Generating keywords is a professional pet peeve. I don't know the biz from the publishing/databasing side of things, but keywords seem vestigial given that everything is now digitized and (machine) searchable. If required, then I try to avoid what's already in the title and abstract.

I think of keywords as search engine flags, so I try to use words that are not already in the title, to maximise hits. I believe that is what we were thought to do back in the scicomm courses that were part of my PhD. I don't pay much attention to repetition between the abstract and the other two.

Replacing all wild-caught fish with agriculture production would require converting land area bigger than the Amazon rainforest into crops. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Keywords in scientific articles! We're asked to list 5-10 keywords for our articles. But should these be words not already in the abstract and title? How do you decide what to put down?

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

Deep deep organisms that might live for thousands of years aeon.co/essays/the-d...

Fish-eating killer whales really really dislike eating pink salmon, even thought they are by far the most abundant species in the Gulf of Alaska. No instances of consumption there, mostly Chinook salmon. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Y'all, I just got out of the NSF-BIO webinar where they explained changes to peer review. It's not good. 🧪 scienceforeveryone.science/changes-to-n...

The ACM Digital Library, where a LOT of computing-related research is published (I'd say at least 75% of my own publications), is now not only providing (without consent of the authors and without opt-in by readers) AI-generated summaries of papers, but they appear as the *default* over abstracts.

NSF grants must have expert reviews from industry and venture capitalists?

Here's our reporting on the proposed dismantling of the jewel of US atmospheric science, @ncar-ucar.bsky.social. The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others. www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪 #AGU25 #climate

We’re getting lots of new Bluesky friends! Please share your favorite science and conservation starter packs as a reply here and I’ll share them. Let’s get our science and conservation friends lots of followers! 🧪🌎🦑

Thank you so much to whoever put this very comprehensive list of #science Bsky starter packs together. This is just amazing: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

What does a 15th-century palazzo in the heart of Rome, a marine science outpost in the San Juan Islands, and a 4,300-acre forest have in common? They’re all classrooms for UW students. magazine.washington.edu/feature/expl...?

Seems like unlucky timing for Rudolph…

Looking for a faculty job at one of the world's great research stations? We're looking for a marine invertebrate biologist at UW's Friday Harbor Labs. apply.interfolio.com/178804

South Africa arrests seven Kenyans working illegally in South Africa for the US embassy to help the US process white Afrikaner forms to emigrate as refugees to the USA. www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/p...

This could be your dream job: working full time at the Friday Harbor Labs on marine invertebrate organismal biology. Nine month salary from an endowment, teaching and research faculty position. apply.interfolio.com/178804

Detecting whales from space: new results www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This could be your dream job: working full time at the Friday Harbor Labs on marine invertebrate organismal biology. Nine month salary from an endowment, teaching and research faculty position. apply.interfolio.com/178804

Critically endangered whale mother “Bocce”, 18, welcomes her 3rd documented calf. Fun fact: In 2016, Bocce famously raised and fed another mother’s calf after being thought to have lost her own shortly after birth. Why the swap happened is unclear. https://oceana.ly/4qh1uWm

Excited to launch the new improved Reproducible Code guide from @britishecologicalsociety.org @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social FREE online here! www.britishecologicalsociety.org//wp-content/... Amazing work by some very talented ECRs. We hope it’s useful!

First good funding news this year this dropped! Existing grant looks likely to be extended back to its original duration instead of being cut short!

Hard to overstate how concerning this is. There are over 46,000 people, a school, and a hospital in the flash flood warning area. Washington communities have been bracing for levee failures as another round of atmospheric rivers arrives to full rivers and saturated soils.

Several years after Toyota adopted this strategy, Ford pivots to hybrid cars www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/b...

Elephant-sized sloths dug enormous 6 ft diameter tunnels throughout Argentina and Brazil www.earth.com/news/huge-tu...

Marine concrete.

I did this in person once. Met the guy who wrote the paper that changed my career and told him about it. He said, “wow, I didn’t think anyone read that paper!” 😂

The kid that made an enormous difference: gone with the measles. www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...

My biggest pet peeve with R is the inclusion of a space between 0 and the x-axis. It makes zeros look like non-zeros. Fix this in ggplot by adding: scale_y_continuous(expand = expansion(mult = c(0, 0.05)))

Imagine how good Australia will be at sports in 5-10 years time. They are already way ahead of all other nations on a per capita basis www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/a...

We are discovering new species at the fastest rate ever. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

this is similar to what I've come to think of as the "reverse turing test" when people find synthetic text is "good enough" to complete a task (homework, business report, email) it doesn't mean the machine is smart. it means they were asked to produce something that didn't matter it's diagnostic

Not exactly a looker - and I’m not just talking about their appearance. Widemouth blindcat is adapted for life in total darkness - it has a translucent body (no pigment needed to protect from UV exposure) with no eyes + no swim bladder (because of the immense pressure it lives at) #25DaysofFishmas

Alcaraz wins Edberg Sportmanship Award, here is one example why www.atptour.com/en/news/alca...

PSA: if anyone in your life is trying to dissuade you from getting the shingles shot, you should probably assume that person hates you, and wants you to suffer. There is literally no other explanation. Shingles hurts worse than childbirth. Worse than knee surgery. Worst pain of my life.

Not a good sign! mynorthwest.com/seattles-mor...

For fans of Tufte, this is the best-designed book I've seen that shows off science pubs.usgs.gov/publication/...

Having gone through this process, the money, the time, the endless forms, the endless administrative requirements... this is just utter cruelty.

DEADLINE: Dec. 15! Only a few days left to nominate (or self-nominate) for the 2026 Peter A. Larkin Award and Lecture — an honour celebrating outstanding fisheries researchers. oceans.ubc.ca/news-and-eve... @science.ubc.ca @seaaroundus.org @projectseahorse.bsky.social

Death ball sponges and zombie worms. www.earth.com/news/killer-...

Given that I know multiple other scientists have received identical emails... I am a bit skeptical.

I can’t resist posting another photo of Aseroe rubra (Anemone Stinkhorn). This was the largest specimen I found and nicely shows the remains of the ‘egg’ it emerged from. Surrey 4/12/25 #fungi #FungiFriends

Colloquially, it's the National LOTR (Lord of the Rings!)

“This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children.” Read our full statement by AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly: www.aap.org/en/news-room...

WHOA. That's a LOT Of S. fragilis urchins! From EX1102 #okeanos

I'm recruiting a Ph.D. student for Fall 2026. Interested in comparative studies and trait evolution in fishes? Send me an email with a CV and research interests. Please take a look at my website (jcorush.github.io ) for more information about my research. #hybridization #minnows #mudskippers

Ah, but who’s to say it ISN’T based on applicant’s quantity and quality of gar puns??? Narrator: It was not based on applicant’s quantity and quality of gar puns. In fact, Solomon had to recuse himself from the voting process altogether.

Super disappointed that this scholgarship is not based on applicant's quantity and quality of gar puns.

Just finished my last class of the semester🎉Reminded of how much I love teaching this academic writing class for grad students. We focus on improving our writing but also reducing anxiety and becoming a more consistent & productive writer Some of the students favorite writing tips/learnings below: