Per capita consumption of margarine correlates with The divorce rate in Maine (r=0.993)

As always @tetzoo.bsky.social gives us the facts on the latest cryptozoological frenzy

I was a member of staff at QMUL when Edmund Burke was VP for Science and Engineering. Having seen his management style I am not remotely surprised by this.

www.bbc.com/news/article... looks like a press release with speculation and no data… maybe it’s the strong sexual selection that drives speciation in these guys? Also “dark DNA”? Please don’t embarrass yourself. 🧪

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica

#Bloodmoon #Lunareclipse as seen from Shingwedzi, Kruger National Park, South Africa 🧪 #astrophotography

Hi all, me, @richardjbutler.bsky.social and the amazing UK-US-Moroccan team are delighted to announce that.. we have a new specimen of Spicomellus AND IT'S WAY WEIRDER AND WAY COOLER THAN WE EVER IMAGINED!!

The future is here: pretty fascinating proof-of-concept study 🚀 "Real-time malaria detection in the Amazon rainforest via drone-collected eDNA and portable qPCR" 🧪🦟🧬 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🔓

How about some #eDNA, bird biology and a murder mystery by Steve Burrows? A book i consulted on is now out - it's got our airborne #eDNA it in (watch for the cameo...) #WomeninSTEM #AcademicSKY 🧪 here's to my true partner in crime @jlittlefair.bsky.social - our research is now a plot point 🤣

Really interesting article by Caroline Davis about a solitary and juvenile dolphin who's got a bit too fond of people. Plenty of potential for a bad outcome for both people and dolphin, sadly. #wildlife #conservation #HWC #human-wildlife #conflict

#Job going: Head of Conservation @thedeephull.bsky.social, 50% with @uniofhull.bsky.social with some teaching on our MSc in Wildlife Conservation. We’re particularly interested in someone with good knowledge of legal frameworks, international agreements, NGOs etc. 🧪 www.thedeep.co.uk/jobs

Today of all days I should have got Wordle in less than 5 goes…

New paper out in Proceedings B. NB the picture is nothing to do with our work, which sadly used Drosophila rather than angry monkeys 🫤 have a read if you're interested in selfish genes, sex-ratio distorters, pesticide resistance or just general biological weirdness. 🧪

Letter of the day (in the Times)

Just got a 🧪pitch from a PR claiming to work with Colossal (de-extinction chancers). It was a pre-written article claiming the science sector is carrying out "coordinated attacks" on the co. Spy the headline. They asked if I'd publish it on my Forbes column. Not enough eye rolls on Earth for this 🙄

Choughs are successfully breeding in Kent again after more than 200 years absent. Great work by everyone involved in the reintroduction programme. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Annual US household spending on laundry and cleaning supplies correlates with Google searches for 'flights to Antarctica' (r=0.906)

Baby aukses precious: a puffling and a razorbill father / chick combo, both taken in the North Sea off the E. Yorks coast. Check out the goth eye makeup on the puffling, I bet it loves a bit of Evanescence. #birds #ukbirds #wildlife #ukwildlife

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Really interesting article on hunting impact and income in Timbavati, South Africa here. Interesting that they've reduced their reliance on hunting a lot since 2020 when it was much higher. #wildlife #conservation africageographic.com/stories/shoo...

New on the gllvm front: functionality for fitting univariate #GLMMs: gllvmVA(). You may wonder why this is useful, with great packages such as #lme4 and #glmmTMB at your disposal.

Yes trophy hunting is weird and unpleasant, but money from hunting funds the conservation of more land in Sub-Saharan Africa than is conserved in national parks. It is not as simple as most keyboard-jockeys from Europe or the USA think.

Senior scientist position with focus on statistics is available at the Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna. Application deadline: 31st August 2025 U Vienna is looking for a person who actively participates in research, teaching & administration. jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Senior-S...

An ongoing Academic (Research and Teaching) position in Genomics, here at Monash University in Melbourne. Closing in a little over a week! Please share widely! Lecturer/Senior Lecturer level (similar to Assistant Professor). careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...

My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.

Everyone is celebrating him for his (obviously wonderful) songs but I am also celebrating him for releasing all his works into the public domain and insisting he retained no copyrights over any of it.

Plunge-diving gannets in the North Sea off Bempton Cliffs #birds #ukwildlife #ukbirds from an @rspb.bsky.social boat trip

FOUR TT positions in ecosystem ecology at Odum School of Ecology, 2 aquatic 2 terrestrial, over next 2 years! visit www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/439... for more info.

The fact the OFS refers to the financial collapse of a university as "market exit activities" tells you exactly why the UK education sector is utterly broken. OFS has a statutory responsibility to ensure fair access to HE. It clearly believes the only way to do that is "market forces". Bonkers.

<laughs bitterly in scientist>

Self-selected club which in no way represents 99% of British Science fails to understand the nature of the monster which they invited to join in order to make themselves look more relevant. 🧪 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Only one third of papers published in evo-evo disciplines share code and/or data: it should be *all* of them. If you’re not making your data and your code available, you’re not doing reproducible science... and if it’s not reproducible, it’s not science 🧪

Very impressed that VW put such a well designed conical flask holder in my car 🧪

Gannets, their chicks and a really depressing amount of discarded fishing gear at Staple Newk, Bempton, UK. #birds #conservation #pollution #conservation #wildlife

If you were one of the many biologists driven to despair by the tornado of BS kicked up by the "dire wolf" "de-extinction" scam, it's worth listening to the Behind the Bastards podcast two-parter on George Church, founder of Colossal Biosciences. 🧪

Why are there vaccine deniers but no sanitation deniers? Sanitation denial makes as much sense as vaccine denial so come on idiots, step up. There's a vacant niche for you.

This seems very worrying

the journal Animal Behaviour, which is run by @asab.org, is looking to hire a new Managing Editor. Please share advert with folks with a Life Sciences degree (ideally postgrad) who might be interested www.asab.org/opportunities

Some puffins and a very dapper razorbill. Bempton cliffs on Tuesday #birds #ukbirds #ukwildlife #seabirds #auks

Tragic. Don't know the circumstances here but a stark reminder that elephants and other large animals are bloody dangerous things. I know someone who had to shoot a male in musth to stop it attacking a group of tourists in SA. #wildlife #conservation

It's been known for a while now that gannets that survive HPAIV flu tend to have black eyes: I guess it blows the pupil somehow or something like that. www.rspb.org.uk/media-centre.... Anyway, here's a gannet from Bempton with only one eye blown and the other normal. #birds 🧪

Marsh Harrier chicks have fledged at my local nest in the latest 24 hours. Here's one with some fuzz still present on its head. Now I need to find something else to obsess about. #birds #ukwilldlife #ukbirds #wildlifephotography

Some more pictures of a male marsh harrier bringing breakfast for the kids. 0710 this morning #birds #wildlife #ukwildlife #britishbirds #yorkshire

Overfishing has caused cod to halve in body size since 1990s, study finds

Morning all. Meet Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a new neornithishian dinosaur from the Morrison Formation. It goes on display @nhm-london.bsky.social from tomorrow. Paper by @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social and I in @royalsocietypublishing.org Open Science. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

In use at many UK universities right now

Marsh harriers bringing food for their chicks this morning at Tophill Low #birds #wildlife #britishwildlife #photography

I worked in SA in the late 90s. One of my best memories is from about 10 minutes before the start of the '98 Soweto marathon: all the runners waiting to go singing Shosholoza with all the harmonies. It was beautiful... and my first sub-3 :-)

@qmucu.bsky.social Remember when this character was the worst VP for Science and Engineering at QM that anyone could remember? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Some more pix from Monday #birds #ukwildlife #seabirds #wildlife #Bempton