No chill scientist

Adjunct psych professor/therapist just trying to do her best

[susanoos-wife]

[unamusedsloth]

“Vicious” Leopard seal tries to keep national geographic photographer alive by feeding him penguins.

[bendablebananas]

@maculategiraffe tags

[museeeuuuum]

Did you know they're removing all librarians from federal prisons in Canada

[museeeuuuum]

Read more:

Correctional service cutting librarians at federal prisons, in move criticized by advocates | CBC News

The Correctional Service of Canada is finalizing plans to cut all prison librarian positions at federal institutions, in a move that advocat

There is an open letter that you can sign here if you're a resident of Canada:

Open Letter - CSC Elimination of Librarians & CEGEP Education

Book Clubs for Inmates 400-192 Spadina Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C2 OPEN LETTER The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Sa

[awishturnedwell]

@teaboot

[isuggestlandback]

Indigenous people make up 1/3 of the prison population of Canada, and HALF the population of women's prisons, despite making up only 5% of the population.

[gulyas069]

[gulyas069]

hmmm

[lovehael]

One of their last Tweets before the account got suspended:

With an update since getting it back:

[akaratna]

ID: A lot more units have been activated than the public knows about!

YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHOOSE YOUR ORDERS OVER YOUR CONSCIENCE.

Service members have options. If you agree war on Iran is wrong, we can help. Center on Conscience and War @CCW4COs

PSA: Service members (all branches) within their first 365 days of service can *easily* get out just by reporting "failure to adapt." You don't need to file as a CO [conscientious objector]. The evidence bar is low. Call us [Center on Conscience & War] for guidance at 1-800-379-2679

Pursuant to DODI 1332.14, any US service member within 365 days of enlistment can report "failure to adapt" and get an entry-level discharge. Low evidence bar. We can help navigate: 1-800-379-2679.

This period used to be only 180 days, but effective December 23, 2022 entry-level status changed to 365 days.

Failure to Adapt discharge is available to over 200,000 service members right now. But if you are beyond 365 days you still have a lot of options to separate from the military, all of which we can help you with. 1-800-379-2679.

[mckitterick]

by the way, here's info on this straight from the Military Law Task Force:

FAQ on Refusing Illegal Orders - Military Law Task Force

This FAQ (drafted by members of the MLTF) can also be found in printable PDF format here: Illegal Orders FAQ – 11NOV2025  DoD Instruction 13

nothing controversial about this

[novella-november]

If you are on a Windows 11 computer, pause everything you are doing for one minute and:

Open computer settings

Click on Accessibility on the left-hand menu

Scroll down the Accessibility menu and click on the Keyboard Option

Under the "related settings" tab, click "Typing" which should have a description of "spellcheck, autocorrect, text suggestions."

Turn off the AI "correct misspelled words"

and most importantly: turn off Typing Insights.

[ID: a screenshot of the above mentioned Windows 11 settings, showing that Typing Insights is now turned off, with the following description from Microsoft: "Windows is using artificial intelligence to help you type To help you save time and type efficiently, Windows can learn to suggest words, autocorrect spelling mistakes, and interpret swiped typing. Take a look at the insights below to see up-to-the-minute stats on how Windows has learned to improve typing for you. These stats are stored only on this device and Microsoft does not collect the typing insights data." End ID]

"But Mx. November, it says right there Microsoft doesn't collect the typing insights data!"

I mean, yeah, it says that..... for *now.*

It also only specifies that Microsoft themselves don't collect it, and they wouldn't have made this something that I was automatically, secretly opted in for without my knowledge if they didn't have something to be gained by me not knowing it exists!

I only found this because a cat walked on the keyboard and turned on Filter Keys and while trying to figure out why my keyboard was just making chirping noises instead of typing, I happened to click on "typing insights" by accident.

Generative AI, and especially AI that is used to "personalize" and track your activity across the web and on your computer are never going to be in your best interest, it is always going to serve these companies in whatever way will line their pockets the most, and all it takes is updating their terms of service once, and then all of that data they promised they weren't collecting suddenly all belongs to them.

[coshayphinelove]

I know I haven't posted regularly on this blog in years but I'm not seeing a whole lot of posts on this site about what's happening in Minneapolis right now. And the posts I am seeing are not covering the scope of it. I'm genuinely surprised because tumblr is usually where I find out about things organically through my feed. So I'm making a post about it.

A brief summary of events, from someone who pays attention and also lives here, best taken with a grain of salt and some fact checking:

2020: George Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police. There are weeks of protests about it. It makes national news. Protests happen in DC. The infamous Trump and his bible photo shoot happens.

2024: Gov. Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' running mate in the presidential election. He starts the "they're just weird" thing. Is folksy, Trump personally hates him.

November 2025: ICE starts showing up to "crack down" on "illegal immigrants" in our Somali community. I may remember the numbers wrong, but something like 90% of our Somali neighbors are either naturalized or were born here. People distribute ICE whistles and are on high alert. Localized to the twin cities.

