Fascinating about possible bias in peer review.

Angela Andersen@angelaandersen.bsky.social · 4d ago

Kudos to @science.org for this self-analysis of the peer review process. These kind of data are never shared and don't have to be. Wildly refreshing to see it out in the open. Editorial and peer review dynamics at elite general science journals | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

We are advertising a PhD studentship to study the effects of mitochondrial function on cell motility in flies. The project is supervised by myself, Nick Lane and @fcamus.bsky.social, in collaboration with Anna Franz at UCL, @stramerlab.bsky.social at KCL and Michael Sixt at ISTA. Please repost!

Good news! Ministers have finally given green light to new #NaturalHistory GCSE. We’ve campaigned so long for this! Big hats off to tireless advocate Mary Colwell 🙌 Now our young people will have a chance to get to know & love the natural world, to feel awe & wonder, & gain skills to protect it 🌷🌳🦡

Natural history GCSE to teach teenagers to plant wildflower-friendly gardens

Long-awaited course to examine human effects on natural world and explore everyday ways to aid biodiversity

theguardian.com

We've designed a short UCL summer course for students who are interested in future-facing ecological careers and want to learn more about them. If that's you, come and join us in September! www.ucl.ac.uk/life-science...

Our shiny new study shows birds love wing-shandy as much as the next animal – even more so in the wild than in captivity! 💦🦜🦆🐦‍⬛🦃💦 Yet another nail in the coffin for the tired idea that animals only have sex to procreate. Our piece for The Conversation here: theconversation.com/birds-mastur...

Birds masturbate, and that’s perfectly normal

Some bird keepers have tried to drug their animals to stop them engaging in solo sex.

theconversation.com

We’re hiring for OrthoFinder! Great role for someone who enjoys scientific software development: Python, data analysis, workflows, Git, scalability, and making tools nicer to use. Comparative genomics or open-source bioinformatics experience would be a lovely bonus. my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Ydy I found several more Lulworth Skipper larvae on Brachypodium sylvaticum instead of usual B pinnatum. This may be first recorded use in UK? They use it abroad and it may allow the species to spread inland if climate warming continues. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @richardfoxbc.bsky.social

🚨Job claxon🚨 4-year #Postdoc available in our lab in @camzoology.bsky.social developing molecular and anatomical approaches to mapping evolutionary changes in the brain, using #Heliconiini butterflies. Come join us, we are nice. 🧪 www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Interested in ant ecology? Have molecular and bioinformatics experience? Come and join the team! 18-month post-doc position at University of York now live: jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/post...

Maybe the reason why there are so many potholes isn't because the council aren't doing their job, but because so many of you selfish pricks are driving round in 3 ton SUVs

New paper out today in @consbiog.bsky.social 🎉 How did the introduced alpine newt spread so widely across Britain? Was it natural dispersal - or did humans help it along? 🧵👇 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @jimlabisko.bsky.social @zslscience.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social

Distribution of a Non‐Native Amphibian in Britain Explained by a Complex History of Introductions and Translocations

Aim Success in a biological invasion often depends on whether the non-native species can disperse from its introduction site and spread across the invaded landscape. The alpine newt, Ichthyosaura al...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Oh nothing, just a peer reviewed paper my colleagues found... doi.org/10.1016/j.ma... "1 mL of the mass killing of an ethnic group was opposed to 20 mL of the skin sample and unprotected to light for 7 min." Even AI knows what's wrong here, but @elsevierconnect.bsky.social doesn't.

Two sets of revisions back in the space of 59 minutes! Busy weeks ahead but cool science very much on the horizon 😎🦋🔥

HUGE paper alert. 🚨Lowland tropical insects likely at their thermal limits 🚨 Big congrats to Kim and colleagues on this. Protein stability matches up with thermal limits across families too. 🧬🔥

Kim L. Holzmann@kimholzmann.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Big effort, exciting results - our paper on the constraints of thermal limits in tropical insects is now out in @nature.com! 🦋🐝🪰🪲🦗 @ecoresearchzoo3.bsky.social @biologie-uniwue.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de

Anybody who has tried to take photos in the perpetual twilight of the tropical forest understory knows how frustrating it can be. This is where you need an artist. Debby Cotter Kaspari is a whiz with pen and ink. And this is one of her understory drawings from Isla Barro Colorado, Panama, 2001.

We found support for the Rapoport effect in butterflies 🦋 species that live in more variable climates have broader thermal tolerances and larger range sizes. A collaboration with Aaron Yilmaz and @sarahdiamond.bsky.social 🔬 academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...

