Ope! is such a deeply ingrained part of my communication that most of the time I don’t even consciously register that I use it.

Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · 2d ago

Y’all, midwesterners have the best Interjection for almost any situation (akin to how allora in Italian is an interjection that can mean almost anything): Ope! Surprised? Ope! Made a mistake? Ope! Calling to someone at a party from across the room? Ope! Accidentally offended? Ope! It’s great.

I just finished listening to THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US by @eliotschrefer.bsky.social, and, y'all: damn. I mean... DAMN. I sat silently staring at nothing at the end, just processing, totally blown away. I suspect it's going to be my best read of August, and it's only the 2nd. #BookSky 💙📚 (1/4)

Tech bros continuing to threaten me with a good time. 🤞

The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 7mo ago

AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns

A cute little fun guy for your Friday. Milky Conecap (Conocybe apala), I think?? (My #fungi ID skills are sketchy at best.)

Gosh, this is one pretty-looking fly. Walnut Husk Fly (Rhagoletis completa) spotted on the office window.

Look at this absolute stunner that I found last night! Palm Flatid Planthopper (Ormenaria rufifascia) #BugSky

Me. I didn't have any friends who had vaccine complications. I *do* have plenty of friends & family who had (or still have) complications from long COVID.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last wk.

Sen. Roger Marshall: "Who didn't have a friend who took this vaccine and had some time of complication? A stroke, a blood clot, a young man getting some type of heart inflammation. That's what destroyed the trust in the American people for our government."

I watched the Cave of Bones documentary last night after finishing the book. It was fascinating, but boy did it seem like the animators of the Homo naledi segments leaned hard into the “we find the uncanny valley creepy b/c there used to be things that looked human but weren’t” aspect of things.

Compost Creative | Cave of Bones

Visit the post for more.

motionographer.com

My resident carport spider spun her first post-molt orb tonight! It’s smaller than usual but she did remember to put her support lines on a diagonal so I don’t run into them. (Something she has only messed up once in the 2+ months since she learned it early on. She’s a very considerate housemate.)

Nicole Gerlach@ngerlach.bsky.social · last wk.

She’s back! After three nights with no sign I figured she was gone, but she’s back tonight. She didn’t spin a full orb, but is hanging out on a few threads in her usual spot with a discarded molt right above her. I am (maybe unreasonably) happy about this. #spidersky

This show is my "what media did you love as a kid but no one else has ever heard of?" It was also how I learned about time zones. The final episode was airing at 8/7c; I dutifully tuned in at 8 the next week, only to learn that I was on Central time and had missed it. I'm still bitter 40 yrs later.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold - Intro with Stereo Soundtrack Theme

YouTube video by Mesterius1

youtube.com

The longer I spend trying and failing to locate the very noisy cricket who has gotten into the house, the more I am forced to admit that I’d make a really terrible bat. 🦗🦇

What’s your sign?

Squiddy@dr-squiddy.bsky.social · last wk.

What's your sign?

She’s back! After three nights with no sign I figured she was gone, but she’s back tonight. She didn’t spin a full orb, but is hanging out on a few threads in her usual spot with a discarded molt right above her. I am (maybe unreasonably) happy about this. #spidersky

Nicole Gerlach@ngerlach.bsky.social · 2w ago

Googling “how long do orbweavers live?” at 1 AM because the spider who has shared my carport for the past two months didn’t build her web tonight and I’m worried about her is a totally normal thing to do, right?

Always happy to see Green Anoles (Anolis carolinensis), and this guy was pretty chill about posing for me, although I couldn’t get a shot with his dewlap extended. 🦎

How’d she get that photo of me for the 4th panel?

Sarah Andersen@sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 2w ago

New-to-me species of butterfly this morning! Pics aren’t great, because it was very flighty and I had an impatient dog tugging on my other arm, but they were good enough for iNat to ID it as a Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe). The bright yellow-orange was even more vivid in person.

What a gorgeously preserved fossil that is!

Gabriel Ugueto@serpenillus.bsky.social · 2w ago

Let me introduce you to Tametara mirim, a basal Cretaceous snake from South America that was likely fossorial. It is known from a beautifully preserved and articulated specimen that includes a skull! If you know anything about snake fossils you will know that is VERY rare #snakes #paleoart

I got to have lunch today with this North American Racer (Coluber constrictor). It had a small frog that it found in the leaf litter; I opted for leftover pizza. #addHerper #herps 🐍🐸

Cuttlefish are so freaking cool.

JBGarrity Photography@joegarrity.bsky.social · 2w ago

Watch how this baby cuttlefish exhibits rolling ripple-like waves across its body, known as a "passing cloud display". And wait until the end for the disappearing act. 😆 #marinelifephotography #marinelife #wildlifephotography #wildlife #naturephotography #nature #scuba #eastcoastkin #photography

Googling “how long do orbweavers live?” at 1 AM because the spider who has shared my carport for the past two months didn’t build her web tonight and I’m worried about her is a totally normal thing to do, right?

A couple of cuties out and about this morning, with no mom in sight. They seemed to be doing fine but they’re a little young to be independent. 🦌

Folks, I need help: what are your favorite struggle meals (minimal prep time, minimal dishes to wash)? Or, what else should I be buying to put on snack trays? Losing my motivation to cook has been one of the toughest parts of burnout, and I'm getting tired of all my normal go-to easy meals.

Nicole Gerlach@ngerlach.bsky.social · 4mo ago

After the past month of oscillating between “the kitchen is too dirty to cook unless I clean it first” and “the kitchen is clean and I don’t want to mess it up by cooking,” it’s time to admit that the state of the kitchen may not be the root of the issue.

I saw a juvenile Junco!! 😍 🪶 #SparrowSunday.

Now I really want to see A Muppets Odyssey. Follows Kermysseus for 20 years, past the one-eyed, big-nosed Polygonzmus, the heckling twin terrors of Statlercylla and Charybdorf, the siren call of Electic Mayhem and more as he heads home to Pignelope.

This just in: 3% of the British public who say they like or love dinosaurs don’t actually know what dinosaurs are.

YouGov@yougov.co.uk · 3w ago

With a T-rex skeleton selling for $50m at auction on Tuesday, our poll shows that the Tyrannosaurus Rex is Brits' top dinosaur, with 30% listing it as their favourite T-rex: favourite of 30% of dinosseurs Stegosaurus: 12% Triceratops: 11% Diplodocus: 10% Velociraptor: 7% yougov.com/en-gb/articl...

*cries in Vertebrate Zoology professor*

I’m writing a gay romance about competing Devonian tetrapods. It’s called Feeted Rivalry.

Ryan Consell@stealingfromwizards.com · 3w ago

I'm writing a gay romance about competing woodpeckers. It's called Pileated Rivalry

The tail blur in this photo from our initial meet and greet is what convinced me that she was the right dog for me.

WeRateDogs@weratedogs.com · 3w ago

This is Wilson. He was born with a blurry tail. Not sure if he'll ever grow out of it. 13/10 we love him just the way he is

A trio of tiny toadlets for your Tuesday! They’re all the same species, Southern Toads (Anaxyrus terrestris), which makes the range of colors really interesting; adults aren’t usually that variable. #herps 🐸

A few years ago, some friends and I were discussing the scene at the beginning of Jurassic Park with people at the dig site chuckling at the idea that birds are dinosaurs, and whether that was an accurate reflection of popular opinion of the time. Google provided us with this banger answer.