A headstone with a tree growing around it
John Smith Thorpe & his three sons - William, Thomas and John, with their oak tree guardian from a few years ago
All died between 1865 & 1874, the boys likely of typhoid
Buried at Nottingham General Cemetery
15.02.2026 14:26 β π 116 π 23 π¬ 3 π 0
Ah. But why address the problem when you can double-down on avoiding it? bsky.app/profile/seva...
13.02.2026 14:58 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Still struggling with the science but on the plus side I've now got a pun within the pun. I don't know if my target audience exists outwith me, but they would be see a crap talk as an acceptable tradeoff.
13.02.2026 14:57 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 1
This is gearing up to be such a fantastic conference. Filling a void in the meeting landscape thatβs been ever more conspicuous. So much so that moves are already afoot to organise a sequel.
So if Future You wants to boast that youβve been to them all, you will need to register ASAP.
13.02.2026 12:57 β π 5 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
That does sound like a problematic affliction. Waiting for a better view of a great tit's belly seems a mild issue in comparison to counting flock size.
13.02.2026 11:36 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
That happens to me, and I'm at the great tit vs. not-a-great-tit level of bird ID ability.
13.02.2026 11:34 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
It always makes me smile when I recognise a misplaced birdsong. Because if I've noticed, then I know that there are hundreds of others being severely triggered at what, to most people, would seem an incidental detail akin to an actor's socks changing colour mid-scene.
13.02.2026 11:33 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Struggling to come up with a title for a talk. I've got the pun sorted, but not the scientific part to follow.
It feels horribly emblematic of my career.
13.02.2026 11:31 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 1
Eusociality has independently evolved in multiple arthropod lineages
Eusociality has independently evolved in multiple arthropod lineages
Comparative analysis across 5,678 insect species shows that, when you control for phylogenetic bias, eusociality has not evolved at a faster rate in haplodiploid species. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
12.02.2026 18:41 β π 27 π 18 π¬ 0 π 0
Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin
12.02.2026 16:31 β π 10119 π 3017 π¬ 159 π 410
The thing I will never cure is the immediate impulse to sex every great tit I see. Every time.
12.02.2026 14:18 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Quite the straw man our verbally hapless friend has built: we *are* having an open debate. And the majority opinion is that his views are repulsive.
12.02.2026 14:16 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
That moment of internal conflict where youβre having a great chat with the visiting seminar speaker and then realise the two of you are amidst a goldcrest flock and you desperately want to check for any accompanying firecrests. That.
12.02.2026 12:36 β π 10 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
a close up of a man 's face with his eyes closed
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with his eyes closed
Watching through my fingers as the department's favourite child overdoses on self-confidence and throws a bucketload of sarcasm at a professor.
11.02.2026 15:44 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Looking through hundreds of hummingbird photos and it's impossible to escape the conclusion that they are, in essence, a syringe that can hover.
11.02.2026 10:04 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
If current trends continue, by 2030 most men in their 30s will be commuting in a transcontinental HGV.
11.02.2026 08:40 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Ett, tvΓ₯, tre! π₯π₯π₯
10.02.2026 20:28 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Nature is metal. Carrying the decaying skull of your vanquished enemy as a hat.
From a Wildlife photographer of the year contest. www.popsci.com/environment/...
08.02.2026 19:11 β π 11 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Iβve always thought it would be really cool to compare individuals in a long-term nestbox study with those beyond human interaction, to look for a βdomesticationβ effect. Would you see these differences? Sequence differences?
08.02.2026 18:39 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Photo of the described owl art. It looks like muddy scratch marks on a mottled brown cave wall. The head is very round with two upright lines for ears and a line in the center for a beak. Numerous parallel lines suggest plumage on the wings.
The oldest known image of an owl:
More than 30,000 years ago, someone skillfully scratched the figure of a long-eared owl (Asio otus) into the soft outer layer of the walls of Chauvet Cave, France. The owl is looking backward over their wings, head turned 180 degrees
carnegiemnh.org/ancient-owl-...
08.02.2026 18:08 β π 1034 π 323 π¬ 15 π 33
Red line graph time series of monthly carbon dioxide abundance from January 1959 through January 2026. There is a seasonal cycle and long-term increasing trend. Current levels of CO2 are at 429 ppm. This is the Keeling Curve graph. A line for CO2 10 years ago is also annotated.
Carbon dioxide (COβ) averaged about 429 ppm in January 2026
10 years ago January averaged about 403 ppm
Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
07.02.2026 19:22 β π 170 π 93 π¬ 8 π 12
What do the practicals involve?
05.02.2026 19:13 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Imagine wearing a #jellyfish as a helmet!?!
Well, thatβs exactly what this juvenile jack is doing! Mostly immune to its sting, the jack has taken the jellyfish prisoner.
Shot using #scuba, out over the deep abyss, drifting at night.
#blackwater #blackwaterdiving #scubadiving #gug
04.02.2026 11:54 β π 314 π 93 π¬ 8 π 12
Utterly stunning. Every. Single. One.
