Did you know octopuses are technically colorblind? 🌈 One photoreceptor, no color vision, should only see in grayscale. So how are they perfect color matching camouflage artists? 🐙 A thread 🧵 (with sources at the end, of course 😋) 🦑🐡

It’s my birthday in a couple days and I’m gonna be sappy. For my birthday, I want everyone to be as happy as I am right now. I want everyone to know that *they can do that feral, inexplicable thing that they think they can’t or shouldn’t do (even though they really want to do it)* You can do it.

Barry Corr's launch has a map handout. Sublime. Hard to imagine a more exciting book.

The humpbacks were too far offshore to be seen this afternoon. On the plus side the nephew is much more proficient with binoculars. Lost his mind at seeing a pair of White Bellied Sea Eagles through them.

@jenbren.bsky.social talk about pushing my buttons :/

Absolutely astonishing revelations at ICAC about the University of Wollongong, where the Chancellor has now resigned and the former interim vice-chancellor John Dewar has admitted working to help his consultancy Korda Mentha get extra work while in the job www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07...

A big-headed ant, Pheidole fimbriata, you’ll never guess why they call it that. (Colombia)

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨Hoping to get one over on their Spartan enemies, Athens is tricked by some fancy furniture and sweet chains and invades Sicily. Somehow, that isn't even the strangest thing that happens over the next two years. soundcloud.com/llbdpodcast/...

@alanbaxter.bsky.social hey, I asked you this back on twitter but so far I’ve just made a mess of it. I’ve now got a contact who can 3d print a barbie sized bed suitable for a mushroom garden. If I can make it work can we talk licensing?

The earliest plague epidemics may have been caused by marmots. www.science.org/content/arti...

Koala outside the office as I left this afternoon. Great example of why they’re so hard to spot.

Took the nephew whale watching today. He wasn’t keen on joining them in the water though.

Went down for a spot of whale watching. Found a quiet little memorial.

On March 26, 2026, during a debate on violence against women in Germany’s Bundestag, left-wing MP Kathrin Gebel was repeatedly interrupted by AfD MP Martin Reichardt. She responded: “Mr. Reichardt, the clitoris has 3,000 nerve endings, and you’re still more sensitive. That’s quite an achievement.”

From the GARgantuan to the handheld! Over the past 8 months we’ve encountered our largest gar (Alligator Gar in October) to one of the smallest (Shortnose Gar, today). My hand for “scale.”

Enjoying the winter sun in the back garden, a trio of Pelicans lazily circling around a thermal, climbing 100’s of feet a minute till reaching their desired height tilt and begin to glide southward. The resident brown snake popped its head out and spent a minute warming on the concrete beside me.

Taking the nephew (6) home from soccer this morning, he informed me that he’s named the Ute Bob. I, asked if that meant I could call him Boofhead. I got a world class side eye and a muttered “don’t be an idiot uncle Brent” in response. So proud of him.

Trying again: Instead of noting down #Qgis tricks and tips privately I'm going to do it here so maybe it can help other people too. First up: Prettier contours. 1/11 #GIS #cartography

can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool

Welcome swallow. Barker Inlet Wetlands, Adelaide.

The first time my sister brought my nephew to see me at work (5 years ago)

If I'm not occasionally taking breaks from the Sisyphean task of curation to capture and share images of amazing insects in the collection then what am I even doing here? #NaturalHistoryCollections #FocusStacking #Coleoptera #Meloidae

This is a deep-sea isopod. Dr. Johanna Weston, a deep-ocean biologist and guest investigator at @whoi.edu, is confident this is Bathyopsurus nybelini, one of her favorite animals. Learn why via the YouTube caption: youtube.com/shorts/DenUj...

🙀 Johnson's household book of nature, . New York, H.J.Johnson, [1880]. [Source]

Yanks frothing over scaffolding gives real ‘young greens party after model UN’ vibes.

What are the chances that Qld’s high profile man’s phone has 37 unread invites from George Christensen to join a group chat titled “Manila Madness 2027”?

Hell yes, @cathywilcox.bsky.social

Do you know anyone at Upwork who could help us reach the right team? OpenStreetMap is seeing repeated unauthorised spam from Upwork freelancers. It wastes our time and damages the reputation of the businesses using these "SEO" services.

One of the resident possums on its rounds.

When this bumblebee sounds as though her buzz has inhaled helium it’s because she’s using floral sonication to gather pollen-she increases her wingbeat frequency to ‘buzz’ the pollen from the poppy anthers on to her body.Listen out for this-many bee species use this brilliant way to gather pollen 💯:

🐯 The living world. v.1. Boston: Samuel Walker & Co., 1868-1870, c1868. [Source]

@leonacaelestis.bsky.social hi, I followed you initially because of that carpet, what followed was a veritable roller coaster of an emotional roller coaster :) Rubedo sounded great so I went to order…. Ah crap it’s on Amazon, then I see you’ve got it elsewhere, much appreciated’

Roma st station this evening.

a peek at one of the sketchbook pages i composited into the above picture which implies a secret 9th kind of unrestrained summer fun

Just disconnected the battery charger from my Ute, only to find a possum exploring the engine bay. It’s a big male and old boy didn’t hiss, growl or snarl. The evil bastard climbed up onto my shoulder and made it clear that it was a case of “feed me or you’re Van Goch without the talent”. Send fruit

I was interviewed for Cornell's Research Matters video series. Fun to talk about the importance of insects and biodiversity, what is biogeography, and how herbivore ants use gut bacteria to gain nutrients! @cornellcals.bsky.social @cornellentomology.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=4br9...

Almost midnight and the full moon is busily guilding leaves with a faint silvery tint.

Saw my first humpbacks of the season tonight, three faint blows backlit against the moon’s oceanic reflection.

Oh dear.

Company accidentally spent $500 million on Claude AI in one month after forgetting usage limits techstartups.com/2026/05/28/c...

Oh great, AUKUS gets even worse - the best we can hope for now is the delivery of CSS Hunley in 2077.

Kitty Hawk Tuah - do I have to do all the jokes myself, come on now

I am having the wonderful wax models repaired by a brilliant student conservator - Iona Rimmer Elks, who is undertaking a placement at @nhm-london.bsky.social This sandfly model is approx 75 years old - she has determined what it’s made from & fixing the cracks accordingly @natsca.bsky.social

My mate Jesse is looking for folks working in EIA in Aus to complete a survey - lnkd.in/gDKPB7mm It's on navigating the emotional aspect of enviro careers, specifically in Environmental Impact Assessment. Please share, it's for his PhD and it's just a few days until the survey closes, help him out!

An't with Grabby Hands (Dryinidae wasp)

🦣 The Mastodon giganteus of North America /. Boston: J. Wilson, 1852.. [Source]

Two years ago, I accidentally married the love of my life on Frank Capra's birthday. (The date coincidence was the accident, not the marriage, but both were fate.) As we're traveling this week seeing his mom and Bruce Springsteen, I won't be doing a review, but I will repost my Capra series:

Finally walking without a moon boot, bloody lucky to have had excellent orthopaedic surgical teams.

For what it's worth the Seventh Circuit decision includes an order to show cause why the court shouldn't issue sanctions for a frivolous appeal, as well as for fabricated citations in briefing. The citations included repeatedly misquoting a statute, and fabricating a quote from a case.