Applications are open for the free NERC short course "Integrative biodiversity discovery" at the Natural History Museum, London from 2-6 March 2026. Deadline: 1 December 2025. More info: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/study/training/integrative-biodiversity-discovery.html #course

This work, lead by @felixpleiva.bsky.social, is finally published in a @funecology.bsky.social issue. Have a look. besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Fun fact: if you're looking for space opera novels written by cisgender women, trans, and non-binary authors, I've got a handy spreadsheet just for you! I've maintained this list for several years, and it's still growing! #sciencefiction #books Give it a look. Bookmark it! tiny.cc/spaceoperali...

Join the Natural History Museum for "Voices for Change: A Night of Climate Action" as part of the #GenerationHope programme during COP30. This free evening will explore the challenges and solutions to the climate crisis. When: Monday, 17 November 2025, 18.30-21.30 ⏰ Register for your free ticket 👇

Interested in corals, dispersal, and diversification dynamics? 🪸 We're offering a PhD project on how the Tethys closure shaped global marine biodiversity — supervised by me, Bridget Wade, Nadia Santodomingo, & Francesca Bosellini. 🗓️ Apply by 17th December 2025 www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/how...

Halloween costumes to scare scientists (by @twisteddoodles.bsky.social) 🧪

🎃 Happy Halloween! 🦇 If you're going to watch one episode of @perfect-specimen.bsky.social, then how about the one in which me and Natalie put on some very silly costumes to talk about some spooooky specimens 👻 www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GdN...

Not only are all vampires gay, many bats are too! 🦇

TWO curatorial positions at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada. Curator of Birds, and Curator of Plants and Sustainability... please pass the word and amplify! royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/XBR2Yc... & royalontariomuseum.applytojob.com/apply/Sf2iAO...

Accidentally planned a first all supervisors meeting for a new PhD student today working on bats 🦇. Very appropriate timing!

Voices for Change: A Night of Climate Action Monday 17 November 2025, 18.30-21.30. Join us during COP30 for climate action events aimed at 16+. www.nhm.ac.uk/events/voice...

Happy Halloween! There’s not a bat nor a pumpkin in sight for this episode. Enjoy some different spooky species! 🦀 🌱

The scoop: To get to Mesquite's adventure game, type "ZoL" into the log window. You will find yourself in an open field with a mailbox. 📬 (If that does nothing, then you'll need to turn on "Use Log Window for Command" under File>Defaults>.)

It was genuinely disturbing having to look at Josh while recording this 🎃

A PhD opportunity to work with me, @spissatella.bsky.social and our friends through CENTA - biogeography and vulnerability of exploited bivalves, with possible spin-offs about fishery sustainability and environmental economics: centa.ac.uk/studentship/...

The wonderful @yukihaba.bsky.social and I went beneath London to help solve the riddle of the Underground Mosquito... Debunking rather than spelunking ;) @marakat.bsky.social @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social

At some point I will do the 'what I had out this year' roundup... two novellas, some longer stories, some shorter, and this one, my shortest! EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING PROBABLY is free to read at @psychopomp.com :) psychopomp.com/everyone-kee...

Have you listened to LOUD yet? How loud is the loudest penis? What is a midshipman? Why are crustaceans so good at physics?

And here's the great paper @nhcooper123.bsky.social mentioned on the three wattled bellbird (Snow 1977): www.jstor.org/stable/40852... complete with this amazing figure...

My 2023 Notes and Records article 'Mendel's Closet: Genetics, Eugenics and the Exceptions of Sex in Edwardian Britain' is free to read this #OpenAccess week! 🌈🧬 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.... Download and share while you can . . . #histbio #histsci #queerhistory #PrideInSTEM #OAweek 🗃

Spooky bird stories. Last year's Halloween comic.

Another reminder that The Lasting Harm is a must read - with Prince Andrew’s Epstein relationship back in the press, Mandelson’s recent sacking and the ramifications in Washington - Lucia’s book is a vital read

This was fun! @joshlukedavis.com and I love a good genitalia based fact!

