Jason Bittel

Should you still squash spotted lanternflies? Here’s what to know Scientists and lawmakers alike are looking for ways to combat these invasive insects. But do they still present the same environmental harm as we originally thought?

It's that time of year again. 🧪

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Photo of lobster underwater with caption “watchdog group downgrades US from democracy to whatever political system lobsters have”

Fisheries management news from @theonion.com 🦑

Ha are you in NYC currently?

Should you still squash spotted lanternflies? Here’s what to know Scientists and lawmakers alike are looking for ways to combat these invasive insects. But do they still present the same environmental harm as we originally thought?

It's that time of year again. 🧪

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

RFK Jr. backs down all the time when he gets push back, so if anyone wants to call, here's the HHS number 1-877-696-6775.
I'd also call your senators/reps as well.

This is an important read. 🧪

Awesome!!

Behold my very first non-avian dinosaur fossil find.🦖🦷 #FossilFriday

The OG.

This is a great idea!

Please share, and tag interested friends. Happy to answer questions.

🧪🌎🦑🐠 #SciComm

I've recently been writing in AP style, and they like their emdashes with spaces before and after. I'm not crazy about it, if I'm being honest, but faced with the alternative -- no emdashes -- I am doing my best to comply.

wow, still wriggling!?

You might read this & squirm. That's okay, it's very squirmable. But also, I find it utterly fascinating that life has wormed its way into every nook & cranny of not just rock & sea but also every tissue, every fiber, every ounce of flesh.

We live in a mosaic of living things. We are never alone.

The Worst Thing You Can Do For Deer The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Deer hell, at least.

And that's stuff you can see. Deer also carry meningeal worms in their brains, lungworms, stomach worms, liver flukes, muscle worms, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, blue tongue, bovine tuberculosis, and more recently, chronic wasting disease

jasonbittel.substack.com/p/the-worst-...

Not saying it has to be one or the other, strictly, & I don't have the time to get into a meat-or-not post, but I've seen the insides of the deer we envision as happily frolicking through the wood, & I'm here to tell you:

They're covered in ticks, wingless flies, and nasal bot worms.

A thing I think about a lot is that people don't like that we use antibiotics & steroids & whatever else in livestock, because they're seen as pollutants -- & maybe they are, or they are in some quantities -- but wild game can be positively pulsating w/parasites, & uh, no one wants that either.

This chimney swift (I think) tried to land on my son’s back last night. He goes, “Is there a bug on me?” And I’m like, uhhh 😬

🦉🧪

The Arrival Fallacy You'll never get there, so you should rethink the journey.

Get out of my head, @davidepstein.bsky.social.

davidepstein.substack.com/p/the-arriva...

Yeah, unfortunately White Nose Syndrome really did a number on many bat populations. Truly a modern plague...

Meet the bat that eats other bats Scientists are learning more about the rarely seen spectral bat, Latin America’s “jaguar on the wing.”

Was just telling some folks about the night I got to meet a spectral bat and figured it was worth sharing again here. What an absolute legend. 🧪

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Love this!

Are orange cats really the goofiest cats? Genetics may have an answer. The best science on ginger feline behavior hints, yeah, there might be something special about them.

I looked into "orange cat core" for Nat Geo. Turns out, it might actually be a thing. 🧪

www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

A digital illustration of a squid sort of like a Humboldt Squid but I wasn’t doing scientific illustration here. It’s colored in mottled dark reds with pink highlights and and tinges of orange. Behind the squid is a watery radiating shape made of greenish blue colors against which is set orange lettering reading ‘maybe it will happen today’. Some will certainly ask ‘why a squid?’ They are not our people.

Might go put some grass behind my ear in memory...

you can't make this stuff up 😂

Look, when I say I was not prepared for the emotional ending of this piece, which is about chimps sticking grass up their butts, I mean I was not prepared for the emotional ending of this piece.

Always read @sabs.bsky.social. 🧪🦊

Alright, does anyone know how to regain access to a microsoft email?

I've tried changing the password through godaddy. I've tried submitting an account recovery request through @microsoft.com. It was denied.

I feel like I have no other resources. And I have to cancel subscription and delete.

No offense taken! I'm just saying that the person who created this is an expert, and that if you're looking for queens across lots of hives, this tool apparently saves you time and stress to the hive -- even if you're an expert beekeeper. That's the point.

I am not a beekeeper, but the person who created this is second-generation, and presumably if they thought there was need, then... there's need?