It changed!

Emily Herring@emilyherring.bsky.social · yesterday

I'm in Halberstadt where I have been sent by the lovely folk over at Orbital Studies to witness and write about the 17th chord change of John Cage's "As Slow as possible" which has been playing on an organ here since 2001 and is projected to keep playing until the 2600s.

Got bitten by a radioactive spotted lanternfly and whenever I unfurl my wings to reveal my striking red underwing everyone goes "ooo you're actually kind of pretty" before beating me with newspapers

Blooming Eye Crochet Pattern by José Dammers - Plus More Eye-Inspired Designs: 👉 knithacker.com/2025/08/croc... #crochet #handmade

A fly-mimic weevil!!

Matt Bertone@bertonemyia.bsky.social · 7d ago

Be a dipterist. Be in Costa Rica for #FlySchool2026. See a muscoid #fly perching on a leaf. Tell student so they can collect it. Success!! Wait a minute 🤔 That's not a fly, but weevil mimicking one! This was so convincing, even rapidly moving & poking its wings out 🥰 #Curculionidae: cf. #Mnemynurus

Overnight, a masked bandit broke into our kitchen. Armed with opposable thumbs, he proceeded to sample everything on offer. I’d just visited the farmers market, so the menu was extensive. I can now share a highly specific peer-reviewed list of what this particular raider did & did not enjoy. 🧵

Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

Alt: Raccoon's Evil Smile: 'Good, Good'

static.klipy.com

Alternate universe/history/timeline, but only really trivial stuff is different: -every letter in "Connecticut" is pronounced -Pequod's is the dominant coffee chain -older people type three spaces after a period -beer is sold in 10 and 15 ounce cans

It was hilarious but also very profound - I wept a bit at the end. What should we do now. NOW, for it is all we have

Rob from Maryland@peromyscus.bsky.social · 2w ago

We saw Adrift tonight with a friend. It was hilarious! I loved that they used barn owl images while the actors made Barred Owl sounds. It's in Bethesda at the Round House Theatre www.roundhousetheatre.org/on-stage/exp...

I've been neglectful of the #dragonfly feed this summer; too busy looking at them to write about them. Here's a Violet Dropwing that I saw on that @naturetrek.bsky.social trip to the Camargue that I mentioned last month. Yowza that is a cool bug #invertebrates

first hint of a new track

Angine de Poitrine - New Song #1 soundcheck Ottawa Bluesfest 2026

YouTube video by UK94nK8R

youtube.com

Republicans, pre-Trump, hated AHRQ because they believed it would be used for "death panels." This particular lunacy is not new (note that my post is from *2012*).

The War on Science Expands to AHRQ: The Triumph of the Idiots

One of the many insanities that movement conservatives possess is their fervent belief that research exploring medical outcomes will lead to death panels. I have no idea how figuring out how to red…

mikethemadbiologist.com

Dan Garisto@dangaristo.bsky.social · 2w ago

"As of Friday afternoon, more than 70 projects that had won an estimated $185 million in funding commitments had received these 'nonaward' ... That’s roughly half of all the active grants AHRQ had listed this week."

Frightwig just led the crowd in a “Hail Jennifer’!” chant here at #MosswoodMeltdown — rightly so.

this is the official scooby doo account

hello everyone. The kickstarter for Rigsby WI Volume 3: Flux will launch in the fall. I will be a few pages from Flux every day in this thread, in the hopes that someone will see it and think "hey that's cool" You can also read the entire series FOR FREE at rigsbywi.com

I get that some people don't understand this. Maybe they think the chat function is a legitimate summary of actual websites. But lots of us have been yelling about this for *years* now! The information about how unreliable, thieving, and damaging to the environment is available! Don't. Use. "AI".

Matthew R Francis@bowlerhatscience.org · 3w ago

Class, repeat after me: "AI" is not a search engine. "AI" does not search webpages and return results. "AI" scrapes together random shavings from the internet and presents them as though they're answers. If you use "AI" as a search engine, you're better off consulting your own rectum with a mirror.

the folk harp festival concert was very good i'm only a music appreciator and not a creator, so i only have stupid things to say, which are: it's so cool how many kinds of harps there are, styles of music, and styles of playing

This piece by @drjudystone.bsky.social is an *exceptional* look at the root causes of Cyclospora outbreaks, including a discussion of how migrant workers are treated and the consequences of that behavior.

