Tom Langen

Unpaid internships reproduce the class problem in conservation. I don’t blame individuals for taking them (though would encourage them to reflect on who can/can’t afford to do so). I do find organizations offering them problematic - it shows me their politics. But you already know all this :)

And this happens even in places where there are no free-living populations of the second species, and therefore no non-hybrid females of the other species!

YouTube video by 7 Days of Science The Ants That Broke Biology

OK, how weird is nature? Here is a species of ant for which the queen lays eggs that produce males of two species - her own and a distantly-related congener - and eggs that produce daughters of her species and daughters who are hybrids. 🌿🧪

U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students

“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”

In the frigid morning gray,
‘Round a pillar, sundogs play!

At cold dawn a race is run,
Two rainbow dogs chase the sun.

#poetry

Some excellent first reflections about the life of James Watson, from one of America's finest historians of biology, who happens to have a book coming out about JW next year.

Last month I featured @calocitta.bsky.social, @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social, and more!

#envhist #envhum

Another problem with daylight saving time: The time change raises your risk of hitting deer on the road Dusk is a dangerous time of day for hitting wildlife on the road, and the one-hour time change means more drivers are out while deer are at their most active and visibility is dropping.

Be careful! With the time change, you risk of hitting a deer with your vehicle goes up, at a time of the year when the risk his highest (the rut). 🦊🌿🦤

theconversation.com/another-prob...

Washington sanctions Ouagadougou for refusing to accept deportees from the United States Following Ouagadougou’s refusal to accept migrants deported from the United States, Washington has resolved to send Burkinabé visa applicants to Togo.

Burkina Faso lives up to its name and stands up to the vindictive US government - it refuses to be used as a prison camp for US deportees from around the world, and the US retaliates.

Leaf-lined path bordered with aspen trees

Cool crisp apple air
Aspen leaves fall like gold snow
The last crickets trill

🌿 #haiku #poetry

Just focus on the yard work,
Block those worries from your head,
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

When frost is on the punkin
The Hoosier poet said
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

Quilt the surface with soft leaves
The soil is alive, not dead.
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

Thoughts about the heating bills
Are much better left unsaid.
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

Harvest the green tomatoes
‘Cause they will never turn red.
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

Quarry black, rich compost soil
Make sure that it is well-spread
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

The leaves are gold and scarlet,
The sky is as grey as lead.
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

The air smells of woodsmoke,
Old fruit, dead leaves, and bread,
It’s time to turn the compost,
And put the garden to bed.

🌿🌱#Poetry

Surgical gloved hands holding petri dish containing frog eggs.

Hey, I was an 'expert scientist' on National Geographic Paranormal: Blood Rain & Star Jelly. Here are my hands, looking all sciencey. Maybe I can be on this panel.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a chemtrail? A new conspiracy theory finds traction at Kennedy’s HHS | CNN The idea that airplane vapors are toxic to people or that there are ongoing efforts to intentionally change the climate made the social media rounds. Now, it has found advocates at the Department of H...

HHS Secretary Kennedy "is planning to investigate climate and weather control, and is expected to create a task force that will recommend possible federal action," 🧪

Nobody Loves a Goose - Offrange Why the overabundance of Canada geese are causing environmental, health, and crop issues far and wide.

The trouble with Canada geese. 🦉🌎🌿

TWS Journals Click on the article title to read more.

I am proud to have published an article in this journal.
R.I.P. Journal of Fish & Wildlife Management. Deceased not because of a lack of need or demand, but as an intentional political program to eliminate scientific research from the federal government functions. 🧪🌎🦤

New infrastructure could help wildlife traverse a corridor that spans from Ontario to the ADKs As the Ontario Ministry of Transportation plans to expand Highway 401, the A2A Collaborative is proposing new wildlife over and underpasses to help animals migrate.

An excellent piece on the A2A (Adirondack to Algonquin) biological corridor and the need for wildlife passage structures over some major highways. 🦤🌎

Arizona Rejects Compact, Others Leave Options Open Monday’s deadline to provide feedback on the Trump administration’s proposed deal passed with no signatories and silence from some university leaders invited to join.

More on this matter. Some have rejected, some universities appear to be negotiating.

Vanderbilt, Texas, Kansas, Arizona State and Wash U (St. Louis) haven't announced yet whether they will sign and comply - and a deadline is looming.

University of Arizona becomes seventh US college to reject Trump’s ‘compact’ Administration has pushed nine universities to sign a deal that seeks to make changes in line with conservative ideas

Well, some universities, at least, are refusing to sign away their core principles. Arizona, Brown, Dartmouth, MIT, Penn, USC and Virginia are doing the right thing.
#AcademicSky

Hero’s of the day - In a small town of Beckley, WV, Kendra Sullivan staged a one-woman No Kings protest. She was confronted, had the police called on her, but stood her ground. She was physically threatened. Police came more than once and protected her right to protest. This is how we do it.

Purdue student journalists deliver special 'solidarity' newspaper to IU Bloomington campus The special edition blasted across town features columns from IDS and Exponent editors, alongside QR codes to support both student papers.

Many universities are swiftly, even eagerly slipping into the wave of repression against free speech and press. U. of Indiana and Purdue U. are two of those. Bravo on the Purdue Exponent for coming to the support of IU's beleaguered student newspaper. Makes this alumnus proud.
#AcademicSky

A Facebook post by Sara Whitmer recounts how Indiana University abruptly ended the print edition of its student newspaper, The Indiana Daily Student, before Homecoming because the issue criticized university leadership. Purdue University’s student paper, The Exponent, printed and delivered the banned edition overnight in solidarity. The post celebrates student courage and calls for active resistance through solidarity.

🔥 When Indiana silenced its student press, Purdue broke the silence. Rivalry became rebellion as students printed the forbidden paper and carried it through the night to Bloomington. This is what freedom looks like when courage refuses permission.

Ungraded homeworks pile high and you drink hot coffee black,
When frost is on the windshield and dec’rative holiday crap is back.

Warmer weather is leading to vanishing winters in North America’s Great Lakes Warming winters are impacting lakes globally. However, most monitoring in the Great Lakes occurs during warmer, calmer weather. A new report highlights how policymakers can improve winter monitoring.

Excellent timely piece on how climate change is changing winter on the Laurentian Great Lakes, and the need for winter limnological research across the region.
🧪🌎🌿

Lessons from 138 bryophyte genomes | Plantae Pangenomes are amazing resources that provide glimpses into evolution that no single genome can capture. This new article by Dong et al. is a treat, as it describes the findings from a compilation of…

Plant Science Research Weekly -- Lessons from 138 bryophyte genomes (Nature Genetics) (Summary by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching.bsky.social) buff.ly/AfoaxtF

#PlantaePSRW

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS: IU fires student media director after he refused to censor the IDS Indiana University directed the IDS to stop printing news.

Here is the students' @idsnews.bsky.social report out of Indiana University, where the student media director was fired today. www.idsnews.com/article/2025...

Academic freedom is not negotiable. MIT & Dartmouth have affirmed this, as have these student leaders from seven universities. One hopes that this is only a start of a resistance to federal government over-reach on academic curriculum and governance.