My lab is performing a TBI biomarker study and needs local participants! Recruiting female athletes or non athletes between 18-35, bonus if you suspect you've had a concussion before. Get in touch! 🧠

Playing in the Yellowhammer Roller Rumble this weekend! Alabama's first state wide roller derby tournament! 🛼

Ooh! A new paper on woodpecker anatomy states that the birds coordinate muscle contraction and airflow to be more efficient at pecking. 🧪 Imagining these little guys grunting to flex is sending me doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Forget the 4k vs 8k debate, researchers created an e-ink screen that is the same resolution as your eye. One pixel per photoreceptor! Now that's h-eye resolution! 🧪 Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...

This October the Nobel prizes were announced, I broke down the three science prizes in a bit more detail for @dtnsshow.bsky.social. Do the prizes impact your lives? Do we really need them? 🧪 nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/02/t...

The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10. We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢 I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...

Physically in gerrymandered AL, spiritually at the gay club with Mayor Mamdani

Everyone is hope scrolling now

Oh man. I had forgotten what it felt like to hear good news in the US!

At my local food bank, $1 can provide 5 meals. So I gave $10. Help your local community out since the government won't!

I got to hang out with @frogpants.club Scott and Brian on TMS this morning to talk about sheep, woodpeckers, and my beef with engineers! 🎙️ youtube.com/clip/UgkxEvJ...

Did you know you can just request your doctors to email you your X-rays? Look at my teef!

This is how I found out that the creepy Annabelle doll is real and owned by... Matt Rife...? What!? Another banger of an episode.

“The data showed that some large-caliber civilian rifles delivered a blast wave that exceeds what the military says is safe for the brain, and firing smaller-caliber guns repeatedly could quickly add up… indoor shooting ranges designed to make shooting safe inadvertently make blast exposure worse”

You think Ologies can't get any better and then you learn cockroaches give each other golden showers. It really do be ✨the more you know✨

One thing I love about America is Halloween. Everyone has an unspoken agreement to dress up, even at work. It's just so joyful! I saw a guy walking his dog in the middle of nowhere with a shark head on! You know what, hell yeah. 🎃

Does designing a drone around the woodpecker's anatomy make it crash proof? As a woodpecker researcher, I have opinions. 🧪 I discussed them on @dtnsshow.bsky.social and on my sci comm blog: nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/01/w...

A vet saw her cat's hairball and thought "I can do science with that!" and then covered it in gold dust. Why? The results were surprisingly interesting (to me!) 🧪 Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/31/g...

I posted my coverage of the 2025 IgNobel prizes on my SciComm blog. The Italian physicist's article about the perfect cacio e pepe may be one of the best papers I've ever read! nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/30/t...

This is incredible! Has anyone ever seen felids butt heads like this before? What the heck is going on? WOAH 🧪

My cat is ever suspicious of her surveillance camera

These terrifying bats are looking forward to #Halloween 🦇🦇🦇😱 Bodl. Library MS. Ashmole 304; 13th century; England, St. Albans; f.47v @bodleian.ox.ac.uk

My parents in FL have run into a unique government shutdown problem: they're an Alligator living in their yard and since FWS is shut down, they can't come get it 🐊

Most scientists have more potential research directions than they can pursue. They choose which paths to pursue. And part of this is deciding which paths are most likely to be fundable.

I'm at a turkey-themed retirement party for a turkey expert and it's the best. There's a turkey pinata, gizzard-stone candy, gastrolith salad, turkey sandwiches. Nerds are just the best!! 🦃

Did you know that tarantulas migrate? I came across one today in CO and fell down a research rabbit hole (shoe for scale). They can travel up to 20 miles in search of a mate and they can live for decades! 🕷️ 🧪

🦖🐬🧪An incredible "fossil brain" of a fossil fur seal (Thalassoleon macnallyae) from the Pliocene Purisima Formation near Santa Cruz. This incredible specimen preserves a cranial endocast with exquisite detail. Read more about fossil fur seals on my blog: coastalpaleo.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

I finally got to watch Adventures in Love and Birding! It was cheesy but the birds shown on screen matched the calls, and they got their names right so... it was better than expected! There was some silliness about birding, but it was overall fine! The book was much better than the movie though 🪶

This is so breathtaking. Beautiful, evocative artwork Natalia!

In the timeless words of Ina Garten: If you can't make your own neurotransmitters, store bought is fine! Psychiatric drugs save lives.

HALLOWEEN HEADBUTTING! 🎃

#NoKings Tuscaloosa!

Violence, scientific DRAMA, and misunderstanding! Who first asked if woodpeckers get headaches, or if rams are immune to brain damage? New Paper! I trace the history of human thought on brain injury in head-hitting animals, and it's a wild ride. 🧪 🏺 A thread - 1/🧵 doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...

Today’s the day. See you in the streets.

This is a must-read paper for anyone who deals with head butting, cranial trauma, animal behavior centered around horns/bosses/domes! Nicole is doing some amazing work in this topic.

Violence, scientific DRAMA, and misunderstanding! Who first asked if woodpeckers get headaches, or if rams are immune to brain damage? New Paper! I trace the history of human thought on brain injury in head-hitting animals, and it's a wild ride. 🧪 🏺 A thread - 1/🧵 doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...

This is the single most important video that you will watch all day.

A study of nearly 300,000 people published today in the New England Journal of Medicine found “that last season’s 2024–2025 mRNA COVID vaccines reduced people’s risk of emergency department visits by 29 percent, their risk of hospitalizations by 39 percent and their risk of death by 64 percent.”

If anyone is wondering why the US loves Dolly Parton so much, regardless of what kind of music we like or where we stand politically, this podcast will give you insight into what an incredible human being she is.

What are your favorite fieldwork snacks? 🧪

How am I supposed to sleep When my childhood friend is sleeping on a concrete floor In a prison in the desert And I feel guilty for even mentioning it. Because my job is science. But I can't think. I keep thinking about the concrete.

How today is going: - check if friend who got arrested has been deported yet - work on R21 - can't access NIH info because of gvmt shutdown - mentor student - check news on the flotilla - write grant budget justification - avoid breakdown - microscopy training - check news. Get overwhelmed ...

In case, like me, you were wondering... The Hatch act is a US federal law that prevents civil service employees in the executive branch of government from engaging in some forms of political activity.

It's really hard to keep continuing like everything is fine. There is so much going on. I found out today one of my friends was on the flotilla. I'm so worried.

Someone who works with vision: do you have a good figure that can help me explain to students how light gets to the photoreceptors "through" the axons? 🧪 👁️ 🧠

Does anyone have slides or resources on trans biology they'd be willing to share? I'm covering sex and gender in neuro and want to make sure to cover transness too. 🧪

Breaking news, woodpeckers spontaneously develop gyrencephaly when studied by engineers /s

A perfect example of why my research is needed. The tagline "woodpeckers don't suffer brain injuries" is not entirely true! My review on why is out soon! 🧪 newatlas.com/drones/swift...