Looks like a great way to learn the animal evolutionary tree!

New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Yellowstone’s colors aren’t just minerals. They’re living microbes. Heat-loving bacteria and archaea form bands as water cools, each pigment tuned to temperature and light. What looks like abstract art is a thriving ecosystem shaped by extreme heat and chemistry.

Our lab is looking for a new PhD student to contribute to research on the early evolution of microbial life. Deadline coming-up soon on Monday 19th Jan. More info here (scroll to 'How Cyanobacteria Transformed a Starved Planet'): www.bristol.ac.uk/geography/co... Feel free to DM me for questions

Detection Of The Deep Biosphere In Metamorphic Rocks From The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling astrobiology.com/2025/12/dete... #astrobiology #extremophile

Congratulations Eva!

Great to see our perspective in print! Chad, Eva, and I suggest that geological and genomic records support the idea that Earth’s first oxygenated habitats formed on the seafloor, especially in shallow benthic settings along continental shelves #geobiology #astrobiology @earthscista.bsky.social

All Life Copies DNA Unambiguously Into Proteins. Archaea May Be The Exception. astrobiology.com/2025/12/all-... #astrobiology #originoflife #genomics

My research into the evolution of some of the world's first multicellular organisms has been published in Comms Bio! This was a team effort with microbiologists from Spain, Germany, and the UK inc. especially Dr Nieves-Morion as joint first author & microscopy expert! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

I'm preparing to give a seminar on Friday, so let's dive into the uncomfortable etymology of 'SEMINAR'. The Latin root is 'sēmen' & we're already seeing the problem? It means "seed", with all its implications: plant & animal. Have I been doing seminars wrong this whole time 😬?

Early Microbial Evolution "The origin of life on Earth remains one of the greatest and most pervasive mysteries in science. We know the story in broad strokes: Around 4 billion years ago, simple chemical compounds gave rise to living cells, which later formed..." 🦠 asm.org/articles/202...

My latest research suggests that abiotic sources of fixed nitrogen sustained Earth's early ecosystems. Preprint here: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7... Tune into the Geomicrobiology Research in Progress Meeting on Wed. at 11:45 am to find out more. @earthscista.bsky.social

Excited to have seen and heard (via bat detector) noctule bats around Kinessburn and Cockshaugh park in St. Andrews yesterday evening! One of the UK's largest species at the size of a blackbird! Big thanks to Dr. Sasha Newar and the NVC Group for organizing our sunset bat tour x.com/lizardschwar...

🎉 Now out “Phylogenomic analyses indicate the archaeal superphylum DPANN originated from free‑living euryarchaeal‑like ancestors” www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A new source of ammonium to support the growth and development of early life on Earth!

Delighted to have played a small part in Galloway et al's research on nitrogen cycling in geothermal springs at @earthscista.bsky.social. More here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Alongside some behind-the-scenes shots from fieldwork

How the weather got ‘stuck’ over the UK – and produced an unusually dry and warm spring Article in The Conversation from me and @mattpattclimate.bsky.social, discussing spring 2025, blocking and climate change. theconversation.com/how-the-weat...

This is the Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris), and it's just straight up a dinosaur. Like, I know *all* birds are technically avian dinosaurs, but my first thought looking at this guy is: dinosaur. (📷: Suzie McCann, eBird)

Worth watching and thinking about when we buy cod, haddock, halibut, sole, and prawns that are often trawled. I hope it says how they are caught on food labels so we can avoid bottom-trawled catches...

I will forever be haunted by this footage. Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity. What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives. 🌎🦑🧪

🌊 🦑 🧪 ⚒️

Brian Cox ~ The purpose of life?

Setting up my Bluesky after deciding to venture into the chatty platforms again :-) Here a post from early march summarising our last research on nitrogen on early Earth. rptu.de/newsroom/neu...

One thing I wasn't ready for as a postdoc is how much the talks you give need to change. 😅 I think a good colloquium talk takes a lot of practice to get right, and it's so much more about presenting a "big picture" than just e.g. a paper you wrote/are writing. It's so hard to get right! 🔭☄️🧪

Proud to be adding a biologist's angle to the research on ancient Earth that is going on here!

Serpentinizing hydrothermal vents may have been where life began, but we know surprisingly little about how microbial communities interact with the phosphorus compounds they emit and/or absorb. My latest research, just published in Geobiology, addresses this question...

Happy to see this out @NatComm We found that the unicellular coastal cyanobacterium Cyanothece sp uses sodium energetics rather than the typical proton energetics to fix N2. Sodium energetics likely is more widespread and affects the global nitrogen cycle. Congrats Si Tang #microsky t.co/A4lIVcK2V3

Several PhD opportunities are available to join my group, the Molecular Evolution Lab at QMUL! 🌴 If you’re interested in the origin and evolution of #photosynthesis or #cyanobacteria, or in applying #SynBio to photosynthetic enzymes, get in touch! cardonalab.uk/joinus Please share! Thank you.

Imagine an ancient world where seawater was green, not necessarily because of plankton, but because the chemistry was fundamentally different. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

An old article, but it neatly explains some of the research I've been working on through my career: asm.org/articles/202...

Have you ever dreamed of playing a retro video game themed on the origin of life and astrobiology? If yes, Luca Tonietti just made the perfect game for you! www.lucatonietti.com/origin-of-li...