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Posts by Dr Amber Wood-Bailey

Stanisław Lem, Solaris book

Stanisław Lem, Solaris book

The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim book

The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim book

Solaris, Stanisław Lem
(3⭐)
Huge ideas, can see the impact of this book throughout sci-fi as a genre. But my god, the characters are dull. 20% is recounting fictional academic rivalries between ppl you never meet.

The Drone Outside, Kristine Ong Muslim
(5⭐)
Tiny miniatures, all great.

1 hour ago 0 0 0 0
Ancillary Justice book against a bookcase

Ancillary Justice book against a bookcase

Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (3.75⭐)
The Radchaai feel like the evil twin of Bank's Culture. I liked the she/her pronouns throughout but I didn't love that she makes a point to tell us what gender the main characters are interpreted as in gendered societies.

6 days ago 0 0 1 0
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When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (4⭐)
Could've been shorter. Unusual structure but fun piece of alternate history fiction. Kinda wanna be a dragon now.

2 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Among the Burning Flowers book

Among the Burning Flowers book

Among the Burning Flowers, Samantha Shannon (4⭐).
A nice companion read to Priory of the Orange Tree. Did read like parts that got the cut during editing, but I enjoyed it anyway.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
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Friends of Lyme Regis Museum's Silent Auction Ammonite Original Illustration - Mary Anning letter appeal - Lyme Regis MuseumThe Friends of Lyme Regis Museum are co-ordinating an appeal to raise funds for  an exceptionally rare partial handwritten...

The Friends of Lyme Regis Museum have an appeal to raise funds for an exceptionally rare, partial handwritten letter by pioneering fossil collector Mary Anning.

Artist Lee Brown has generously donated an original piece of art work to help with fundraising

Here's the link if you want to bid on it!

4 weeks ago 2 1 0 0
Video

Ever wanted to see how a coral skeleton grows? In this paper (led by: @jtrendbio.bsky.social) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... we use Live CT, a method of scanning live organisms using microCT, to visualise how the skeleton grew over about one month.

3 weeks ago 37 21 0 0
The Membranes book held against a backdrop of a bookcase

The Membranes book held against a backdrop of a bookcase

The Membranes, Chi Ta-Wei (5⭐). Part of my quest to read more Sinophone science fiction. This was written in the 90s in Taiwan. Anything I have to say about it wouldn't do it justice. Highly recommend.

3 weeks ago 1 0 1 0
These Burning Stars book on a lap book holder

These Burning Stars book on a lap book holder

These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs (2.5⭐). I really struggled, then I saw a review that said "if you liked Gideon the Ninth, you'll love this" and that made sense. Next to no setting, I struggled to work out where I was half the time. I shan't bother reading the others.

3 weeks ago 1 0 1 0
The Left Hand of Darkness book on a lap book holder

The Left Hand of Darkness book on a lap book holder

Fevre Dream, George R. R. Martin (3⭐). Read it with a friend. Couldn't get over the self insert protagonist.

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (4⭐). Justice for Estraven! Genly Ai is a misogynist Issues with characters aside, I'd love to read a copy with she/her or they/them pronouns.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
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A Desolation Called Peace book on a lap book holder

A Desolation Called Peace book on a lap book holder

Alien Clay book on a lap book holder

Alien Clay book on a lap book holder

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (4⭐). Same vein as animation series Scavengers Reign and Vandermeer's Annihilation. I love Tchaikovsky's biology.

A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (3.5⭐). Stopped sulking and bumped up my score. Not as good as the first. I have a lot to say about the aliens.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
A Memory called Empire book on a lap book holder

A Memory called Empire book on a lap book holder

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (4.75⭐). Political intrigue, poetry and mild sapphic romance. What more could I want.

MARCH:
The Dark Side of the Sun, Terry Pratchett (3.5⭐). Early Pratchett, didn't hit like Strata. Some interesting thoughts but narratively a bit all over the place.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
The Invention of Nature book on a blanket

The Invention of Nature book on a blanket

Tales from the Forbidden planet book on a lap book holder

Tales from the Forbidden planet book on a lap book holder

Tales from the Forbidden Planet, mixed authors (3.5⭐). Very mixed bag. The accompanying artwork is beautiful for all of the stories.

The Invention of Nature, Andrea Wulf (4⭐). A book about Alexander von Humboldt. Could've been better about his sexuality. I really enjoyed it otherwise.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Terra Nullius book on a lap book holder

Terra Nullius book on a lap book holder

Borne book on a lap book holder

Borne book on a lap book holder

Terra Nullius, Claire G. Coleman (5⭐). I will never get this book out of my head. It was absolutely harrowing, but also incredible speculative fiction.

Borne, Jeff Vandermeer (4⭐). Pretty miserable planet, but I really had a soft spot for all the characters.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Legends and lattes book

Legends and lattes book

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea book on a lap book holder

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea book on a lap book holder

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, Rebecca Thorne (4.5⭐)

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (4⭐)

The weekend I read these two books, I was feeling run-down and tired. I just needed something cosy and extremely low-stakes. These are perfect for that vibe.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Counterweight book

Counterweight book

Matter book

Matter book

Counterweight, Djuna (3.5⭐). Didn't astound me, maybe something lost in translation. Very Phildickian.

FEBRUARY:
Matter, Iain M. Banks (5⭐). My last Culture novel I had left to read. Starfleet with drugs and very liberal gender politics. True gay communists in space!

