I love this new study on the use of jokes during biology conferences. Jokes make talks more engaging and memorable, and often help deliver important points. But they appear underused. Let's joke more! 🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Exciting opportunity!
Cool study showing just how common it is for capuchins to anoint themselves and each other with the antimicrobial toxins produced by millipedes. 🧪
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Hartelijk dank, Evelien!
Beautiful new paper showing a latitudinal migratory divide in Painted Ladies. Longitudinal divides in migratory species are quite common, but seeing a latitudinal gradient, as well as the chromosomal inversion causing it, is exciting! 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A new study suggests that crab-eating foxes may use insects such as crickets and cockroaches as medication. More studies are needed, but very interesting observations! 🧪
rsdjournal.org/rsd/article/...
Listen to this great podcast recorded at this year's @newscientist.com Live! @rigb.org's Ri Science podcast talks to @ciaragreene.bsky.social and @gillian-murphy.bsky.social, co-authors of Memory Lane, as well as @jaapderoode.bsky.social, author of Doctors by Nature: buff.ly/dSvgt0o #NSL2025
So much fun to talk with Marty Martin and @jdrakephd.bsky.social at the @bigbiology.bsky.social podcast about how animals use medicine, what we can learn from them, and my @princetonupress.bsky.social book #DoctorsbyNature on this very topic. Thank you, Marty and John!
It was long thought that domestication leads to reductions in brain size. But as we understand dog brains better, the truth is proving more complicated—and more interesting.
Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @erinhecht.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/of-breeds-an...
Great opportunity!
Another great story on fANTastic biology.
New paper showing how immigration alters the ecological processes structuring the assembly and variation in #Monarch caterpillar gut #microbiomes.
w/ @jaapderoode.bsky.social, @gabe-dubose.bsky.social, Joselyne Chavez, Lydia Fuller-Hall
Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Caterpillar guts are like grasslands: immigration and selection determine gut microbial communities. Thanks @chriscatano.bsky.social for leading this exciting project, and for showing that niche selection is important in caterpillar microbial ecology!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
What a wonderful overview of how basic science leads the way. World-changing innovation comes from curiosity-driven research. Basic research always leads to applications, we may just not be smart enough to know what those will be. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Wow, nature is too cool! Structures on stinkbug hind legs that used to be interpreted as ears are actually chambers with fungi. The bugs coat their eggs in those fungi to protect them against parasitoid wasps. 🧪
Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Ants - and the researchers studying them - just keep on amazing! 🧪
Architectural immunity: Ants alter their nest networks to prevent epidemics | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Just finished an amazing trip to Paris to promote my Les Liens Qui Liberent book #nos_grands_medecins, translated from my @princetonupress.bsky.social book #doctorsbynature. My first time doing radio interviews with live interpretation: a great and fun experience. @emorybiology.bsky.social
Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves by Jaap de Roode
Jaap de Roode
Next week, Oct 21 at 5:30 pm BST, @newcastleuni.bsky.social hosts @jaapderoode.bsky.social for a discussion of his book, Doctors by Nature, exploring how animals use medicine and what it can teach us about healing ourselves.
This event is free and open to the public. Save your spot: buff.ly/vjs1oVE
Doctors by Nature: How Ants, Apes, and Other Animals Heal Themselves by Jaap de Roode
Jaap de Roode
Next week, on Oct 18, go to @newscientist.com Live to see @jaapderoode.bsky.social discuss his book, Doctors by Nature, and the fascinating ways in which animals practice medicine. Among many excellent speakers, be sure to see Jaap at 2:35pm BST!
Explore the lineup and book tickets: buff.ly/4YBFj1U
🌿 Nature lifts mood all day
Surveying over 2,000 adults, researchers found that visiting parks or watersides boosts happiness for everyone, including those with depression or anxiety.
🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1743...
#MentalHealth #SciComm 🧪
We live in divided times. But most of us agree that we dislike mosquitoes. In the latest episode of the Virulent Vortex, I talk with Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec. As he explains, going back to basic mozzie biology could go a long way in controlling mosquito-borne diseases.🧪
youtu.be/sm5iz48-faA?...
Our MARC T34 got a new NOA today- also reinstated the IMSD T32 and a summer program- INSPIRE R25- we were reinstated due to involvement with ACLU lawsuit filed on behalf of the American Public Health Association-
Our latest research, with @iragonese.bsky.social, @saltidog.bsky.social and @richardlovesbirds.bsky.social, shows that elevated temperature can increase monarch butterfly susceptibility to parasitism by reducing the medicinal properties of milkweed. #plant-insect #plant-herbivore 🧪
“De ware dierendokters: hoe dieren elkaar medisch behandelen. Chimpansees die verbanden aanleggen, muizen die EHBO verlenen: ook dieren verzorgen elkaar, blijkt uit groeiend stapel studies.” #wetenschap #biologie #diergedrag #boek Dokters van nature van @jaapderoode.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/4b8eua9h
In many cases, crowding results in greater disease transmission. However, in monarch butterflies high host density can reduce per capita infection risk. This happens when caterpillars gobble up parasites on milkweed, removing them from the environment.🧪
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
It varies by institution, but for my institution, stipend is $40,324. On top of that, we pay fees to cover fringe.
Sorry to hear that. Fortunately, that was not my experience.
From a grant rejection: "I would recommend finding a more cost effective way to conduct the study, such as using labor of a graduate student, which could reduce the overall cost by 80%." To clarify: that would leave $9,856 for 2 years. Shocking! Graduate students are NOT free and forced labor! 🧪
Mijn @knnvuitgeverij.bsky.social boek ‘Dokters van nature’ is genomineerd voor de shortlist van de Natuurboekenprijs 2025!
Hiernaast is er dit jaar een publieksprijs. Mocht je het leuk vinden op mijn boek te stemmen, dan kan dat hier:
meedoen.bnnvara.nl/.../publieks....
🧪
Wound care in chimpanzees! Like chimpanzees in Central Africa, scientists have now shown that East African chimpanzees also apply flying insects to their own and each other's wounds. This is likely some form of medication, which is more widespread than we thought. 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...