A plan outlining how the #PacificIslands can shed their crippling dependence on expensive & important diesel fuel & go 100 per cent #renewables for electricity – and for some transport – is to be presented at the Pacific Islands forum this week. #agsky #energysky reneweconomy.com.au/solar-batter...

Gonna bring in those sweet sweet volatile fatty acid feedstocks for the low low price of just lil hydrogen peroxide and our old poop. 🧪#AgSky #ClimateSky #EnvironmentalEngineering 💩💰

Beyond sheep - nice Six mobile chicken coops, each housing up to 2,500 chickens, are planned. A conventional four-crop rotation is also foreseen for arable land. Wider spacing between rows allows access for agricultural machinery. #agrivoltaics #agsky #energysky www.pv-magazine.com/2025/09/11/g...

Excellent! Great to see - farming under panels in a NZ context. Farms wanted to help trial solar systems. #agsky #energysky #solar #agrivoltaics www.farmersweekly.co.nz/technology/f...

“Many scholars from historically overexploited countries (often referred to as the global south) expected that exposing the problem would trigger change. Four years on, I see it clearly: the scientific system was never designed for equity,” writes Dolors Armenteras in Nature. #Academicsky 🧪

Compared to the costs of training LLMs, the education system is so cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly.

Re-upping this: For those of you having new students in the lab, I have curated a YouTube playlist on molecular biology: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... I usually have my students watch it before I show them how to do it in the lab.

2 decades after the first GLP-1 drug, we're still in the early stages for where this is headed. Nice, succinct summary and graphic by a pioneer of the field: @danieljdrucker.bsky.social jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

While I am genuinely concerned for my colleagues who are doctors currently on H1B visas, I acknowledge that I can't make people care about other humans. But American *should* care about the fact that their ability to get medical care WILL be affected by these visa restrictions.

Autumn Equinox for the Northern Hemisphere is 1819UT 22 September 2025. 🔭 🧪

you could argue that wikipedia has more rigorous peer review than a good number of academic journals

Mercator size vs. true country size by @neilrkaye.bsky.social

okay AI controversy aside, just talking as a nerd for a second: this is such a cool paper

“The apes were particularly fond of figs, which contained some of the highest levels of alcohol the team recorded” www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

for all people mock it wikipedia is genuinely one of the wonders of the modern world

I know its not the sort of thing you're seeking but its cool that Ed Lewis' work on transvection in the 1950s revealed functional links between the same locus on the homologs --we know know these were enhancer promotor interactions en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transve...

Time for the world to install a gigawatt of solar power capacity 2004: A year 2010: ~ a month 2015: ~ a week Now: < A day ourworldindata.org/data-insight... 🧪

73%: The increased risk of serious injury for women car passengers in a frontal crash compared with men. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/business/car-safety-women.html

Next in the #MountainSoilBiodiversity poster session at the #IMC2025 is Theresa Rzehak showing us the variety of #soil #microbiota in different mountain habitats and elevations.

USU researcher Tejinder Singh, talks about how scientists are developing a website to assist #farmers in calculating the amendments to add to their #soil. The SATURO helps them to figure out one of the variables needed for their calculations. Learn more: metergroup.com/products/sat...

#Biochar application enhances #soil quality by improving soil physical structure under particular #water and #salt conditions in arid region of Northwest #China 🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ji... #agroecology

Hemimeris racemosa of South Africa has glandular hairs in its flowers that secrete oil. The bee in this photo is a Rediviva sp. (#Melittidae), an oil-collecting specialist, which has speciated in the region. 📷: Odette Curtis CCBYNC4. #bees #Scrophulariaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

I mentioned Rediviva (#Melittidae) in my previous post, but it’s with Diascia spp., also endemic to S. Africa, that Rediviva really shines. Diascia has paired nectar spurs lined with oil-secreting hairs. This is D. longicornis 📷: Richard Adcock CCBYNC4. #Scrophulariaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 🧵½ 1/2

Lysimachia punctata is one of ca. 80 spp of Lysimachia (out of 288 spp in the genus) that have oil-secreting hairs in the bowl of the corolla. It is pollinated by oil bees in the genus Macropis (ca. 16 spp; #Melittidae). 📷: Pete CCBY2. #pollination #bees #Primulaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Krameria lanceolata of the southern US & adjacent Mexico is one of 17 spp, all of which are pollinated by oil-collecting bees of the genus Centris (ca. 250 spp; #Apidae). 📷: Sonnia Hill CCBY2. #bees #pollination #Krameriaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

I’ll end this week of oil-rewarding flowers with Angelonia, a genus of nearly 30 spp from the American tropics. All spp have oil-secreting hairs in the throats of their corollas & are pollinated by oil-collecting #bees. It's a popular bedding annual. #Plantaginaceae #TropicalBotany #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

