laminda

laminda, 11 months ago to science

Be ungovernable, like birds who make nests OUT OF ANTI-BIRD SPIKES. A new study describes resourceful Dutch & Belgian corvids besting evil architecture by stealing metal anti-bird strips and using them like thorny twigs, to construct their homes.

Like thorns, the spikes may protect their nests from predators.

Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra wrote an epic 🧵 about his research that's worth a read: https://twitter.com/AukeFlorian/status/1678703433900064773

Paper: https://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/organisatie/publicaties/deinsea/deinsea-21/

#science #SciComm #birds #netherlands

A bird's nest in a tree in Antwerp. The nest is made of metal anti-bird spikes.

laminda, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to random

Just got my COVID booster and everything hurts. But what hurts worse was the pharmacist telling me that she had to turn away people WHO WANTED THE SHOT because their insurance providers wouldn't cover it (manufacturers are charging ~$120*).

If your insurance provider won't cover this (or if you don't have insurance) the CDC's Bridge Access Program can help! It covers no-cost COVID-19 vaccines until 12/31/24, info here: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html

*EDITED 10/2: more like $190

#COVID #booster #CDC

laminda, 5 months ago to science

Oh hey, it's my last CNN article for 2023! Did you know that fluctuations in Earth's magnetic field were preserved in baked mud bricks from the days of Nebuchadnezzar II?

Archaeomagnetic analysis linked stamped, dated bricks to a power surge in the magnetosphere over Mesopotamia, about 3000 years ago.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/27/world/ancient-bricks-magnetic-field-anomaly-scn/index.html

#science #SciComm #archaeology #mesopotamia

laminda, 1 year ago to science

Welp, so. I guess I'm here now and it's #introduction / #introductions time? I'm a #science writer, #journalist, #podcast host & video maker with a special fondness for weird/gross biology. I'm also a #DnD GM and a huge nerd for #books (especially #scifi) and #comics.

This week, I wrote about a type of lemur that picks its nose with an incredibly spindly finger that's so long it can reach up through its nasal cavity and touch its pharynx.

Nice to meet you, too!

https://www.livescience.com/aye-ayes-primates-nosepickers

laminda, 9 months ago to science

Three little words you love to hear during a livestream of a RV dive to the seafloor: "It's a dumbo!"

E/V Nautilus researchers spotted three dumbo octopuses (named for their big fins, which resemble Dumbo ears) during a recent dive near Johnston Atoll. There was a big one, a sassy one, and one with "beautiful flap-flaps."

Truly, the best thing about these videos is hearing the scientists squee with joy about what they see. 🦑

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgF5IR_whIE&ab_channel=EVNautilus

#science #SciComm #nautilus #ocean #NOAA

laminda, 1 year ago to random

Greetings from Mars, I guess 😬

#wildfires #AirQuality #NewJersey #ClimateChange

Orange sky in NJ from Canadian wildfires, seen through windows on an enclosed balcony that also holds plants and audio equipment.
Orange sky from Canadian wildfires, seen through a window from a high-rise in NJ.

laminda, 1 year ago to space

Please join me in appreciating the Dumb Or Overly Forced Astronomical Acronyms Site (DOOFAAS), this list is stupendous and amazing.

Highlights include:

11HUGS (11 Mpc Halpha and Ultraviolet Galaxy Survey)

Hot DOGs (Hot Dust-Obscured Galaxies)

GADZOOKS! (Gadolinium Antineutrino Detector Zealously Outperforming Old Kamiokande, Super!)

WISEASS (Weizmann Institute of Science Experimental Astrophysics Spectroscopy System)

https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~gpetitpas/Links/Astroacro.html

#astronomy #science #SciComm

laminda, 1 year ago to science

Sir David Attenborough turns 97 today. He's hosted so many great nature programs, but I think we can all agree that his finest moment was in the BBC's "Life of Insects," when he seduced a male cicada on-camera by imitating the wing-snapping sounds of a lovelorn female.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLiWy2nT7U&ab_channel=BBCStudios

#DavidAttenborough #science #SciComm #nature

laminda, 1 year ago to random

Tonight I decided to add candy eyes to our chocolate-dipped strawberries, only to learn that when it comes to desserts there is a very, very fine line between “whimsical” and “cursed”

laminda, 1 year ago to random

From yesterday's picket line at a shoot in Maplewood, NJ. Lots of honking support from drivers!

