For those of you registered for Evolution, I highly recommend watching the video for @maurineneiman.bsky.social IDEA award seminar. It's an amazing story of overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for others.

I'm very grateful to @sse-evolution.bsky.social @asn-amnat.bsky.social & @systbiol.bsky.social for this award and opportunity to share. 🙏

The University of Chicago expanded the range of undergraduate students eligible for free tuition on Wednesday, widening assistance for those from families with incomes below $250,000.

Robo-loon. Sound on. Cool toy or research tool or both?

"For too long, the university has ignored the wisdom of the donor class and hired based on academic excellence. Regrettably, this has led to the underrepresentation of discredited viewpoints in elite higher education." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/wer...

One week left to submit your proposal for the Graduate Research Excellence Grants! Please contact [email protected] with any questions about eligibility, formatting, or how to apply. Submit early to avoid the last-minute rush! www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Meet IOB co author Allison Shultz. The Shultz lab seeks to understand the #evolution of #bird diversity. Along with being a #scientist, Allison is an incredible #artist: & www.allisonshultz.com/projects-8 & read Shutlz's co authored work doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

Bacterial immune proteins have repeatedly evolved to become parts of eukaryotic immunity. But how? Our new preprint uncovers a recent horizontal transfer event & shows how eukaryotes co-opted a toxic bacterial immune protein 🦠🧪🧵 1/

Did you know that in Star Wars, blasters fire *plasma*— not lasers? #MayTheFourth

There are more than 11,000 kinds of birds. I evaluated them all and made a definitive list of the 100 greatest names. I consider myself a bird name connoisseur but these blew me away. Over the next 10 days I'll add them to this thread. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Did you know that a robot bounty hunter uploaded his sentient mind to the second Death Star? IG-88’s persona would have made the Death Star II determined to wipe out all living beings, a genocide leaving only droids in the galaxy…!! From “Tales of the Bounty Hunters”. #MayTheFourth

Did you know that the forest moon of Endor originally was conceived as a moon orbiting the massively industrialized planet that became Coruscant? Perhaps the rich denizens of the city-world financed a lunar wilderness retreat! starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Endor_(... #MayTheFourth

Do you know why the rebel pilots in A New Hope have yellow visors? A Reddit user shares this explanation: “The day that most of the actors playing rebel pilots in A New Hope shot their scenes in 1976 was unseasonably hot. That's why their visors were changed from clear to yellow: to better hide the

Do you know how R2-D2 got his name? Wikipedia relays the tale: “Sound editor Walter Murch claims to be responsible for the utterance which sparked the name for the droid. Murch asked for Reel 2, Dialog Track 2, in the abbreviated form "R-2-D-2". Lucas, who was in the room

May the Fourth be with you! Did you know that the trailer for the new Mandalorian and Grogu movie pays tribute to the late great Carl Weathers? In the language Aurebesh, you can see the message “Weathers Apollo” above a door - referencing his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky films. #MayTheFourth

Giant octopuses discovered!!! As big as a mosasaur! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Does this finally validate my favorite scientific hypothesis ever-- that an ancient kraken preyed on ichtyosaurs and arranged their bones in a "self-portrait"? See gizmodo.com/giant-prehis...

Join me Tuesday with authors J. Arvid Agren and Manus M. Patten for the launch of their book The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict.

Excited to share our study testing competing theories on the energy dynamics of hermaphroditism! Grateful to @djmmeeg.bsky.social for guidance, to Thomas Brey for metabolic rate data, and to Deborah Charlesworth for feedback. Thanks also to the editors and reviewers at Proc B. @royalsociety.org

I'm looking for a few anecdotes where your EYES suggested a cool color science study in birds. E.g., you saw how a certain feather gleamed strangely at twilight; a "red" plumage struck you as a very different red from usual patterns; etc. Any tips? @s-m-aguillon.bsky.social , unsure who else to tag

Duck slip ‘n slide at Botany Pond @uchicagocollege.bsky.social

Join us in the evolution tri-societies Week of Action for NSF! Call/write congress, engage with colleagues, friends and family about the importance of NSF funding! Scan the QR code on the attached image for instructions and scripts. We must make noise! Pls RT!!!! #WithoutNSF #SaveNSF #SupportNSF

Did you know that Han Solo’s famous “parsecs” comment may have been a calculated attempt to impress, or scam, Obi-Wan and Luke? Solo brags that the Millennium Falcon is “the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!” This doesn’t make too much sense, 1/3

