It really is striking how many authoritarian states have ended up in this exact same place, where the leader seizes control of scientific inquiry. Lysenkoism in the Soviet Union, Aryan Physics in the Third Reich, Great Leap Forward (also related to Lysenko) in China.
Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · 7d agoLysenkoism lives. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...
The tech overlords say that all we have to do to prevent AI from killing us all is to solve "the alignment problem," making sure AI has human values. But the same capitalists telling us this are willfully killing the planet and funding genocide in the name of greed. Seems they're already aligned.
Even if it's through a PAC, it's degrading to the public trust to have a large city's Chamber of Commerce targeting specific city councilors. They should be building a reputation of neutrality that is welcoming to business owners of all political affiliations, rather than becoming partisan hacks.
Willamette Week@wweek.com · last wk.The money behind that billboard can be traced in part to the Portland Metro Chamber, the city’s chamber of commerce—and the message shows how eager the city’s business lobby is to unseat Councilor Mitch Green. www.wweek.com/news/city/20...
Somebody forgot to check whether they owned the domain name ditchmitchgreen.com before they put it on a billboard 😈
Willamette Week@wweek.com · last wk.The money behind that billboard can be traced in part to the Portland Metro Chamber, the city’s chamber of commerce—and the message shows how eager the city’s business lobby is to unseat Councilor Mitch Green. www.wweek.com/news/city/20...
Here's an interesting one from this weekend: a Cinnabar Moth apparently mating with a Fall Webworm Moth (I think, may be a Vestal Tiger?). Columbia Gorge in Oregon #mothsmatter #mothing
It's always a pleasure being on, but this @aba.org ep def was extra fun. All the folks agreeing makes it that much better. Love talking #birds with those guys (@brodiecasstalbott.bsky.social, @mikkojimenez.bsky.social & @n8swick.bsky.social ) so much! Good birding all! www.aba.org/this-month-i...
This Month in Birding - May 2026 - American Birding Association
It's time for another episode of "This Month in Birding"—a friendly and relatable roundup of the ornithological science behind so much of our experience as birders. Mikko Jimenez, Jordan Rutter, and B...
aba.org
If bluesky wanted to regain it's competitive edge, it should ban the posting of AI photos and video. Imagine how many people would flock to a site where they know everything they are looking at is real.
Bearded Vulture nests found to have hoards of cultural artifacts—some up to 650 years old share.google/I5vrFyOkftYz...
Bearded Vulture nests found to have hoards of cultural artifacts—some up to 650 years old
Many people have probably seen birds picking up small pieces of man-made materials, like strips of a plastic bag or paper litter, and taking them into their nest. This behavior appears to be fairly wi...
share.google
World’s largest carnivorous bats are big softies | Popular Science share.google/CihdoJzdIB6H...
World’s largest carnivorous bats are big softies
Spectral bats share prey, hug, and even form 'tight cuddle-balls' when falling asleep.
share.google
Putin to his interpreter: "is just called Bald Eagle, these fucking idiots didn't even know the name of their national bird." Interpreter to Trump: "President Putin is greatly moved and will be reminded of this wonderful gift every time he watches a Western film and hears it's majestic call."
America's largest shorebird species, Long-billed Curlew, standing behind the world's smallest shorebird, Least Sandpiper. Of course, field flattening is in effect in this image. In reality, Long billed Curlews are only 3,150% larger than Least Sandpipers.
After 3 days, @mothweek.bsky.social is up to 5,617 species! Here's one that i added to the project, a big Aholibah Underwing that came in to the sheet in Portland last night. Lifer!
Brodie@brodiecasstalbott.bsky.social · last yr.#mothweek is here! Amazing to check the @inaturalist.bsky.social project and see how fast the species are wracking up. 2,727 in ~34 hours. A little slow at my moth sheet last night because of cooler temps and breezy conditions, but I do love the topiary grass-veneers. They look like little wizards.
#mothweek is here! Amazing to check the @inaturalist.bsky.social project and see how fast the species are wracking up. 2,727 in ~34 hours. A little slow at my moth sheet last night because of cooler temps and breezy conditions, but I do love the topiary grass-veneers. They look like little wizards.
I didn't really get why they had invaded Portland until i saw one in my garden obsessed with eating my kale
Rebecca Heisman@rheisman.bsky.social · last yr.Do you have lesser goldfinches in your backyard? This species has seen a remarkable range expansion into the Northwest in the last decade or so, and I wrote about it for @columbiainsight.bsky.social. 🪶 columbiainsight.org/why-a-new-ty...
this is an incredible piece from @stephencarrhampton.bsky.social. required reading for anyone interested in the debate around #birdnamesforbirds, or the genocide of Native peoples, or of the mythology of Lewis and Clark. open.substack.com/pub/schampto...
The Lewis and Clark birds
And the entanglement of ornithology and genocide
open.substack.com
If you care about hunting, hiking, wildlife, clean water, or just the idea that public lands belong to all of us, it’s time to raise hell. Call your senators. Call the media. Call it what it is: A war on the American West.
Welp, I did it, I wrote a piece for @therevelator.org on the proposed funding cuts to the Bird Banding Lab & Breeding Bird Survey and what they would mean for bird research & conservation in the U.S. Definitely a different sort of writing than I usually do. 🪶 therevelator.org/trump-vs-bir...
Trump vs. Birds: Proposed Budget Eliminates Critical Research Programs • The Revelator
Experts say there’s “no substitute” for the Bird Banding Laboratory or the Breeding Bird Survey, which help reveal the health and status of avian populations across the country.
therevelator.org
If you're going to tape in a Near-threatened, range restricted species, maybe at least photoshop the speaker out of the photo
Happy Father's Day to all the geese and swans out there (not you, ducks)
Some ducks have joined one of the #NoKings rallies in Portland, OR!
You never realize how much a Ruddy Turnstone looks like the third member of Insane Clown Posse until you see it from the front
Had an awesome time at Magee Marsh. Somehow still didn't catch up with one of these 🤷🏻
16 species of warbler on the first day of the @birdallianceoregon.bsky.social Magee Marsh tour. As always, Blackburnian wins the popularity contest.
Birders in Oregon have been noticing an unprecedentedly late and light migration. Zero migrants in my local parks this morning. BirdCast confirms. I'm curious how things are across the country? And shout out to the Cornell lab folks for making such an amazing tool: www.birdcast.info
Spring break is a great idea but it should be April 1 - June 1 and for adults
There are a lot of great field guides out there, but i have never enjoyed one as much as the "Birds of Borneo" by Quentin and Karen Phillipps. The illustrations and descriptions are top notch, but it's the incredible ecological notes that make it read more like a riveting natural history.
I love the @ababirds.bsky.social podcast annual rarity draft, but @n8swick.bsky.social, letting Blue Rock Thrush fall to 4, after two regularly occurring ABA birds, means we need some west coast representation on the panel 😄
