It’s maddening to see the abyss between the conscientious work of university educators and — well, whatever this is. Julie Hare at @crikey.com.au on the resignation of Julie Bishop as ANU chancellor. www.crikey.com.au/2026/05/08/j...

The day has finally arrived. You can now *officially* watch puffins live from the Farne Islands, 24 hours a day: bit.ly/4tRz72T Please enjoy these puffins kissing in celebration of this momentous event.

73 years ago today, Squadron Commander Christopher Draper DSC flew under 15 of London’s 18 bridges, prompting ‘Mad Major’ headlines – a nickname he’d earned by trying the same stunt 23 years earlier. He was 61, basically got away with it, and didn’t lose his pilot’s licence for another 11 years 🧵

✉️ Explore 145,000 medieval merchant letters as a live map: the correspondence network of Francesco di Marco Datini (c.1363–1412), spanning Florence to Barcelona to North Africa. Visualise routes, travel times & seasonality. docuracy.github.io/datini/ #DigitalHumanities #MedievalHistory

There’s an article in the Guardian today which I was interviewed for: I wrote about it here, giving a fuller account of how and why I won’t be working with UQP anymore. sakr.substack.com/p/leaving-uqp

Once again, this Manchester New Hampshire Dad asks for egg time and once again: request denied. 14/10 marks for trying, Dad. #PeregrineFalcons

That's Ifremeria nautilei, a mollusk named for the submarine IFREMER Nautile, which was named for Jules Verne's Nautilus, which was named for the mollusk Nautilus. It's a snail named for a submarine named for a submarine named for a snail(ish)!

I'm putting this online somewhat before having built an actual proper website, which I'm sure will be totally fine right? Right?! www.naruresearch.com.au/sgm-guide

Australia's largest industrial climate pollution scheme is also its most poorly understood. Today the federal government is releasing a new round of data today: details of the second year of the reformed scheme ahead of a review this year. Here's what we know so far...

Looking for a new way to support EFF’s fight for privacy and free speech online? Look no further! This new book bundle from @nostarchpress.bsky.social supports EFF and gets you a curated library of Linux courses: www.humblebundle.com/books/linux...

Galeommatoids are one of the most diverse and yet least known groups of clams. They can be free-living, commensal or parasitic, they can filter feed and some are carnivores that suck the bodily fluids of their prey! Many are brightly coloured and very active, like little nudibranchs

In light of Orban's loss in Hungary, it is SO vital to go listen to this @naomiaklein.bsky.social interview with @themaybe.org / @alixdunn.com. Don't mistake the muscularity of anger for real, sustained power. Fascists of all kinds are showing how scared they are every single day.

📯 Études sur la famille des vespides / Paris: V. Masson ;1852-1858. [Source]

Every week I see a post like “well, Silicon Valley has built a dick-breaking machine. No matter how you feel about getting your dick broken, it’s our responsibility to integrate mechanical dick-breaking into our schools.”

Brisbane - the great Avid Reader has offered to hold an event for me on April 27 - it’s ticketed (but if you want to come and things are tight, DM me) This little book has really hit a chord and I love hearing your recollections and thoughts. 🩷 www.trybooking.com/events/landi...

A few people have replied to my Artemis posts with links to Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey on the Moon." Here's a story from Space.com about Artemis II pilot Victor Glover, currently en route to fly around the Moon, and his connection to that piece. www.space.com/space-explor...

Been seeing a lot of tweets about whether pleats are back. Are they "in" or "out?" Are they modern or old? Personally don't like this line of thinking, as it's driven by ready-to-wear trends, which forces you to update your wardrobe every decade. Let me give you another way to think about pleats. 🧵

Your periodic reminder that there is a website that lets you listen to local radio stations anywhere in the world This is honestly one of the coolest inventions ever, imo. Global access to hyper-local imagined communities

✊ donating to Wikipedia is a good thing to do

This is (I think) a Greater Blue-Eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) & the amazing chrome job is their super-power. They've evolved to manipulate light in VERY specific ways, attracting mates, intimidating rivals. Let's look at the nanostructures that bring this bling into being.

