🦠 In need of some weekend reading? Check out the newest GSB4 ECR series blog by Dr. Alejandro Berlinches de Gea! 🎉 He revisits the Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning concept, and highlights the role of soil protists in shaping soil microbiomes. www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath...

The so-called russian "energy ceasefire" means bombing of other civilian facilities, like this maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Six people were injured, among them two pregnant women that came for the examination. This evil cannot be appeased. It must only be defeated.

I am accepting applications for a postdoc to work with me at the University of Toronto Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Area of Research: Democratic Institutions, Public Engagement, American History Due by February 23rd munkschool.utoronto.ca/current-oppo...

Russia usually carries out massive attacks on Ukraine every 7–10 days. The so-called “ceasefire” ends tomorrow, just as temperatures fall to −25 °C. And conveniently right when Russia’s 7–10-day attack interval comes due.

When happens to fungi when forests become farms? New research from @thecrobe.bsky.social and team shows agricultural conversion in the tropics eliminated ~80% of soil mycorrhizal fungal diversity. Open access paper: buff.ly/BsGYDht

“If you want the war to end, you have to support the side that’s attacked.” @timothysnyder.bsky.social talked to a fellow UNITED24 ambassador @mishacollins.bsky.social, stating that russia must feel increased pressure, and urging everyone to support Ukraine via UNITED24: u24.gov.ua?utm_source=b...

A global synthesis of >600 studies finds that across agro-ecosystems, grasslands and forests in temperate and tropical zones, increasing plant diversity has a consistently positive effect on plant performance and the suppression of antagonists 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Russian mass Blitz air raids on Ukraine occur about every 10 days - it takes fascist Russia that long to stockpile drones and missiles and prepare the attack. There were big attacks on Jan. 9 and Jan. 20, so the next attack window opens Jan. 30 - just as temperatures dip again.

Today I was in the Kyiv Botanical Garden. Plants in the greenhouse are freezing due to constant power and heat outages. Workers are doing everything they can to save them.

Okay, so this is an authoritarian playbook trick, once the evidence is overwhelming say everyone needs to wait for the official investigation then either fix it or attack it when its completed. Same shit Russian pulled with MH17 and chemical attacks in Syria, very predictable.

2nd attack on civilian train in a day 💔

Are you a researcher translating fungal science into real conservation action? 📣 Call for abstracts now open 📍14–17 April 2026 in Uppsala, Sweden 🔗 Apply: www.slu.se/en/fce2026/ ⏰ Deadline: 25 Feb 2026

Russia is committing genocide by destroying infrastructure and freezing Ukranian cities, while pretending to have constructive negotiations about peace One doesn’t kill civilians when reaching “peace”

We are currently looking for a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in community ecology to work in the Arthropods Core Project of the Biodiversity Exploratories @bexplo.bsky.social Reposting is much appreciated for widest reach! Thanks. More information here: www.lss.ls.tum.de/fileadmin/w0...

"Dictators must not win. They must lose power, not gain it." President Zelenskyy delivered a clear message in Davos. russia is trying to prove that violence can be an effective tool of power. The world must not allow this to become the norm.

HIRING! We are looking for a new PhD student to work on insects in deadwood, effects of microclimate and land use. This is part of the Biodiversity Exploratories @bexplo.bsky.social and will use a new experiment using rain-out shelters in different regions of Germany. EU driver´s licence required.

This question is asked with unsettling regularity — and the answer remains unchanged. Yes, the war continues. For millions of Ukrainians, it's not a distant headline but a relentless, everyday experience marked by a constant threat to life. You can help: u24.gov.ua/nafo-dark-ni...

Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below! Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage

As Timothy Snyder writes “do not obey in advance”

The scrutiny of Mikhail Bulgakov's place in contemporary Ukraine underscores that, for many Ukrainians, an author's literary merit alone cannot detach certain writers from the enduring realities of Russia's full-scale war.

⚡️Update: Russia launches second wave of missiles targeting Kyiv amid large-scale attack. Russian forces launched a second wave of missiles towards Ukraine's capital, the Air Force warned around 6:30 a.m. local time.

New paper, Great news: We have been saying for years that making the editorial board more diverse was needed We now show that diverse team of editors makes for more diverse reviewers More Inclusive=Better Science Things are getting better on this❤️ besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The World Champion of Fungus talks punk science in @nytimes.com. Thank you @alanburdick.bsky.social for sitting down with SPUN's @tobykiers.bsky.social, this year's @tylerprize.bsky.social Laureate. 🔗 Read here: buff.ly/4TVueaz

New paper from the lab-in Global Ecology and Conservation Uncertain role of conservation areas to protect soil biodiversity and functioning led by Romy Zeiss, @carlosguerra_pt @EisenhauerLab and other @manudelbaq.bsky.social 🌐 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Ukrainian polar scientists in Antarctica are documenting rare snow and ice formations — from snow donuts to ice pancakes. These natural wonders reveal how wind, temperature, and water shape extreme environments. 📷:nasc_ua

At −20°C, life without heating is tough. Because of russia's constant attacks, Ukrainians have to adapt to this new reality, which is still better than russian occupation. Look at how Kyiv residents deal with this challenge and donate to help prevent it: u24.gov.ua/nafo-dark-ni...