There was one guy who took his hands off the wheel to make “tsk tsk” fingers at us (boo!) and as one of the cop cars at the shoot drove away they threw a plastic cup in front of the line (what??).

But overall, responses ranged from mild curiosity to “Hell, yeah!” Kids in the cars were excited, too. I hope their parents/caregivers talked to them about what we were doing.

#WGAStrong #WGAStrike

laminda, 1 year ago to books

Gentle readers of @bookstodon, you may be pleased to know that Haymarket Books is offering a Queer Liberation Discount this month—40% off! That includes "Let This Radicalize You" by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, I just picked up the paperback (plus a DRM-free ebook) for under $11. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1922-let-this-radicalize-you

#books #bookstodon #queer

laminda, 9 months ago to space

Writing about moon missions today reminded me that NASA has footage of Apollo 17 astronauts singing as they walk on the moon, and it's pretty much the best thing ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_VdN6rfrQ&ab_channel=NASAVideo

#nasa #moon #apollo #astronaut

laminda, 10 months ago to science

Walruses have tiny eyes relative to their massive bodies, so you might wonder if they struggle to see what's around them.

Fortunately for us all, in 1993 Rijkent Vleeshouwer created very helpful illustrations for a scientific study on walrus vision.

Paper: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280615156_The_anatomy_of_the_Walrus_head_Odobenus_rosmarus_Part_3_The_eyes_and_their_function_in_Walrus_ecology

#science #SciComm #SciArt

Black and white illustrations in two panels labeled "C" and "D," one on top of the other. "C" shows a pair of walruses, with shaded gray triangles emanating from the eyes of one walrus to indicate its field of vision. "D" shows one walrus foraging on the seafloor, with shaded gray cones indicating where it's looking. Text atop the panels reads "Walrus vision," text below the panels reads "Figure 29C, D." Underneath that is text reading "Figure 29. The estsimated visual field of each walrus eye in 4 situations (A) Looking rearward on land. (B) While threatening or fighting on land. (C) Looking forward on land, and (D) Digging for food in the ocean floor. Note the overlap of the cones, which is the suggested area of stereoscopic vision, and thus the area in which the walcus can estimate distances accurately (Drawings: Rijkent Vleeshouwen)"

laminda, 1 year ago to random

Happy #InternationalWorkersDay!

Today is a good day to remember the IWW’s "Little Red Songbook: To Fan the Flames of Discontent," a collection of 52 songs about unionizing and workers’ rights. This edition, published 100 years ago, was reprinted in 2014 by PM Press.

#mayday #union

The red, back cover of a paper pamphlet, on a white table. The top reads: "A RADICAL LABOR CLASSIC. Undoubtedly the most popular book in American labor history"

laminda, 3 months ago to queer

Nex Benedict was a trans and nonbinary high school student in Oklahoma. They died on Feb. 8 after a group of students assaulted them in a school bathroom. They were 16 years old.

This is the world that anti-trans Republican legislators, administrators and influencers have built, with their dangerous rhetoric and their bottomless wells of hate. They weaponize kids against kids. They stole Nex's safety and they stole Nex's life.

Nex deserved so much better.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nex-benedict-dead-oklahoma-b2499332.html

#lgbtqia

laminda, 10 months ago to science

The internet is awash in Barbie pink right now, but some shades of pink are only visible in UV light—like the bright pink glow in springhares' brown fur.

There are 2 species of these rodents (Pedetidae capensis and P. surdaster) found in southern Africa, & in Kenya & Tanzania. Both are biofluorescent; the colorful tints come from compounds called porphyrins.

Image: J. Martin and E. Olson, Northland College; from Olson et al. 2021, Scientific Reports

https://www.livescience.com/pink-fluorescent-mammal-springhare.html

#science #SciComm

laminda, 8 months ago to SciComm

It's that magical time of year when the Alaska Peninsula brown bears (Ursus arctos gyas) at Brooks River in Katmai National Park and Preserve are so very round that the park holds a contest (Oct 4-10) where you can vote on who's the heftiest.

