I came first in the Clacton by-election! Of the candidates who bothered to turn up for the results. Here is my victory speech!

In our latest preprint we show that Lifeact::mKate2 can reverse the chirality of active torques in the actomyosin cortex. This results in cortical flows with opposite handedness during left-right symmetry breaking, leading to the formation of situs inversus worms. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Corolla aestivation is easier to see on a large flower. Here is Muenchhusia moscheuta 'Balhiwhi' Luna™ White (#Malvaceae) with dextrorse contorted aestivation. But in other cultivars of this species, I see sinistrorse contorted aestivation (📷: Steve Law CCBYSA2). #aestivation #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

@snaildoc.bsky.social Jeremy the snail got discussed on this morning's In Our Time 🐌 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

In Our Time - Seashells - BBC Sounds

The familiar sight in the sand that reveals the diversity and intricacy of marine life.

bbc.co.uk

Hey IQTree3 paper is out. Bread and butter for tree building anything in my workflow. They have a pretty standout documentation too. 🖥️🧬 academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

IQ-TREE 3: phylogenomic inference software using complex evolutionary models

Abstract. IQ-TREE (https://iqtree.github.io/) is a widely used open-source software tool for efficiently inferring phylogenetic trees under maximum likelih

academic.oup.com

New #ecoevo paper @pnas.org: Evolution of species’ range and niche in changing environments. I show that feedback between evolutionary and population dynamics can create a tipping point where genetic variance erodes, and species’ ranges contract or fragment www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #popgen 🧬🧪 🌎

Jitka Polechová@polejit.bsky.social · 2y ago

Preprint finally out! I show that eco-evo feedback can drive a tipping point where genetic drift overwhelms adaptation. This can result in a contraction of a species' range border or range fragmentation. Fragmentation is abrupt and arises readily under rapid temporal change. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

At a number of town halls, the VC has spoken about “excellence.” Someone asked her how she defined it. Her answer, and I paraphrase: “I know it when I see it.”

Ed Hollox@edhollox.bsky.social · 5mo ago

muircheartblog.wpcomstaging.com/2026/04/14/d...

‪ 🌳 Do you want to contribute to research on how humans perceive forests? Take this quick, anonymous 10-min survey 🌲 👉 www.biodiful.org#/forest This will help us explore how people experience forest biodiversity! Please share on 🦋 & tag @biodiful.bsky.social to reach more participants 🙏💚 🌐🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁🧪

Field work in one of the smallest countries, Sao Tome, looking for one of the largest snails, unfortunately also endangered. Success! Giant Obo snail 🐌, bigger than your regular Giant African land snail - and sinistral coiling. Just born baby = garden snail size 😮 #snails #saotome #chirality

Field work in one of the smallest countries, Sao Tome, looking for one of the largest snails, unfortunately also endangered. Success! Giant Obo snail, bigger than your regular Giant African land snail - and sinistral coiling. #snails #saotome #chirality

A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks

Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

theguardian.com

Cuba is heading for a humanitarian disaster, because the US is using starvation to promote regime change. Read more here: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte.... Help here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding... #Cuba #BloqueoACuba #CubaEmbargo #USCuba #JustGiving

🙏Please share🙏 🐌Applications are open for MSL travel grants!🐌 ⭐Deadline = 1st March (for travel between 1st June and 30th November) ⭐£500 available for members ⭐£300 available for non-members malacsoc.org.uk/awards-and-g...

I need to insure a snail shell - the remains of "Jeremy the shellebrity snail" - for international travel. It is going to be the centrepoint of Netherlands museum exhibit! But what value do I put on a one in million snail?! #snail #snaillove

I've been sitting on this for over a month...but given how cross I am with @royalsociety.org at their ongoing inaction over #Elon #Musk I thought I'd share this. They invited me to serve on their Public Engagement Committee; I could have been more eloquent, but I had to give a firm "no"...

Prof Chris Jackson@seismatters.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Why the @royalsociety.org want to be tethered to this sinking ship is beyond me ☹️

And if you want a list of the reasons that have been given for keeping Musk as FRS, there's this piece deevybee.blogspot.com/2025/02/seve...

