S. Craig Roberts

If Keir Starmer would like to speedily claw back a little bit of popularity in the polls, he could announce immediate and swingeing restrictions on the sale and use of fireworks.

So enjoying working with my friend and colleague Piotr Sorokowski in Wroclaw

Our new paper on olfactory plasticity has just been published in Cortex 🧵

Some people with a healthy sense of smell are unable to perceive a few selected odors, a phenomenon known as specific anosmia. We checked if people can gain some perception of these smells via training.

Picture of a book „The forgotten sense. The new science of smell and the extraordinary power of the nose” by Jonas Olofsson.

I genuinely enjoyed The Forgotten Sense by Jonas Olofsson. It covers multiple areas of smell research in an engaging way, making it a great read for both experts and those just discovering the field.
Congratulations @jokriolo.bsky.social!

CrowdScience - Why are some animals black and white? - BBC Sounds Why are zebras so stripy? Why do penguins wear tuxedos?

In a world bursting with colour, why go monochrome? I joined Tim Caro & Martin How on the BBC World Service’s Crowdscience to explore why some animals stand out in stark contrast. From 🦓🐼🐧 it turns out the answers aren’t always so black & white 😉

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

We are advertising for a postdoc with skills in psychophysiological measurement for a project on smell and emotions. Closing date is 30th October. Please spread the word.
www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

Not many 😞 just two or three by searching mainn.

@charlrwalker.bsky.social Hi Charlotte... thank you very much! We're so delighted by this and everyone's positivity about the project today... really encouraging

Stereo olfaction underlies stable coding of head direction in blind mice - Nature Communications Stereo olfaction involves comparing odor differences between the two nostrils. Here, using neuronal recordings and a behavioral test, the authors demonstrate that blind mice use stereo olfaction to fo...

Excited to share the sequel to our 2022 paper! In this follow-up, we show that the stable head direction (HD) signals we reported in blind mice rely on stereo olfaction—that is, the comparison of odor info. between the two nostrils.

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🧵highlights below

Word of the day is ‘foozle’, from the 19th century: of a golfer, to bungle a shot. More generally, to make a complete mess of something.

Word of the day is ‘quiddler’ (18th century): one who focuses on unimportant issues while avoiding the important ones, or who fiddles/plays golf while Rome burns.

It’s war and peace with Donald and Pete – and the worst group chat the world has ever seen | Marina Hyde We absolutely won’t tolerate leaks, they said before looping in a journalist to top secret war plans. Feel safe? Me neither, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

Spot on: It’s war and peace with Donald and Pete – and the worst group chat the world has ever seen | Marina Hyde www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Consistent Facial Cues to Social Class Across Two Different Western Contexts Individuals form impressions of others’ social-class standing from nonverbal information, including facial appearance. Whether the facial cues relating to (perceptions of) social class generalize acr...

very excited to see this work, which started out as my PhD thesis, finally published (open access)!
doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...
Main takeaways 👇
In both 🇨🇦Canada & 🇮🇸Iceland, higher-class individuals look more attractive/healthy/competent and more positive/warm 1/n

This is absolutely hilarious.

Russell Brand shares fake redacted file claiming that Penelope Keith shot JFK.

Clearly didn't read it.

Mind you, it's no madder than some of the other theories.

Word of the day is ‘hingum-tringum’: 19th-century Scots for feeling feeble or barely presentable, and just about hanging together.

Isn’t it about time for all Journals to add a link for Bluesky @bsky.app instead of Toxic X? Please Wake Up & Act! E.g @peerj.bsky.social 🙏

The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science This study reveals that non-native English speakers, especially early in their careers, spend more effort than native English speakers in conducting scientific activities, from reading and writing pap...

2023. #DEI. #PLOSBiology: The manifold costs of being a non-native English speaker in science dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour... via @plosbiology.org

Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.

You first.

Gen-X knows 🤣

WYOMING:
“Thank you, Madam chairman.”
“I prefer ‘Mister’ chairman.”
“Well you all voted preferred pronouns cannot be compelled speech.”

Research claims EU deal will fuel growth — and Labour is listening A report says Britain can mend some of the economic damage of Brexit without crossing the red lines set by Keir Starmer

As being “free to make our own trade deals” has delivered the square root of jack shit and, as Brexiters still can’t tell us what EU regulations they want to scrap, closer alignment with the EU should be a no-brainer.

Great work @bestforbritain.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

https://tv.apple.com/.../umc.cmc.2o8al5w2z01dnm4f9aw11d2w7

New BBC episode is now online and I am very happy that the story about wood mice making signposts is based on our research (dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472...) while I was a postdoc in @oxfordbiology.bsky.social (Dept. Zool. at that time). #WILDCRU
tv.apple.com/.../umc.cmc....

Thanks, Vanessa!

Thanks, and sorry about that. Here it is: www.stir.ac.uk/news/2024/au...

Working link: www.stir.ac.uk/news/2024/au...

This is one of the finest pieces of popular science writing I have ever read--full of twists and turns and surprises. It takes us from van Leeuwenhoek's look at sperm to kids with heart defects, via Dr. No--take a moment and read it! 🧪

PhD opportunity! We are recruiting for a study on population resilience of reintroduced European bison in partnership w/ Rewilding Spain & University of the Basque Country. Applications must be processed by the 14th of Feb. UK home students only. Please get in touch Susanne.shultz@manchester.ac.uk

Saw this over at the bad place, and it made me laugh.😂

Yesterday in Nature. A new place for science 👌