Climatic variability drives greater thermal tolerance breadth and enables larger range size in butterflies

Abstract. Although climatic variability has been proposed to shape physiological tolerances, and in turn, species distributions, relatively few studies hav

academic.oup.com

My interview with @manymindspod.bsky.social! Come for a deep dive into the evolution of kissing 💋, stay for the earth-shattering insights 🤯 "fish don't run" 🐠🏃 "monkeys tend to loll around quite a lot" 🙈 "chimps have moved on to grass-in-bumhole behaviour" 🍑🌱 disi.org/origins-of-t...

Origins of the kiss - DISI

Exploring our world's diverse forms of mind—human, animal, machine—from diverse perspectives.

disi.org

theconversation.com/species-on-e...

Species on east-west coastlines are more likely to go extinct than those on north-south shores – new study

500 million years of fossils reveal how ‘escape routes’ along coastlines can decide who survives climate change.

theconversation.com

Job reminder: lectureship in Marine Conservation available at Hull. Deadline is the 19th. We're friendly and you can still buy a house on an academic salary here. 🧪 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQF022/l...

Lecturer in Marine Conservation at University of Hull

Discover Lecturer in Marine Conservation jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board.

jobs.ac.uk

🚨NEW PAPER🚨 It doesn't take much canopy disturbance in tropical forests to push surface temperatures above the thermal limits of many invertebrate groups. 🦋+🪲💩+🪱🧛‍♂️+ 🐜 Led by the wonderful Mike Boyle! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Narrow thresholds of canopy disturbance determine the microclimate buffering potential of tropical forests

The importance of protecting logged and recovering tropical forests has gained much attention. Disturbed forests can, however, have hotter microclimat…

sciencedirect.com

New paper led by Michael Boyle: Narrow thresholds of canopy disturbance determine the microclimate buffering potential of tropical forests www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Narrow thresholds of canopy disturbance determine the microclimate buffering potential of tropical forests

The importance of protecting logged and recovering tropical forests has gained much attention. Disturbed forests can, however, have hotter microclimat…

sciencedirect.com

This is a *great* opportunity for early career researchers to get their work out into the public domain! I had a fab time talking to Laura about my research on the evolution of masturbation 🐒👋🍆💦🦧🌮👈: open.spotify.com/episode/3Xy9...

Episode 25: Masturbation: An Evolutionary Perspective

open.spotify.com

Animal Behavior Society@animbehsociety.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Are you an early career ABS member with diverse lived experiences that also studies sex &/or reproduction? Do you want to be interviewed for the "I Came For Science" podcast by fellow ABS member Laura Sirot? I bet you do! (Contact info on their webpage) www.icameforscience.org

Strange discovery that an email about inclusive fitness was forwarded to Jeffrey Epstein, with the emailer quoting Jerusalem and comparing themself to Einstein. Are you one of the >100 evolutionary biologists now in the Epstein files? www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

Very excited to share that my first first-author pre-print is out today! Many thanks go out to all of our collaborators, especially those who helped with the fieldwork in Peru - it really wouldn't have been possible without you! 🦋

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology@biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Evolution of Reproductive Plasticity in a Seasonal Tropical Environment https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.20.700078v1

Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below! Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage

New paper alert! Microclimate temperatures are more extreme than we previously thought! Near-ground temperatures are amplified in hot weather, cool refugia is lost and replaced with heat traps ☀️🔥🥵 escape from heat will be very hard for small ground-dwelling organisms doi.org/10.21425/fob...

Had an absolutely fantastic time at #BES2025 and a massive well done to all speakers and presenters. Really enjoyed displaying my poster and research, representing two great unis, and meeting so many great people and potential collaborators. Glad my title brought as much joy to others as it did me!!

In my first Editorial as Associate Editor for @conphysjournal.bsky.social, we help combat this lack of training by providing some "tips and tricks" for writing constructive peer reviews, based on our collective experiences as editors for multiple scientific journals.

Tips and tricks for writing constructive peer reviews

Peer review has been the cornerstone of scientific inquiry for centuries and is considered the backbone of scientific quality and rigour (Spier, 2002). Des

academic.oup.com

We are looking for PhD applicants! ‼️Interested in genomics, ecophysiology and adaptation? Look at our TREES DLA project: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/und... We also offer more projects via ROUTE2. Get in touch and let’s have a chat 💬

Great to be a part of this study quantifying the potential negative effects of conservation work to protect one taxon on others! Turns out studying eels did not negatively affect water birds in this case🦆🦢👍

Mike Williamson@mjw-marine.bsky.social · 8mo ago

New paper out! 📢 We tested whether boat activity from an eel telemetry study disturbed protected waterbirds in a UK reservoir. 🦆 No evidence of disturbance. 🌦️ Bird numbers varied with weather + season. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...