Steph Halmhofer

Screenshot from a funding site describing how Fóti claims that ancient people made their own stones rather than quarrying but his claims haven't been tested in a lab setting. The funders want to see if the claims can be validated with Andean materials to provide a practical explanation for how large Inca and pre-Inca structures were built.

TIL that someone is offering $200k of funding to study Marcell Fóti's claims (who built off Jason Davidovits) that ancient peoples used geopolymer concrete to create stones for building megalithic structures, rather than quarrying stone, to answer questions about Inca sites 🤔

Casey Means, Trump’s Surgeon General Pick, Doesn't Just Lack a Medical License A great deal of the attention on Casey Means, Trump’s surgeon general nominee, has focused on the fact that she doesn’t even have a medical license and has never practiced medicine. An influencer and ...

Find out more about America's new Surgeon General, Casey Means, and what she means when she says we need “good energy” in my latest from @religiondispatches.org

religiondispatches.org/2026/03/04/c...

Reactionary Worldbuilding: From Speculative Imagination to Political Practice The first in-depth study of the dark side of worldbuilding, exploring the connection between speculative imagination and political practice.Speculative imagination brings to life an array of possible ...

It's available for pre-order!

Home | CHARG Forward Newsletter Discoveries, Programs, and Thoughts about the past from the Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Research Group

hey all....My research group, @charg-wfu.bsky.social, will be posting our first email newsletter. If you are interested in historical archaeology, public archaeology, and @wakeforest.bsky.social and Winston Salem, this might be for you: charg.beehiiv.com/subscribe

A frightening thing about the right's expansion is the spread of openly fascist messaging across an incredibly diverse online landscape. This can be seen by tracking the # “Revolt Against the Modern World,” a book written by Julius Evola in 1934. (More relevant now than when I wrote it 3/4/23.) 🧵

Does it actually become more powerful? Is the info in the paper amplified in an attempt to outweigh the effects of retraction? Do retracted papers survive in certain spaces moreso than others? Etc. And ultimately, how can this knowledge help improve our communication methods!

they continually try to discredit "mainstream" archaeology, but they also really want to be taken seriously by the mainstream. Getting papers published in mainstream spaces is a big deal! So what then happens when retractions happen? Does a paper lose influence, or does that influence continue?

that bad info may continue. Sometimes might even make people double down on it, if we're talking conspiracism - "it's gotta be true because look how hard those pesky archaeologists are trying to suppress/censor this!" Pseudoarch folks have a complicated relationship to "mainstream" pub avenues -

I'm interested in reactions to retractions because of the continued influence effect. When bad info gets published and then amplified through media, it becomes verrrrrrry difficult to reign it in. Retractions and debunking may not have as much of an impact as we want it to, and the influence of

I've been keeping an eye on reactions to retractions within the pseudoarchaeology realm for a little project-in-planning. Between the YDIH collective's now 3 (!) retracted papers and the retracted Gunung Padang paper, things aren't going well for the pseudoarch folks!

I’m so tired of seeing people bash Bluesky for being an echo chamber when X is an actual intentionally constructed echo chamber that is demonstrably radicalizing people across the political spectrum who still use it

I'm so sorry for your loss. Even if it was only for a few years (we never get enough time with our furry family), I'm glad for the time you did have with Violet ❤️

Pierre Poilievre’s great reset The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is rolling out a kinder and gentler version of himself. But can he stick to the script, or will he revert to his political instincts?

In the face of a double-digit Liberal lead, Pierre Poilievre is rolling out a new political approach that includes respect for his opponents and time for the mainstream media.

How long will it last? Grab that head of lettuce and start the clock. #cdnpoli

www.nationalobserver.com/2026/03/05/o...

Controversial comet theory struck by two new retractions In a now-retracted paper, the authors report they found shocked quartz formed by an airburst from clouds of comet fragments that hit earth more than 12,000 years ago. Source PLOS One has retracted …

The Younger Dryas Impact folks just suffered two new retractions. Errors ranged from missing data and AI hallucinations to the misidentification of marine plankton as comet dust.

Thanks to @boslough.bsky.social for chatting.

🧪🏺

New at @retractionwatch.com

At first I thought the loud boom I heard was thunder, turns out it was a meteor!

Religious scholars who study apocalyptic thought, Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and politics, are out here. We have been ringing the siren for decades.
Universities are closing religious studies, many scholars who are experts in this are unemployed (including me).

I listened to 170 hours of Joe Rogan’s podcast – trust me, he hasn’t turned against Trump | Michael Marshall The world’s most popular podcaster seemingly disapproving of ICE does not mean he has soured from the administration

"I listened to 170 hours of Joe Rogan’s podcast – trust me, he hasn’t turned against Trump"

We're in The Guardian today, explaining why people can't just believe out of context clips about Rogan breaking from Trump, Joe is still very much on the Trump train.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Adopting permanent daylight saving time ‘Spring forward’ on March 8 will be the last time change, ending twice-yearly clock changes

Head's up, BC folks! This weekend will be our last time change!

a man with his eyes closed at first, then he smiles and says "the stuff of dreams" Alt: a man with his eyes closed at first, then he smiles and says "the stuff of dreams"

Tfw you find brand names or makers marks on objects

Went for a hike yesterday to revisit a historic cabin site for more photos and measurements of a particular area. While looking at what I thought was likely the stove, I noticed this iron piece poking out of the moss just in front of the stove. Turned it over to find a [brand] name embossed on it 😍🏺

Statement by Prime Minister Carney and Minister Anand on the situation in the Middle East Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must ...

Canada would have been better off saying nothing. You can detest the regime in Iran without supporting chaos. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/stat...

We do not need to support an illegal war.

For anyone who hasn't been following just how extreme the disinformation campaign against fundamental human rights has become, there are 37 BC MLAs who today voted to abolish the entire Human Rights Code.

The pyramid folks really can't decide if they want the pyramids to be 12,000 or 20,000 years old 😫

(Also a side interest of mine is about how online respositories like Academia, ResearchGate, Scribd, etc. are treated as publishers by pseudoarch folks, who use these sites to legitimize their claims by saying that their paper has been "published." Word choice is a rhetorical strategy!)
6/6

unoriginal points and lack of new research into something that sounds like it's bringing forth new evidence in the argument 🤔 The whole thing is strange and I'm also wondering how much of a role AI has played in all of this, including in writing the original "paper." My AI senses are tingling.
5/

Even by tabloid standards, the news stories are shoddy and I'm intrigued as to why this weird little doc is getting so much attention. What's the background story here as to how this poorly written paper ended up on their radar, and why are they laundering it into legitimacy by expanding its
4/

profile pic and although the news stories have all claimed he is affiliated with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the author's Academia page only says he recieved a degree from there, not that he is affiliated with them. I also can't find any other info about this author 🧐
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nothing new or newsworthy - people have said the same thing many times before. The "paper" being praised (but not linked to in any news story) is a 2025 3-page, poorly written word doc with only 3 citations, which was uploaded to the author's Academia[dot]edu page. The author uses an AI-generated
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Speaking of pyramid stuff...
The past couple of days I've been watching with intrigue a mini [tabloid] media blitz regarding a new "paper" that claims the Pyramids of Giza were built by a pre-Egyptian civilization over 12,000 years ago. This blitz is odd, even by tabloid standards. The claim is
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