NEW: Trump's gross Aliens.gov site claims to map where immigrants have been taken into custody, but it includes more 83 spots where Americans alone were arrested. Over 700 locations include citizen arrests. The counter is fake. The music was ripped. And Puerto Rico is listed as a foreign country.

The first cat to be cloned was a calico female named Rainbow (left). The clone, produced at Texas A&M University in 2001 was named "CC" for Carbon Copy or CopyCat (right). Notice something odd about the "identical copy"? Not very identical is she? But they *are confirmed* genetically identical.

Surprised to learn scientists can't agree on a definition of sex? Don't be! To be honest, we can't even agree on a definition of species. Many so-called natural categories are hard to define once we look at the evidence. Biology is too complex for simple definitions, which is a feature, not a bug.

"The fact that there is no current consensus of biological sex is not antithetical to science... However, the field urgently needs an ethical and reproducible approach for discussing sex" There is No Consensus on Biological Sex

My friend started an academic copyediting business! I can confirm that her attention to detail and formatting skills are phenomenal (high praise from me, I'm judgy). Contact her with drafts that need proofreading, copy editing, or formatting. She'll even fix your references! www.misfitediting.com

New at @anatrecord.bsky.social: Skeletal remodeling of the pelvis and the obstetric risks of advanced maternal age. We found no skeletal changes to explain higher c-section rates in so-called "geriatric" pregnancies. #obstetrics #pregnancy #TeamPelvis #ReproductiveHealth doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...

FYI: #AABA2026 hashtag is slow (not updating?) this morning, but searching aaba2026 seems to find more posts.

#AABA2026 plenary speaker Pontzer showed graphs that explain why my metabolism was higher in high school (rude). Also showed that higher activity populations don't have higher metabolisms. Exercise may change basal metabolic rate (aerobic activity decreases BMR, weights increase BMR).

The feed for the annual meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists is live! bsky.app/profile/brid... LMK if there is a post that is missing that you think should be added, or unrelated posts that don't belong. #AABA2026 #HBA2026 @bioanth.org 🧪 #BioAnth #HumanEvolution

Any other #AABA2026 attendees stuck on a plane at the Denver Airport because of an airport power outage? Gotta admit, this is a new one for me!

In South Africa, paleontology has been dominated by white people. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that dynamic — and coloring in the picture of the world our distant ancestors once inhabited. n.pr/49WF6w1

Gray of Gray's Anatomy died at age 34?? I need to learn more, but what a legacy. I always assumed he lived to old age and published a lot over a long career, thus the fame!

TIL that in APA7, your first in-text reference might have a "b" after the year (e.g., "(Berndt, 2004b)"). And that the new suggestion is to include more specific date info if available. Purdue OWL: Teaching me about citation styles since, uh, forever! owl.purdue.edu/owl/research...

I’ve been guilty of thinking I can project loudly enough. I’m grateful for the HoH folks who took the time to inform me that wasn’t enough. Always use the mic.

I started reading The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan & found myself impressed by this take on drawing in the forward by David Allen Sibley. I draw fossils (often poorly) to get to know the details of the bone fragment, so I agree that “drawing is really a different way of seeing”.

Imagine how much writing I (or anyone) would get done with help like that! All it takes is being ok taking advantage of and disenfranchising half the population.

I like this assessment. I’ve not read Pratchett widely, but the books I have read all has surprisingly philosophical commentary tucked into what was otherwise a “fun fantasy”.

I consider myself a biological anthropologist who sometimes has to engage with evolutionary biologists. In EB, too often the conclusions are about how biology determines culture. In BA, we learn that culture & biology are interrelated, affecting each other but not determining (that’s too narrow).

I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”

💫New research out now!💫 Hutson and colleagues demonstrate that men get hired as faculty in archaeology PhD programs more often than women, putting strain on women PhD mentors. And they have some suggestions about what to do about it, too. Read here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Another story from my years as a manager: there was a period of time when my group of I think eight direct reports consisted entirely of women, and one day a man from a different group made a comment about how "people are wondering when Snitty is going to hire some men."

Will an anthropologist be able to identify your sex and gender from your bones 100 years from now? I sure hope so! Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve. www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...

Some guy on the internet is apparently complaining about not getting hired because he’s a white dude. It’s like he doesn’t realize his position is “white guys should get unfair advantages because we’re better” — aka classic white supremacy. And he’s allegedly a historian! 🤦‍♀️ *

THIS!!!