Beginning in June, the bears gorge on calorie-rich salmon, gaining up to four pounds per day. And the rangers track how big the bears are (by volume) BY PINGING THEM WITH LASERS

https://www.livescience.com/fat-bear-week.html

#SciComm #science #bears #FatBearWeek

laminda, 7 months ago to science

In my latest for CNN, I spoke to experts from Denmark & the U.K. about solving a runestone puzzle more than 1,000 years in the making.

Viking queen Thyra was hailed on runestones as "Denmark's strength/salvation" (possibly "Denmark's adornment," translations vary). New analysis of carvings links previously unrelated stones & suggests that Thyra held considerable power—she was mentioned on more monuments than any Viking-era king.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/13/europe/viking-queen-thyra-runestones-denmark-scn/index.html

#science #vikings #archaeology #denmark

laminda, 7 months ago to random

Having health insurance in the US means that you also have a part-time job haggling with your insurance company and advocating for your own healthcare.

To that end, here's a useful tool that can help with filing claims to contest denial of coverage, created by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.

https://projects.propublica.org/claimfile/

#healthcare #HealthInsurance

laminda, 6 months ago to science

Knitting friends! This may align with your interests— @scifri did a deep dive on the science of why today's mass-produced sweaters are kind of garbage compared to those of a few decades ago.

Of course, this only confirms what we already knew: Handknit sweaters are the best sweaters.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/sweater-bad-quality-science/

#science #SciComm #sweater #knitting

laminda, 21 days ago to science

For World Turtle Day, please enjoy this 54-million-year-old fossil of a baby sea turtle, which was found in Denmark and includes preserved soft tissue.

In fact, it's so well-preserved that scientists discovered molecules of a pigment that would have darkened the turtle's shell, perhaps to protect it against sun damage.

https://www.livescience.com/60731-fossil-baby-turtle-sunscreen.html

#WorldTurtleDay #science #SciComm #turtle #fossil

laminda, 10 months ago to science

Writing about hammerhead worms meant looking at the history of their US invasion, which is how I learned that the invasive species Bipalium adventitium was identified in NY in 1947 (and in California in 1943) by zoologist Libbie Hyman.

At a time when there were few women in zoological research, Hyman literally wrote the book on invertebrates, producing a 6-volume treatise ("The Invertebrates") and 90 articles from 1940-1967.

https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hyman-libbie-henrietta

#science #SciComm #invertebrates #zoology

laminda, 23 days ago to science

A single gold earring found in a burned Iron Age settlement in Iberia was hidden by its owners more than 2,000 years ago, perhaps to keep it safe from invaders under Hannibal during the Second Punic War.

Archaeologists found the earring in the scorched remnants of a two-story building, along with more than 1,000 fragments of pottery, tools for weaving, and the burned remains of sheep, goats and a horse.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/world/iron-age-fire-spain-earring-hannibal-scn/index.html

#science #SciComm #archaeology

laminda, 1 month ago to Eurovision

Meanwhile, in Eurovision land: Dutch finalist Joost Klein's rehearsals have been suspended "until further notice" over a remark he made at a press conference with Israeli contestant Eden Golan.

A journalist asked Golan if her participation in the competition risked the safety of other performers. She was told she didn't have to answer the question, to which Klein responded with a loud, "Why not?"

https://esctoday.com/194911/eurovision-2024-dutch-entry-joost-klein-under-investigation-barred-from-rehearsals/

#EuroVision

laminda, 13 days ago to random

The NY Times subhed ("A Black woman claims a white homeowner tried to pull out of a sale because of her race") makes it sound like there's room for interpretation, but Dr. Baxter's "claim" was based on the white seller saying OUTRIGHT that she didn't want to sell her home to a Black woman.

Dr. Baxter (aka @raventhesciencemaven) is an amazing science communicator and it's rotten that this happened to her. I hope she gets the resolution that she wants and deserves.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/realestate/race-home-buying-raven-baxter.html?u2g=i&unlocked_article_code=1.wE0.jQDa.PINY7LoIPMt9&smid=url-share