"This is the coldest winter I've ever known in this flat. Because of the cold, the blackouts, and the constant attacks, it's simply unlivable," said Anna Diachenko, 28, who left the building a few days ago after the mass attack. She's now staying with friends.

🙏🙏

And here we are: the entire transatlantic alliance is now talking about Greenland, instead of talking about ending the war in Ukraine.

We need help keeping the world’s largest living library of mycorrhizal fungi alive. The INVAM mycorrhizal culture collection is at risk due to federal funding cuts. Its loss would be catastrophic. Link to donate: 🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate Read @theguardian.com article: 🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu

"Together with my team, I spent around a year working on a historical investigation into how Russia prepared for the seizure of Crimea starting in the 1990s," writes Yevheniia Motorevska, Head of War Crimes Investigation Unit of the Kyiv Independent, in this op-ed.

We have to be clear about what the Trump Administration is doing: They are taking basic American virtues and freedoms — the ability to speak truth to power and freely — and turning them into crimes. We must see through this.

#CurrentlyReading How To Stand Up To a Dictator By Maria Ressa Democracy is fragile. An urgent cry for readers to recognize & understand the dangers to our freedoms. In telling her courageous story, Ressa forces readers to ask themselves: What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth? #booksky

Climate change has already reshaped the bioclimatic space of extreme events in the Arctic 🌐❄️ Arctic biodiversity has entered a new era of bioclimatic extremes w/ more droughts, greater winter-warming 📈 & more rain-on-snow events 💧❄️ shorturl.at/pQsVP Just published in Science Advances ⬇️

I invite all the foreign journalists who have asked me if peace is coming soon, as we have been promised after each round of negotiations initiated by President Trump, to go to Kyiv now. Listen to the explosions with us and gain a better understanding of what Putin thinks about these negotiations.

It is freezing temperatures across Europe, including Ukraine (with temperatures decreasing to -20 this week). Russia deliberately targets infrastructure to leave people without electricity and heat. For what? To increase civilian suffering and deaths.

"The war has woken up the youth in Ukraine to the reality of the world too early," writes Kyiv Independent reporter Asami Terajima in this essay reflecting on her sudden transition to war journalism.

Ecological insights from three decades of forest biodiversity experiments @natrevbiodiv.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s44...

In 2026, we can’t take the easy path by giving in to despair. We have to keep doing something to be ready for the moment the right combination of events align and we can see a better future.

On December 28, Lviv joined the festive parade of Christmas stars. More than a celebration, the parade is a living tradition — a way of preserving cultural memory and weaving shared heritage into the contemporary urban landscape. 📸 Sofiia Soliar

Each and every Russian citizen responsible for these attacks on civilians must be brought to justice!

Yet again, another massive attack on Ukraine. All in the name of “peace,” apparently the same peace Russia claimed to want when it started the war. Truthfully, they do not hide their intention to destroy Ukraine.

The third paragraph reads as if the Russians wrote it. Maybe they did. In any event, it is an atrociously big lie; 1984-grade, as Aaron Rupar rightly says.

Over the centuries, Vertep evolved but remains a cherished embodiment of the Christmas spirit. Modern celebrations can feature caroling groups adorned in traditional Ukrainian folk costumes or dressed as characters from folklore.

🎄 Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Christmas carollers are taking to the streets.

“I was in the shelters for so long. And now I’m hiding in the bathroom.” A Nigerian-Ukrainian blogger describes the exhausting nature of living under constant shelling and documents the aftermath of yet another russian war crime.

In English we know it as “Carol of the Bells,” but the melody arises from a Ukrainian folk tradition of songs welcoming the new year and summoning the forces of nature to meet human labor and bring prosperity. Do listen. I wrote about the history here: snyder.substack.com/p/o-generous...

#TansleyInsight | On the role of mutualisms in plant biogeography: consequences for ecology, evolution, and invasion @camilledelavaux.bsky.social 👇 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #LatestIssue #PlantScience #TansleyMedal

We’ve posted a new preprint providing evidence that endophytic fungi facilitate resource transfer through common mycelial networks. A neat aspect of our study is that we measured fungal functional changes when connected to more than one plant, not just the plants! doi.org/10.21203/rs....

Some of the longest-lived organisms on Earth aren’t whales, trees or corals, but microbes buried deep in the earth. This eye-opening essay examines the slowest lives on Earth, asking what such lives mean for how we define life itself @karenlloyd.bsky.social