Lighthouse selfie! Janet Head Lighthouse, Manitoulin Island. Built 1871 (the lighthouse, not me)
Stephen Heard
@stephenbheard.bsky.social
Evolutionary ecologist & Boggle aficionado. Author: The Scientist's Guide to Writing; Charles Darwin's Barnacle and David Bowie's Spider. He/him. Blog and book links: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
@depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social did you post about this? Seems like your kind of thing... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_is...
Lake island - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Stephen Heard@stephenbheard.bsky.social · yesterdaySee that? (No, behind me.) That's something you don't see every day! That's...drum roll...the largest island in a lake on an island in a lake in the world. (You may have to read that a couple of times; it's that kind of thing.) Treasure Island, Mindemoya Lake, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, Ontario.
See that? (No, behind me.) That's something you don't see every day! That's...drum roll...the largest island in a lake on an island in a lake in the world. (You may have to read that a couple of times; it's that kind of thing.) Treasure Island, Mindemoya Lake, Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, Ontario.
Barron Canyon, Algonquin Park, Ontario. 100 m deep canyon through Canadian Shield gneisses ("gneiss canyon you've got there") carved when this river was a raging outlet for post-glacial Lake Algonquin.
So I had a really fun assignment this summer www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/m...
Sweden Has 267,570 Islands. I Walked Across 20 of Them.
Traveling through the Stockholm Archipelago on foot meant watching everyone else sail by. It also meant unraveling the maze of lives and experiences that shaped it.
nytimes.com
Leafcutter ants doing their thing at the Insectarium de Montreal @espacepourlavie.bsky.social. The colony is to the left, and ants are harvesting oak leaves from cut branches to the right. In the colony, the leaves will be fed to a fungal colony that in turn provides food for the ants.
This is a beautiful book! Go grab a copy.
Dolly Jørgensen@dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 5d agoMy book Ghosts Behind Glass : Encountering Extinction in Museums is now a year old. But it’s not too late for you to get a copy! It’s an affordable full-color journey through natural history museums. Available from anywhere worldwide that you buy your books. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
How might scientific writing change in the years to come - and thus, when and why might my writing book need a fourth edition? scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2026/10/06/w...
When will my book’s third edition be out of date?
The third edition of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing has been out for two months now. Just two months – and I’ve already been asked when I’ll write a fourth edition! It’s a fair question, I guess;…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
Unusual luggage on my trip this time. Bit crowded in the hotel shower... but these magnolias have now found a new home at the Montreal Botanic Garden.
Some orchids from the collections of the Montreal Botanic Garden! The most diverse plant family on Earth. Warczewiczella amazonica (S America) Bulbophyllum mastersianum (Borneo) Epidendrum mainauanum (Ecuador) Angraecum ebumeum (Madagascar) 1/2
My writing book is now in its 3rd edition. When will it be time for a fourth (and why)?
When will my book’s third edition be out of date?
The third edition of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing has been out for two months now. Just two months – and I’ve already been asked when I’ll write a fourth edition! It’s a fair question, I guess;…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
A most excellent weevil! Eupholus schoenherrii, from New Guineau, at the Insectarium de Montreal. Beetle is about an inch long, and yes, it really is that colour.
Was it good urban planning? No. Did it work well as a stadium? Also no. Was it an economic engine? Also also no. But is it extremely cool to look at? You betcha. (Montreal, Quebec, Olympic Stadium)
I mean, I'll be DEEPLY disappointed if the answer is "no" - but I think the risk of that is minimal.
CSEE_SCEE@csee-scee.bsky.social · last wk.📣New webinar alert! Our Oct. #ECO.EVO.EDU "Is there a case for more research funding in Canada?" Webinar takes place on Oct. 14th! CSEE Members: check your emails for more information + webinar link. (Please note: English event) #webinar #ecoevo #Canada
I HAVE A COVER! And a pub date - July 6, 2027! If you want six true stories of antiquities fraud, from a California college convinced that Hong Kong tourist trinkets were worth millions, to an entire fake museum, to the titular mummy carved from styrofoam, preorder at www.amazon.com/Styrofoam-Mu...
This whale had had enough! See this (angry) whale breaking through the 1610 map and coming for you ...
Ooh! @hickerlab.bsky.social has built a tool to automate the very nerdy kind of calculation I've done for cooking - in particular, for my (excellent if I do say so myself) mango chutney. scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/1...
1.8 billion years in a jar
Photo (and chutney) by Stephen Heard. Jim Croce would like to save time in a bottle, but I can save time in a jar. I mentioned recently that I make a mean mango chutney (with a connection, and I sw…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
Michael Hickerson@hickerlab.bsky.social · 2w agoHow much of the tree of life did you eat? Phylodiet scores a meal by phylogenetic diversity: type what you ate and it builds the dated tree of the organisms in it, from ~3,300 edible eukaryotes, back 2 billion years. Last night's dinner, below. 🧵 mjhickerson.github.io/phylodiet/app/phylodiet.html
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we honour Survivors, their families, and the children who never returned home, while recognizing the lasting impacts of residential schools and colonialism.
The "reverse outline" - a technique for diagnosing, and fixing, organization/structure problems in your paper drafts. Super powerful - and thus I'm slightly embarrassed I don't explain it well in my books. Here you go: scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com/2026/09/29/t...
The “reverse outline”: a useful writing technique I mention, but don’t explain, in BOTH my new books!
In the last year, I’ve published not one but two books on scientific writing: the new edition of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing just last month, and Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
David Francey last night at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre, Fredericton, NB. Fabulous concert from one of my favourite folk singer-songwriters (www.davidfrancey.com/) - if he tours near you, see him!
The road to reconciliation begins with truth Mishiikenh Kwe ~ Anishinaabe c. 2022
Today on the blog, a super-useful writing technique that's managed to get short shrift in *both* of my writing books! The reverse outline: how to do one, and what to do with it.
The “reverse outline”: a useful writing technique I mention, but don’t explain, in BOTH my new books!
In the last year, I’ve published not one but two books on scientific writing: the new edition of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing just last month, and Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
This starter pack (which rocks) is going around again, and you could do worse than just follow the whole darned thing! bsky.app/starter-pack...
I've also cited de Maupertuis... but in a different context from @mcnees.bsky.social! His description of an expedition north to measure the circumference of the Earth is an interesting example of earlier styles in scientific writing.
Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees@mcnees.bsky.social · 2w agoAstronomer and mathematician Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, exact date of birth unknown, was born around this time in 1698 and baptized #OTD. He was among the first to articulate the Principle of Least Action, one of the most beautiful ideas in physics. 🧪 ⚛️ Image: Wellcome Trust