December 2025: Nick Shirley is paid by a bunch of MN Republicans to do an exposé on daycare fraud. I didn't hear much about this. All I really know is this was an ongoing investigation that MN officials were already taking care of and some of the guilty parties have already gone to court from a COVID era food assistance program. Mostly, if not all, legal US citizens. He did a really bad job at doing journalism and just showed up to day cares with a camera crew and went "YUP nobody's here" as if they weren't in lock-down procedure because some fuck ass white men showed up with camera equipment that could easily be mistaken for guns. I believe. I will fact check all of this and will correct myself in a reblog if necessary. (source but not all the details that I remember hearing about but they said there was no recorded evidence of fraud)

Conservative internet explodes. Kristi Noem sends a mess of agents. I know it's more than a thousand more. They call it Operation Metro Surge. They are going everywhere. There are protests. People try to interrupt the arrests. It's a lot.

1/7/2026: Renee Nicole Good is shot by an ICE agent in the middle of a protest. A few blocks away from where George Floyd was killed. Broad daylight. In front of a crowd. While she was following instructions to turn her vehicle around. Jonathan Ross, the piece of shit Nazi who did it, was recording on his phone the whole time, switched his phone to his non dominant hand so he could more effectively shoot her in the face from 2 feet away. Claims self defense, several angles immediately disprove him. He releases his video, he calls her a "fucking bitch" as her corpse drives away. Does not help him at all. (source) He has not been seen since. Some photos/reports exist of a bunch of agents showing up to his house and taking some tubs and art away. His wife is an immigrant. (source but it's the daily mail so grain of salt.)

Not hours later they go raid a school and tear gas a bunch of kids. (source). Minneapolis has switched to distance learning. I'm not sure about St. Paul.

The last week: There are up to 3,000 ICE agents here. Keep in mind Minneapolis and St. Paul only have 600 or fewer police officers each. So these dudes are roaming in packs. It's 2-4 dudes to a car and 2-5 cars per pack. People are "commuting with" ICE agents to honk and alert people that they're there. People are going on patrols with their neighbors.

ICE is no longer asking "are you a citizen." They are simply walking up to you and taking you into custody. They are going door to door. They have started just breaking the door down if you don't comply. They are driving recklessly to just grab pedestrians and drivers alike (source). People are afraid to go get groceries. It's all over the state. I am learning names of cities in places I thought were just factory farm land and I've lived here my whole life because they're doing raids there. I had to text my family in the suburbs because I saw reports of my small little hometown an hour away getting door knocks today.

It's insane and I am not doing it justice. There are thousands of masked federal agents roaming around all of Minnesota with no warrant or specific goal. They are just trolling around looking for people. They are detaining anyone and everyone. They are beating people. They are pepper spraying people. They are kidnapping people. They are acting unconstitutionally, aggressively, and unpredictably. They are creating situations that are dangerous so that they can try to justify beating or shooting their way out. I will run an errand and then get fed a tiktok that was shot from the Cub Foods that I just left and there's 20+ ICE vehicles parked there now. They're taking people from work, from day care, from schools, from shopping centers.

Iceout.org tracks ice sightings. This is a screen shot with the date set to 12/1/2025.

And from today.

They have cut off SNAP and WIC benefits. Just for us. Not any other state, just Minnesota. They're saying it's because of fraud but I think it's because they hate that we use federal funds to give free breakfast and lunch to every public school student.

And this is breaking just now, 1/13/2026: the DOJ is trying to investigate Renee Good's widow. 4 people have resigned about it. (source). I don't even want to read the article to see what they're saying.

So that's a brief history.

Unicorn Riot is doing a lot of good reporting and they don't seem to have the spin that a lot of local news stations will have where they downplay everything. This article specifically goes into a lot of the specific instances of brutality.

It's also a rumor on TikTok that all of the videos of ICE and protests and the such and the like are being geo locked. So my feed is all footage of people being detained and talking about the "commuting" they're doing and what they're seeing but people outside of the state are not seeing it. So if you're also on that infernal app, try searching for Minneapolis or Minnesota and see what you see. I'm kind of curious if this is true. Because I've been living and breathing ICE and doomsday prepping content for a week. I'm sure those two topics aren't connected.

I don't really know what my goal with this post is. I'm tired. I'm in the first ring of suburbs, so it's been pretty quiet. But I have friends in south Minneapolis. And I'm worried for them. And I know it's a matter of time before my quiet pocket is affected. Because they're coming door to door.

Pay attention to Minnesota, I think an example is being made of us.

[crafting-and-tea]

I've been monitoring this closely because I have friends in the area, and because I think every city in the country is at risk of having the feds come to do what they're doing in Minnesota, and we all need to get ready.

There are some Twin Cities activists who have been very clearly laying out what they're doing, and why it's effective at slowing down ICE. It sounds like all you really need, is neighborhood group chats where people can let one another know when and where ICE is present, and then people show up, start recording, and blowing whistles, and then ICE will leave again more often than not. This VERY SHORT thread by a Twin Cities activist outlines what to do and how it works.