In other work-related musings: I love it when my concern is not having enough to say in an article, only to find out I have too much to say. Future me will hate cutting this down, but right now, this draft is fun to write! Maybe I’ll find a way to save the cut text for a future piece.

…. I tried looking up what “Eastern Pacific“ means and our media stenography situation is such that they all reported that phrase without asking ANY questions

Last year around this time, I committed to taking two full weeks off at the end of the year. As the vacation days approach, I’m not contemplating “no deadlines December” for 2026, in which I avoid anything with a due date after Thanksgiving 2026. The name is a work in progress!

Rob Reiner: “Silence in the face of authoritarianism is complicity. Speaking out is a patriotic act. Democracy doesn’t defend itself. It requires participation, vigilance, and courage from ordinary people."

🧪This is how global collaboration of science is supposed to work. Via @sciencestories.bsky.social on IG

"I build the logistics that allow science to happen. I build the trust that allows people to participate. I build the culture that allows others to flourish. For years, I chased independence; now I understand that interdependence is the true engine of discovery." 🧪

I would totally read a popular science article digging into how LLMs expose the intersection of language and culture that we typically take for granted. What does that intersection say about society today? How are LLMs changing society by changing language and culture?

UVic Anthropology's April Nowell was interviewed for this story on Neanderthals making fire using pyrite in the UK 400,000 yrs ago: www.livescience.com/archaeology/... @uvic.ca @uvicsocialsciences.bsky.social #anthropology #Neanderthals

I often wonder how LLM usage will change human language usage (picturing future-speak from Idiocracy and shuddering). The idea that poor communicators with other humans will also be poor communicators with LLMs is amazing insight. We need more content like this.

I hear the US state dept has switched #fonts from #Calibri to #TimesNewRoman, because the former was chosen for better accessibility. Hate to break it to you, but TNR was similarly developed to be accessible and underwent medical testing before being widely adopted: www.nypl.org/blog/2014/12...

"All right, class, who knows what Watson and Crick discovered?" "Rosalind Franklin's notes." "That's correct."

Happy #NationalChocolateDay! 🍫 “A scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he’s one who asks the right questions.” 🧪 – Claude Lévi-Strauss

Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449

Look at all these “tools” that aren’t tools! Raymond Dart’s ostedontokeratic tool culture, on display at the Evolutionary Sciences Institute at Wits University. #paleoanthropology #archaeology

As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare. However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)

#Paleoanthroplogy #3Dscanning I am beyond pleased with my new Revopoint Pop 3 scanner. It’s even easier to use than their MINI2 that I bought previously! It’s rare that I can get new equipment to work as expected (or better) immediately, so this is a total success! Plus it’s so portable!

I wonder if ancient hominins ever felt self doubt or like they weren’t important. Little did they know that one day whole teams of scientists would dedicate years of research to understanding the fragments of the skeleton they left behind. #Paleoanthropology

Showing some work in progress at #ESHE2025 - Homo naledi inner ears, inside-out #FossilFriday (with @ameliebeaudet.bsky.social Gideon Chinamatira and @johnhawks.net)

#NewBook alert: A Visual Atlas of Skeletal Growth and Development by Kyra Stull & Heather Garvin. Just look at the number of ages in this image! www.amazon.com/Visual-Atlas... #BiologicalAnthropology #Paleoanthropology #ForensicAnthropology #Bioarchaeology #GrowthAndDevelopment #TeamPelvis

Listening to someone else watch short videos on their phone is the most annoying thing in the universe, and I believe our society has not adequately grappled with this

I am this old.

I’m thinking today about all the women doing DEI work in universities, and how all of our canceled grants and shuttered initiatives means that not only are we losing the time we’ve already put in, we’re now even more behind our male peers who stayed focused on their research.

My latest and last essay for @science.org expert voices: “This is not the time to step back from diversity, equity, and inclusion” a short 🧵 (link at end)

Excellent thread that everyone who thinks gender and sex are as simple as you learned in school should read before they ever offer up an opinion of any kind on trans or intersex people

TIL the clavicle isn't just another long bone #Anatomy #AnatomyEd #Embryology #MedEd #PaleoSky #Skeletal #Skeleton #Bones #Biology #Physiology #Histology #HumanAnatomy