If Tylenol actually caused autism America would have a functional high-speed rail system by now

the fact that so many people frame autism as “a problem that needs to be solved” is a constant reminder that being “not normal” isn’t acceptable to a large amount of the world. it’s the same reason there’s a trans panic right now too. they think people are defective

Question for animal researchers: if you have a small number of animals in your study, how do you refer to them in your pubs so as not to cause confusion? Would it be monkey 1, monkey 2, monkey 3? Alpha, beta, gamma? I know names are a no-no 🧪

Chinese scientists built a robot antelope to better study the evasive creatures from up close. To their surprise, the herd took the robot in as one of their own! For @dtnsshow.bsky.social 🧪 Read or listen here: nicoleackermans.com/2025/09/22/w...

We really needed a silly take on birding. This doc was hilarious and so good. The brothers are going after the ivory bill next and I can't wait to see what comes of that 😆

#ZAVACEPHALE IS FINALLY OUT! 🥳 Our first definitive Early Cretaceous pachycephalosaur! (~15 my older than the previous oldest pachycephalosaurs) And the first hand material for the clade! I can't tell y'all how much of a pleasure it was to review this paper! ☺️

In the thread more and more universities get added to the list. I predict a new Wikipedia List coming up.

Don't make me tap the sign Large language models are slot machines that pay out in confidence, not information If the information is bad (it often is) no one cares But if the confidence was bad no one would use it 🤔 Luckily for the compulsive use companies want to promote, it's always confident

FROG CONFIRMED!

Caprines with cheese, special sauce, and caramelized onions, and pickles.

Archeology friends, are you aware of rock art depicting headbutting sheep in Asia or Africa? I have examples in Europe and N. America but want to add more globally. (I'll also take any other headbutting references including other forms of art and other species if you have em). Please share! 🏺 🧪

Resubmitted! 🎉 Feels a bit like throwing months of hard work into the void, but at least the proposal is even better than the first time! Our team can be proud no matter the outcome.

We made some Gaston-style decor updates to the CVN lab today, thanks to a loan from @almnh.bsky.social !

Reminder that muting specific words on social media for a day, a week, a month, or even forever can be laudatory self-care.

I looked all around the internet for a cat activity tracker and landed on the Moggie, a kind of Fitbit for your cat. I "lived with it" for 3 months and reported back to @dtnsshow.bsky.social. Do cat-trackers need to be a thing? Maybe! Listen now: dailytechnewsshow.com/2025/09/10/l...

Your horse needs a smart watch too! Garmin released a horse-tracker and I nerded out about it for @dtnsshow.bsky.social 🐴. If I had a horse, we'd have matching trackers and it'd be really cute. nicoleackermans.com/2025/09/10/h...

Hi-Tech goat things are happening in the CVN lab! 👀

I have incredible news! Not only did the wildflowers bloom wonderfully, but there is (likely) a frog in my mini-pond! It's too quick for me to confirm though 🐸

The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.

It's 2025, and there's apparently no female mouse atlas. Please, tell me I'm wrong.

What a fascinating topic I would have never thought to study!

I just found out that the Oxford comma is another tell that something was written by AI and now I know how the em dash people feel

Academic authors, here's a peek into the black box of journal publishing from an journal editor if you can bear it:

Do you think about the Roman empire every day? So did these students and they used LIDAR to find a new settlement! 🧪 Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social share.google/cGn7M86hIzg9...

I finally grabbed on! 😁🧠

You may have heard about the government collecting data from immigrants into a database... but what is a DNA database anyway, and what can and can't you do with DNA data? 🧪 I broke it down for @dtnsshow.bsky.social, give it a read or a listen! nicoleackermans.com/2025/09/03/w...

Gosh that's a beautiful figure

woah this is genuinely, utterly WILD Ant queens of one species produce males of another species, so she can then mate with them and produce hybrid workers! This is so gloriously weird I can't quite compute it 🤯🧪🐜 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Bluesky shows higher level of content originality in scholarly discourse, perhaps due to a higher proportion of academic users. X tends to favor simple retweets. This positions Bluesky as a richer environment for substantive science communication."🧪 True for our study www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Human beings live in Florida, so please knock it off with the “just let Floridians die” shit. We have to figure out a way to get us all through this nightmare.

I shouldn't laugh at this

Having a hard time tracking what the heck is going on with federal funding? What about chaos at the CDC? Here's a bitesize update on the biggest US Science stories this month. Recorded for @dtnsshow.bsky.social 🧪 nicoleackermans.com/2025/09/03/u...

DTNS for Tuesday September 2, 2025 with Jason Howell, Tom Merritt, and Dr Niki Ackermans - What to expect with Dolby Vision 2, YouTube Premium begins its big crackdown on Family Plan sharing, and Dr. Niki has an update on US science funding. Listen here: shows.acast.com/dtns/episode...

Beautifully written

This is a huge win!!

New Mexico has issued a public health order that removes federal restrictions to COVID-19 vaccine access so that pharmacies in New Mexico can vaccinate people of all ages and risk profiles. Every state need to do this!

People saying Trump is dying or possibly dead, but I for one would urge caution, because it is quite possible a second healtbar will appear as he enters his second phase and a gargantuan centipede will burst forth from his torso, so be careful of his new sweep attacks and toxic buildup from bites.

I hope RFK Jr is ready to perform the Last Rites for him (strapping his leaking carcass to the roof of his car and driving a minimum of 3 states before stuffing it in a chest freezer and forgetting about it)

Average day in the life of a science communicator: * The CDC is in disarray, RFK is creating chaos! * Check out this cool robot antelope!

One time I picked up a stray chocolate chip from the counter and popped it in my mouth and ate it. It crunched. It was a baby cockroach.

I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Has RFK looked into midichlorians yet?

Yep. Prestige podcasting is dying for the same reason as the rest of the media: Pontificating is cheap and reporting is expensive.

I voted in municipal elections today in my small Alabama town. I still have hope I'll be making an impact. At the very least, I cancelled out the vote of the dude standing behind me wearing a Tr*mp shirt 😈

I got to be the coolest person in the room yesterday when my friend asked if I've ever heard of Ologies. Oh, you mean the #1 science podcast on the charts @ologies.bsky.social? Yeah... I've HEARD of ologies 😎 Bovine Neuropathology (HEADBUTTING) with Dr. Nicole Ackermans share.google/jXvaIJtZKvqw...

Happy #worldgoatday from the CVN lab!

Hard to choose just one goat for #WorldGoatDay, but meet Taffy III 🐐 — mascot of the Welsh Regiment, gifted by Queen Victoria in 1896. He served in the Boer War & saw action at Paardeberg & Driefontein, and died of colic on the march from Graspan to Bloemfontein in March 1900. #goat #boerwar

For #WorldGoatDay 🐐: Asai Kiyoshi (Japan, 1901-1968) #Goats, c. 1950s color woodblock print ukiyo-e.org/image/wbp/89... #JapaneseArt

I've gotten to the point in my career that when a famous animal does I usually know who is gonna get the brain

Google AI really rage-baiting me with this ad. Use AI to study anatomy on this EXTREMELY anatomically incorrect sheep! 🧪