BBC does a programme on Ancient Egypt, gets in "experts" who know absolutely nothing about the period such as Daily Heil-scribbling Thatcherite revisionist shithouse Dominic Sandbrook and *checks notes* Alastair Campbell. No, me either.

“I wish someone at Google would remember scholar exists!” …and the monkey paw curls.

As the year comes to an end, I'm reposting some of the comics I made this year, including this ridiculous thing.

Weather's too cold for most insects, so I guess my iNat uploads are going to consist exclusively of birds and moths for the next few months. Winter Moth (Operophtera so.)

The Oxford University social media team getting some well-deserved clapback after neglecting to mention the Indonesian biologists who were also involved in documenting the flowering of Rafflesia hasseltii. Instagram doesn't charge you by the word, so maybe at least do the bare minimum?

A single camera-trap image captured in Nepal's has dramatically expanded the known western range of Asian Golden Cat by nearly 400 km:

Interested in how life history may shape the gut microbiome of a wild mammal? Keen on getting to work with an iconic long-term study system in Scotland? Check out this PhD opportunity with me, Josephine Pemberton and @gfalbery.bsky.social Reach out to chat more! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

🚨🦜🐧Cover reveal! Thrilled to show off the cover of my upcoming book: The Story of Birds! Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social Preorder 👇

“If a doctor makes a mistake it’s not such a big deal. But if I make an error it will sit in books for hundreds of years” Peter Wollny But taking out the wrong kidney versus mis-identifying the author of an ancient bit of music…? Good on you mate, love Bach! www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...

'Ahead of the autumn budget on 26 November, Universities UK (UUK) has calculated that funding per student for teaching in 2025-26 is at 64 per cent of the level it was in 2015-16.' 1/3

We got published in Ecology&Evolution! We propose an equation from which we derive the fundamental equations of population ecology and evolutionary biology (the Price equation). #evobio #philbio onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

a colleague in my dept has instituted a test format of a 3-min presentation and a 3-min question period from the prof. it's become evident in doing so that over half his students have no clue what they've been submitting essays on (it seems they haven't written a word of the essays)

Thank you for alerting us @leafwarbler.bsky.social to post about Michaela’s passing. There are some beautiful things said about her here and she will be sorely missed by everyone who knew her. She was truly incredible. www.bi.mpg.de/hau

Wow this new hummingbird field guide is astonishingly technical.

A new #PhD opportunity supervised by @drmambobob.bsky.social and me at the @uniofreading.bsky.social on dragonfly and damselfly evolution! It is competition funded through the CROCUS partnership, and involves a mix of palaeontology and comparative biology. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

This needs to be drilled into students at the university level as well.

Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪

Machine learning (umbrella term, I know) is a useful, sometimes transformative tool in the hands of trained researchers who understand how to deploy it and critically assess the results. A chatbot is not useful in the same ways (though underlying technologies may be, in other contexts).

Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb... Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)

Interesting update on avian magnetoreception. This is neat, but given the existing evidence I would be a bit surprised (sotto voce: and disappointed) if the cryptochrome mechanism with its elegant quantum biology turned out to be for naught.

I mean, the title says it all: Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia  ×  G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. Fun stuff with @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social and Kurt Gielow, OA in @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social! 🦉 🧪 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Took a long extended walk through the biology and chemistry parts of the Oxford campus this morning. Lots of reflective glass facades but only counted one pigeon collision imprint.

It's bloody cold today. Time to stare at some long-dead birds

Oh look, some local celebrities showed up to see theatre royalty Sir Stephen Fry perform in The Importance of Being Earnest tonight.

Teachers, please inform your students that the CDC website is no longer a reliable source of information.

Not my favourite interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The director seems to have turned the play into a commentary on dictatorship and authoritarianism, portraying Theseus as a tyrant, a characterisation which I find to be quite unnecessary. But maybe I'm just old fashioned.

Widespread influence of artificial light at night on ecosystem metabolism 🧪🌐 "we detect consistent nonlinear interactions between ALAN and night duration, with Ecosystem respiration " www.nature.com/articles/s41...