Will Stancil (@whstancil.bsky.social)

Getting a lot of messages. A lot are like "Can I come help?" (appreciated, but unless you know the area very well, probably not THAT useful)

Also: Minnesota Public Radio has been doing great coverage of what's happening, and the local NBC affiliate has some excellent interviews with activists who were arrested and detained for hours.

And finally, some good news: the courts restored SNAP funding.

[figuring-421]

🚨

HEADS UP: The U.S. Postal Service quietly changed how postmarks work.

Mail is no longer automatically postmarked with the date you drop it off. Instead, the postmark now reflects the date it’s first processed by an automated sorting facility — which can be days later.

If you mail something right at a deadline, the official postmark could be later than your drop-off date and may be considered late.

If mailing date matters to you, go inside the post office and request a hand-stamped postmark.

USPS postmark shake-up could cost you big — property tax payers warned of surprise late fees

A new USPS postmark rule may cause property tax payments to look late even when people mail them on time. The change can create surprise lat

This will invalidate votes too

[no-chill-scientist]

I always agree to do manuscript reviews when I'm feeling peppy and excited about research but now I'm ill and do not care

[amingledyarn]

“The Only Witness to a Vanished World”, crochet sculpture by Caitlin McCormack.

"From humble, crocheted thread emerges Caitlin McCormack’s alternate reality featuring tiny carcasses, encased objects, and mysterious figures."

[copperbadge]

Absolutely lost in the sauce of the "Specimens" section of her website.

[saintjosie]

link to washington post article (paywall removed!)

“[Brown University] accepted nearly equal numbers of male and female prospects, even though, like some other schools, it got nearly twice as many female applicants. That math meant it was easier for male students to get in — 7 percent of male applicants were admitted, compared to 4.4 percent of female applicants, university data show.

The Trump administration’s policies may soon end that advantage that has been enjoyed by men, admissions and higher education experts say.”

“Efforts to admit applicants at higher rates based on gender are legal under a loophole in federal anti-discrimination law, one that’s used to keep the genders balanced on campuses.

But the Trump administration has consistently included gender among the characteristics it says it does not want schools to consider for admissions or hiring, along with race, ethnicity, nationality, political views, sexual orientation, gender identity or religious associations.”

heard this from @annabellabastien (video here) on tiktok and i just had to share the immense schadenfreude

is this speculative? absolutely. but it’s fucking hilarious either way.

[messygoku]

knowing that ai mainly takes reference from reddit and that people use ai as a therapist. baby your therapist is a redditor. you're deep in the trenches in a way I cannot explain

[yamofmytime-deactivated20260312]

funny but also source please????????

[messygoku]

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I am so damn pleased with the Sedgwick County Zoo media team, y’all. They just dropped a stellar blog piece on why GenAI slop videos of animals are such a problem - and how to identify them!

The Reality of AI Animal Content – Sedgwick County Zoo

If you spend any time on social media, you’ve probably seen them – bears bouncing on trampolines, apes caught on doorbell cameras, or “rescu

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a zoo or aquarium in the United States speak up broadly about AI. (The only times I can think of any comment at all has maybe individual instances when a deepfake of “their” animal escaping is circulating.) And they did a great job with this piece! It’s succinct, easy to read, and written in a way that doesn’t shame people for engaging with AI content before they knew better.

I think this is exactly the type of resource needed for sending to that family member or friend we all have - the one who isn’t aware of the slop issue and constantly sends you clearly fake videos because they’re “so cute.”

I’d love to have Sedgwick get some public positive reinforcement for taking this stance. If you’re so inclined, a comment on their FB post would be great as it’s likely they’re going to get shit for this from sloppers & co. We really do need animal organizations to stand up for accurate, real animal content and this is a great first step in that direction.

[no-chill-scientist]

A year out from leaving my tenure track position and it was honestly the best decision I could've made for myself

[zedogica]

ok. i survived 25 years outside the international space station. who gives a shit

[biglawbear]

Technically most moss is outside the international space station

[arithmeticanimaniac]

[ayeforscotland]

Gaidhlig and Scots become official languages in Scotland today with the Scottish Languages Act coming into force after it was voted on back in June.

Key parts of the legislation includes the right for parents to request Gaelic schools for their local area, and will help with standardisation of language teaching across the board.

Good signs for the future. In the future would be very interested to see parents (and everyone else) getting access to the same learning materials so they can learn alongside their kids.

[babyfoxcollectionthings]

[enigmatic-mystery-777]

This is magical

[bixbiboom]

This video was filmed at the NC Zoological Park in Asheboro, and that elk is called Tommy! He bosses the bison around a lot, and they just sort of… let him?

[56kilobits]

i've been obsessed with this video so i downloaded the video file off of youtube so even if the internet goes down i can always watch frogtimelapse.mp4