Did you know that for the scene in the Wampa's cave - where Luke uses the Force to retrieve his Lightsaber - the producers achieved the effect by asking Mark Hamill to toss the Lightsaber away and then running the film in reverse? Just kidding, the Force is real. #MayTheFourth

Did you know that Star Wars fans surpass all other fanbases for their attention to detail? Here are the two "peak star wars fan" moments on the internet. 1) “my memory is a bit fuzzy…” on @reddit and 2) “NOT a rendition of spacecraft” on @NYTimes. #MayTheFourth

Did you know that Luke's line "I can't see a thing in this helmet!" was not scripted? Mark Hamill thought that the cameras had stopped running and was just making a side comment to Harrison Ford. The filmmakers liked it, and so they kept it in. #MayTheFourth

Did you know that we can thank Werner Herzog for pressuring the show directors to make Baby Yoda a puppet, rather than CGI? When the puppet was removed during a scene so they could get a "clean plate" in case CGI was needed, Werner said, “You are cowards. Leave it. Leave it." #MayTheFourth

Did you know that in Return of the Jedi, the evil emperor's chair was supposed to have a mechanical rotation device? However, it never worked properly-so he had to shuffle his feet to rotate. #MayTheFourth

In the Empire Strikes Back, when Boba Fett transports frozen Han Solo to his ship, did you catch that Fett notices Luke hiding? Boba Fett briefly turns his head when Luke unholsters his blaster but keeps cool, keeps walking, and ambushes Luke a minute later. #MayTheFourth youtu.be/N3fdWyepMWk

Did you know that many animals are named after Star Wars? #MayTheFourth Here are three of my favorites: 1/4

Did you know that the Skywalker Twins are substantially different ages in the Empire Strikes Back? Time dilation!!! Luke and Leia both travel to Cloud City at lightspeed, but Leia travels from nearby Anoat system, while Luke travels much farther from distant Dagobah. 1/2

Did you know that in Revenge of the Sith, a battle droid tells his buddy to check out General Grievous activating his four lightsabers? You can almost hear his robotic voice, tinged with admiration: “You’re gonna wanna see this.” Clip here: youtu.be/Xj49nsG4ruo #MayTheFourth

Did you know that the bounty hunter droid IG-88 got his head from the drinks dispenser in the original Cantina? I guess they DO serve droids- SORT OF! #MayTheFourth

Did you know that George Lucas was famous for his extreme lack of communication as director of Star Wars? When he lost his voice on set, the crew made him a board with two phrases written on it to represent his most common contributions: "FASTER" and “MORE INTENSE." #MayTheFourth

Did you know that the Krayt Dragon Skeleton used in the filming of A New Hope still lies in the desert in Tunisia? #MayTheFourth

Did you know that that Jabba the Hutt was a puppet in the original trilogy, so finely made that he had radio controlled eyes & dilating pupils? This slimy gangster controlled Tatooine for years, valuing his own political career over the welfare of the planet's residents. Familiar… #MayTheFourth

May the Fourth be with you!!! For the past ten years, I’ve shared fun Star Wars factoids on this day. Today I’m re-sharing some of my all time favorites :) #MayTheFourth

Dire wolf genomics preprint out from Colossal! (They do not discuss the de-extinction or identify the genetic edits they did). George R. R. Martin is a coauthor who contributed to "writing: review and editing" 👀 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Striking new study from @archaeon-alex.bsky.social's lab just out in @science.org on multicellular development induced by compression in Archaea: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

"Catch him if you can- these possums never bite!" *CHOMP*😆 If this passage doesn't sum up field biologists, I don't know what does! Excerpt from "Relics: Travels in Nature's Time Machine" attached. Still figuring out this new bluesky app- loving it!

New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌞 Nature's Fibre-Optic Solar Panels Heart cockles use fibre optic shells to channel sunlight to algae, enabling photosynthesis while blocking harmful UV. Could this inspire future green tech? @natureportfolio.bsky.social #OpenAccess study: doi.org/10.1038/s414... #SciComm #AcademicSky 🧪 🍎

SSE is sponsoring three symposia at #Evol2025! Applicants can submit proposals for a virtual or in-person symposium. Check out previously funded symposia and learn how to apply on our website. Deadline January 6! https://buff.ly/3V0mh34 @evolmtg.bsky.social

Nominations due soon for the 2025 Dobzhansky Prize! This award recognizes the accomplishments and future promise of an outstanding early-career evolutionary biologist. Submit your nomination now! shorturl.at/p70wY