Mark Ikeda

5? What fun; thanks!

Look at those raptorial legs! Impressive!

This might be a productive organization for you; www.gnsi.org

My gestalt, knee jerk, identifications would be useless down under! Thanks for your photo treats Alex!

Nothing more grounding than being reminded that we are all part of this good earth! Hope your semester? is a good one.

Thank goodness it split the uprights!

Opinion | Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project

The blind destruction of American scientific research by the Trump Administration seems to indicate a lack of understanding about the true origin of many modern technological innovations.

Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...

Top-down macro photograph of three blocky, black ants on a white background. All the ants are covered in evenly-spaced, silvery hairs, giving a glittery appearance. The ants at left and center have large, plate-like heads, the one at center, the queen, is quite elongated.

My project this evening was this composite photograph showing caste in Texas turtle ants: soldier, queen, and worker. This is one of those twig-nesting ants whose soldiers serve as living guard doors, using that massive head to block the entrance.

An article on Rosalind Franklin published (2001) in the Canadian Journal of Medical Laboratory Science.

Happy birthday Rosalind Franklin (25 July 1920)

Chemist and X-ray crystallographer, Franklin’s work illuminated structures of RNA, DNA, coal, graphite, and viruses.

#WomenInStem

Color me flabbergasted!

Lovely to see.

The reason there is no official merch is that Watterson refused to license it. Said he’d quit drawing the strip if the syndicate insisted. They gave in.

The central character is a *stuffed animal.* He could have been Charles Schulz level rich.

If you have the specimen in hand; hemipterans are notable for their piercing mouthparts (looks like a needle). The presence of a triangular shaped scutellum is also a clue. Nice ID!

It's been a bit since I've done a meteorological deep dive, but the devastating flash #flood in central Texas this July 4th/5th deserve a closer look. #TXwx

Yes remnants of #Barry were involved helping enhance moisture. A remnant MCV from Mexico on 3 July also played a role.

Full evolution below ⤵️

It is especially nice to see that these remarkable birds that creep into the SE corner of AZ are still observed! Thanks for the post and photo!!

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...

we worked so hard on this, nights and weekends, trying our best to do a good job for the American people

Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbirds Bird beaks are highly adaptable, with the potential to undergo rapid morphological shifts in response to environmental change such as climatic variation or food availability. Anna's Hummingbirds (Cal...

🚨New paper alert!🚨
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology

That is some type of intellectual boomerang!

They can be rather grumpy sometimes!

Really lovely photos! Deserts are best appreciated on foot! Surprises galore. Thank you.

I see black splotches on insect label stock

Weather & climate office hour 04/29/2025: Western weather & snowpack conditions (& federal update) YouTube video by Weather West

UCLA's Daniel Swain has harsh words about the dismantling of the National Climate Assessment and plans for a "sham report" with false claims on "the benefits that melting ice sheets and increasingly severe wildfires and severe heat waves bring to the American people.” www.youtube.com/live/k87f1-e...

Syrphid fly

NSF Grant Termination Information Collection Form Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NSF grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025. We are tracking these grants to increase transparency, organize affected PIs, and facilitate responses, including via litigation. Please share the form as widely as possible with your networks. We are actively building a pipeline to organize these terminations and will soon have a tracker akin to our NIH grant tracker at https://airtable.com/appjhyo9NTvJLocRy/shrNto1NNp9eJlgpA WE WILL NOT DISCLOSE THE IDENTITY OF ANYONE WHO USES THIS FORM TO PROVIDE INFORMATION. We will keep your identity confidential. These resources are maintained by Noam Ross of rOpenSci and Scott Delaney of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, with input and support from additional volunteers. For any questions, please contact Scott Delaney on Signal (sdelaney.84). THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE!

🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨

We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely!

airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...

Front view of an orange/brown ant. It has large “angry” eyes like that of a wasp on its triangular head and slender, toothed mandibles. It has long antennae spread sideways. It has a thorax shaped like a stubby spoon (with the head being the front part) and a short bulbous abdomen.

Here’s a second, ridiculous litter monster ant (Myrmoteras sp.) from leaf litter samples in a secondary forest in Borneo, this time a much better photo. It has eyes which look like they might cry any time soon…

The sun setting over a trail this evening.

Spending time in nature reduces stress, improves mental health, boosts the immune system, and enhances overall well-being. That’s the scientific version.

On nights like this though, I just say that it restores my soul ☀️

The restorative benefits of even small doses are unfailingly present!

A four sided gall opened with four recurved points is held above a rosette of stunted leaves by a peduncle emerging from the green stem of a rubber rabbitbrush.

This undescribed #tephritidae induced gall (www.jstor.org/stable/42871...) is easily my favorite #gall on rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa). It's uncommon in my experience, having only encountered it twice.
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera

This new genus of sunflower 😍🌻🤯