On a train, there’s a specimen here who’s used the term “my TikTok family” three times in the last minute. Loudly. If I believed in a god I’d be praying for a derailment right now.
Brent 🍻🐜 📖
@brentsmith.bsky.social
Work in progress, books, fauna, flora and the like.
Some avocados are female in the morning and male in the afternoon, while others are on the opposite schedule. This helps them avoid self-pollination. How do they do it? A @ucdavis.bsky.social study explains. www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/st...
Study Reveals How Avocados Reverse Sexes Throughout the Day
Some avocados are female in the morning and male in the afternoon, while others are on the opposite schedule. How avocados do this has been unclear — until now, thanks to a UC Davis study.
ucdavis.edu
This unattributed 2020 viral video of a sea lion chilling half-underwater is the timeline cleanse you *need*. But it's also a great intro to a discussion of how pinnipeds (walruses, seals, sea lions) SLEEP, especially when they're too far away from a safe "haul out" location. Let's talk about it.
New paper: Mesolithic mariners in the Central Mediterranean made sustained, long distance sea journeys. Not accidents, one offs, and not rare events. See thread in the comments. academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar..., led by @jblinkhorn.bsky.social
🦝 The mammals of Australia.. London, Printed by Taylor and Francis, pub. by the author, 1863.. [Source]
Tony Meyer (orcaguide on YT) captured this verified video of an enormous gathering of Orcas (Orcinus orca) in Norway in 2018. They're engaging in a behavior called "carousel feeding", creating a ring of predators to force fish into defensive balls for easier feeding. Their prey? Norwegian herring.
This meme is actually based on a real scientific finding. Researchers studying howler monkeys found that males with larger vocal organs producing deeper, more powerful calls tended to have smaller testes, while species with larger testes tended to have less-developed vocal organs. So, there ya go.
1/ Wildberries sellers are generally blaming the Russian government, rather than Ukraine, for their losses. It's an interesting and striking dynamic, which Russian warbloggers say the Russian government itself has created through its suppression of bad news. ⬇️
The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow is not the only factor which makes it hard to photograph. Add dark, shiny heads and a shallow profile, and catching them sideways on (when you can't see wings or tail) involves more luck than judgement. But it's fun to try, however flawed the result.
White Terns in front of an incoming storm at Lord Howe Island in 2024. #SuperSeabirdSunday #seabirds #BirdOfTheDay #birds #WildOz
Her nest disturbed by the photographer, a Dolichoderus attelaboides worker stands guard. Morretes, Paraná, Brazil.
Great article on how viral ‘boy genius’ types actually detract from real conservation work
David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 3w agoIt took social media by storm, but it didn’t work for all the reasons that ocean plastic pollution experts said it wouldn’t work all along. My latest for The Revelator tells this important story and asks what we can learn from it. Please enjoy. therevelator.org/why-ocean-cl...
In my earlier review of The Blues Brothers (1980) I wrote that the film argued "the only way out of racist, systemic bullshit is through setting the culture right" by correcting the often whitewashed nostalgic record with historical facts of Black cultural influence. Bingo Long does the same.
Dr. Vaughn Joy@gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 3w agoAfter Jordan Walker's dominant display at the Home Run Derby last night and in honor of the All-Star Game and all of @americanstudier.bsky.social's BaseballStudying, this week I reviewed The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976), an American nostalgia film of the best kind.
6th surgery for my broken leg, the whole experience has reinforced my opinions that a) Qld health staff are amazing and b) immigrants are a blessing
(WARNING: Extreme and lengthy nerdiness ahead) Last week, I bought the greatest ring ever from @peculiarityshop.bsky.social (1/21)
On the 31st anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre, do read the wonderful @carmellapoetry.bsky.social in The Seventh Quarry edited by @peterthabitjones.bsky.social
Carmella de Keyser@carmellapoetry.bsky.social · 4w agoThe beautiful #SeventhQuarry arrived this afternoon! Many thanks to Editor Peter Thabit Jones for bringing diverse voices into unison. Sharing~ HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? after Srebrenica💔 & DIVIDED-a poem exploring how leaving people behind, can be haunting. #Srebrenica #Borders
The battlelines have been set. Albanese, the streamers and the sporting codes on one side; the majority of the federal parliament, the Labor rank and file and the public on the other. Big money versus the good of the community. trib.al/y7kj9fl
‘Follow the money’: Next step in Albanese’s gambling reforms
As NSW Labor votes for far-reaching changes to poker machines, a $5.3 billion NRL licensing deal shows how Albanese’s gambling reforms allow companies to shift to profits from streaming.
trib.al
Not a natural sharer, but just wanted to say...a year and a half ago, I got the biggest single order of my life from a famous artist I deeply admire. (No pressure!) Took me *forever* to finish. But they were patient (and so kind), I delivered, and they are happy. This whole thing might work! 😅
Our data scientist Tuna Acisu’s successful quest to continue a 1,200-year-old climate record— How can we learn about temperatures and climate change from before thermometers even existed?
Did you know octopuses are technically colorblind? 🌈 One photoreceptor, no color vision, should only see in grayscale. So how are they perfect color matching camouflage artists? 🐙 A thread 🧵 (with sources at the end, of course 😋) 🦑🐡
It’s my birthday in a couple days and I’m gonna be sappy. For my birthday, I want everyone to be as happy as I am right now. I want everyone to know that *they can do that feral, inexplicable thing that they think they can’t or shouldn’t do (even though they really want to do it)* You can do it.
Barry Corr's launch has a map handout. Sublime. Hard to imagine a more exciting book.
The humpbacks were too far offshore to be seen this afternoon. On the plus side the nephew is much more proficient with binoculars. Lost his mind at seeing a pair of White Bellied Sea Eagles through them.
