Too much min/maxing mindset has bled over from the video game sphere. Video games are supposed to be fun! So is nature ID! Don't suck the fun out of it. Be okay with not knowing sometimes.

We're too obsessed with efficiency and sometimes too reliant on computers and algorithms. We need the friction and the tough parts. It might make nature ID an unrewarding hobby or job at times but that's the learning. I don't want the computer to tell me a species ID. I want to tell it.

I've been learning bees, snails, and freshwater crustaceans for the past few years. I learn a little bit, hit an obstacle, and sometimes get mad and leave it alone for a while. But when I return later I know a little more and can get around the brick wall I hit before.

Excellent excellent thread here. Are we engaging with nature to learn, or are we min/maxing so we can win? Some things should be difficult! You gotta hate a taxonomic group sometimes before you gain a deeper understanding!

a person is holding a green grasshopper in their hand with the word cube visible in the background Alt: a person is holding a green katydid in their hand, the katydid is waving its front legs around

Hey you! I am still on the market for jobs this fall! I am an entomologist who specializes in inclusive biology teaching (15+ semesters of collegiate instruction) and a broad array of research skills spanning collection & ID, molecular work (RNAi, Genomics), and phenotyping (behavior, physiology)🧪

Families left reeling after hospitals in blue states drop transgender care for youth Massachusetts passed laws and joined lawsuits to protect access to gender-affirming care for minors. But faced with the Trump administration's threats, some hospitals voluntarily stopped care.

Right now where you live healthcare for trans kids is either being made literally illegal by your state or made functionally illegal by the unlawful threats of the federal government and a care infrastructure glad to sacrifice trans kids on the altar of appeasement.

www.npr.org/2026/04/17/n...

Columbo!!! My wife and I are almost finished with all the episodes (watching it rn). You're in for a treat.

A small pauropod with amber-colored dorsal plates, 9 short pale stubby legs, and a bright white body Lays on its side on a piece of leaf.

This is the SEVENTH pauropod from this leaf litter sample and it's only been running a few days. A get for the record books, people. Genus is Eurypauropus, size is like...1.5 mm.

nothing online works for shit anymore. everybody who knows how to work computer is unemployed. we are stuck with these losers shooting up peptides while they vibecode their claude dongle

Trump is seeking to set a record for personal corruption in the White House. He wants to steal your money.

UC Berkeley professor Kwabena Bediako under investigation for sexual harassment allegations Since the allegations were publicized, nearly every graduate and undergraduate student in the Bediako Lab has left the lab.

I'm struck by the bravery of this student and the fantastic way the union handled this allegation. What a model for all of us to follow in terms of how to show up for our members.

I get so angry thinking about how useful this could have remained. And the streetcars in Marietta! I think the train depot used to be on Second Street.

I can tell AI is a scam because whenever someone gets into AI they immediately develop posting disease.

Today's ignorant naysayers claim "that'd never work here!" when in fact it once did before it was intentionally dismantled for the benefit of the auto industry.

Whenever someone asks a question online and someone responds with "I asked chatGPT and..." I want to be hurled into the Sun.

I can check around if I have similar photos of a mygalomorph later, seeing your other replies

Stealthy Ground Spiders (Family Gnaphosidae) Stealthy Ground Spiders from Northumberland County, VA, USA on May 4, 2023 at 01:11 PM by Derek Hennen

Here's an okay photo of a spider in ventral view if that might help: www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Josephiella leaf and stem galls

Josephiella manana

Gibsonoma kuewa

The Chinese banyan stem gall first found in Hawaii in 2012 finally has a name! Meet Josephiella manana, and its associate Gibsonoma kuewa. Fun small project with @kmagnacca.bsky.social in sorting out some of these introduced micro wasps of Hawaii. Link to paper: tinyurl.com/ych93swd

A picture of the top story in the April 7, 2026 ScienceTimes section of the print New York Times. The headline reads, "It's Hard to Thrive as a Pet in a Shell," with the subtitle, "Hermit crabs in captivity require special care, self-taught experts say." The opening image shows 7 hermit crabs in spiral shells on a piece of bark, with the caption, "Hermit crabs cared for by Mary Akers in her home. She wants to end the poaching of wild crabs and improve conditions for captive ones. By Katie L. Burke and Rebecca Byerly. The intro paragraph says, "Blacksburg, VA -- With a homemade siphon the size of a straw, Mary Akers expertly withdrew 60 hermit crab larvae from the churning waters of a saltwater tank in the spare bedroom of her Virginia home here. She deposited the babies, which resembled minuscule, flame-orange lobsters, into a white kitchen mixing bowl. Using a small flashlight to examine them, she noted a straggler. The exoskeleton it had shed that morning was stuck to its tail. Ms. Akers had learned from tending tens of thousands of crabs that without help this one would die. She placed it in an antique mother-of-pearl salt cellar and used a straight pin to gently scrape off the translucent molt. After freeing the squirming crab, she squirted it into a clear measuring cup, where it gobbled shrimp pellets with its siblings."

🎵🎸Despite all my rage, it's hard to be a crab in a caaaage.

🎶Even though I'm alive & well,
It's hard to thrive as a pet in a shell! 🐚

First thought when I read the print headline. Call me old school, but there's magic in seeing my name in print. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/m...
🧪🌎

Seven Theses Against Viewpoint Diversity Demands for “viewpoint diversity,” a pillar of the Right’s strategy to remake higher education, collide with the pursuit of truth.

calls for “viewpoint diversity” are little more than demands for a quota system for political conservatives who otherwise could not hack it www.aaup.org/academe/issu...

Oooh cool! I've been learning how to identify land snails for work, I may have to come to a meeting sometime! (though not this summer)

conservative free speech is when they speak and you listen or suffer the consequences

Thomson Reuters Fired Worker For Speaking Out About ICE, Former Employee Says “When I saw evidence that our products were being used to harm people and undermine the law, I did what anyone should do—I raised the alarm. Thomson Reuters’ response was to fire me.”

New: Thomson Reuters, which runs the CLEAR database ICE uses, fired a longstanding employee for speaking out against ICE, a new lawsuit says. Billie Little led an internal effort raising concerns; was fired. We've shown CLEAR is linked to ICE's Palantir tool

www.404media.co/thomson-reut...

thinking about @mikerugnetta.com's roundly unpleasent term: the content slit

This is a great illustration of @larryglickman.bsky.social's point about how "backlash" framing lets the right play the victim.

One of the ways news media often fail us is by giving us the microscopic rather than the telescopic view. Everything I mention in this essay is well-documented, but the dots are mostly not connected to make visible this death by a thousand cuts our country is undergoing.

Resurrection worm story

"no nazis" and "no sexual predators" is not purity testing, it is the minimal standard for humane conduct.