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bjbalas.bsky.social
Vision Scientist, Dad, Would-be artist & dreadful chess player. Check out my new #visionscience textbook here: https://www.routledge.com/Practical-Vision-Science-Learning-Through-Experimentation/Balas/p/book/9781032691121 All opinions my own.
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Edward Gorey Week begins: ‘My family’s curious correspondence with Edward Gorey’ by Cynthia Rose www.tcj.com/the-curious-...

submitted 13 hours ago • 0 comments

Why is it hard to make bathroom tiles look random? I really enjoyed discussing how our pattern-seeking visual brains make it tricky to perceive randomness with the BBC CrowdScience team.

submitted 20 hours ago • 0 comments

Happy #TwinPeaks Day to all who celebrate.

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

I wrote a letter to the local paper regarding our Senator's assertion that people haven't been calling him with concerns about the federal mess. They published it, but seem to have attributed it to someone else.

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Tribal Colleges do incredible work in North Dakota and throughout the US. Please read the call below and contribute however you can.

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

This weekend's reading: THE TREES by Percival Everett. app.thestorygraph.com/books/5e464b...

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

If you would like to teach theoretical modeling skills to your psychology or cognitive science students, or would like to learn these skills yourself, check out our open online textbook: computationalcognitivescience.github.io/lovelace/

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

A great conversation with Heather Berlin and Christof Koch on their Science of Perception Box podcast. link.chtbl.com/perceptionbo... www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

One of the hard truths of living in ND is that it's 8F outside right now and I'm SO happy about it. #helpme

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Man, this would be the best thing to go to right now. I know it's for kids and all, but I'd be stoked to do some drawing with James Kochalka.

submitted 4 days ago • 2 comments

Just found out about this and I'm just saying that I have a birthday coming up. prixel.com

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

If you're looking for some more #Chess and #scicomm, go check out the blog post by Alex Knopps (a grad student in our dept. at NDSU who I co-advise) about his @chessable.com research award! www.chess.com/blog/Chessab...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

A new Science of #Chess blog post over on my Lichess site! This time, I'm describing a study focused on how well players can judge chess puzzle difficulty. Enjoy! lichess.org/@/NDpatzer/b... #PsychSciSky #VisionScience

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

I would buy this album as many times as I could.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

My colleagues in Biology at NDSU wrote a great letter to our local paper in response to the legislature's consideration of a bill to include Intelligent Design in ND classrooms: www.inforum.com/opinion/lett...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

I'm equal parts fascinated & annoyed by the constant stream of Special Issue proposals we see at Visual Cognition that have nothing to do with our scope. Do my #VisionScience or #PsychSciSky friends have insight into what drives this? Like, are SI proposals incentivized at some institutions?

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Wow, second one today. #OcularMigraine

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

The Gestalt Principle of Goodest-boy Continuation at work. #VisionScience

submitted 6 days ago • 2 comments

Gotta check this out. Working on a few channels for getting in touch with the F-M community and this looks like a good step, too.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Latest reading: Ursula Le Guin's NO TIME TO SPARE, which is a collection of her blog posts about all sorts of things. I especially liked her essay about male & female solidarity - Erin & I were talking about related ideas lately w.r.t. to the declining rate of men enrolling in college.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

It's LeVar Burton's birthday today, so here's a link to a #scicomm ad #visionscience essay I wrote a while ago about the VISOR. Enjoy! benbalas.substack.com/p/geordi-la-...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Victor Lavalle is an incredible writer. BIG MACHINE is one of the best books I've ever read - if you don't know his work, get to know it!

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

I have at least this much good news from ND today - take the Ws when you can.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

Very cool work from @heidasigurdar.bsky.social examining the structure of object space. Lots of cool stuff to think about here.

submitted 12 days ago • 1 comment

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, says the National Science Foundation has given money to thousands of "Woke DEI" studies. Researchers say that's misrepresenting science and disparaging important research.

submitted 12 days ago • 410 comments

I found this to be an informative and provocative read - what happened to cognitive science? Authors argue, based on bibliometric and scientometric analysis, that cognitive science as a discipline is basically dead. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

submitted 12 days ago • 16 comments

Meanwhile, here's what's happening right on the frozen prairie: ND lawmakers pushing for "Intelligent Design" to be part of state science curriculum.

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

I see some of my ND colleagues on this list and while Cruz' whole "investigation" is beyond stupid, knowing what these grants are actually about makes it doubly so. Bro thinks agriculture tech to increase US food security is Neo-Marxist?

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

This is so freakin' dumb. Time for a quick 🧵 of my favorite graphic novels that ain't just for 'dessert' (cause what would that even mean?) <1/maybeitneverends>

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

An excellent graphic guide to how the #NIH cuts affect US science from @matteofarinella.bsky.social. #scicomm #VisionScience

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

This whole series from @shaenon.bsky.social is delightful, but having recently discovered SPONCH, this one is def my favorite.

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments