my 1 year old speaks very confidently considering 99% of it is gibberish - however, the other day she dropped something off her highchair and it sounded exactly like she shouted "AAAHHH SHIT!!!" and I could not stop laughing

why did I think this said "does anyone know why my bugs dentist me"

Good morning Bluesky.

Say hello to our resident Orca, in front of the Seattle waterfront during a gorgeous PNW sunset. He was traveling with his family and T034s, T037/T037Bs. Those little ones in the pods are always the most playful ones. We love our whales. This photo should be a poster!

Tapped this Noctuidae (I think!) larva out of ivy yesterday in SE Shropshire. Presumably they're parasitic eggs, but wasps tend to lay their eggs inside the host I believe... so maybe Tachinid?? I'm just curious! Thanks! (No, I didn't keep it!) #Lepidoptera #Parasitised #Shropshire

Can only assume it's hollow for the hide-and-peekers

Thank you!!

heated chivalry

Descriptions of Hodgkin lymphoma symptoms and treatment form a 1965 medical textbook for nurses.

My wife had Hodgkin lymphoma 10 years ago and a few years later we stayed in a B&B and found this medical book from 1965. It said there was no treatment for her cancer back then and the main recommendation for delaying death was mustard gas with a prognosis of 2-7 years. Modern medicine is amazing.

they’ve elected the new shrek

Two tweets reading: Just scrolled through the new followers on my account. So many of you have "aspiring" in your bio. Aspiring writer, aspiring #scicommer. I have maybe a goofy idea? Drop the aspiring! Claim that identity for yourself once and for all.

10 years ago, the wonderful @rheisman.bsky.social gave this advice on Twitter and it resonated with me. I dropped the “aspiring” and took a more active approach to science writing. Soon after, I started writing freelance for a science society. The same science society that I now have a job with.

I recently started a fantastic new job (yay!) with a great organisation and one of my roles in this job is to meaningfully measure the impact of scientific research on academia, industry, society and individuals. I want to give an example of one very small act that impacted on my entire life.

Descriptions of Hodgkin lymphoma symptoms and treatment form a 1965 medical textbook for nurses.

My wife had Hodgkin lymphoma 10 years ago and a few years later we stayed in a B&B and found this medical book from 1965. It said there was no treatment for her cancer back then and the main recommendation for delaying death was mustard gas with a prognosis of 2-7 years. Modern medicine is amazing.

They’re even better players!

When a sperm whale was asked to confirm this, he first lied, then when pressed, blamed it on someone else.

they’ve elected the new shrek

In tonight’s D&D session, my players had one goal:
- get in a rowboat

Instead they:
- hosted a twerking class
- took mushrooms
- halllucinated bees
- stole jewellery
- rode orcas

Just went to look at my bee house. Someone was there looking right back at me!

That “goofy idea” helped to kickstart a career in science journalism comms that led me to a very happy and rewarding place in my life. It may sound like an exaggeration, but there’s a reason I remember those tweets a decade later. Thank you to @rheisman.bsky.social for little acts with big impacts.

Two tweets reading: Just scrolled through the new followers on my account. So many of you have "aspiring" in your bio. Aspiring writer, aspiring #scicommer. I have maybe a goofy idea? Drop the aspiring! Claim that identity for yourself once and for all.

10 years ago, the wonderful @rheisman.bsky.social gave this advice on Twitter and it resonated with me. I dropped the “aspiring” and took a more active approach to science writing. Soon after, I started writing freelance for a science society. The same science society that I now have a job with.

I recently started a fantastic new job (yay!) with a great organisation and one of my roles in this job is to meaningfully measure the impact of scientific research on academia, industry, society and individuals. I want to give an example of one very small act that impacted on my entire life.

A male eastern bluebird perched on a budding twig and staring straight at the camera ©️DTL 2026

Bluebird posting will continue until morale improves

oof that’s hard to argue with

Leicestershire honestly has all the best roads

A print out of Eize's bloot. I have Liked it.

Sorry took me a while to get around to reading this

Google maps showing a road called Flesh Hovel Lane.

when you get bored of romance at make-out point why not try

Antherophagus beetle - Antherophagus ochraceus An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.

OR I could wait until one of them brings me an Antherophagus, the ultimate in beetle delivery service www.bugguide.net/node/view/19...

I did a module during my masters where one professor used it at every opportunity. I think he probably did it deliberately so that he could eventually say "today we're jizzing beetles" and be safe in the knowledge no one would giggle

I did not get that far don the rabbithole- and in hindsight, this is genius marketing because they just KNOW that people are going to be sharing screenshots mocking the caption and inevitably more people will be seeing it and buying it… well played bee-hunting samurai cat archer, well played

Comic cover with the title "What Does HIV Mean?" by Jordan Collver & Jaime Garcia Iglesias featuring a patchwork quilt.

Comic Page 1: A young man accompanies his boyfriend in a clinic waiting room. His phone pings with a reminder for an upcoming Queer Sewing Club session. He kisses his boyfriend goodbye outside the clinic and arrives at the sewing club, holding a Vintage City bag and waving to the instructor. He pulls out an old denim jacket from the bag and and excitedly tries it on. It's covered in badges/patches and a bit tattered but still cool. He feels good in it, but the instructor notices and appears shocked with recognition. TEXT: Most gay men in the UK have been touched by HIV in the UK in some way, whether they live with the virus or not. A central strand running… through the community… but unique to each person. Today, people with HIV can live full and healthy lives. Although there is still no cure… [background sign]: CLINIC thanks to medication like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and effective anti-retroviral treatments, HIV is a preventable and manageable condition. [phone message]: Reminder: Queer Sewing Club - 1hr And people living with HIV can’t pass on the virus. [building sign]: CLINIC ENTRANCE For many young gay men who have grown up having these options, it’s the only reality they’ve known. [handbag]: VINTAGE CITY “When I first came out… coincided with PrEP becoming more available.” (Caleb, 30, white, HIV– on PrEP) Clinic visits for testing, prevention and treatment are part of everyday life. “The issues of sexual health […] lots of people in the queer community go through as a rite of passage” (Tyler, 35yo, HIV neg) Seen as a matter of routine and responsibility. But it wasn’t always this way.

Comic Page 2: A colourful 80s flashback of the instructor as a younger man wearing the same jacket... it was his! He looks up anxiously at an imposing hospital building and is ushered in through the back entrance by medical staff in PPE. He sits alone in the waiting room. We next see him standing in the middle of a lively dancefloor surrounded by men dancing and chatting. He turns to his right and sees a man unravelling like a spool of thread, followed by a closeup of him stitching a badge onto his jacket with that same colour thread. He turns to his left to see another man in a different colour also unravelling, followed by another badge in the same colour. He is left holding several different coloured threads with a jacket covered in badges. Now he is sitting at a table with a small group of other men who are happily painting some protest signs. Some chat, while one lovingly puts some paint on another's nose. TEXT: Far from it, when HIV was first identified in the early 80s… [sign]: HOSPITAL it was a matter of life and, very often, death. [sign]: STAFF ONLY [sign]: DON’T DIE OF IGNORANCE For many gay men who lived through the 80s and 90s, HIV represents fear, loss, grief – “The AIDS Crisis.” “Literally loads of my mates died in the eighties… I was just going onto the scene at that time and the people that you would bump into…” “…suddenly they just wouldn’t be there…” “and no-one really talked about it.” (Brian, 56yo, white) “It was a fear-filled time… But…” “…there were still times when people showed incredible love to each other… I think it would be wrong to see the whole of the 80s and 90s in one big black cloak of doom and gloom. It wasn’t that.” (Paul, 64, white)

I've just been given the go-ahead to share the new comic I made with @jgarciaiglesias.bsky.social about his research!

"What Does HIV Mean?" 1/2

Advert for a shirt depicting a samurai cat archer fighting bees.

“classic Japanese art”