I’m posting this week from the Peruvian Amazon with the International Palm Society. You know you’re in the topics when this little weed is at your feet. This is Hippobrome longiflora #Campanulaceae. It has a global distribution (pantropical). #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

These are the fruits of Solanum sessiliflorum. The juice is delicious. #Peru #Solanaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

I’m in Peru with the International Palm Society, so of course we’re seeing amazing palms. My favorite might be the aguaje, Mauritia flexuosa. Superbly beautiful! #Arecaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Lepidocaryum tenue var. tenue is a charmer. Its leaves are palmate, but they look almost pinnate. It is one of the most abundant understory palms in this part of Peru. Another fascinating palm seen with the International Palm Society. #Arecaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

The aroids here in Peru are dazzling! I haven’t identified everything yet, but it’s all fantastic! #Araceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Bomarea species (#Alstroemeriaceae) are climbers among the shrubs at 3000 m elevation at the Kuelap archeological site. I don’t have IDs on them yet. They are hummingbird pollinated. #Botany 🌾🧪🌱 #tropicalbotany

Ceroxylon quindiuense is such a magnificent sight! Walking among them with my amigos from the International Palm Society was such a treat. #Arecaceae #TropicalBotany #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

25% of Drs in US are foreign grads. Many are on an H1B visa. This will hit health systems hard especially rural hospitals and hospitals in underserved areas that sponsor these visas through waiver programs. The old cost was about 5000$ a year. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

At yesterday's 80th @UN General Assembly, the High Seas Treaty was FINALLY ratified! 🌊 🦑 Aka the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdictions (BBNJ) Agreement, it now officially enters into force in 120 days, becoming international law in Jan 2026. highseasalliance.org/treaty-ratif...

It ain’t bad, as an evolutionary biologist, to have a childhood friend you’ve known since preschool be someone you can text for advice on the multi species coalescent.

Starting in 3h or so - we will be discussing why and how we should be defining cell types and states - I expect really stimulating conversation and important suggestions for how to (not) use the terminology! #PlantScience @oli-wilkins.bsky.social @bas-bargmann.bsky.social @b-coli.bsky.social

I can't stress it more. This conference has been designed for us by us. Support @blackinplantsci.bsky.social conference at the University of Leeds funded by the SEB, Faculty of Biological Science at Leeds, the Grow More and New Phytologist foundations and Gastby. Join us on 24/10, details below.

Thank you for sharing our research funded by @ukri.org and shining a light to plant sciences! This is the work of a team and collaboration spread across multiple disciplines

Good read www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

'How to be a scientist in a post-journal world' @pracheeac.bsky.social & @mbeisen.bsky.social beautifully explain how a post-Journal world would look, work, & why it would indeed be a better world. 👍 #ScientificPublishing #SciPub #AcademicPublishing #Preprints #OpenScience

A pensive Minerva contemplating the precarious state of science in the world.

We are so honoured that we are hosting our second Black in Plant Science Conference which wouldn't be possible without our incredible sponsors: @TheGatsbyFoundation @SEB @JohnInnesCentre @UniversityofLeeds @GrowMoreFoundation @NewPhytologist @ThePlantJournal @BioImaging UK and @PhysicsofLife

"Vaccines are safe. They are life-saving, and I would encourage any parent who is concerned about whether or not their child should get a vaccine to talk to their pediatrician to understand the benefits of these life-saving medical products..." — Former CDC director Susan Monarez

🦑🧪 Today is #WorldMantaDay! An incredible and truly unbelievable species – but sadly, threatened. In the image you’ll find a whole bunch of rays: eagle rays, stingrays, guitarfish, butterfly rays and so on. All of them part of this fascinating world that we can still find beneath the surface. 🌍💙

Susan Monarez said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to limit routine childhood vaccines this month — without any credible scientific data.

***DID YOU MISS THIS PAPER?*** #OpenAccess Long-term #soil organic carbon changes after cropland conversion to grazed grassland in Southern Sweden. Johansson, Livsey, Guasconi et al. @ejsoilscience.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/sum....

Saddened to hear about the passing of Steve Long. His work had a profound impact on plant science. A true loss to the scientific community. @ripeproject.bsky.social emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/4...

A single genotype of Kalanchoe ×houghtonii as the 1st reported clonal hybrid capable of worldwide colonization "striking genetic uniformity, high phenotypic plasticity, and extremely high rates of vegetative reproduction ... a 'general-purpose genotype'" From: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I'm staying away from social media just now, it's too horrible. If you are trying to get away too, I recommend a nice walk. This is one of my favourites, Lang Craigs, just to the west of Glasgow 💚. A tremendous diversity of plant and lichen life warms my soul.