Martin Collinson

Policy Analysis: Why VAT on private school fees will raise more than planned, and why it matters Policy analysis of a debate I was privileged enough to be involved in last year

Some policy analysis about VAT on private school fees, why it is set to raise more than originally forecast, and why this matters.

Please read, share, and subscribe for more!

open.substack.com/pub/barrybla...

The moment an Israeli missile hit a tent in Gaza was caught on camera when a Palestinian girl filmed herself showing her hair clips.

First preprint from my PhD is out!
If molluscan developmental biology and genetics, gene-editing methodology in non-traditional model systems, or the function and conservation of pax6 interests you, please give it a read! 🐚🎉

Meh, I'm calling hybrid. £50 on it 😀

No one could prove me wrong either

It's like a Sooty Shearwater but doesn't tell as many lies.

Must be my latest Sooth Shearwater ever, south at Newtonhill this afternoon.

Beautiful pinwheel patterns of cell migration across the corneal surface visualised by mosaic blue XGal stain so the whole thing looks like a delicious minty humbug.

Magnificent fully funded PhD position available with me, Rastko Sknepnek (Dundee) and Silke Henkes (Leiden) on epithelial cell migration. @physicsoflifeuk.bsky.social @bscb-official.bsky.social @epimechfc.bsky.social

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

EastBio: Spiral eyes! Modelling epithelial cell migration in vivo and for tissue engineering. at University of Aberdeen on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - EastBio: Spiral eyes! Modelling epithelial cell migration in vivo and for tissue engineering. at University of Aberdeen , listed on FindAPhD.com

Fully funded EASTBIO PhD. Everyone should apply.
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Nighttime snow scene, with blizzard

Lovely and sunny

Top SCINET - Top 2% Scientists Discover and Connect with the world's leading researchers in Stanford University's Top 2% Scientists list, based on citation impact and bibliometric indicators.

Haha I'm in World's Top 2% Scientists. In your face, top 3%
topscinet.com/scientist_pr...

Tess collecting poop from fallen leaves in woodland

Labbie Tess @tessaroo.bsky.social is on a poop collecting mission. For science.

A cluster of bright orange fungi growing in the ground

Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia.

Male Red-spotted Bluethroat

Breeding records of Red-spotted (red) and White-spotted (blue) Bluethroats in the UK since 1973

Both the Red-spotted and White-spotted races of Bluethroat try to breed in the UK occasionally but breeding has only been confirmed on five occasions, in 1968, 85, 95, 2016 (Red-spotted) and 1996 (White-spotted). There were single possible breeding records of both in 2023 #ukbirding #ornithology

Graph of Temminck's Stint breeding occurrences, showing small but regular numbers in the 1970s, with confirmed breeding in 14 years between 1976 and 1997, then a long gap before confirmed breeding in 2023

Adult Temminck's Stint

Another species returning to breed in 2023 was Temminck's Stint; a pair laid a clutch of four eggs in Highland, although the nest was later flooded out. This tiny wader bred regularly in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but this was the first confirmed breeding since 1997 #ornithology #BirdingScotland

Sox9 prevents retinal degeneration and is required for limbal stem cell differentiation in the adult mouse eye The Sox9 gene is necessary for maintaining vision in the mouse adult eye, acting as an essential factor for retinal and corneal function.

In @elife.bsky.social: Sox9 prevents retinal degeneration and is required for limbal stem cell differentiation in the adult mouse eye doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

A white willow ptarmigan with reddish-brown mottling on the back and head walks with purpose over the rocky ground, it's long, fluffy legs eating up the distance with each stride.

Coming through! Important ptarmigan stuff to do!
#birds 🌿

Front of Glasgow O2 Academy lit up for Fields of the Nephilim

It's happening #fieldsofthenephilim

Tweet saying 'Unplugged the freezer in the Stamp Shop to charge my phone and all their stamps melted. Now I'm being chased slowly down the road by old men'

8 year anniversary of my best ever but sadly ignored tweet

At a fancy-pants conference where everyone's a professor and let me tell you the timetable is not holding up well.

Photo of Louvre heist perp in a hi vis vest

There really is a Half Man Half Biscuit song for every occasion.

spotify.link/XyMqMeeQCXb

The sound of October.

I can never tell if Eiders are really interested in what I say, or whether they're just being sarcastic.

Sad brown stalk and empty seed heads of a Lindisfarne (Dune) Helleborine, hardly visible among the greenery.

Behold, a Lindisfarne Helleborine in all its October glory.

A fairly Great Grey Shrike sat on a bush

Blimey you don't bump into these every day

So many treats offshore today, including a Merlin chasing incoming passerine over the sea, juv Sabine's Gull, Little Gull, Whooper Swans and Barnacle Geese, and patch-rarest of all, 3 Shelducks going south.

Genetic Identification of Birds - The Aberdeen Wildlife DNA Lab Help Martin Collinson raise money to support University of Aberdeen Development Trust SCIO

Thank you to everyone who continues to contribute to our fundraiser. Recent greatest hits from samples sent in by ringers and birders for ID include an Atlas Flycatcher in Spain, and a Ménétries's Warbler in Poland!

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/...

Top birds for yesterday were Treecreeper and (honorary bird) Minke Whale - both less than annual in Newtonhill despite no lack of trees or sea.

Can of pineapple flavour beer called 'Ananas in Pyjamas' featuring 2 pineapples in pyjamas running (possibly chasing teddy bears).

Is it just me or is beer getting sillier?