Miriam Richards

A PhD student with a female supervisor that they refer to as "Dr", just sent me an email with "Dear Mrs. Richards". Trying not to be irritated because maybe it's an overdue email to my long-dead grandmother.

Stinking, Spongy, Dark, Huge: A Spider Web Unlike Any Seen Before

We are out here fighting over whether we should keep burning the atmosphere or if people should have enough food to eat, and meanwhile the spiders are learning to cooperate. You do not want the spiders to cooperate.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...

How'd they lose their summer tan so fast?

An Oxytrigona cagafogo fire bee launches from her nest in subtropical Brazil.

When I took this photo in 2012, the resources available for species IDs were sparser than now, and I often left images unprocessed if I couldn’t figure it out.

Turns out I’ve got buried treasures!

How Inventors Find Inspiration in Evolution (Gift Article) Soft batteries and water-walking robots are among the many creations made possible by studying animals and plants.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

PSA from the Tired Prof: Google Gemini creates way better multiple choice questions than GPT-5 does. In general, Gemini seems to 'know' way more science. Also, GPT-5 thinks the answer to 80% of multiple choice questions is B.

James Watson, who co-discovered DNA double helix, dies at 97 Scientist helped break new ground in study of genetics, but later caused outcry with promotion of racist ideas.

Scientist helped break new ground in study of genetics, but later caused outcry with promotion of racist ideas.

Now playing.

Canadian reality TV star threatens to go full Karen on most powerful elected official in NYC

Poilievre prevents more MPs from leaving party by locking doors, swallowing key OTTAWA – In an effort to prevent any more defections from caucus, party leader Pierre Poilievre has reportedly locked all Conservative MPs in an undisclosed room in Parliament Hill before swallowing the key.

Poilievre prevents more MPs from leaving party by locking doors, swallowing key

Halloween gravestone reading “I Did My Own Research” in a yard with two skeleton arms sticking out of the grass.

Happy Halloween

Protecting the jungle: on the road with Madagascar’s seed hunters Our podcast on science and technology. Botanists in Madagascar are stocking the world’s largest seed bank, hoping to restore the country’s dwindling forests

This week, our “Babbage” podcast meets Madagascar’s seed hunters. We find out how, seed-by-seed, they hope to repair the country’s ancient, dwindling forests

Close-up image of a bright orange, fuzzy moth with feathery antennae and black eyes perched on the edge of a green leaf. Black background.

Arthropod Photo of the Week: October 15, 2025
Tangerine furry-legs moth
Acraga moorei
Lepidoptera: Dalceridae
By Tom Myers, Kentucky, USA
#arthropodPOTW

Llama lessons: Find all the plants with velcro attachments before the llama does.

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Grass-powered lawnmower

What Happened to the University’s Commitment to Free Expression? Charley Kirk, uAlberta, and Me | Centre for Free Expression I was shocked when the University of Alberta administration informed me, one of its law professors, that I was being placed on non-disciplinary leave for my social media comments in the wake of Charli...

"Why would it bow to antidemocratic pressures by placing a professor on leave without their request, consent, or involvement? That any university would do this is beyond comprehension and is cause for alarm about the future of academic freedom in Canada."

Going to share this with my mom and sister, both U of A graduates, and any other alumni I know, encouraging them to send a message to the university that their future financial support will be dependent on the school's commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech.

It would be fun to have them explain why services such as the Post Office and Via Rail etc need to make money but highways are a service that we all should gladly pay taxes for

I dunno. I'd kind of like to see this logic extended to the costs of highway maintenance in southern Ontario....

Canada Post “lost” 1 billion dollars last year?

How about, “it cost Canadians 1 billion dollars to have a national postal service” which works out to costing about $25 a year per person (population of Canada in 2024 = 40 million). Seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me.

Out back

My dad took us to work and let us punch cards to see how it worked. And my first year computer science course still had a card punch for first year students because there weren't enough terminals.

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Dinner music

Remarkable!

In the age of AI, it's a bit ridiculous to submit papers without proofreading.

YouTube video by Marsh Family "Measles and Polio Down in the Schoolyard" - Marsh Family parody of Paul Simon "Me and Julio" on RFK

youtu.be/FDiXrd-R68U?...

Florida Decided There Were Too Many Children The state’s elimination of vaccine mandates is a courageous first step toward decluttering itself of any excess kids.

Florida Decided There Were Too Many Children