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
A View from the Stars book

A View from the Stars book

A View from the Stars, Cixin Liu (3.5⭐). A mixed bag for the short stories, the essays are very interesting. Lots of interesting stuff about the recent history of speculative fiction in China.

Monk & Robot duology, Becky Chambers (4.75⭐). Absolutely lovely sci-cli-queer-fi fluff. Gimme 10 of them.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Foundation book

Foundation book

Foundation, Asimov (3⭐). A re-read. Big ideas, of course. I can see how this was very unusual in terms of pulp sci-fi. Just couldn't get over the lack of women, it reads like the entire universe is populated with male monks. I do have some feelings about what they changed for the show now, though.

3 weeks ago 0 0 1 0
Exhalation book

Exhalation book

JANUARY:
Exhalation, Ted Chiang (4.5⭐). I didn't enjoy as much as Stories of Your Life and Others but there were some gems in there.

The Burning Kingdoms trilogy, Tasha Suri (4-4.5⭐). Really gorgeous books, wasn't wild about the ending.

3 weeks ago 2 0 1 0

Anyone else reading a tonne in an attempt to escape various bad habits re: social media?

Thought I'd document what I've been reading here 📚🤓

3 weeks ago 2 0 1 0
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Preview
Statistically significant chuckles: who is using humour at scientific conferences? Abstract. We’ve all been there: 11.47, swamped by a long stretch of dense scientific talks at a conference. Six slides into a hyper-technical presentation,

If you are looking for an example of best-practice in abstract-writing, this is a good starting point

1 month ago 10 2 1 0

Congratulations Dr Anderson! Great news :)

1 month ago 2 0 0 0
Richard Owen Research Fund applications now open! Small grants of up to £1000 to assist palaeontological research on fossil fauna and flora of the British Isles and Ireland. Deadline: 28th Feb 2026. Award is open to both amateur and professional palaeontologists. https://www.palaeosoc.org/grants-prizes/research-funding-details/

Richard Owen Research Fund applications now open! Small grants of up to £1000 to assist palaeontological research on fossil fauna and flora of the British Isles and Ireland. Deadline: 28th Feb 2026. Award is open to both amateur and professional palaeontologists. https://www.palaeosoc.org/grants-prizes/research-funding-details/

Are you looking for a small grant to assist your palaeontological research on fossil fauna and/or flora of the British Isles and Ireland? 🦕🐌🦎🦈🌿

Applications are now open for our Richard Owen Research Fund. Further details can be found here: www.palaeosoc.org/grants-prize...

Deadline 28th Feb 2026.

2 months ago 6 6 0 1

Awesome opportunity to nominate an early career researcher for the Edward Forbes Prize.

Deadline just 5 days away!

#palaeontology

1 month ago 0 0 0 0
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Had lots of fun delivering the @sicb-dcb-dvm.bsky.social Carl Gans award lecture yesterday at @sicb.bsky.social #SICB2026! Grateful to have the support of so many incredible colleagues in comparative biomechanics.

3 months ago 191 29 1 1
Annotated mallard head muscle diagram in front of a landmarked 3d model of a duck skull

Annotated mallard head muscle diagram in front of a landmarked 3d model of a duck skull

I'll never bitch about mammals again ever.

3 months ago 10 0 0 0
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A 1672 bunny rabbit from St Isidore’s #Rome - symbolising the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception (JMcC)

Today 8 Dec is the feast.

4 months ago 26 6 0 0
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During the earliest stages of domestication, dogs in archaeological sites would be indistinguishable from wolves.

Unless you find them on a small island where no wolves would survive on their own, eating things wolves normally don’t eat.

Such as here:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

4 months ago 27 9 1 0

Deadline next week! Don't forget to nominate! (and if you have problems, get in touch with us directly via our website)

5 months ago 3 3 0 0
The poster for the Marsh Palaeoart Award
IT reads:
marsh palaeoart award
this award recognises talent in the depiction of fossil fauna and flora from the british isles
winning prize: £500 + 1 year PalSoc membership
art can be in any medium
judging panel of palaeoartists and scientists, incl. last years's winner, MAtt Humpage
submissions open:20th October, 2025
submissions close: 25th November, 2025
for full details and entry requirements visit:
www.palaeosoc.org
this award is supported by the Marsh charitable Trust

The poster for the Marsh Palaeoart Award IT reads: marsh palaeoart award this award recognises talent in the depiction of fossil fauna and flora from the british isles winning prize: £500 + 1 year PalSoc membership art can be in any medium judging panel of palaeoartists and scientists, incl. last years's winner, MAtt Humpage submissions open:20th October, 2025 submissions close: 25th November, 2025 for full details and entry requirements visit: www.palaeosoc.org this award is supported by the Marsh charitable Trust

A reminder to all #palaeoartists; the deadline for the Marsh Palaeoart Award is fast approaching!
If you want to submit I'd recommend doing it ASAP as, while it says 25th Nov here, the webpage specifies the 21st (I'm glad I checked😅).
Anyway, good luck to y'all!
#paleoart @palaeontosoc.bsky.social

5 months ago 15 6 0 1
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)

Nice 3-year teaching+research postdoc at NYIT!
careers-nyit.icims.com/jobs/4126/po...
The human anatomy teaching experience is tremendously valuable; for people in our fields (e.g., morphology, biomechanics, palaeontology) it opens up great faculty job opportunities! And the NYIT faculty are great.

5 months ago 9 10 0 0