not bad at all, #chatGPT, not bad!
---
RT @bardmital
Asked #ChatGPT to rewrite the lyrics of "Blowing in the wind" as if it is about a scientist applying for grants...
https://twitter.com/bardmital/status/1617980584558743552

My project right now is #BikeHopper, an open-source directions app for transit+bikes.

https://github.com/bikehopper/bikehopper-ui

It uses #OpenStreetMap and a modified version of GraphHopper.

Two main benefits over other trip planning apps:
1. Bike-on-bus, bike-on-train etc. options
2. Tries really hard to find low-stress routes, avoiding main roads

Yesterday at a staff meeting we discussed how we often signal that we work at unconventional hours (sending emails in the weekend) but we do not signal when we do not work in regular hours to compensate. So just logging in to say I am bouldering this whole morning with a childhood friend.

#CogSci #CognitiveScience #psychology #OpenScience

In the 2023/2024 academic year, we're launching a new Master's in Cognitive Science at the University of Rijeka. It's an interdisciplinary research-intensive course in English, pedagogically innovative, comparatively cheap (both for EU and non-EU students), accredited, and in beautiful Rijeka!

https://cogsci.uniri.hr/

A nine-month investigation undertaken by the Guardian, Die Zeit and SourceMaterial found that 90% of rainforest offsets from the world's biggest provider are worthless "phantom credits". Bought by the likes of Disney, Shell, easyJet and Gucci, it seems they may even do more harm to our environment than good.

Videos taken by residents in Peru showed forced evictions, and their homes cut down with chainsaws for an offset project.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/18/revealed-forest-carbon-offsets-biggest-provider-worthless-verra-aoe

@bwyble @kendmiller @strangetruther @achristensen56 @NicoleCRust @DrYohanJohn

I'm more of a splitter when it comes to the brain's infrastructure. But anatomy is like the road-and-highway system. It says where traffic *could* go, not where it flows from moment to moment.

Cortical function, IMHO, will be about emergent properties and highly interactive dynamics that have less respective for boundaries and splits.

That is not to say that infrastructure isn't important. It's foundational

"Can a large language model be conscious?
Can a #LLM think?"

Join us
Fri Jan 20, 4 PM ET
at the #LearningSalon
to listen to & discuss with prominent philosopher of mind
David Chalmers @davidchalmers42

John Krakauer, @melaniemitchell , Claire & I are excited to discuss with David!

https://crowdcast.io/e/learningsalon/58

* The #LearningSalon is an online interdisciplinary forum, with brief talks & 2-hour discussions on #neuroscience #AI #psychology #philosophy

THREAD: Falls are a major public health problem — a top-20 cause of death in the US. Wonder what scientists are doing about that? @yunluzhu & colleagues in my lab developed powerful new tech to understand balance & evaluate therapeutics.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.01.07.523102v1
Want to know more / watch neat movies? 1/9

#mastopiece #neuroscience #balance #drosophila #celegans #zebrafish

Thx for boosting (we’re trying to outdo that other place)!