PhD opportunity: MOVE Details: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/c... Deadline: 12/01/26 Supervisors: @shoalgroup.bsky.social, @inesfuertbauer.bsky.social, @wlallen.bsky.social, @nhcooper123.bsky.social, @marinapapa.bsky.social Apply: blogs.reading.ac.uk/crocus-dla/p...

I played Nick Bottom in my high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream nearly 2 decades ago, and I finally get to see the play performed at Shakespeare's Globe in the Sam Wanamaker theatre.

Climate change is EXPENSIVE

I'm not going to apologise for having nasi lemak for lunch again, this time considerably more tasty and considerably more expensive.

With my favourite specimen at the NHM (sorry Archaeopteryx)

My alma mater, Leicester University, is dissolving its Geology Department leading to the loss of 14 staff. Palaeo is being completely axed, despite Leicester's long and storied history in this area (and its current strengths). Please sign this petition!!: www.change.org/p/save-geolo...

New study led by our @wielandheim.bsky.social uncovered negative effects of an anthropogenic fire on bird abundance and diversity during stopover:

PhD up for grabs in applied ecology focusing on species traits and ecological processes, supervised by @jmbecologist.bsky.social @orlyrazgour.bsky.social, Ben Woodcock, and me. Worth a look!

When slightly tipsy in London, have a cheeky Nando's I guess?

Natural history collections are a time stamp of now. In Taiwan, there is an average of 1500-2000 roadkill cases reported per year. With the increasing public engagement, we can utilize these deaths to their full potential. #BOUasm25 #ornithology 🧵1/6

“From specimens to solutions: the evolving role and current challenges of natural history collections” Great keynote talk from Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social - I was impressed hearing about the mummy birds 😮 @nhm-london.bsky.social @bou.org.uk #BOUasm25 #ornithology #museums

PhD scholarship alert! Are you interested in cognitive evolution? Do you want to know how development influences cognitive traits? Do you love hanging out with birds in the forest? If the answer to these questions is yes, please apply to work with us! 1/2 🧪 www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...

Good morning from me and Chucky D at the NHM, where I'll be attending the #BOUasm25

Welcome to #BOUasm25 “A day at the museum: collections-based ornithological research in a changing world” the BOU’s autumn conference. Today we’ll be in-person at the Natural History Museum (London) and online on Teams Follow the #BOUasm25 feed to stay updated. #ornithology 🪶

Going to be a big month for warbler science! First out of the gates is @lannhiphung.bsky.social, with song & genomics of Nashville warblers. Eastern and western subspecies: non-overlapping and super distinct. Keep an eye on your life list 😉 🦉🧪@journal-evo.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

What do you do when you're in London and miss the American southwest? You have a burrito made out of Yorkshire pudding and disappoint both cultures at the same time.

Finally visiting the TARDIS at Earl's Court.

The first talk of the dipteristsforum.bsky.social #DipteristDay2025 was by @denisewawman.bsky.social talking about the ever-so-cute Hippoboscidae. She provides an amusing musing about what happens when you start to ponder what’s happening in your garden… Pox on the dunnocks!

Reboosting for weekday folks. Hopefully useful for high school guidance counselors, students looking for grad programs, faculty wanting to see how their campus works, etc

The Natural History Museum Denmark is seeking a new Head of Conservation Unit! The conservation team here works on a wide array of incredible specimens, and are hard at work preparing for the new museum opening in spring 2027! candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

You would not think it from the rotting walnut cover photo, but this post has so many wonderful images and documents life inside the decaying walnuts. Worth reading! Thanks for documenting this, @colinpurrington.bsky.social. (Also, probably the nicest way to have the morning coffee!)

Good news: Study shows France’s birds making tentative recovery after neonicotinoid pesticide ban UK has only just closed loophole in neonics ban (‘derogations’) so may be too soon to see recovery here? www.theguardian.com/environment/...