Anya Auerbach

IT'S HAPPENING

BUSTED-PH: Isolating the genomic signatures of convergent phenotypes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.29.702612v1

Looking forward to reading this!!

Since you just use frozen purée instead of having to squeeze limes its actually *even easier*

A screenshot of a recipe for Lime pie (or lemon or passion). The recipe is as follows. Preheat oven to 325. Process, or put in a ziplock and roll with a rolling pin or pound until you have crumbs (you can also buy graham crumbs and add powdered ginger): -gingersnaps, to make 1 cup crumbs Mix will with: -2 2/3 tbsp butter, melted. (If the crust seems to greasy, as with some richer kinds of cookies, I add a little almond flour) Pat evenly into an 8” pie pan (glass is best). Bake 10 minutes, then cool 10 minutes. Whisk or blend: -1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk -grated peel of 2 large limes -3/4 c fresh lime juice (about 4 large juicy limes, a lot more if small or dry) -4 yolks Pour into crust. Bake 25 minutes, until set. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving (important). Do not serve at room temperature. For a 9” pie use 1 ½ recipe. For passion pie, use 1 cup puree for 8” pie, 1 ½ cups for 9”.

From my mom, so no link! You just substitute frozen passionfruit puree (find at your local Latin grocery) for lime juice (use slightly more, here 1 cup rather than 3/4).

Here it is, don’t know the origin of the recipe but credit for passionfruit version to my mom, Karen Becker.

I wish I could say all this left me feeling rested and rejuvenated but that would unfortunately be a total lie :/

A picture of a deep golden-yellow pie, like a key lime pie but closer to orange. Its not very pretty but it tastes fantastic I swear.

Also ate passionfruit pie when I got home, one of the best and easiest things one can make.

A photo of a deer taken with a phone through binoculars. It is lying down and dusted in snow.

A distant digibin of an Eastern Screech-Owl asleep in its tree cavity, with snow falling outside. It is a small gray owl with intricate patterning and cute little ear tufts.

Saw some fluffy guys in Minneapolis yesterday. Ate some really good pupusas. Started a new book (Forest Euphoria- lovely and relatable!). Went to a Klezmer dance.

There are lots of ways to be in community!

I am looking for a master’s student to join my research group at Angelo State to work on an NSF-funded project in collaboration with colleagues at Cal Poly Humboldt and in Brazil. Please help me share this opportunity!

Just as a quick note while we discuss all the new (and familiar) names in the Epstein files: be careful about saying "everyone knows" about prominent people who are predators. People new to the field, people less connected (often marginalized folks), people who are adjacent, etc. may not know.

IDF, police stop Tu B’Shvat coexistence olive-tree planting in beleaguered Palestinian hamlet * * *

NO PLANTING TREES ON THE NEW YEAR OF THE TREES

🚫🌳

the mechanisms of apartheid control and its disregard for human life, dignity, safety, freedom---

wind up coming down to the absolute fucking absurd.

God foribid people have a tree. God forbid an olive.

The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation - npj Biodiversity npj Biodiversity - The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation

Excited to present the flounder effect - how our biases in sampling and worker effort impact our view of organisms.

A long term collaboration with @fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social, @bigfacecats.bsky.social, Jon Hendricks, and Curtis Congreve!

#FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

I forgot I got a still of proud mama harbor seal!!! #sealsky 🦑 🦭

I can’t stress this enough. The state of 4th Amendment law is that the cops can’t force you to type in a passcode but they can force you to swipe your finger or present your face. Never stop using passcodes/passwords to unlock your devices. And consider additional code to unlock Signal.

I *hope* its obvious that I’m not trying to victim blame here, just begging folks to realize how bad things have gotten and hoping we can get as few kids (and people, period) hurt as possible.

Yeah, that’s what Erin’s thread is about.

But he didn’t, he got her returned, because her husband was friends with the officer. Not exactly encouraging for the rest of us who don’t have personal cop buddies to tell ICE “hey wait not THAT one”

Ah yeah, “fraternal order of police”, not actually the union (and statewide, so mostly outside the cities), thanks for the catch.

I don’t want to let their leadership off the hook either but I’m sure that’s part of it. Minnesota cop union’s statement after Renee Good was killed should have been the end of anyone expecting them to help us (and mind you, nobody I’ve seen in local organizing thinks they’re allies or anything)

This is going to sound harsh, but the last few weeks in MN have shown us that this is basically default ICE behavior when confronted with a crowd.

Nobody should be deliberately bringing their children into proximity with ICE right now.

No matter what you do, it likely won’t be a peaceful protest.

Police departments in targeted deep-blue cities keep on saying they’ll try to stop ICE from breaking the law and then they do jack shit except occasionally arrest some protesters.

Its notable they’re even saying these things, but lets focus on what their actions have always and continue to tell us.

This is Callie. She is trained to accurately detect bowel cancer in order to provide rapid diagnoses through non-invasive testing. Some might call it lab work, but Callie is actually a sprocker spaniel. 14/10 incredible job, Callie (IG: medicaldetectiondogs)

Habitat and complex life cycles promote morphological diversity in salamander limb bones We examined the external shape and cross-sectional morphology of limb bones in 133 salamander species spanning the ecological and phylogenetic breadth of Caudata. We find that adaptations for aquatic...

Second PhD paper is out! We find: 1) aquatic and terrestrial salamanders have different limb bone adaptations, 2) complex life cycles promote different traits, 3) decoupling of external and internal bone traits increase diversity.

Thread (1/8) and FREE link below! 🦎🧪

doi.org/10.1111/joa....

"Return CBP to the border"
Now that you have seen what CBP does, why is it okay to have them on the US-Mexico or US-Canada border? Some people say they want "a controlled border" but at what cost to life?

This part. Celebrate every victory, large and small. Celebrate each other. Celebrate the love and solidarity that hold you together. Never stop doing this. It's fundamental.

and by the way, i’m not just saying this as rhetoric. that is actually what the numbers are, and i’m qualified to say that, as someone in the field

Seeing the NYT switch to active voice feels like watching a seal holding back the apocalypse crack

Does everyone have a warm bed?
Does everyone have enough to eat?
Does everyone have a place to be safe?
Whose getting snatched in the night?

- Junauda Petrus, "Ritual on How to Love Minneapolis Again"

One thing that irks me: people keep calling the folks on the streets in Minneapolis protestors. They are not generally there to protest, they are there to observe and document. This is the product of organizing and mutual aid. It is telling that these acts of citizenship are seen as protest!

BREAKING: Federal agents shoot, kill Minneapolis man on Nicollet Federal immigration agents shot and killed a Minneapolis man on Nicollet Avenue Saturday morning.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed that federal immigration agents shot and killed a man on Nicollet Avenue Saturday morning, marking the third time an agent shot a civilian in the city this month.