It’s The Water, Not Produce, Likely Driving Cyclospora Outbreaks

Contaminated irrigation or processing water is more likely the source of the Cyclospora outbreak. There are many systemic failures, outlined here.

forbes.com

The world is truly filled with wonders!

Woodland Park Zoo@woodlandparkzoo.bsky.social · 3w ago

It's berry season and you have the tiniest friends. These critically endangered babies are Egyptian tortoises that hatched on July 4 and 6, 2026. Currently, our Egyptian tortoises are living behind the scenes in a warm and cozy habitat with lots of attention from their dedicated animal keepers.

in a lot of ways the current republican government is just the worst, extractive red state governance taken national. total hostility to public goods, total indifference to long-term investment, and a monomaniacal interest in using the state to enrich private benefactors

Andrew Lawrence@ndrew.bsky.social · 3w ago

the food safety stuff is another reminder that a large, huge, gigantic part of being a republican is going “lmao why are we spending money to prevent horrifying disasters from happening if they never happen 🤪”

Since this is popping off, Motley has racked up some vet bills, and I do make shirts and stuff to help pay for them: www.etsy.com/shop/thenigh...

I find the story of Hegelochus unreasonably funny. Imagine dying and the only trace of you millennia later is the time you accidentally said you saw a weasel in a tragic play in front of a packed audience, because people mocked you about it for centuries. (Thread for ease)

Hegelochus: The Ancient Greek Actor We Only Know About Because He Really, Really Fluffed Up His Line

Around 400 BCE, Hegelochus really messed up his line. We only know about the actor because he was mocked about it for centuries.

iflscience.com

lol devastating. This is exactly how all profs should move here on out, in-person finals with paper and pen. ChatGPT your way outta THAT one.

Jacob T. Levy@jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 4w ago

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Rigsby WI chapter 5 preview: A secret third thing www.patreon.com/rigsbywi/pos...

Mom, Dad & their 19 babies drinking some water from a backyard pond. These are Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) in the Catalina Foothills of Arizona. Let's ask why they drink via the 'sip-and-tilt' method... (📷: Desert Critters of Arizona via YT)

No we know Citation: Banff Centre warning signs

Science News@sciencenews.bsky.social · last mo.

A bear might seem like the scariest thing you could encounter in a national park, but should you be more worried about an elk? Well, it depends on you’re what you’re doing. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/aggressive-wildlife-encounters-elk-bear

Music can preserve more than melodies. Cocanha are reclaiming the endangered Occitan language and culture through tradition, collaboration, and the powerful songs of Flame Folclòre.

Cocanha Celebrate Occitan Culture with Collaboration and Community

The duo's music illuminates and reclaims the rich history of the Occitan language and culture of Southern France.

daily.bandcamp.com

Cool news from the @naturetrek.bsky.social tour I’m on in the Camargue — we had a rare for France Black Pennant (Selysiothemis nigra) #dragonfly that Kelly Burgess found and photographed beautifully. Leader Jason Mitchell’s info following. Wow!! Great tour & super cool bug #invertebrates

So… at some point elected Democrats are going to realize that their constituents have moved left of them and want said electeds to either represent them or get the fuck out of the way, right? Right? …RIGHT???

Jen Bendery@jbendery.bsky.social · last mo.

JUST IN: In a stunning upset, democratic socialist Melat Kiros has unseated 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in the Colorado House primary www.huffpost.com/entry/democr...

Trans people have really existed as long as humans have been around & have been perfectly accepted for themselves & served important social roles at a lot of points in history & in a lot of places. Hating them is nowhere close to innate. It has to be chosen, & taught.

Chantal James@chantalalive.blacksky.app · last mo.

I don't even think hating trans people is natural & I think this particular wave of transphobia is very much politically driven by the agenda of fascists. I'm pretty sure society has been having much less problem with trans people at certain points than this wave. Especially global indigenous ones.

As well as the ascendency of the left, great to see that the Israel lobby in the US is now losing, badly.

Guardian US@us.theguardian.com · last mo.

"After the last month, Democratic leadership should be seriously taking stock of their position," writes Ben Davis. "The energy is on their left. The people are on their left."