Seven reasons for keeping Elon Musk as a Fellow of the Royal Society

Last November, I wrote a blogpost explaining why I had resigned as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). In brief, over the summer a group ...

deevybee.blogspot.com

Kit Yates@kityates.bsky.social · 8mo ago

In light of the Royal Society's continued inaction on Elon Musk, it seems appropriate to share this again. I wrote it last March when I resigned my position as associate editor at a Royal Society Journal. Things haven't got better since then.

Reporting back from the frontline of the 59th iteration of PopGroup conference in Lille, only the 2nd ever outside the UK. With a free bar stocked with local bar, excellent frites for the poster session and top quality food, why would we ever hold it anywhere again?! 😁 #pgg59 #popgroup59 #conference

🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨 Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social - employment benefits - 4 years funding - 1000% fun Deadline: 14/1/2026 Details: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Accurate Runs of Homozygosity Estimation From Low Coverage Genome Sequences in Non-Model Species #popgen #consgen doi.org/10.1111/1755...

Accurate Runs of Homozygosity Estimation From Low Coverage Genome Sequences in Non‐Model Species

Runs of homozygosity (ROH) are increasingly being analysed using whole genome sequences in non-model species as a measure of inbreeding and to assess demographic history, thus providing useful inform...

doi.org

🚨Two funded PhDs on the evolutionary ecology of antipredator colouration 🦋 with myself and Iliana Medina. One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st Please share among potential students!

In time for the festive season, my latest paper charts the 25 million year story of how mistletoe and songbirds somersaulted across the Americas, diversifying as they went.  Strap in for an epic ecological tale #MistletoeMunchersFromWayBack 1/12 nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Evolutionary dynamics of dietary specialisation – insights from Neotropical mistletoe‐dependent frugivores

Mistletoes occur worldwide, with most relying on birds to disperse their sticky seeds to suitable hosts. There has been considerable ecological research on these interactions, emphasizing those birds....

nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

"Rediscovery of the greater chestnut #weevil highlights the power of digital platforms in biodiversity research and conservation" spkl.io/63326Ad07u @Michael A. Charles & colleagues @currentbiology.bsky.social

Two days of demos and inspirational speeches outside Trent building - while university council decide our future but without our consultation, or consideration of the local and East Midlands community. #UoN promotes #WeAreUoN hashtag but does not listen. #University #eastmidlands @ucu.org.uk

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

BREAKING The University of Nottingham has decided to lead the way in being the first 🥇 Russell group university to NOT do modern languages. Music is also gone! 🗡️ Apparently, neither are necessary for a world "top 100" university with charitable status. ENDS #UoN #Russell @ucu.org.uk #UCU

Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬 We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies. Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!

Right. Hitler's DNA. Brace yourselves for a deluge of misinformation and bad science. I'm in Australia, so do get in touch if you want some expert debunking.

The world needs more Polymita 🐌 This one is Polymita sulpurosa, superb pic by Julio Larramendi. We now have a genome sequence! 🌝 #snails #polymita

Bizarre story, an elaborate mollusc based tax avoidance scheme! www.londoncentric.media/p/terry-ball... #molluscs #snails/ #taxavoidance

The snail farmer of London, his mafia friends, and a £20m vendetta against the taxman

Terry Ball runs elaborate mollusc-based tax avoidance schemes that are costing London councils millions of pounds. Yet when London Centric tracks him down, an even stranger story emerges.

londoncentric.media

Problems and progress in getting molluscan 🐌 genome assemblies, new paper out. Although the publication was much delayed, we recently redid the analysis, finding that actually not much ahs improved 😔 academic.oup.com/mollus/artic... 🧬 & 🖥️ #genomics #snails #molluscs

Molluscan genome assemblies—problems and progress

A reference genome assembly is a starting point for research (Davison & Neiman, 2021) in a wide variety of subdisciplines of biology, including mollusc

academic.oup.com