04.02.2026 19:45 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Semafor: Guinea worm neared global eradication, with just 10 cases reported worldwide in 2025, all of them in Chad, Ethiopia, or South Sudan. When former US President Jimmy Carter founded an eradication program in the mid-1980s, there were millions of infections in developing countries and the only human disease that had ever previously been permanently defeated was smallpox. The parasitic infection, transmitted via contaminated water, leads to three-foot worms emerging from painful leg ulcers, and causes long-term incapacitation and disability. While Carter did not, as he hoped, outlive the last Guinea worm (he died in 2024), he may have come close; the 10 cases mark a 33% decrease year-on-year.
Only 10 cases of Guinea worm disease were recorded *globally* last year.
It may become the second human disease we eradicate, after smallpox.
04.02.2026 11:38 β π 685 π 174 π¬ 22 π 29
reading about organisms that arenβt your specialty is like
margins of the quorbus eplungulate, ploobular processes bent posteriorly towards the foobulum
define term βeplungulateβ
- lacking plungae. synonym: thubulous
02.02.2026 22:14 β π 898 π 232 π¬ 28 π 18
Credibility, peer review, and Nature, 1945β1990
Abstract. This paper examines the refereeing procedures at the scientific weekly Nature during and after World WarΒ II. In 1939 former editorial assistants
5οΈβ£ Watson & Crick 1953 paper was not peer reviewed.
It was not until 1973, when David Davies was hired as Nature's editor, that peer review became a requirement for every paper printed there.
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/article...
28.01.2026 09:34 β π 20 π 5 π¬ 1 π 0
A Black-capped Chickadee showcasing winter fashion by donning a snowflake accessory.
31.01.2026 23:12 β π 11572 π 3125 π¬ 78 π 99
Ancient and massive Sweet Chestnut
A 400 year old Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa) in Fredville Park, the Kingdom of Kent
A standard 6β 6ββ Oliver as a size guide
31.01.2026 07:25 β π 273 π 30 π¬ 2 π 0
When I think about measles I think about the number 1,000. Thats the number that epidemiologists use to explain harm from measles in children. With 1,000 cases, about 200 children will require hospitalization, 50 will develop pneumonia, and one to three will die.
South Carolina is at 789.
28.01.2026 15:11 β π 1197 π 559 π¬ 33 π 26
Ecologist at the University of East Anglia | Macroecology, animal movement, global change
Weβre the museum looking deeper into the Earthβs past to shape a new future where both people and planet thrive.
Protecting the planet, itβs in our nature. π
Evolution; animal behaviour; animal culture; human cognitive evolution; niche construction; anti-racism. Editor-in-Chief of Biological Theory
#evolution #evodevo #philbio #philsci #animalculture #animalbehavior
Our Oak Trees & their Sweet Chestnut chums in our ancient bluebell woodland in the Weald of Kent. Also pictures and facts about trees
twitter.com/TheKentAcorn
https://www.tshirtstudio.com/marketplace/bert-shirts
Professor of Invasion Biology at UCL. Amateur father, birder, moth-er. Mainly post wildlife photos, occasionally science and politics. Author of The Jewel Box, winner of the ZSL Clarivate Award for Communicating Zoology.
Palaeontology podcast from two professional palaeontologists aimed for all to enjoy
https://linktr.ee/fossilfiles.pod
Earth Sciences graduate. But studying for a second degree in History with the OU. Love birdwatching, getting outdoors or snuggling indoors with a good book.
Theoretical Physicist.
(She/her/hers)
From Eastern KY.
Professor Emeritus (University of Manchester), writes on biology, history of science & French Resistance. Most recent book: a biography of Francis Crick. Now writing THE IDEA OF HEREDITY.
Link to publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-4913
New PI interested in #immune #evolution, host #pathogen interactions, and #ScientificPublishing @ University of Exeter, UK. He/him. π¨π¦
Want to support my scientific publishing work? Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/insectpathogenlab/tip
UK based photographer and outdoorsy dog loving person living a quiet life in Cumbria and Northumberland, Intolerant of racists, bigots and bellendery.
Cameras:Sony A7r3, Samsung Galaxy S21/24 Ultra
DM's, NFTs, Crypto/Traders, OF π« FO. =Block
CBE FREng. Chief Executive of the Met Office. Weather, climate, physics, digital & data, with a scatter of wildlife, Dartmoor, old churches and choral music
Writing person & Greta Gerwig completist. If people in the street ask me "Are you Squidge Rugby?" I answer yes.
just a scientist who cares about scientific integrity.
Find sketchy things I find on pubpeer, user "Archasia Belfragei"
We throb knowledge, we pulse excellence. Ranked No.1 in the UK for Canteen Facilities (CEF, 2024). Vice-Chancellor Vince Chancelier (He/VC). Parody.
Long-term study of superb fairywrens in the Australian National Botanic Gardens by researchers at the Australian National University #superbfairywren #SFW_ANU
Sphagnum enthusiast from Norway π³π΄
Assistant Professor at Wageningen University | Evolutionary Biology, Genomics and Ornithology | Blogging at Avian Hybrids
Professor of Behavioural Ecology @ Bristol | social behaviour, vocal communication, cooperation, conflict, global change biology | love teaching and mentoring | love family time more
https://www.bio.bris.ac.uk/research/behavior/Vocal_Communication/
PhD student at ANU (Ecology and Evolution) studying social behaviour of superb fairy-wrens
MSc in Biogeosciences, BSc in Natural Sciences @LaStatale, Milano
#birds #animalbehaviour #sociality
https://scholar.google.it/citations?user=jgsCs8kAAAAJ&hl=it