You would think they like each other 💜. They mostly do, but Miles can be annoying enough that he gets his whiskers chewed on. Without having been there, I 💯 know that he found his buddy and forcibly initiated the cuddle, rather than the other way around.

I, personally, do not know anything about Denver Zoo or any of their recent losses. I will say, it is generally a good sign when a zoo is honest about disclosing deaths, even when folks have questions. Denver is one of the few zoos in the country that has an on-site staff pathologist.

Mockingbird, MPH, CHES@amockingbird.bsky.social · 2w ago

@haruspex.bsky.social do you happen to know anything about this, through pathology discussions?

Thanks for the reminder, Bethany. For everyone who has voting representation in Congress (not us in DC), PLEASE reach out to your reps!

Bethany Brookshire@beebrookshire.bsky.social · 3w ago

Good morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...

Today I was told by my boss* that my method of breaking down a carcass was “weirdly impressive, you folded up the whole thing like you were breaking down a cardboard box.” Y’all, if you ever wanna flatter a pathologist. ⤴️ *a clinician, not a pathologist

Whoa. I have never seen a news article so perfectly tailored to my interests. (I love @arstechnica.com on any day, but this one was special.)

Superworms could replace beetles for cleaning skeletal remains

An optimal ratio of 10-15 grams of larvae per gram of specimen minimized cleaning time with no bone damage.

arstechnica.com

The Office Isopods did a really lovely job cleaning this tiny northern short-tailed shrew skull. Note the red-enameled teeth, from iron pigment. This species of shrew is the largest we have around here. Also it’s venomous! Shrew bites can be pretty nasty (though unlikely fatal for humans).

Gave a talk today at a the American Society for Microbiology conference, and dang if everyone else in the session had just the wildest coolest SCIENCE, and I was basically the comic relief. Don’t get me wrong, I’m FANTASTIC comic relief, but I was so impressed by everyone’s work.

Apparently someone wrote a book about our cats. 😂 Can’t wait to read it.

Not only do we need to rebuild public health systems (challenge level: pure pain). We have to concurrently build a new system to keep people constantly reminded and engaged about WHY we need to maintain public health. #MedSky 🩺 Programs like this are a must. hcrl.wustl.edu

Home

Health Communication Research laboratory

hcrl.wustl.edu

Madhu Pai, MD, PhD@madhupai.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Measles infection induces a kind of immune amnesia, literally erasing our immune system’s memory and increasing the odds of acquiring other serious infections for several years afterwards" @adamratnermd.bsky.social www.forbes.com/sites/madhuk...

I love these random herp questions asked me in the last week: 1) How hard is it to get into a turtle? 2) Do crocodiles hiccup? 3) Can you help me sex some frogs?

I need this, but with, like, hooves or something. 😻

Nicole Jackson, MD, MPH@drdeadright.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My friends are excellent gifters!!!

Sorry I was out so late last night, babe. I didn’t plan on staying that long, but it turned out they were really into salamanders, and yanno….

Granulomatous Suppurative Lymphoplasmacytic Eosinophilic Hemorrhagic Necrotizing

madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · 3mo ago

what are the Six Genders? wrong answers only

Brilliant and revolutionary. Libraries are such amazing investments in humanity. What an amazing way to support kids AND teachers AND families. I hope there are field trips to libraries that get them absolutely stoked about everything they can explore with this resource!

Whoa 🤯 in Slow-Mo@0lsi.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Chicago made it so every public school student can use their school ID as a #LibraryCard 📚. No forms, no extra steps. It gives over 300k students instant access to #books, #tutoring, and online resources 🙌

For anyone else playing Cursed Bingo at home, this is one of the most thorough and best supported guides I’ve ever come across.

Andrew Ducker @andrewducker.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A Constellation of Chronic Medical Conditions Commonly Seen in Autistic & ADHD Adults

Biscuits and gravy. It’s a terrible thing to do to a biscuit, and not a particularly nice thing to do to …whatever you made that gravy from. I get it. When what you’ve got is flour, this is a thing you can make, but <gently pushes away the plate> no thank you. I’ll have my biscuits with butter.

Pavel@spavel.bsky.social · 4mo ago

What's the worst food from *your* cuisine? None of that "oh, one region over they eat some awful shit." Remove the beam from your own eye. And I'm calling dibs on aspic, so you can't pick that one. My mom threatened to make it for me the other day.

Come for the occasional science rants, stay for the adorable former street cat pics.

Fuck SpaceX Fund NASA

Spot on:

I made an owl sound in the house, and it was TOO REAL. My tuxedo cat has puffed up to the size of a corgi and left the room in a blaze of Absolutely The Fuck Not.

Uh. I have SEVERAL concerns. 😬

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦@helenbranswell.bsky.social · 4mo ago

What could possibly go wrong? #CDC pauses support for states on testing for #rabies & #mpox because it doesn't have the personnel to do the work. 2 pathogens you really don't want to mess with, rabies & mpox. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/h...

instead of watching the new harry potter trailer, why not pick up some horror books by trans and nb writers for the trans rights readathon?? there are so many good options. For example, check out some of these writers:

Oh heck yeah! This is rad, the author is excellent, and the cause is outstanding!

KJ Charles@kjcharleswriter.com · 5mo ago

Okay, the #TransRightsReadathon auction is up, and I have an offer in there! Drumroll... I will put your pet in my forthcoming book. Name, description, personality! (Nothing bad will happen to them, I'm not a monster.)

Today I met a multi-classed adventure-arachnid! Swords-bard druid? Bard-barian? I’m not sure, but they were living dangerously in a doorway and needed to be removed to continue their campaign in the leaf litter.

TIL the word “goosander”, and it brought me joy. Thank you, random wildlife photographer, for the lovely bird and the delightful word.

Simon Bisson@sbisson.com · 5mo ago

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #SideView. So how about this female Common Merganser/Goosander on the river that flows through the middle of Interlaken? #birds #birding #wildlifephotography #interlaken #goosander

Anyone who has heard my pro-vaccine rants has also heard my fears about polio resurgence. This would kill and paralyze people, mostly kids. One of the scariest things about measles is that it can reduce your protection against things you’re already vaccinated against. Measles is just the beginning.

Tarini Grace@candidkitten.bsky.social · 5mo ago

“The best prevention is: don’t get polio,” he said, highlighting the importance of vaccination.” - Dr Allan “With polio, you’re never going to fix us, and that’s the problem. The only thing to fix polio is the polio vaccine.” - Yours truly Shoutout to @melodyschreiber.com for this amazing work! 💜

And as a reminder: physical media>>Libby>Hoopla for library budgets. Now is a great time to check something out! Don’t read? Most libraries have DVD and music collections and many have puzzles, games, or tools!

Jen@ladyjenpool.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you: Our funding depends on usage. So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you: Our funding depends on usage. So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

I especially wonder about the effect of people who were giving birth, not dying of sepsis, and able to have more kids (more births) vs kids who survived to adulthood who otherwise wouldn’t have. Obviously both happened, but which was a stronger effect? More importantly, great chart.

Robert Paulett@robertpaulett.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I mean what percentage of the “baby boom” was just the “penicillin boom”?

Immediately added this to my Steam wishlist.

Citizen.Coping@propcazhpm.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Johannesburg’s Nyamakop Studios turns African artifact repatriation into a bold heist game. Protagonist Nomali and a crew of ordinary citizens reclaim 70 real-life artifacts taken during the colonial era. The 30-person dev team includes people from Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Tanzania.