The IOC's New Policy Isn't Really a Trans Story Every headline says the IOC banned trans women from the Olympics. The athletes who’ll actually be barred are cis women who’ve never heard of the SRY gene.

Hey, you should read this @parkermolloy.com piece on the collapsing of what is largely an intersex/DSD story into an anti-trans culture war frame.

open.substack.com/pub/readtpa/...

“Trans sports bans are not intended to be some kind of concession or compromise position. Rather, they are a stepping stone toward further bans and restrictions. This is why trans people almost unanimously oppose them. And it’s why you should to.”

Science of sex and gender being misrepresented by Trump officials, experts warn Scientists say crackdown on gender-affirming care could have impact on healthcare of all Americans

Thanks so much to @melodyschreiber.com for not only writing about this issue, but quoting trans scientists as experts!

Lighting from the side (ideally both sides), aimed low, with no direct overhead light, might help with reflections. And a lot of little critters (e.g. cnidarian planulae) slow down if you cool the water by putting the container on ice for a few minutes.

OMG yes please!!! Good Alabama folk include The Knights and Orchids Society, TAKE Resource Center, ALTRAC. And if you want to support affirming care for those 19 and older in our area hit me up - we will soon have it in both Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.

Sterling silver hair fork with a free-form oval sheet of silver at the top of the fork. The sheet has a detailed raised impression of an octopus, detailed to show it’s eyes and suckers on it’s tentacles. Below the octopus there’s a round opal gemstone. The forks are stamped with a circle design meant to represent the suckers on octopus tentacles.

For #InverteFest here’s a sterling silver octopus hair fork with an opal gemstone that I made a few years ago. I added circle stampings to the forks to represent octopus suckers.

This design is hard to press and easy to mess up, so I don’t use it a lot, but I love it!

crab vessel, unknown Colima sculptor

Sheet of sandy plastic with two sea anemones attached to it. The anemones are retracted and look like slimy lumps. The sheet of plastic is held in a hand, with beach sand in the background.

Sheet of sandy plastic with two sea anemones attached to it. The anemones are retracted and look like tan slimy lumps. The sheet of plastic is held in a hand, with beach sand in the background.

I found hitchhiker anemones (Calliactis tricolor) stuck to plastic on the beach this morning. As someone who never stopped listening to early 2010s Ke$ha, I deeply relate to cnidarians’ abiding love of trash. #InverteFest

Honestly deeply relate to cnidarians because many of the things I love are also trash

I was going to say the same hahaha

Ok do all invertebrate larvae just freaking love plastic??? Because cnidarian planulae are wild about the stuff.

A photoplate from a scientific article, it shows images of a bunch of different tiny invertebrates on different substrates, including copepods, amphipods, hydrozoan and coral colonies, sponges, worms, and more.

Perfect timing for #InverteFest because my second thesis paper is out! TLDR; I counted two bajillion hydrozoans and about a dozen guys of every other species combined on four different types of substrate (rock, mesh, plastic, and wood) to see if larvae have preferences! peerj.com/articles/198...

What is #InverteFest? It's a periodic event where we invite you to celebrate the overlooked invertebrate fauna around you and share the joys of discovery online. #InverteFest takes place every April, August, & December over the last 7 days of the month. Going out? 1. Find invertebrates 2. Share observations online using the hashtag #InverteFest 3. Interact with others who are celebrating the event NOT Going out? - Post your squid painting - Stream a game where you play as a crab with a knife - Selfie with your 27 beetle enamel pins - Write wikipedia pages Questions? ask franzanth / maureenbug / saimihanma More info and ideas on: invertefest.com

Greetings, chordate comrades. #InverteFest is upon us.

tl;dr: Over the last 7 days every April, August, and December, we invite you to show the internet your coolest bugs & slugs.

Go find critters, post your art, write wikipedia pages, do whatever you like to celebrate invertebrates with us!

This is how I want to start every day of my life. 🪶

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I started a new account specifically for posting about books, @shelfunstable.bsky.social, so if you want to know what I’m reading you can follow me there.

I mean, has anyone ever seen you and radioactive wasps in the same place at the same time?

I just saw a caterpillar pick poop off its butt and throw it at another.

A mantis’ exuviae in my fingertips, with the sun shining right behind the head of the molted exoskeleton as if the insect has reached a higher level of existence. Also a tiny fly on my finger.

Mantis has ascended

Embryonic and planula development in the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana - EvoDevo Some aspects of the life cycle of the scyphozoan jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana have been described in detail. Investigations of C. xamachana have largely focused on strobilation and the unusual patter...

My new paper is out now!

Grapefruit-sized desert tortoise walks off camera, completely unfazed by me, after all these years. Desert tortoises should NEVER be picked up (humans carry disease), AND they can become startled and pee - resulting in their death from dehydration.

This cutie has been showing up around 8 a.m. every morning (between grapefruit and small cereal-bowl sized). I'm estimating 5-6 years old.

Still waiting on rain that I hope will get the rest of the desert #tortoise crew out and about.

Nature Obscura: A City’s Hidden Natural World by Kelly Brenner, and An Immense World by Ed Yong

Isn’t that Stranger Things?

If, like me, you enjoyed all the glimpses of alien biology we get in The Murderbot Diaries, I strongly recommend The Books of the Raksura, in which Martha Wells went all-out with the weird little guys

I am currently reading a book where the bad guys have kidnapped a bunch of sentient beings who are colonial and live on big floating rafts they make in the open ocean, which has big bryozoan energy (Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells)

I want to watch that movie

A big black slug has eaten its way inside a puffball mushroom.

Found this slug having a good munch on this puffball mushroom yesterday.

🍄🧪

Mama Opossum is on her second pouchful of babies this year… including an adventurous one who’s already traveling topside😄
1/2

When you throw a dead fly in the trash you’re laying it to rest amongst a great fortune like a pharaoh

A picture of an electrical box with an extremely rad skateboarding frog with curved letters on top that say willimantic. It is... extremely rad. The words superimposed over the image say "Calling all Eastern CT artists" We're making a biodiversity mural in willimantic

Artists of bluesky!

@skypeascientist.bsky.social & Willimantic Public Art are collabing on a community mural in Willimantic, CT in spring.

We're looking for Eastern CT artists who'd like to work on the project! The artist will be selected *by the community*.

Apply here: forms.gle/2tjJmdXcF6wy...