Michael Sheehan

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

When my publisher told me to post about writing my book, I was like yeah sure I post about everything I do every day. I did not anticipate these book posts would give the vibe of a woman being put under some kind of rumpelstiltskin-like curse to spin spin spin away at her writing in a dank dungeon.

Israel strikes two schools in Iran, killing more than 50 people State media says Israeli attack on girls' school in the city of Minab in the south of the country kills dozens.

I have Epic Fury.

All decent people do.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

Macro photo of a brown stink bug in face view on a leaf, guarding a tightly-clustered bunch of eggs that are shaped and colored exactly like a full tray of dark beer with foam on top.

Finally, the bug is back with a round of the Guinness.

Letz go even bigger and better,,, ALL Female US Olympians and Paralympian medalists are invited out to celebrate in Viva Las Vegas for the SHE GOT GAME Weekend ,,,

Hit a guy up and LETZ GOOO

For those of you in Austin, the UT insect collection is having an open house today, 10-3pm. 3001 Lake Austin Blvd.

Don't congratulate John Roberts or the Supreme Court.

Congratulate Rick Woldenberg, the Chicago-area leader of Learning Resources, an educadtional toy company that had the courage to sue the president of the United States to save his family business.

As well as everyone else who stepped up.

Place cells in CA1 lack topographical organization of firing locations | PNAS Topography is a well-described and well-known concept for cortical organization in primary sensory and motor cortices of mammalian brains. Similar ...

A half-century old question may have its final answer. Using high-resolution #Mini2P microscopes, we find no evidence of local topography in #PlaceCells. Place fields of neighbouring cells are no more similar than those of randomly selected cells. 🧠🗺️ Out now in @pnas.org www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Microbes are awesome
Even when they're in poo

#microValentines

YouTube video by xkcd's What If? What if you made a jetpack using rifles?

What if you made a jetpack using rifles?

What the latest What If? video in collaboration with @minuteearth.bsky.social!

youtu.be/IdlQsjq5vKo

60 years ago today, mild-mannered jim bowl was bitten by a radioactive spider

Got our plates ready for Superb Owl Sunday meal!

[photo of a pottery bowl with the stylized face of an owl] Columbia River region, Washington or Oregon Owl Effigy Bowl, Pre-contact

Guys, guys—I found a Superb Owl that is also a Super Bowl!!!

Celebrating Superb Owls day, here are some of our burrowing owls being particualrly superb! Training isn't just tricks; medical behaviors like learning voluntary nail trims here mean not having to catch and restrain birds, much less stress for people and birds alike.
#SuperbOwl

Egg-cellent news! The first California condor eggs of the season have been laid at our wildlife conservation center, and more could be on the way.

a round pottery piece with pig eyes and a snout

i think we all need to step back and realize that peak art was made when neolithic pot in the shape of a pig was fired

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Gave a talk on free will the other day and got what is an increasingly common question: isn't my mind really being controlled by my gut microbiome? 🤪

three thick big books, all titled "vegetable situation"

quick, someone help, we've got a vegetable situation

Comic. [Person talking to person with black hat.] PERSON 1: Historically, it refers to a ceremony to predict the weather using a rodent. But nowadays people often use it to mean “a time loop experienced by one person.” PERSON 2: …What. [caption] Easily our weirdest holiday.

Groundhog Day Meaning

xkcd.com/3202/

Our founders, though deeply flawed, understood that democracy requires an informed citizenry and a government accountable to it people. That’s why the press is the only profession protected by the Constitution. It’s also why autocrats and oligarchs seek to control and destroy it.

Never forget: Pam Bondi and Kash said there was nothing in the Epstein files back in March

I found the first investigative file from the first complainant against Epstein in 2005.

There are descriptions from the officer, over several interviews of the girl, of her pulling her knees up on the chair, drawing doodles, & the officer high-fiving her to keep her calm as she speaks of horror.

Even benign changes to accreditation rules can require 1000s of person hours to change policies & document compliance. And uggh the committees.

Want to know why unis' admin costs have grown so much faster than faculty costs? It's partly due to unfunded mandates like this one.

Question. If Joe Biden called Greenland, “Iceland” four times…. What would the right be saying?

Side view macro photograph of a dark red/brown eumenine potter wasp standing in a pure white backdrop on four legs, the front legs held up next to its body. The wings are folded fan-like into narrow, metallic blue-black strips held over the abdomen.

Toltec Potter Wasp, Parazumia tolteca. Texas.

So much of GOP policy is based on claims that don't hold up to evidence:
- exporters pay for tariffs
- taxing [b/m]illionaires makes them move
- immigrants reduce native-born wages, get more in welfare than pay in taxes
- work requirements save taxpayer money
- trickle-down econ helps working class

Mainstream US press is utterly failing in its duty to inform readers that the US *already* controls land in the Arctic, and that this land is far better positioned than Greenland to stave off any Russian or Chinese threats.

It's called "Alaska." It's a state. It even looks big on the map.