Martin Collinson

A genetically tractable non-vertebrate system to study complete camera-type eye regeneration Nature Communications - Accorsi et al. show that the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata has eyes similar to humans and can fully regenerate them. They then developed genetic tools to establish these...

Evolution’s eye game is wild, but mollusks take it to another level

CRISPR in apple snails gives us a new model to dissect how nature rebuilds complex organs like the camera-type eyes we humans possess

It turns out Evolution doesn’t just innovate, it rewinds, remixes, & regenerates

rdcu.be/ezw0t

Amazed they consider Lesser Spot and Willow Tit self-sustaining given imminent UK extinction of both.

REVIVE - the coalition for grouse moor reform, has joined Bluesky!

Please give them a follow: @revivecoalition.bsky.social

~10 White-beaked Dolphins offshore at Newtonhill this evening. 60 Manxies in 2 hours but no Sooties.

Who will benefit from the Heathrow expansion? Ultra rich jetsetters There’s something bitterly ironic about a government claiming to take the climate crisis seriously while backing the expansion of Heathrow Airport — a project that will release an estimated 4.4 millio...

This is what environmental injustice looks like. But it’s also social injustice.
www.standard.co.uk/comment/heat...
#Heathrow #HeathrowExpansion
@zackpolanski.bsky.social once again hitting the nail on the head.

My first 3 Sooty Shearwaters of the year past Newtonhill this evening. Autumn is on.

An English phrase for describing two things (or people) that are completely different is “like chalk and cheese.” A similar phrase in Czech is jako nebe a dudy. It means “like heaven and bagpipes.”

We hosted a wasp at our lab picnic that helped itself to a bit of chicken.

Thanks to Starmer and Labour Friends of Israel.

Absolutely ridiculous.

This needs repealing immediately.

Labbie Alaa dressed extremely fashionably in blue, stood in front of fantastic science, her poster entitled 'Endothelial-specific SMN deficiency drives retinal vascularisation in a novel SMA mouse model.'

Labbie Alaa Alshwayyat did a science and is presenting it to the Anatomical Society. We are studying the vascular problems that occur in spinal muscular atrophy, a very nasty disease
#spinalmuscularatrophy #sma 🧪

Modelling migration of cells that regenerate the eye's cornea

📷 made with @leicamicrosystems.bsky.social
by Kaja Kostanjevec et al @docmartin2mc.bsky.social
@uniofaberdeen.bsky.social, Henkes lab @unileiden.bsky.social in @elife.bsky.social

➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025... with
John Ankers

Tony Marr 1939-2025: a fine birder who invested time into maintaining the structures which support birding, ornithology & conservation.

Blog: markavery.info/2025/07/11/t...

#sussex @bou.org.uk @rspb.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @scottishbirding.bsky.social

Tony in the hide at Loch Stiapabhat

Birding with friends Martin Scott & Andy Williams

Searching for his next mega

With friends David Clugton & Angus Hogg on Lewis

I was saddened to hear Tony Marr had passed away. A lovely man & a real gentleman. I got to know him while surveying on the island of Lewis. He was a real contributor & will be greatly missed by those who were lucky to know him. I am sure much more will be written about his many achievements. 🌟

Plastic doll's head sticking out of a clump of moss and grass, in a muddy puddle.

Mosses have a complicated breeding system... the gametes swim through the damp substrate and when they combine the baby moss stays with its parents for several months. #science

It's 100% a relegation kit 😭😭😭

Has the Nechisar Nightjar Mystery Been Solved? - American Birding Association The authors of a new study believe they have solved one of the world’s great rare bird mysteries: the case of the Nechisar Nightjar, Caprimulgus solala.

There's news on the Nechisar nightjar (Caprimulgus solala), named for a single wing found in Ethiopia in 1990. DNA analysis - as yet unpublished - shows that it's a previously unreported thing among Old World nightjars... a hybrid! www.aba.org/has-the-nech... #ornithology #birds #nightjars

That looks likely! Thank you!

Tree Bumblebee on a cotoneaster

Tree Bumblebees have gone from 'OMG a Tree Bumblebee' to nesting in our old toilet outflow in 3 years.

Seven-spot Ladybird next to an empty ladybird exuvia. Some kind of creepy white spider lurks nearby

Seven-spot Ladybird sat next to the exuvia it presumably recently emerged from. And I only just noticed the weird spider, if anyone fancies telling me what it is...

4 Herring Gulls sat like a bridge group, each with a corner of a dead Kittiwake chicken, pulling it to bits

2 Kittiwakes on a ledge with a floofy chick visible under the right hand adult.

The unedifying spectacle of four Herring Gulls tearing apart a chick. The Herring Gull floofs are more advanced so this may be a Kittiwake, example on right

Northern Brown Argus Butterfly sat on a Barley leaf in the sunshine. Small white spots on the brown forefinger give it away

Ka-chowww!!! One of two Northern Brown Argus along the clifftops at Newtonhill. My first here for about 10 years.

Pink flowers - Reversed Clover Trifolium resupinatum - growing in dry stoney soil

This is new to me... Reversed (or Persian) Clover Trifolium resupinatum growing on stoney soil, recently dumped during bridge works. Newtonhill, NE Scotland

Guest Post – Bird Detectives: Using Feathers & Community Science Clues to Solve a Remarkable Birdstrike Mystery As you might imagine, there is not much evidence left after a bird has collided mid-air with an airplane.

"Normally, examination of the clues and evidence [from an aircraft birdstrike] will lead to a straightforward bird identification; however, one recent situation presented a puzzling result that required a great deal of sleuthing to solve." #ornithology

Looks like webbing between the toes?

Photo of a pink plant pot outside with 3 Northern Marsh Orchids. One of them is starting to flower.

From out of nowhere, in a neglected weedy pot in the garden, we seem to be manifesting Northern Marsh Orchids

From Latest Scottish Birds...

The band Pixies on stage, with orange lights

Such a treat. Real live Pixies in Aberdeen.

@pixiesofficial.bsky.social

An Offering 😊 based on the iconic Led Zeppelin 'Stairway to Heaven' artwork and featuring Vessel with a cute little Sleep Token lantern overlooking Arcadia. With lyrics from Caramel.

Acrylic on canvas board 40 x 50 cm

#sleeptoken #sleeptokenart

Microscope image of cells in culture, messy and dying

Are your cells on Chemgene? Know the signs:

Condensed Chromatin
Blebbing
Detachment from substrate
Swimming in debris

Talk to your cells about Chemgene!
🧪

Has the Nechisar Nightjar Mystery Been Solved? - American Birding Association The authors of a new study believe they have solved one of the world’s great rare bird mysteries: the case of the Nechisar Nightjar, Caprimulgus solala.

After decades of mystery, the enigma of the Nechisar Nightjar may finally be solved. Read about the latest discovery in this fascinating saga here: www.aba.org/has-the-nech...

Special thanks to Mathieu Wald for sharing the preprint referenced in the article with the author.