Today's walk in the woods with little nieces and nephews

For anyone who has never met the Superb Lyrebird of Australia. David Attenborough says it displays one of the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom—"the most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful." The chainsaw always brings tears to my eyes. 🥹😔

I have no words. Actually I do. Just not today. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

And that’s *quite* a signature.

"Yet many of the activists, clergy members & elected officials who took part on Saturday argued that the cause at hand transcended politics. It was a civil rights matter, they said — a spiritual & moral one, even." - Rick Rojas, w/Bryant K. Oden contributing

"We should not have to march in 2026 to protect voting rights for all Americans. We are at a moral low as a nation when people are stripped of their right to vote because of the color of their skin. " @joycewhitevance.bsky.social joycevance.substack.com/p/selma-reje...

Update on #Ebola outbreak in #DRC from Africa CDC

"American officials have said that aid cuts by the Trump administration hampered the ability of the authorities in Uganda to curtail an Ebola outbreak in that country early last year." - Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Apoorva Mandavilli

Glad to see @drtedros.who.int & @who.int taking decisive action to declare the #Ebola outbreak in #DRC a #PHEIC. Per the IHR, the criteria are 1. Serious event 2. Risk of international spread 3. Requires a coordinated international response 4. The event is unusual www.who.int/news/item/17...

🚨 BREAKING: The Senate parliamentarian struck the GOP provision that would have spent $1 billion in taxpayer money on Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, according to Senate Budget Committee Democrats. The parliamentarian ruled that the provision violated the Byrd Rule.

Today's bike ride. 💙🚲

When I was younger, my dad was my running partner--something that made it a whole lot more fun & made me more likely to jog. Our roles have now reversed. As he struggles w/the aging process, I'm his walking partner, encouraging him to join me w/his walker outside.

"Organizers see the rally as the launching point for a new civil rights fight to combat the attacks." @phillewis.bsky.social

There's a major civil rights protest taking place in Selma, Alabama, right now in response to the SCOTUS decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act and the ongoing attack on Black Americans’ political power (video: defiancedispatch/IG)

Rep. @brotherjones.bsky.social in Montgomery: “We’re here united to take on this new confederacy, 60 years after the Selma March… because we know their intent is to dismantle everything gained during the civil rights movement.”

Growth rings in a fossil shark vertebra - Carcharhiniformes, ?Oligocene, South Carolina. Vertebra is about 3 cm across. 🦖

This is flying under the radar, but Trump's cronies have started their own organization to plan 250th anniversary events. Not only is their "Freedom 250" receiving taxpayer funds, it's also soliciting big donations from corporations in exchange for face time with Trump. Everything is for sale.

"Before taking office, Mr. Patel repeatedly criticized his predecessor, Christopher Wray, for his use of government jets for private travel." - Elizabeth Williamson, Adam Goldman

On career/policy “at will” status (aka, schedule F), the specific people affected do not seem to be specified. The email indicates this is the first “tranche” that will primarily affect people in GS-15 level roles.

The timing of late Friday afternoon is meant to keep this quiet. It’s typically a dead zone for press coverage. On the RIFs, the affected folks had been excluded from the original RIF apparently because they had expressed interest in the incentivized retirement program but never took it.

Late in the afternoon on Friday (yesterday), HHS/NIH did 2 things: 1) They RIFd more employees (despite the extreme staffing shortages). 2) They sent announcements to supervisors letting them know people in their chain of command will be moved to the career/policy “at will” status. 🧵1/3

📅 Application deadline: 3 June 2026 👉 For application details: www.ipc7.site Travel grants are available for: 1️⃣ Postgraduate students/postdocs and early career researchers 2️⃣ Professional palaeontologists (academics or curators)

🎓 IPC7 Travel Grants – Call for Applications The IPC7 organizers are pleased to announce the availability of Travel Grants to support delegates from any part of Africa, as well as from any developing country (worldwide) wishing to attend the IPC7. Don’t miss this opportunity!!

Late Pliocene to Early and Middle Pleistocene glyptodonts (Cingulata, Glyptodontidae) from Central Argentina shed light on their diversity, biostratigraphy and unexpected evolutionary implications [paywall] www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Possible threat from above. 🪶

A couple of weeks ago was the first time I had seen an artichoke field. I was quite mesmerized, because it's the simple things that really make me smile!🪶 💜 Red-winged blackbird ~ Salton Sea 🌏 🌊 April 2026 #FeathersInFoliage #biroftheday #photography #birdphotography

🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣🦣 on my mind ❤️

💻 May 18 Virtual Event: Join us for a conversation on understanding the #14thAmendment. RSVP: https://bit.ly/42MqwCN What you'll take away ➡️: insight on the 14th Amendment's protections from SPLC and @syracuseu.bsky.social #VotingRights experts and info on how the amendment impacts people's lives.

