This evening's thought to ponder from Maggies Farm

*Bloop*

The Belt and Sword of Orion again, this time with about eight hours total exposure time. I think I'll leave it at this and work on something new tonight. #Astronomy #Astrophotography

The Vaccine Integrity Project at CIDRAP is launching an independent review of the HPV vaccine, using transparent methods and drawing on more than a decade of data

Spider or puppy? We report, you decide.

The world feels rough right now So please enjoy this shrimp, filmed off Cozumel, Mexico. It may be a larval reef shrimp, but we don’t know what species or how long it lives or what it eats. The world is still full of wonder and beauty and mystery. 🎥 @pedrovalenciam scuba diver on Insta

Yesterday we started #kakapo artificial insemination for the season. We do this to help maintain genetic diversity, with a potential additional benefit of improving fertility. We inseminated Esperance, who mated naturally a few nights ago. #conservation #parrots #birds

Jellyfish sleep, which is already bizarre given they have no brains. DNA damage accumulates in their neurons when jellyfish are awake, and it gets repaired when they sleep. This might be something fundamental, evolutionarily, to the role of sleep. 🧪🌊 Link: nature.com/articles/s41...

Daylily June 1st 2024

Cladonia lichens among moss. NWT, Canada. #lichen #moss #fungi #fungifriends

Stemonitis slime mold aka Chocolate Tube Slime Mold. This one is part way through the maturation process. In a matter of hours, this will have turned brown, eventually becoming fluffy and blowing away in the wind or dispersing by way of rain drops, or other disturbances. NWT, Canada. #fungifriends

I don't take a lot of pictures of geese but anytime I can get wings over water with a sunrise and fog in the background I will fire away 📷 #BlueSkyPhotography #BlueSkyPhotographer #Birds 🪶 #NatureLovers #Wildlife

Saw this bracket fungus on my walk yesterday. Am even less of an expert on this kind of thing than with birds - anyone any idea of a name? #fungus #photography

US withdrawing from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as well as the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Just a big f-u to nature.

loser stuff thread www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/c...

Some dusk shots around town #Corvallis #Oregon #PNW 🐡

Cat Inspecting Macro Lens (2025)

Crazy how that works

Beautiful Paragorgia. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 892. #argentiniandeepseeps #CONICET #MarineLife

First fungus of 2026 - Velvet Shank I think #Mycology #Toadstool #Mushroom #Fungi

It might bite... 👹🍄 #Pareidolia #Pareidolie #Iseefaces #FacesInThings #FacesInPlaces #Grisette #Mushroom

𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 If we leave aside the more extreme discussions about "everything everywhere" and modularity this is a very cool paper. So much can be done with data from 260 regions and 60K neurons. doi.org/10.1101/2025... #neuroskyence

It’s also time to start wondering if some of these reporters are a little cooked by the bots themselves. Reporters aren’t inured to chatbot psychosis. In fact, some of them may have drank too much of the kool aid from sources selling them stuff. We’re in a new world of stupid. Adjust your credulity.

I used to think X had no public utility but it is developing into some sort of monument to billionaire hubris. It's a living museum of paranoiac mania, a Grey Gardens situation.

Another brainy Orange Rock Posy (Rhizoplaca chrysoleuca) #lichen. Northwest Territories, Canada. #fungi #fungifriends

Fungus Find. #mushroom #fungi #mycology #autumnvibes #naturelover #forestfloor #macro #depthoffield #outdoors #leaves #woodland #naturecapture #smartphonephotography #photography

Highest astronomical high tides of year (aka the "King Tides") will occur this weekend in NorCal. But this year, they will coincide w/additional storm surge from nearby low pressure--causing potential for SF Bay Area coastal flooding beyond what we've seen in recent years. #CAwx

A dead, fallen tree in the rainforest explodes into a kaleidoscope of exquisite new life, colour, and beauty. Just one example of what's lost when we 'tidy' deadwood away from a natural ecosystem. Leave it rot down for nature. 🌍

It's 101 years ago today, but this is one of my favorite #OTD threads from last year. 🧪 🔭 ⚛️

ROV pilots filmed this giant phantom jelly, or Stygiomedusa gigantea, at 253 meters during an ROV descent to explore the Colorado-Rawson submarine canyon wall. #ArgentinianDeepSeeps

Relatedly, I want to hear all your ideas about what journalists / writers / media orgs and elected officials / governments you wish were on Bluesky!

Happy New Year, friends! I have some ~personal news~, which is that the Bluesky team is generously giving me some contract work (which could possibly turn into a job) welcoming more indie media and local govt to Bsky and supporting those already here. Excited to take my amateur Bsky boosterism pro!

Looking forward to a new class of nightmare in 2026 thanks to Welcome to Derry.

Sure, you've seen hundreds of birds on land take flight, but have you seen hundreds of pelicans on the OCEAN take flight? 🦑 🪶

Light echo of the #supernova Cassiopeia A with #JWST NIRCam. Latest image from 2024-12-30. 🔭 Filters: F300M, F360M, F444W from program: www.stsci.edu/jwst-program...

🔭 HH-222: The Waterfall Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25123...

Wistful at the end of 2025 🐙✨ One last Halcyon post for the year? 🙂‍↕️🙌 #2k25 #Artist #Art #ArtYear #Clay #InverteFest 🦑🐡

Now those are the kind of zooms I like to see! Anemone catching krill while getting caught by the manip. @schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 888 #argentiniandeepseeps #MarineLife #CONICET

New genomics study points to the expansion of CAZymes (lignocellulose degradation) in wood-feeding termites, associated with genome enlargement and adaptive radiation during their divergence from wood-eating roaches. 🪳 🧪🌎🧬🖥️ #Genomics #EvoSky #Insects #ArthroSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here's a shot I got in May of a Cliff Swallow colony on the central coast. There were so many nests I lost count and I can't wait to get back there in 2026! #Birds #Photography #Nature

The temperature wall cruising east across the US right now makes for some really stunning air temp maps

One more pelican before I put my phone down down for the night. Taken this morning. 🪶

Australian cockroaches are pretty. This is Balta spuria, which I've found in various indoor and outdoor settings in Victoria.

👀 Our scientists used Gaia's data to craft the most accurate 3D map of star-forming regions in the Milky Way! 🌌 🧪🔭 🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia/Fly_through_Gaia_s_3D_map_of_stellar_nurseries

Just had a dream whilst napping that Iron Man was replaced by a smaller Iron Man. Not a younger Iron Man, but a smaller Tony Stark with a bobble head proportioned mask. The new Iron Man was called Grasshopper. Human brain is a wild thing.

Perpetual reminder: extreme rainfall events increase due to #globalheating. Weather station data show what has been predicted for over 30 years by climate scientists. These extremes are now far outside the historical climate. Study: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Only a few keys redeemed so far that I can tell #Soulframe #RPG #Gaming #Gamedev

Manipuloyx, a new alvarezsaur with really fascinating hands! The condition of the fingers isn't that unusual for the clade but the OSTEODERMS on the hand are new!

Xylaria sp fungi on a dead leaf. NWT Canada. About 2 to 3cm high. #fungi #fungus #fungifriends