Opportunity to manage one of the world's great herpetology collections and join the outstanding community of museum folks here at U-M! 🐍🦎🐢🐊🐸

"The DOE Actually Published This?" featuring @andrewdessler.com by #RealPeel 🍋 #ClimateChange #DOEClimateReport #DOEClimateReportResponse

Do you like bats, phylogenetics, comparative genomics? Then join us in-person 6 PM Friday, OCT 25 at the @linneansociety.bsky.social for our annual Founders' Lecture! Prof @emmateeling.bsky.social will be speaking to us on all things bat! 🦇 Register here: tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8

Who ❤️ data? Our 36 specimens (31 animal, 5 plant) so far represent 8/31 (25%) animal and 2/14 (14%) plant phyla/divisions. Chordata/mammals are winning (but many of these appeared in OVERRATED). @joshlukedavis.com and @nhcooper123.bsky.social have done OK so far but there's more diversity to cover!

Introducing BIRDBASE, which aims to be the world's most comprehensive avian trait ecology database. Article links to open access paper, & data in Excel spreadsheet. phys.org/news/2025-09... #science #environment #ecology #eco #biology #bird #birds #birding #birdwatching #openaccess #datascience

Today featured two things with the word “Apophenia” i.e. the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. Pretty sure the world is trolling me at this point.

New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer. This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Delightful 1940s book that shows that people have always understood Weird Duck Time

we don't need AI when content like this exists

University of Gothenburg announces a strategic professorship in biodiversity with an interdisciplinary profile academicpositions.com/ad/universit...

A moment away from politics with a wonderful piece of cross-species preservation of the past www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

Calling botanical researchers, the School of Natural Science at Trinity College Dublin is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor in Plant Biodiversity and Conservation. I know this is someone's dream job, so let me know if that is you and you want to chat! my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

As a frequent user of the ponds, it disgusts me that terfs are taking a beautiful place and pouring their hate into it. Please fill in this survey if you want to protect this space for all women and make trans women feel. PS the ducks think terfs suck. And the friendly fox. And the crows.

Thanks everyone for attending the hack-a-thon!

Great two days of BES data/code hack-a-thon. 111 people (in person + online) collating data and chatting about open science. Big take homes so far: people ❤️ open science; data/code archiving means different things to different people; we can make some simple improvements with big impacts!

When images of glacial retreat are posted online it's amazing how many people's gut reaction is "summer vs winter!" without any consideration for latitude + light levels or knowledge of actual glaciers. #ChristianAslund #Blomstrandbreen #Svalbard

Are you a student studying ecology or conservation? Do you lecture ecology or conservation? I created this playlist for you and hope it is useful. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

🐙. With additional apologies to @marcehjones.bsky.social for mocking his alternative podcast name 🤣

Here’s the Q and A. Fixing @nhcooper123.bsky.social terrible error in NOXIOUS (among other things) m.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ji...

A very lovely evening with Eric Idle at the Albert Hall surrounded by emotional men in their 70s! Now I really need a rewatch of “the life of Brian”…

Do you know where baby snakes come from? 🤔 Contrary to popular belief, only about 70% of snakes lay eggs - many species, like the anaconda, give birth to live young! 🐍 Discover why they do this and how it works in this week’s #SurprisingScience 🥚

Join us! We are hiring a new #curator at the #AMNH in #Vertebrate #Zoology careers.amnh.org/postings/4600 #academicjobs #tenuretrack

Looking forward to seeing you all there. Join us! #SORTEE2025

This is a rare opportunity to work with an incredible dataset building on over five decades of field studies on the Southern Resident killer whale population, and led by an amazing team.

People say "autism never used to exist" and then you go to the Natural History Museum and the exhibit has a caption like "Born in 1762, The Revd [name] was famously irascible, steadfast in his routine, and dedicated his life to collecting 25,000 rare beetle specimens".