1/ The world's songbirds sing in just 8 basic sounds. And where a bird lives decides which ones it uses. My first PhD paper is out now in @science.org (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee6239) Here is what we found:

Science friends! This fall I'm teaching a class on "Scientists as Writers" and looking for model papers. What is a scientific paper you love for the quality of its writing? Maybe something you have used as a model in your own work? What do you love about it?

Science friends! This fall I'm teaching a class on "Scientists as Writers" and looking for model papers. What is a scientific paper you love for the quality of its writing? Maybe something you have used as a model in your own work? What do you love about it?

45 years ago today. Buried on page 20 on a holiday Friday just like this one, news that changed the world. www.nytimes.com/1981/07/03/u...

RARE CANCER SEEN IN 41 HOMOSEXUALS (Published 1981)

nytimes.com

In case you missed this 2024 story: Scientists are building FROG SAUNAS, and it's letting one species of endangered frogs rid themselves of a deadly fungal pathogen. Also, they appear to just, like, enjoy it. Frog sauna. Or 'frauna'. Or, alternatively, 'hopspital'.

‘Frog saunas’ could save species from deadly fungal disease, study finds

Australian scientists create brick refuges in greenhouses to help green and golden bell frogs survive infection

theguardian.com

How did singing mouse evolve its song? Two research manuscripts published today shed light on peripheral and central circuit modifications underlying this novel vocal capacity.

Distinct brain regions map olfactory and visual spaces (and hippocampus integrates them) www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...

Distinct brain regions map olfactory and visual spaces

The neural circuitry underlying multisensory integration for navigation and spatial memory is poorly understood. Here, Davoudi et al. discover modality-specific maps in different divisions of the ento...

cell.com

I hope all those people who said the US had done no planning for war in Iran will now apologise. www.ft.com/content/744e...

Pete Hegseth’s broker looked to buy defence fund before Iran attack

Morgan Stanley wealth manager approached BlackRock about multimillion-dollar investment for US defence secretary

ft.com

Now with pages @systbiol.bsky.social ! "Social Environment and the Evolution of Delayed Reproduction in Birds" with @pseudacris.bsky.social and Rick Prum Some comparative support for the hypothesis that the evolution of complex social contexts restructure life histories doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

Social Environment and the Evolution of Delayed Reproduction in Birds

Abstract. One puzzling feature of avian life histories is that individuals in many different lineages delay reproduction for several years after they finis

doi.org

ORIGINAL SIN reviewed in Science (@science.org)! "... an ambitious, compact, and often moving contribution to the literature at the intersection of genetics and ethics."

I saved this to watch whenever I got a little overwhelmed today. I made it to 10am. I may need to watch it several times www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AVY...

De La Soul: Tiny Desk Concert

YouTube video by NPR Music

youtube.com

Best television shows to abandon after 1 season? I'll start: 1. Westworld 2. Your Honor 3. Hightown

El miedo de los científicos en USA ha llevado a 'maquillar' proyectos para sobrevivir a la censura y los conflictos ideológicos. Investigadores extranjeros temen perder el estatus legal, no poder regresar al país tras estancias de campo, y deportaciones www.elperiodico.com/es/sociedad/...

Dos paleontólogos de prestigio de EEUU ya trabajan en Catalunya: 'Con Trump, estudiar la evolución humana se ha vuelto tabú'

Los investigadores, anteriormente afincados en Nueva York, son los primeros en incorporarse al ecosistema científico catalán gracias a las becas ICREA y al programa de captación Catalunya Talent Bridg...

elperiodico.com

The warmongering & global destabilization - NATO, Greenland, Panama, Ukraine - aims to precipitate the suspension of law. Vance, Musk, Thiel et al see the advantages of an authoritarian regime as exemplified by China & think they can do it better. They imagine we'll be better for it. Trump agrees.

The secret to happiness.

Tonight was the final broadcast of PBS News Weekend due to federal cuts. Appearing on the show in November was a highlight of my year. The team was incredible to work with, and I was deeply grateful they covered this issue with the care it deserves. Public media at its best. Very sad to see it go.

