Disco slugs (for science!) This sea slug steals chloroplasts from the algae it eats, making it one of the few animals that can do photosynthesis. But what kind of relationship does the slug have with these organelles stolen from a different kingdom of life? 🦑🧪

If being smart helps mice survive, why haven't they all evolved to be supersmart? In a new delightful paper from @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social, scientists set up miniature mouse societies to study how differences in the ability to innovate are maintained in a population.🧪

Super interesting piece on "involuntary parks" by Annelise Giseburt. 🧪 From the Hanford Reach National Monument to the Zone Rouge, land polluted by explosives, toxic chemicals, or radioactive waste now serves as a refuge for wildlife - kind of. Giseburt explores the uncertain futures of these parks.

Oh no the guys that are brutalizing people and gassing children in Minneapolis got their feelings hurt. Super sad.

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

Just as I have always suspected

This seems like a really great initiative! If you know any Trans scientists who might be interested in joining a broader community, please pass along! transscientistcollective.carrd.co

Hello science friends - does anyone have access to this paper? Thanks! 🧪 doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

My nonprofit @your.neighborhoodscientist.org is looking for scientists to share their stories with us in 2026! Is your New Year's resolution to communicate & interface more with your community as a scientist? Send us a pitch at [email protected] ! 🧪🧠🇺🇸

Hey can any rodent folks tell me why this rat appears to be waiting to be let into my house?? He’s been there for at least half an hour & doesn’t seem to be eating anything, just hanging out. Seems like weird behavior for a rat?? 🧪🦊

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google. My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence! go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

Early career science journalists: Need something to do next summer? Apply to work with me as @science.org's newsletter intern! bit.ly/44yCu4o

This is such an astonishingly bad take I don’t even know where to start?? During my PhD and my time as a science journalist I have spoken to a LOT of scientists. Almost every single one has more ideas than they have the time or funding to pursue. Please do better @vox.com 🧪

Download our large database of postdoc fellowships in all fields of research. Database freely available to all; 281 fellowships. Download here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-...

Ah yes the classic strategy to make America healthy again by failing to protect babies from infectious disease. 🦠🧪 I’m not surprised that these folks don’t care about science or children’s health but like… to what end?? Surely the vaccine costs less than hep b treatment?? What is the point of this?

Big news about the Toronto Subway Deer! Dug up in 1976 Torontoceros hypogaeus is a prehistoric cervid known only from 1 incomplete specimen. Originally classified as a caribou relative, ancient DNA analysis now suggests it belongs to the genus Odocoileus which includes mule deer & white-tailed deer🧪

Artificial light at night (ALAN) can be bad for bugs - Pacific field crickets exposed to ALAN during development laid fewer eggs & produced fewer viable sperm as adults. But why? Like us, insects have natural rhythms of melatonin production, which can be disrupted by light. 🧪🪲

This is cool as hell 🤩

Researchers change the locations of spider mite "bathrooms," shedding light on important aspects of social evolution.🧪🪲 It seems logical that having a designated place to poop is a key part of group living, from invertebrates to humans. But it can be tricky to demonstrate this empirically.

Browsing through some aquatic ecology papers (as one does) & the authors casually toss in the term "crayfish plague." As someone with a strong (unhealthy?) interest in weird diseases I had to learn more. Apparently, crayfish around the world* are getting absolutely obliterated by this pathogen🧪🦠

Did you know that some fungi are CARNIVOROUS? There are lots of species that do this, but I think Arthrobotrys oligospora is especially bonkers. These fungi sense when their prey (nematodes) are nearby by eavesdropping on the chemical signals that the nematodes use to communicate with each other 🧪🪲🍄

Are you a science communicator in British Columbia who wants to connect with other scicommers?? Shoot me a message, we're trying to start a group. 🧪🇨🇦 @uvicscience.bsky.social @science.ubc.ca @sfu.ca @rascvancouver.bsky.social @viuniversity.bsky.social @thetyee.ca @pme.ubc.ca @wildernews.bsky.social

I love unserious Google Reviews of places especially if they involve weird/niche history. Wager Island, in southern Argentina, has 3.4 stars - almost all the reviews are cheeky references to the 1741 wreck of the HMS Wager, e.g. "Crashed my ship here. Had to eat my fellow sailors. 2/5"

Truly there was never a point in this sentence where I could have guessed what the next word would be🧪

Hello internets, there's a paleontological museum in danger of being closed. Please help.

