BEAUTIFUL #SANDIEGO

Perfect lighting this morning for a very friendly and serene GREAT BLUE #HERON

#Nature #Birds

Quail are the LOUDEST flyers— sometimes scares me like a machine gun as they take off from a bush next to me on the trail

The high-speed takeoff is called a "flush response"—a sudden, vertical panicked burst causing a loud fluttering sound meant to startle threats, allowing the quail to flee
(🔊 on)

baby great horned owl in the predawn light, venturing out of the nest, practicing its head bob, proud mom hooting in the background

beautiful San Diego, California

a great blue heron hopping, wading, then swimming like a swan

beautiful San Diego, California

Jon Bois @jonbois.bsky.social holy shit. i was just watching the cavs-raptors game and the ball fell out of the bottom of the basket. it was with 4:04 left in the second quarter if you can get your hands on a replay. the guy shot the ball, it went through the hoop, and then it straight up fell out of the net and onto the floor 2:11 PM • Apr 18, 2026 Everybody can reply v 57 reposts 6 quotes 6 quotes 814 likes 4 saves

i'm deleting this post. since posting it i watched some more basketball and it turns out this is pretty much always what happens

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) I met this morning in Pacific Highlands Ranch, San Diego

A beautiful predator famous for its 120 mph diving speed and 8x stronger eyesight than humans

Short video below

The Truth is in Their Genomes! YouTube video by Ramy Karam Aziz

A little quote of mine from 16 years ago opens this thoughtful perspective by Ramy Aziz, PhD on rethinking host-pathogen interactions and future therapeutics from the perspective of the microbes as chronicled in their genomes 🦠 🧬

#bacteria #genomics

Our UC San Diego MPRINT Center of Excellence in Therapeutics attending the 2026 National Meeting of this NICHD-funded network on maternal and pediatric clinical pharmacology, fundamental research methods, and technologies. Lars Bode, Adri Tremoulet, Shirley Tsunoda, Tina Chambers, and George Liu.

gives new meaning to "entering the tail end of your career"

Certainly true - many bacteria, as well fungi, and sometimes mixed populations of many species (e.g., dental plaque)

Hooty McHootface

Great Horned #Owl 🦉 this morning near my home in Pacific Highlands Ranch

#SanDiego #Nature #Birds

The most accurate metric as to whether a senior academic has begun to decline is not publication metrics, or grant funding, or teaching evaluations, or if their lab has a Slack workspace

Rather it is if they can successfully navigate the "reply" vs. "reply to all" functionality on a big group email

Deadly ☠️

Mockingbird gave me the death stare

I see now why much larger crows and hawks are frightened and chased away by these little guys

#Birds #SanDiego #Nature

Was down at Scripps Institution of Oceanography late afternoon yesterday for the beautiful PhD thesis defense of Dottie Dothard in the Jack Gilbert Laboratory — noticed the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier framed by the dried up flower stalk of a foxtail agave.

@scrippsocean.bsky.social

Met a beautiful #COYOTE this morning on a trail we share near my home. She seemed mildly curious and definitely not frightened by me.

#SanDiego #Nature #Canines

A deadly bacterial disease is returning, doctors warn, as vaccination rates fall Hib once killed 1,000 children a year, permanently disabling many more. Doctors who've never seen the disease say the comeback is changing the way they practice medicine.

Discouraging to see rising mistrust and fear among new parents, unfortunately fueled by politically motivated disinformation, is reducing vaccination rates and allowing these deadly infections to make a comeback.

Excellent news piece including quotes by legends Kathy Edwards and Paul Offit 👇

🧵/end

This period marked the near-elimination of invasive Hib disease in the US, with cases in children <5 years old declining by ~98% between 1989 and 1993

Not only meningitis vanished, but also Hib bacteremia, septic arthritis, and life-threatening epiglottitis

It was phenomenal and inspiring

🧵/2

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) causes meningitis with 5% mortality + 20% permanent neurological disability rates

I was a Boston Children's resident from 1989-93 as Hib vaccines evolved from a newly introduced tool for toddlers into a routine, highly effective infant immunization series

🧵/1

LEFT: CDC Website (updated just 6 months ago)
RIGHT: News from the CDC today

The ongoing demolition of critical public health resources diminishes our prosperity as a nation

Eight UC San Diego Researchers Elected 2025 AAAS Fellows Eight researchers at the University of California San Diego have been elected 2025 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS): Andrew D. Chisholm, Farinaz Koushanfar, Al...

Honored to elected AAAS @aaas.org Honorary Fellow along with amazing @ucsandiego.bsky.social, @ucsdhealthsci.bsky.social and other esteemed colleagues. Congrats to all!!!
today.ucsd.edu/story/eight-...

Annie's Canyon Trail @ San Elijo Lagoon in Solana Beach, California,
a narrow slot canyon in the marine sandstone formed by water erosion over millions of years — you can have it all to yourself at 7 AM on a weekday #SanDiego #Nature

𝗪𝗲'𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗼𝗳𝗳
𝘙𝘦𝘥-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘸𝘬 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦

Mourning Dove landed 5 feet in front of me in perfect light this morning—some sort of message?

iPhone Pacific Highlands Ranch

#SanDiego #BirdofPeace #Birds #Nature

Still image

Bobcat I encountered hiking near my home this morning. One more video below 👇

#SanDiego is the most biologically diverse county in the continental U.S. #Bobcat #Cats #Nature

Just a House Finch Down in Our Canyon #SanDiego #Birds

We're dogsitting Rocky the Boston Terrier #ObsessiveBallChaser