Andy Carstens 🏳️‍🌈

Ah summer, when 75% of my interview requests immediately spit back an out-of-office. Hope they are all having a fabulous time somewhere.

‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests Survey of five Australian avians finds numerous discordant individuals, including a genetically male bird that had laid an egg

Sex-reversal in birds (genetically male/female but appear female/male) is surprisingly common. Best detail: A genetically male bird called a laughing kookaburra had recently laid an egg. (1/2)

By @phiejacobs.bsky.social on @science.org

Seen in the wild: a plum Maserati with license frame saying “my other car is an airplane.” The need to peacock extreme wealth is…interesting.

RFK Jr’s health department to halt $500m in mRNA vaccine research Agency to end 22 federal contracts, questioning safety of technology credited with helping end Covid pandemic

He must love infections and cancer.
A short list of what’s been achieved or is in active development with this tech:
– Seasonal flu (Phase 3)
– RSV (FDA-approved, 2024)
– CMV (Phase 3)
– HIV (early trials)
– Rapid-response design for emerging pathogens
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This seems like a decent idea, but as I imagine my elderly cat chomped and swallowed, so is my logic. Burned body, carbon and soot emitted, ashes swept into a tin and put on the top shelf of my closet still seems better than her tiny, fuzzy head popping like an egg between toothy jaws.

It is bad enough when they list calories, now they’re telling how many minutes of life lost? This will lead to the extinction of joy.

Heading to the methods right now

Watched the first “The Last of Us” and having trouble suspending disbelief. The fungus makes people eat each other instead of just using airborne spores? Make it make sense.

The dreaded “asking someone” option and trying to remember the fourth step.

Unsplash image of the Earth, mostly the nightside with a tracery of city lights on every continent.

OK, this is wild.

In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.

It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.

What the HELL?

1/

NYT Reporter: It's Not Corruption Unless The Envelope Says "Bribe" On It | Defector Donald Trump launched a memecoin a few days before the inauguration of his second presidential term. Its sole purpose, to Trump, is unambiguous and unmistakable: It is a vehicle for him to become rich...

It's not corruption unless the envelope says "bribe" on it: defector.com/nyt-reporter...

Insane that was his take. Ffs.

So many bookshelves behind writers on zooms. Very erudite.

So glad green technologies are becoming more accessible. 🫠

“I am not a researcher, but googling has revealed many sources that back up my preconceived and unfounded belief.”

My dystopian nightmare would be having 12 AI friends.

A picture of five aging but still young white gay guys sitting in a hotel restaurant with windows behind us showing the gulf coast FL sunset in the background.

Never underestimate the power of besties and lots of giggling.

Correct. I recently called a moving company and got a robot. It would not let me speak to a human, so I hung up and hired the next company on my list because a person answered.

Sun dipping behind the ocean under and orange-pink sky. Palm trees and a swimming pool are in the foreground. Taken in Clearwater, FL.

A solo mini-vacation and this FL sunset made my evening.

A 1946 western union telegram from Jacksonville Florida to Atlanta Georgia: Mrs Mell Clark= Western union office Biltmore Hotel BH Atla= DEAR DORIS BABY GIRL BORN THIS MORNING 2AM EVERY ONE FINE LOVE= JOE. 2AM..

A text message from 1946 about my mother’s birth. From her father to his sister.

Especially considering the frequent (and valid) complaint that people don’t trust science. Like, hello, we actually play a critical role in that. :)

Great article, and while I agree with skepticism towards the company, I find myself feeling more critical towards the editors (who set and enforce standards as well as headlines). Covering new research should require a minimum number of outside sources and even more when not peer-reviewed.

This is a great article, but the editors, who hold the power and who likely set the headlines, bear much of the responsibility. Stories on un-peer-reviewed research should include multiple outside sources: zero is an unacceptable editorial standard. I’ll be adding this to my students’ reading.

Spring: pine grosbeaks nibbling on aspen buds. Had evening grosbeaks stop over for two years but these are new for me.

I do sometimes wonder why any past president doesn’t speak up. I get that there are norms, but seems like the rest have been burned to the ground, so why are they all honoring that one?

And silence from Bill Cassidy after all that dancing he did to justify his vote.

I had just cleaned the counter. They did not care.

Oh no, it’s called signal-gate. We are literally going to tack that word onto every scandal until the end of time.

Uber needs a “no tesla” option

When Kittens Came to My Prison, I Had Not Petted One in 15 Years I had not touched a cat in 15 years when an orange kitten wandered over to sit with me in the grass.

"I had not touched a cat in 15 yrs when an orange kitten wandered over to sit w/me in the grass one day. I was left without adequate words to describe that experience. It reminded me that I am alive. It instilled in me a raw, unbridled happiness that I had never felt before, not even as a child."