This orchid was a present for my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary in 1985, hasn’t flowered for years.

Another silver lining, I've time and headspace to catch up on things. First is Adaptation, I watched this at the old GC arts center when it came out in 2002 and loved it. Only film other than Leaving Las Vegas that I've liked Nicholas Cage's work in.

So, about those Eid prayers in London... "What's the highest thing in Trafalgar Square?" "Nelson's column, innit?" "And the highest thing on the column?" "Nelson." "And on Nelson?" "His hat." "And the highest thing on his hat?" "That bit that sticks up." 1/8

"Self-proclaimed stoics who denounce self-examination only prove the bankruptcy of the tech bro worldview." Superb from @jemima.bsky.social

Deep in a small village, Hyun Sook and I found this 96 year old pavilion that was built as a secret spot for locals to illegally read all the Korean literature and poetry that was banned under Japanese occupation. It's literally a Banned Book Clubhouse!

Sometimes the origin of a story is just a passing comment, like a casual mention of the 92yo rare books expert who often just drops by the State Library with an extremely valuable book in his pocket to donate. I was very taken by this, so I found the guy. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

I see one nation's candidate vetting is as reliable as ever. "One Nation media representative Richard Henderson was initially defensive when asked about the UK charges: "Sexual offence charge? Charge but not conviction, right?"' www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

I've written a post on Pinnotheres pholadis, a species of pea crab, and it is about how a smol bean can stunt the growth of juvenile scallops 🧪 dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2026/03/pinn...

Each book is a mosaic novel made up of 5 novellas. The Gulp and The Fall are also a mosaic novel of 10 novellas. And all three books make a mosaic novel across 15 novellas. But each novella stands alone as a complete story. Possibly my greatest writing achievement to date. #WelcomeToTheGulp #Booksky

This! 1000 times this!

It is a unique pleasure to have someone send you pictures of a species you described. It's like a report that one of your kids is doing all right. This beauty is Orectoscelis westwoodi, a myrmecophile (probably with Pheidole) described back in 2005 from Queensland, AU. (photo by Jan Pražák)

A little GIS to start the morning. For a few months now, I've been puzzling over just how close the world's first deep-sea mining test came to ploughing through the world's largest cold water coral reef. I finally have an answer, and it's: Less than 2 kilometers.

well..

This is unbelievable www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...

I feel like the medical version of “are we there yet?”.

‪ 🌳 Do you want to contribute to research on how humans perceive forests? Take this quick, anonymous 10-min survey 🌲 👉 www.biodiful.org#/forest This will help us explore how people experience forest biodiversity! Please share on 🦋 & tag @biodiful.bsky.social to reach more participants 🙏💚 🌐🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪

Actually, Americans are just like you. ~20-30% of them genuinely support fascism, as in ~every 🇪🇺 country. You are just more fortunate to have political institutions & a multiparty system that prevent that 20-30% from fully capturing the center-right party, becoming 51%, & controlling the government.

If @willbunch.bsky.social wrote it, you should read it.©

It was a couple years ago. I had an assignment to find a particular ant:

Why of COURSE there’s a clone of Minesweeper into a Straits of Hormuz version.

The UAE enthusiastically slurping down its own propaganda. "Independent of how this began, the retaliatory measures that Iran has taken to attack the Gulf states are really where the issue we have is," she says. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Yesterday I filmed several baby birds walking across a street directly at my camera and asked Bluesky to suggest music Several dozen folks did Some even dubbed music over the original clip. I haven't been able to get this out of my head. So I give you A Bluesky exclusive: Reservoir Ducks 🐣 🪶

Sorry I messed up the book title. It's About Method: Experimenters, Snake Venom, and the History of Writing Scientifically

Rivers are living beings.

Hillary Clinton has more than her share of flaws, but when it comes to "showing congressional Republicans the proper level of contempt" she is flawless.

Please please please get on this

Australia Electricity Emissions Update: Average NEM emission intensity over last 12 months: 513 kg CO2-e/MWh. Down 25% since 2020, down 38% since 2015 Sth Australia reductions leading the way thanks to its increase in wind & solar generation. Down 28% since 2020, 67% since 2015)