This is an Eastern Cape giant cycad. This specimen at Kew Gardens is the world's oldest potted plant* & it is older than the United States. I found this oddly comforting? Certain systems seem deeply entrenched & unchangeable but in reality there are houseplants that have been around longer.🧪🌿

Sometimes I think about how difficult human pregnancy is compared to a panda or kangaroo & shake my fist at evolution. But you know what AT LEAST WE AREN'T BATS Imagine having to literally fly while preggers with a baby that is (on average) 23% of your weight. Which would be like a 35lb baby for us🧪

Who is this?? Weird lil bug that almost looks like it’s just poking its head out of its shell to scootch up the wall?? 🧪

My latest for Undark: Biological control - introducing one non-native species to control another - has gotten a bad rap. Does it deserve it? I spoke with experts in biocontrol, botany, and entomology to find out. 🧪 undark.org/2025/11/10/i...

More questions for the 🧪 hivemind: For people that have school-age kids - are they still taught the warm blooded/ cold blooded thing? 🦊🦎

Hey science hivemind can you help me? A while ago I came across a great quote about how science/biology is really complicated and if you study or think about it long enough it only gets more complicated Cannot for the life of me find it again. It was maybe from a scifi author in the 60s or 70s? 🧪🧬

Both options are such a disrespectful name for a species lol Like who did the fat/ edible dormouse piss off? ptes.org/get-informed... 🧪

10/10 headline

Moles! How do they work? Clearly they have crazy physical adaptations (outward-facing giant shovel hands, etc), but it's super hard to study the behaviors of animals that live underground. So scientists had to get creative... (Shoutout to @tomlumperson.bsky.social for the fossoriality episode)🧪🦊

If you've ever rolled your eyes about research claiming that complex traits (from chocolate preference to socioeconomic status) have simple genetic explanations, check out this great paper from @jbenning.bsky.social @jedidiahcarlson.com @oliviarxiv.bsky.social Ruth Shaw @arbelharpak.bsky.social 🧪🧬

the year i’m having

“You’re the kind of girl people write books about”

Should be working on other things but just had to share this wild study. Biologists studying flatworms observed that they could reverse body axis polarity during regeneration - i.e. which end of the worm became the head and which became the butt wasn't necessarily set in stone. WHAT. 🧪🦠🧠

👀 (I mean in fruit flies but still)🧪🧠🪲

Recently came across Lisa Taylor's amazing work on coloration in jumping spiders, including using eyeliner to give them teenytiny makeovers to see whether these colors helped them attract mates/avoid sexual cannibalism. Sometimes in science, there aren't standard tools for the thing you want to do🧪

Whenever I’m vacuuming, my dog follows me around the house even though he clearly finds the vacuum somewhat upsetting. Like sir go chill out somewhere else no one is making you be here! Anyway I think that’s a pretty good description of my relationship with the social internet.

WANTED: 10,000 toenails (for science!) In non-smokers, radon gas (which naturally rises out of the ground and can accumulate in enclosed spaces) is a leading cause of lung cancer. However, most people don't know their exposure history, making it difficult to determine who is at higher risk. 🧪

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Stressed out bees become pessimistic, have lower expectations that good things will happen. Same bees, same. 🧪🪲🧠 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Wishing a joyous Fat Bear Week to all who celebrate!! Vote for your favorite chonkers OR watch the live stream @ links below (Not gonna lie"Click to watch fat bears live" felt like a bit of a risky click.The internet has rotted my brain) katmaiconservancy.org/fatbearweek explore.org/livecams/bro...

I like this. Since under RFK Jr, Covid shots are now for people with underlying conditions that put them at risk, Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian states that not having the most recent Covid shot constitutes such an underlying condition. www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/inside...

Bug friends! Where are all of the ~1000 fruit flies in my kitchen coming from?? Are they flying in from outside? Are they breeding inside? And if so, where?? I have hidden all the fruit and the little buggers are still proliferating. I must know, even though I suspect the answer may be upsetting 🧪🪲

Hey nerds wanna hear about the spider drama in my basement? Of course you do. About a week ago I found a LARGE spider in my basement. I am trying to be less freaked out by spiders so I named him Dave (idk why naming them helps but it does). We also had a medium sized spider that I was less scared of

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?" A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons. Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.