Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

The Inside JEB article accompanying our new Special Issue, #SensoryPerceptionInAChangingWorld, provides a brief overview of the issue, highlighting the key points and take-home message from each article journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months * Down in 2025 * Still below Mar 2024 * Clean energy wave a key factor If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far… www.carbonbrief.org/...

If China's emissions had kept growing at previous levels emissions would like, what, maybe a full GIGATONNE higher....the area of avoided emissions here is like deleting the emissions of entire countries. This is happening at a scale that will very clearly have an effect in lessening disasters

Can strongly recommend - great city to live in, fantastic colleagues in @bristolbiosci.bsky.social, only rains 96% of the time 👍

Let’s celebrate women and girls in science on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science! UNESCO reports that women represent only 35% of STEM graduates, about 1/3 of researchers worldwide, and just 1/10 STEM leaders.

Follow the special issue: Addressing Biases in Animal Behaviour www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... @asab.org

Today, International Day of Women and Girls in Science, I am really looking forward to listening to @wascherclaudia.bsky.social in her talk "Social by nature: from animal minds to inclusive Science communities". Thanks Claudia!

How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications. My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/ academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

Cannot believe that I got to profile an extraordinary filmmaker, who happens to be the mother of NYC’s new mayor, and think about intersections of art and politics, and how familial love might produce a buffer against the corrosive politics and cynicism of our time. My story about Mira Nair:

Come hear me stir up some controversy* next month with my take on the evidence for insect sentience. *or not, depending on your point of view.

If you’ve been vaguely worried but unsure how to talk about the kidnappings happening all around us, this might help.

Friends! I wrote my first novel! Please buy it! Out October 6th, 2026 Pre order here angryrobotbooks.my.canva.site/compendium-o... @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social

We can’t wait to have @canopyrobin.com to speak about their work as a science communicator, designer, and ecologist, specialising in trees and forests. Robin supports the creation and communication of new biodiverse woodlands across the north of England! #LGBTSTEM #OSTEM #LGBTQhistorymonth

A £240m defence contract without tender. Their fingerprints all over our health care data. A meeting in the USA but without any minutes. Everything around Palantir stinks. www.thenational.scot/news/2584192...

Come hear me stir up some controversy* next month with my take on the evidence for insect sentience. *or not, depending on your point of view.

Kenneth Catania spoke with @thetransmitter.bsky.social about how the specialized snout of the star-nosed mole allows for high-speed foraging and underscores the importance of studying behavior alongside anatomy. By Lauren Schneider #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/neuros-ark/n...

I made a map of 3.4 million Bluesky users - see if you can find yourself! bluesky-map.theo.io I've seen some similar projects, but IMO this seems to better capture some of the fine-grained detail

“Snow leopards are found in just 12 countries across Central and South Asia. India is home to one of the world's largest populations, with a nationwide survey in 2023 - the first comprehensive count ever carried out in the country - estimating more than 700 animals” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My cartoon for this week’s @newscientist.com

I'm going to say this again in case you haven't heard this one: I was a talented writer and it did *nothing whatsoever* because I hadn't put in the work, and I put in the work for ten years (subtracting the bit where I had to quit for my mental health) to write Witchmark talent alone could *never*

No matter where they live, kids cooperate according to their community’s social norms by middle childhood. Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4r0Rxga

The French translation of my novella Submergence (longlisted for Hugo Award, finalist for Utopia Award) is now available! first published in 2021 by @clarkesworldmagazine.com Cover art by Anouck Faure Translation by Jean-Daniel Brèque (who did translations for Stephen King & Margaret Atwood!)

Attention visual journalists: I’m always open to pitches for @sciam.bsky.social’s Graphic Science column. The column tells concise stories on topics in science via graphics (dataviz, illustrated diagrams, comic-style explainers, etc). It appears in both print & online. DM me for a pitch guide.

Imagination in bonobos! I am thrilled to share a new paper w/ Amalia Bastos, out now in @science.org We provide the first experimental evidence that a nonhuman animal can follow along a pretend scenario & track imaginary objects. Work w/ Kanzi, the bonobo, at Ape Initiative youtu.be/NUSHcQQz2Ko

This #MeetASAB features Madam President herself: Melissa Bateson (@melissabateson.bsky.social) Melissa was elected as ASAB president in 2024. In the past, she has also been on council as grants secretary and as an ordinary member. She has been an ASAB member since she was a PhD in the 90s… 1/6

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

Astounding words and performance. Take 2 mins to listen to it.

New #PhD on #bees (BeeHd?)! Despite the ad saying "UK Students only", a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

I'm pleased to share this new #openaccess review article on 🌻 flower constancy🌻 and how it shapes plant-pollinator interactions. I hope you'll find it useful 🐝🦋 🌺: tinyurl.com/mrx59pt3

A new systematic review has found that trans women on HRT have the same level of fitness as cis women and don't retain any advantage in sports. www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

🚨WINNER ANNOUNCEMET🚨 EHBEA wants to congratulate @drboothroyd.bsky.social and @sheinalew.bsky.social on earning the 2026 EHBEA Award in Excellence in Public Communication and Outreach👏 @durhampsych.bsky.social @durham.ac.uk

I'm totally pinching myself announcing this, but a film about my life journey rewilding a West Cork farm, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest, will get its first screening at the Dublin International Film Festival on Saturday the 28th of this month. Tickets are available here: www.diff.ie/programme/an...

#NewIllustrationoftheDay by Richard Jones from You and I Are Stars and Night. A gorgeous quayside composition with water birds and zinging colour. From Kate Hosford's imaginative bedtime journey. Beach Lane Books 3 Feb 2026. @simonkidsuk.bsky.social @apaintedmouse.bsky.social @beachlane.bsky.social

It's dark, and it's cold, but at least there are new pages of SABLE: A GHOST STORY. Read free now at sablecomic.com

Btw, my gorgeous cover star is a gynandromorph gypsy moth, female on its left side, male on the right. It was caught in Berlin in July 1864 and pictured by German entomologist Ernst Ludwig Taschenberg in 1877. It makes more than one appearance in my book! #booksky #histsci #sts #queerhistory 🦋🌈📚🗃️

New #PhD on #bees (BeeHd?)! Despite the ad saying "UK Students only", a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

Don't be put off by the ad saying "UK Students only" - a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

New PhD alert! We'll be applying animal welfare ideas to look at how stress affects bees, looking at the effect on bee brains with @lenariab.bsky.social, and working with @sensibee.bsky.social developing new monitoring methods. Please spread the word! #bees #PhD 🧪 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

A lovely read about researchers who make animals happy for a living 😊 A day spent playing the sounds of baby bonobo laughter is surely a day well spent www.sciencenews.org/article/scie...

Cool PhD with a great supervisor! #Phd #insects #spiders 🧪

Ferbruary #oldknees

😱😱😱

I can officially confirm that the snow in NC is roughly one (1) corgi deep

My first book, Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life, will be published by Yale University Press on 11 August (UK) and 8 September (US). Please help spread the word! 🙏 UK: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... @yalebooks.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈📚🐵 US: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... @yalepress.bsky.social 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗃️🦋

📅 Save the Date Delighted to be supporting EURBEE11 — the 11th European Conference of Apidology 🐝 📍 Bologna, Italy | 🗓 7–10 September For more details: bit.ly/45JdiIR www.eurbee2026.com #Eurbee #Eurbee2026 #bees #Apiculture

Grantees will receive multi-year funding of up to £48,000 to boost their long-term resilience. They’ll also receive guidance to strengthen governance and internal systems, develop leadership skills and connect with peers. Learn more and apply by 25 March: www.doitnownow.com/innovate-now... [2/3]

Many Black-led initiatives in the UK that support the careers of Black researchers provide mentoring, safe spaces, networks and advocacy. But they're often underfunded. That's why we’re launching a new funding programme in partnership with Do it Now Now to help strengthen these initiatives. [1/3]

Junior scientists 👉 applications are open for our workshop on the mechanistic basis of #cognition. 🧠 🤝 Joint sessions with our #TheoreticalNeuroscience workshop ✈️ Hotel, meals + reasonable travel expenses covered Apply by May 7 ➡️ janelia.news/CNW26 @michaelreiser.bsky.social @jvoigts.bsky.social

This workshop was one of the highlights of my PhD! Highly recommend applying! Amazing science and amazing people allround - and all (reasonable) expenses paid!