Shaun O’Boyle

Shaun O’Boyle

@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

Biologist working in science communication (research: community involvement; practice: art-science and podcasts). Big fan of The X-Files and Star Trek. #QueerinSTEM (he/him) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Work: shaunoboyle.org X-Files Podcast: linktr.ee/heydannyitsmulder

4.7K followers1.9K following1.5K posts

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Dylan
@onemetricdylan.bsky.social

Replying to @shaunoboyle.bsky.social

Adverts are a bid for attention. An AI flier lets you know that they don’t think you’re worth much effort

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Dr Abeba Birhane
@abeba.blacksky.app

"Releasing over 700 files at once is not a demonstration of scholarship, but a demonstration of power. We urge mathematicians to discontinue their work with OpenAI and to return to a vision of science that centers human understanding." www.ahmath.org/statements

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Nick Walker
@nickwalker.bsky.social

A definite sign of ageing is that you cannot impress me with "over 20 years" anymore. Am I expected to think this sauce is ancient, because it's as old as Nelly Furtado's Maneater?

Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

UK friends: Apply for the @prideinstem.bsky.social small grant scheme until October 30th (Halloween is the holiday of our people, after all). The theme is "Empowering Queer People With STEM", and grants of £1,000 will be awarded in late 2026. Spread the word! prideinstem.org/2026/10/01/s...

prideinstem.orgSmall Grant Scheme 2026 | Pride in STEMPride in STEM is once again funding our “Small Grants” Programme.This year’s theme will be “Empowering Queer People With STEM”.
Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

I genuinely hate this. Using AI for science communication tells me that no creativity, craft, or thought went into it. Might as well not bother.

Shaun O’Boyle@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

EU Researcher Night in Ireland received almost €300k in EU funding (to run the one-day event in 2026 and again in 2027).

Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

I have to admit, as important as science is to me, research like this makes me deeply uncomfortable

New Scientist@newscientist.com

It has long been observed that men with older brothers are more likely to be gay, but an association has also been found with older sisters. This sheds further light on how a mother's immune system may be involved in shaping sexual orientation

newscientist.comHow older siblings may shape sexual orientation via mother’s immune system | New Scientist
Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

There are a handful of newsletters I always read as soon as they appear in my inbox, and The Boogie-Woogie Rumble of Space-Time by @chanda.blacksky.app is one of them. Today I learned about The Spectrum of Allies and it has shifted my thinking in so many ways. Subscribe here: news.chanda.science

news.chanda.scienceThe Boogie-Woogie Rumble of Space-TimeCosmology, Particles, and the Stuff That Came After. A newsletter from theoretical physicist and Black feminist theorist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein.

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Pop Base
@popbase.tv

All of Ed Sheeran’s opening acts and his touring band have dropped out of the remaining dates of his ‘Loop’ tour in solidarity with Palestine and Macklemore.

Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

"There are people out there who have the power to cast trans actors, but what the fuck are they doing? Are they so inured with the system that they’re burying their heads in it? Seems like it." This is a fantastic interview variety.com/2026/tv/feat...

variety.comLilly Wachowski on Her New Studio Anarchists United, the Black Power Origins of ‘The Matrix’ and How ‘Harry Potter’ Fans Are ‘Supporting Trans Genocide’‘The Matrix’ filmmaker Lilly Wachowski opens up about her new studio for marginalized voices Anarchists United, J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk.

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Roland Pierik
@roleo.eurosky.social

The number of cases of cervical cancer reported in Scotland among women given the HPV vaccine at 12-13 years of age is now zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. Zero. www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.comNo cervical cancer cases in fully HPV-vaccinated women in ScotlandA study published by Public Health Scotland finds that the HPV vaccine is "highly effective".
Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

Yeah I’ll be sticking with this one for another while so

Andrew Couts@couts.bsky.social

NEW: The new Apple Watches double as AI-powered listening bugs for generating convo "recaps" or transcripts of any previous 15 seconds. But fear not, Apple says, this data isn't sent to Apple/gets encrypted, speakers aren't ID'd, and there's a chime for the 15-second thing. @lhn.bsky.social reports:

wired.comApple Doesn’t Want You to Worry About the New Apple Watch’s Listening FeaturesThe new Apple Watch includes several “intelligent” listening features that have privacy and security baked in. But the protections can’t change the facts of what the tools do.

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

New Scientist
@newscientist.com

The Edge of Space-Time, the September read for the New Scientist Book Club, is a dreamer’s book, full of curiosity, love, fun, art – and gloriously hard theoretical physics, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

newscientist.comChanda Prescod-Weinstein's new book is a mind-expanding trip to space-time | New ScientistThe Edge of Space-Time, the September read for the New Scientist Book Club, is a dreamer’s book, full of curiosity, love, fun, art – and gloriously hard theoretical physics, says Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Jeremy Yoder says no war
@jbyoder.org

For today's 60th anniversary of STAR TREK's premiere, here's the time I shoehorned Trek into the remit of The Molecular Ecologist, thanks to DISCO's love of space-tardigrades www.molecularecologist.com/2017/10/22/a...

molecularecologist.comStar Trek Discovery made a debunked genome sequence into a plot point — but that’s not nearly the worst biology goof in the franchiseMichael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), studying the giant space tardigrade. (CBS) Anyone who’s been anywhere near my Twitter feed in the last month knows I’m pretty darned happy with S…

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Jen Keane
@zenbuffy.bsky.social

Replying to @zenbuffy.bsky.social

www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti... When women in Iceland went on strike, everything shut down. "Men were forced to bring their children to the office and, later that day, easy-to-cook sausages sold out at stores with men in charge of dinner."

nationalgeographic.com50 years ago, the women of Iceland took a day off—and inspired the worldIceland is widely recognized as the world’s most equitable society for women—in large part thanks to the women’s strike that transformed the country 50 years ago.

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Jen Keane
@zenbuffy.bsky.social

A significant contributor to the gender pay gap and the continuing financial disparity between men and women is the undervaluing of all of the unpaid care work done by women in Ireland. Women all over Ireland get up early, every morning, and go to work, unpaid and unvalued.

RTÉ News@news.rte.ie

Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said this year's Budget will support people "who get up early every morning and go to work".

rte.ieBudget to support those 'who get up early every morning'Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said this year's Budget will support people "who get up early every morning and go to work".

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

JP Jordan
@jpjordan.bsky.social

In addition to the calls to not watch the new Potter show, I wanna also add that I know a lot of folks will think that pirating it is fine as it's not financially supporting it, but I wouldn't even do that. Make the show and JKR culturally irrelevant There are so many other things to watch instead

Shaun O’Boyle
@shaunoboyle.bsky.social

This is a fantastic video by @jessiegender.bsky.social

GeekFilter 🏳️‍🌈🐻@geekfilter.bsky.social

If you know what JK Rowling is doing & still choose to give money to the Harry Potter franchise, you’ve made your priorities pretty damn clear. I wondered if it was my imagination that HP references were multiplying. Nope! Check out @jessiegender.bsky.social's video. youtu.be/xxD1ekkA7hc?...

youtu.beHarry Potter Is Manufacturing Your ComplicityYouTube video by Jessie Gender After Dark

Shaun O’Boyle reposted

Dr Abeba Birhane
@abeba.blacksky.app

been reading university/higher-ed policies on the use of genAI in education. most policies propose using genAI safely, ethically, & responsibly, which is an oxymoron. the way current genAI is developed, deployed & functions renders the very ideas of safety, ethics, and responsible use meaningless