Late Miocene of Pikermi, #Greece. Ciconia gaudryi takes flight as an Amphimachairodus giganteus approaches the water. A pair of Acerorhinus neleus keep an eye on the cat whilst two Deinotherium proavum prepare for a bath. In the background, a herd of Cremohipparion mediterraneum #paleoart #sciart

"Ranging in age from 12 to 88, our volunteers worked a total of 6,875 hours in 2025 alone." - Dr. Alton Dooley at the Western Science Center, CA #museum #volunteers 🧪 life-from-a-certain-point-of-view.ghost.io/a-museum-of-...

Having the Irritator back in 🇧🇷 is a victory won through awareness, empowerment, and popular demand. Nothing will change that. But it is still upon us, the very same people that tirelessly spread that #IrritatorBelongsToBR, to tell this story. You are part of this. [8/8] #JustRestitutionIsJustice

Words matter. They do not merely describe the world, they determine it. They tell us what can be demanded, acknowledged, and repaired. When restitution becomes inevitable, changing the words is a way to control its meaning and, thus, limit the transformations it could produce from now onwards. [7/8]

The mere replacement of “cede” with “return” in the Brazilian version, therefore, does not stand a chance against the narrative constructed by Germany. As it stands, it merely creates the false impression that the semantic dispute does not exist. And it does. And Brazil is loosing. [6/8]

As #IrritatorBelongsToBR nears its conclusion, this strategy is clear. 🇩🇪 turned our 🦖 into a meaningless object circulating internationally due to scientific cooperation. When law and ethics disappear, all that remains is goodwill - which we all know is easily reversed and may come at a price. [5/8]

Law, ethics & the decolonial struggle are replaced by terms as "cooperation" and "exchange". And, with a handshake, a country that knowingly refused for years to return something it knew belonged to another transforms an achievement of the country of origin into an overhyped exchange program. [4/8]

Different actors trying to change the meaning of the same fact (and the Global North's dominance) is a common feature of int'l relations. And in restitution disputes, when a country is finally forced to bow to pressure, they can still shape the narrative and pretend this is not a restitution. [3/8]

I told you that the declaration erases the history, the popular character and the legal/ethical legitimacy of #IrritatorBelongsToBR. I also exposed the change in the 🇧🇷 version and how 🇩🇪 added new words in its "translation" that changed the meaning and even the conditions for restitution. [2/8]

Yesterday, I posted a thread explaining (1) the problems with the 🇧🇷🇩🇪 Declaration, (2) how they are aggravated in the 🇩🇪 version, and (3) the change in the 🇧🇷 version. Make sure to read it first.👇 Now, I'll tell you what this means for the future of #IrritatorBelongsToBR & #DecolonizeScience. [1/8]

New research from #ProcB: Range of motion and myology support a digging function for the forelimbs of #alvarezsauroid dinosaurs | doi.org/10.1098/rspb... #Biomechanics #Palaeontology

Woollies

This is the longest animal in this ecosystem, and marks our final sauropodomorph (and final dinosaur!). I decided to give this one a light dusting of fuzz to hint towards the evolution of diverse integument in dinosaurs going forward.

One of the largest Triassic dinosaurs, the sauropodomorph Lessemsaurus. These first quadrupedal ones fall right into the dinosaur-uncanny-valley for me - a combination of traits that really catches you off guard. #paleoart #sciart

The theropods here are not enormous by any means, which isn't unusual for the Triassic. Here, the biggest predator outclasses them by an order of magnitude - and isn't a dinosaur...

Our work on mammalian hallucal grasping, led by Irene Montañez-Rivera during her time in the @johnnyakatura.bsky.social group, is out now in iScience. A true team effort; thanks to the whole crew for inviting me to contribute a small piece! www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Here's Justyna Słowiak with the full skeleton of the same adult Tarbosaurus specimen (ZPAL MgD-I/4) in the museum space at @ipaleopan.bsky.social. It's exciting how Justyna and her colleagues in Warsaw are using new techniques like CT scanning to restudy these Gobi specimens discovered in the 1960s.

Tarbosaurus! 🦖 Having a great visit with Justyna Słowiak of @ipaleopan.bsky.social. She's been honing her segmentation skills on a Tarbo braincase, with some guidance from our resident CT guru Ryan Ridgely. We're already collaborating on brain endocast ontogeny but lots of new projects are brewing!

Chasing Turtles. Megalosaurus bucklandii. #SciArt

In a historic moment, I was interviewed by fellow Black woman particle physicist Dr. Katrina Miller. Few people can understand my journey the way she does. We talked about my new book, why poetry matters, and yes, how the *fact* of non-trinary neutrinos challenges anti-trans rhetoric. #GiftLink

"I have made you a book with a bunch of tidbits on the oddities of the universe," @chanda.blacksky.app said. "The universe is stranger and more queer and more wonderful and more full of possibility than whatever limitations you might be experiencing." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/s...

I recently had the opportunity to hear Bhattacharya in person during his visit to Purdue University. I expected to endure scientific ignorance, right-wing pandering and claims of victimisation, and I was not disappointed. www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/nih-...