Neil R. Edwards

One to three species of invertebrates going extinct in Australia per week according to new paper - nice talk here in Cambridge PRISMS series: cassyni.com/s/cambridge-...

Homepage As ETH's central hub for artificial intelligence, we bring together researchers of AI foundations, applications, and implications across all departments. We foster research excellence, industry innova...

Fascinating and important development in green #computing and #ai from consortium including @ethz.ch ai.ethz.ch

Mysterious fossil may rewrite story of skin and feather evolution in reptiles The fossil creature has outgrowths on its back that are neither hair nor feathers.

Fossils found in 1930s push origins of feathers back to middle Triassic c 247 Ma
theconversation.com/mysterious-f...

🦋 Did you know butterflies can tell us a lot about the health of our local environments - and that you can help them thrive right from your own home? | The Open University 🦋 Did you know butterflies can tell us a lot about the health of our local environments - and that you can help them thrive right from your own home? OU Postgraduate Researcher and Associate Lecturer...

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

A shout for our paper modelling ancient climates with @sabinzahirovic.bsky.social and a big HELLO to @bryonyblades.bsky.social started today working with me, @palaeosingh.bsky.social and team on our @leverhulme.ac.uk funded Amazon #biodiversity modelling project SABER www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Really nice new paper closely connected to our SABER project focused on origins of Amazon #biodiversity with @palaeosingh.bsky.social and NB just started today @bryonyblades.bsky.social funded by @leverhulme.ac.uk

Two major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature Communications Here, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional tran...

Nice paper shows two major shifts in ecosystem structure over last 60 Ma based on big fossil database www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Maximising the effectiveness of conservation - seminar this evening

Great day today at at OU Open Societal Challenges Sustainability Research Fest hearing about some amazing OSC research from villages in Guyana to green roofs in Milton Keynes with @richard-holliman.bsky.social @palaeosingh.bsky.social

Green roof studied on Milton Keynes Open University building The Open University is the latest building in Milton Keynes to get a green roof.

Great to see this fantastic @ou-eees.bsky.social Open Societal Challenge green roof research project getting some exposure today (not to mention the sunshine it’s getting) bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx25xq6wxldo

US Senator Cory Booker just spoke for 25 hours in Congress. What was he trying to achieve? US senators engage in lengthy speeches when they are losing. This is clearly what motivated Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech: a sense the Democrats are losing to Trump.

If ‘Moments like this require us to be more creative or more imaginative, or just more persistent and dogged and determined’ then it doesn’t get more determined than a 25 hour speech - awesome:
theconversation.com/us-senator-c...

This is a new social media account for the School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the @openuniversity.bsky.social.

We're looking forward to sharing work from the school, & hearing about positive actions that respond to the climate emergency.

Classic Hypotheses of Area, Time, and Climatic Stability Fall Short in Explaining High Tropical Species Richness Aim Tropical biodiversity overshadows the number of species inhabiting other regions. Age, area, and stability constitute three classical ideas used to explain the higher richness in these warm and ...

Tropical #biodiversity not easily explained - even with 5m years of PALEO-PGEM climate data
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Great day yesterday @palaeosingh.bsky.social delighted to have you on the team and really looking forward to working together on Amazonian #biodiversity #evolution with @drtlstubbs.bsky.social and the team @openuniversity.bsky.social

Transforming US agriculture for carbon removal with enhanced weathering - Nature A state-level analysis of the impact of enhanced weathering deployment on carbon sequestration on agricultural land suggests that enhanced weathering could help the USA meet net-zero 2050 goals.

Major new super-detailed analysis of #CO2 removal by enhanced weathering in USA. We find potential for 160-300 MtCO2/yr by 20250 www.nature.com/articles/s41... (how to sell to future policy makers is another story)

Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’ A leading figure in feminism and gender studies, the thinker welcomes EL PAÍS in California after being voted one of the most influential minds in the world

Judith Butler: "Once you decide that a single vulnerable minority can be sacrificed, you’re operating within a fascist logic, because that means there might be a second one you’re willing to sacrifice, and a third, a fourth, and then what happens?"

Doesn’t seem right to ‘like’ this so reposting instead. Incredible to think the Alpine glaciers have lost ~40% this century already

How plants are able to remember stress without a brain How stress leaves its mark on plants.

How do #plants remember without a brain? Nice article by @jurriaanton.bsky.social spoiler: epigenetics, jumping genes and storing records in the soil theconversation.com/how-plants-a...

Best story this week: Danes offer to buy California to spite Trump’s Greenland aims: ‘We’ll bring hygge to Hollywood’

‘Sputnik moment’: $1tn wiped off US stocks after Chinese firm unveils open-source #AI chatbot outperforming $100m existing AI models for $5.6m development cost

Now only One Week to deadline for PhD places next year on the ILESLA scheme with Oxford, OU and Oxford Brookes for world-class PhD training and research opportunities across whole remit of natural environment and biological sciences. See web link for to apply via OU

How to Apply and Funding

Two weeks to go until the application deadline for ILESLA. If you or anyone you know would benefit from full funding to carry out a PhD in Life and/or Environmental Science please visit/refer to our website page iles.web.ox.ac.uk/how-apply where you can see open day videos and get full guidance.

View through window to icy field and winter trees with ice crystals on exterior of window

Week 117 #retrofitting project good news is Nordan 3-glazed windows keep heat in so well condensation NB outside is still ice at 11am with 14C inside & ~0C outside

Week 117 of my #retrofitting project walking the #sustainability walk and fixing the heating unfortunately trashed the beautiful oak floor. Not best Xmats present

UK electricity cleanest ever in 2024, with record 58% from low-carbon sources UK has more than halved amount of electricity generated from fossil fuels but gas still had largest share at 28%

More of this kind of news, please.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Keir Starmer pays tribute to brother who died on Boxing Day

The five best non-fiction books of 2024 – according to our experts From politics to environment, here are five books published in 2024 for all sorts of readers

Anyone still looking for gift ideas, some improving reading suggestions here theconversation.com/the-five-bes...

Virtual open day tomorrow for our super-exciting new PhD training programme with Oxford, Oxford Brookes et al. Last chance to sign up and hear about the centre and how to apply

Last call for sign-ups to our Virtual Open Day tomorrow. We'll cover the application and assessment process. Here's a bonus video about choosing a college, for many who are mystified how to choose a college (spoiler, you don't actually have to!) youtu.be/cov8JiyhLTg. Sign up at www.ilesla.ox.ac.uk

Going to re-up these two post doc opportunities as the deadline is fast approaching.