Millions of full-time workers are struggling to afford a place to live. Here’s why

The skyrocketing cost of living has left millions of people struggling to afford a place to live despite working at full-time jobs or a number of part-time jobs. Journalist Brian Goldstone, author of ...

pbs.org

“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.” A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

I wrote about Nucleus Genomics' "Have your best baby" ad campaign and Kris Jenner's "best version of myself" facelift, the parallels between embryo selection and cosmetic surgery, and competing definitions of "eugenics" kathrynpaigeharden.substack.com/p/have-your-...

"Have Your Best Baby"

Four parallels between cosmetic surgery and polygenic embryo selection, two competing definitions of "eugenics," and one short excerpt from my forthcoming book

kathrynpaigeharden.substack.com

Magic Johnson was the grand marshal of the Rose Parade today, and as someone who remembers his November 1991 HIV announcement: if you had told anybody that day that he would be alive and healthy 34+ years later, I don't think they would have believed you. Medicine and research—they work.

New: We got an internal ICE document revealing its $100 million ad plan to bring in 14,000 new hires: deals with "tactical" influencers; ads to gun & military buffs; and geo-targeting phones around NASCAR races and gun shows. A "wartime recruitment" mode with paramilitary branding: wapo.st/44QrP5j

ICE plans $100 million ‘wartime recruitment’ push targeting gun shows, military fans for hires

An internal ICE document shared among immigration officials details plans to use influencers and geo-targeted ads to rapidly hire thousands of deportation officers.

wapo.st

🐦‍⬛ New paper in Animal Cognition covering our carrion crow project with partners at @Univeristy of Leon. 52 mini-biologgers were deployed on wild carrion crows in Spain — capturing 127K+ vocalizations. 🔗: www.earthspecies.org/blog/unlocki... (1/4)

Unlocking Avian Secrets: How Tiny Biologgers Are Revealing the Hidden Communication of Carrion Crows - Earth Species Project

Lightweight biologgers and ESP's machine learning tools reveal the hidden vocal world of wild carrion crows, capturing over 127,000 calls from quiet murmurs to long-distance signals.

earthspecies.org

I cannot tell you how angry I am right now. I can tell you that I tried to turn that anger into some constructive use. A Pox on Fools is intended to give the rest of us ammunition with which to counter the tsunami of bullshit that is MAHA. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/808113...

A Pox on Fools by Thomas Levenson: 9798217155002 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

An urgent and profound history of vaccine skepticism, seeking to understand how our three most common fears about vaccines hardened into a lethal ideology—from a leading science writer Since the...

penguinrandomhouse.com

Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon)@peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The faction of the GOP that pretends to like Jews to send them to hell is at war with the faction that wants to skip the "pretends to like" part.

Timothy McBride@mcbridetd.bsky.social · 8mo ago

FoxNews: Deepening MAGA rift comes to a head at TPUSA's AmericaFest 2025 www.foxnews.com/media/rift-m...

I sat on this draft for three months and sent it out to my coauthors yesterday who for some reason still haven't returned it.

We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.

Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.

Advances in genomics are giving exciting new perspectives on biology of speech, language & reading. My latest peer-reviewed paper is a tutorial, guiding readers from different backgrounds through the history of the field, current state-of-the-art, & where we’re heading. A taster in this thread.🧪 1/n

Genomic Investigations of Spoken and Written Language Abilities: A Guide to Advances in Approaches, Technologies, and Discovery

Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to show how the rise of molecular technologies and analytical methods in human genetics yields exciting new ...

pubs.asha.org

I am recruiting graduate students to my genomics-focused lab in EEB at Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Please spread the word if you know any students with an interest in a computational focus to genomics research! evol.mcmaster.ca/brian/evoldi...

Brunel's press release about our (@hggaddy.bsky.social @anthrolog.bsky.social) recent publication, showing that high levels of polygyny don't necessarily lock men out of the marriage market www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Data questions myths about multiple wife marriages, men and violence

A new study analyzing 84 million census records reveals that polygyny does not increase the number of unmarried men. In many societies where polygyny is common, men are actually more likely to be marr...

brunel.ac.uk

I will be pinch hitting for Adi Nair at this awesome social neuro minisymposium today. Come say hi! #sfn2025