Someone suggested DnD. I would add many role playing and real time strategy video games have variable damage output and some have a "critical" hit chance. This damage is often simplified into DPS (damage per second) which also factors in rate of hits.
Somewhere in Minnesota, some graphic designer is either sad their work is already no longer reflective of current knowledge or happy at another payday.
I would be as a god to my children.
Seriously wish a move to Japan was a thing I could do because this is definitely an intriguing out-of-academia job.
It finally happened. The oldest caught on to an innuendo in a conversation between me and my wife.
Academic adage: A watched submission portal never advances.
As I shift into working for a cricket lab, I'm reminded that despite taking Invert Zoo (i have the Brusca and Brusca tome), I'm naive on insects. My course was marine-focused so the prof skipped insects and declared them a special case of crustaceans.
Squeals in personal pet theories.
Look. I get undergrad workers are hard. But if you tell them they'll be working 5 hours a week and you send them home after 2 hours because you don't have something for them to do, then you are engaged in unfair labor practice.
As someone answered the dimorphism is the broodpouch and maybe the females are slightly bigger/fatter (though that's a generalization of pipefish-cant say for sure about leptos). There aren't any clear ornaments or other features though.
Gonzo's talk would be the wildest ideas ever.
Bird (robin?) Puffed up against cold on roof.
-20 in Saint Paul and this bird shows it. Whole bunch of em on our roof and having birdie snow cones.
After 3 months in our new apartment, I can unequivocally say,
"Clawfoot bathtubs are the worst."
Table covered with letters with drawings and notes from 1st graders.
Anytime someone tries to convince me to put my son in a non-inclusive setting, I'm showing this picture. It's the 2nd time his former class (we moved states in Oct) has sent him letters. He loves it, and he had made meaningful connections. It sucked to take that from him, we hope to rebuild that.
You can tell a lot about a person based on who their favorite Muppet is.
I am looking for a postdoc position + will be attending #SICB2026! My areas of interest/experience: sexual selection, reproduction, host-parasite interactions, animal behavior, (plus bio ed and disability advocacy in bio). I would be happy to chat with anyone attending who is looking for postdocs!
Family is on our annual Hawkeye Christmas build up. Every time I see it, I love the way the car chase scene was shot.
The number of jobs I applied to this cycle was 1/3 of the last due to less jobs and being more selective about locations. After last year I learned I had to ensure my special needs son could get supports and education. It's tough out there, but with less apps I couldn't repeat my success this time.
One guy really was wanting to sing out
Cups with crickets under red light. Foreground with lap with microphone and recorder.
After some training. This 🐟🐠 guy is ready to collect some some 🦗 songs on his own🧪
Guys! We got to keep all his support and keep him included!
If anyone has special needs kids, keep pushing, keep fighting, keep advocating.
Incredibly angry right now.
My learning disabled kid had full inclusion in gen ed with support (hard fought to get) and was making good progress.
A move to a new state (MN), and after 2 weeks they want to put him in an entirely segregated classroom.
I have done a lot in life, but nothing as challenging, high stakes, or nerve-wracking as an IEP meeting.
We do them 1-3x annually and just now since we moved.
With all the evidence on inclusion, it is surprising how hard we have to push to get it (every time it seems).
Moving to Minnesota has resulted in me hearing waaaay more Nickleback than I'm accustomed to.
Barn with cows.
2nd day at new job. Here's what's next to my parking spot. Taking me back to my PhD days. Definitely at a land grant institution. 🙂
Gotta love the post-doc life. I am literally packing for the move for my next post-doc while completing job applications.
I am recruiting 1-2 graduate students (M.S. or Ph.D. track) to join my lab at @psychualberta.bsky.social in Fall 2026! Please share widely, and if you are interested in endocrinology, animal behavior, neuroscience, and/or seasonal biology, I would love to chat! 🐟🧠🧬🍂
🐟🐠🧪
Happy to share our paper in Hormones and Behavior which is the first test of some of my predictions from the Ancestral Modulation Hypothesis.
🧵 on the findings in a biparental cichlid with plastic behaviors that are a form of cross-sexual transfer
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Ha!
As a Miami Hurricane, I will be perpetually annoyed if people call U Minnesota the U.
Questions and comments are always welcome. If you find this framework interesting, humor me and try it out on situations of cross-sexual transfer or emergent dimorphism to see if it holds up. I was pleased it worked here, but science is all about putting things to the test.
Thanks!
This was a fun paper and I'll soon have one out about the brain transcriptomics from these fish (yes Androgen Receptors play a big role). We did this while I was a VP with my own Undergrad research lab. They were amazing in this process...