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Alberta Community Bat Program/Western Bat Program 🦇 @albertabats.bsky.social · 20h

#HappyThanksgiving2025 🍁🦇
Give thanks to bats! Alberta’s bats munch millions of insects, saving farmers & foresters on pest control—and helping our health by reducing pesticide use. Overlooked & underappreciated, these tiny insectivores quietly make life better for us all. #ThankABat

#HappyThanksgiving2025
We would like to take today to thank the bats for all the work they do around the planet. Our bats in Alberta are big insect-consumers - a non-paying job that benefits agriculture and forestry by reducing the costs of pest control. By reducing the amounts of pesticides used on the landscape - WE benefit by improved health outcomes. Over-looked and underappreciated - many people do not understand how important these little insectivores are in our daily lives.

But boy oh boy are they awesome!

(Starting upper left and moving clockwise - our nine Alberta bats include: Long-eared Myotis, Little Brown Myotis, Red Bat, Western Small-footed Myotis, Silver-haired Bat, Big Brown Bat, Hoary Bat and Long-legged Myotis - missing Northern Myotis in the collage! photos by Jason Headley, Cory Olson and Melissa Penney and JT Layne)

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · 13h

Remarkable Dinosaur Fossil Found in Alberta Preserved in Exquisite Detail - The fossil is now showcased at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, where it is celebrated as the most complete specimen of its kind ever found. news.ssbcrack.com/remarkable-d...
#AbSci #palaeontology #SciChat

Remarkable Dinosaur Fossil Found in Canada Preserved in Exquisite Detail - SSBCrack News

In an exciting discovery, a remarkable 110-million-year-old nodosaur fossil has emerged from a remote Canadian mine, capturing the attention of

news.ssbcrack.com

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s a clip of my # trailrunning yesterda. Chickakoo in all of its autumn glory 🍂😃❤️

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · 2d

A spectacular morning for #trailrunning at Chickakoo 😃❤️

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · 3d

Fantastic morning walk at Chickakoo 😃🍂 Looking forward to #trailrunning there tomorrow!

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · 9d

Fossilized ear bones rewrite the history of freshwater fish - New study concludes oceanic fish invaded fresh water multiple times, developing improved hearing along the way. eurekalert.org/news-release... #UAlberta #AbSci #palaeontology #SciChat

Fossilized ear bones rewrite the history of freshwater fish

Sixty-seven million-year-old fossil fish discovered in Canada have complex middle ear bones — a Weberian apparatus — found in two-thirds of all freshwater fish species today. The structure...

eurekalert.org

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · 9d

Finally back #trailrunning, trying to recover from a nasty leg injury. Don’t want to miss autumn running, my favourite time of year!

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · 22d

An incredible essay on how we are, with the influence of smartphones and nefarious big tech, becoming a post-literate society.

Read this essay, read a book, and read with your children ❤️

The dawn of the post-literate society

And the end of civilisation

open.substack.com

ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Sep 12

Great day for some #paddleboarding and #kayaking 😃❤️

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Sep 7

So nice of you to volunteer! Volunteers are what make runs such a fun experience ❤️

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Sep 7

Even untouched ecosystems are losing insects at alarming rates, new study finds. The study also found that this steep decline is associated with rising summer temperatures. phys.org/news/2025-09... via @sciencex.bsky.social #environment #ecology #science #SciChat

Even untouched ecosystems are losing insects at alarming rates, new study finds

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that insect populations are rapidly declining even in relatively undisturbed landscapes, raising concerns about the health of eco...

phys.org

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Sep 7

FANTASTIC #trailrunning experience at the Lost Soul Ultra, Lethbridge, AB. A very tough 50k, but really fun and superbly organized. And you get an awesome rock for finishing! 😃❤️

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Aug 28

A terrible, sad tragedy 😥

Please do keep getting out for those nature runs, you’re contributing positive energy for a world that really needs it.

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Aug 26

What a spectacular #trailrunning experience in Revelstoke this weekend! 😃❤️ If you ever get a chance to do the Stoked Scramble or Ultra, take it! You will be sore at the end 😆 but totally worth it!

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 25

Shrinking cod offer insight into our impact on the evolution of species - Biologists once thought that humans did little to affect the course of evolution in the short term but ... www.nationalobserver.com/2025/08/25/n... #environment #evolution #ecology #SciChat

Shrinking cod offer insight into our impact on the evolution of species

Biologists once thought that humans did little to affect the course of evolution in the short term. But a recent study of cod in the Baltic Sea reveals how overfishing and selective harvest of the lar...

www.nationalobserver.com

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Aug 24

Everybody loves a good #trailrunning race start! 😃❤️

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 22

Why is poop brown? The science of colourful food and digestion - thekidshouldseethis.com/post/is-your... #KidScience #STEM #SciEd #SciChat

Why is poop brown? The science of colorful food and digestion

"The average person poops out approximately 11,030 kilograms of cumulative waste in a lifetime. That's the equivalent of more than 6 SUVs. Oftentimes,

thekidshouldseethis.com

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 19

Life on Earth emerged fast. It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible. aeon.co/essays/life-... via @aeon.co #palaeontology #cosmology #science #SciChat

Life on Earth emerged fast. Far quicker than we thought | Aeon Essays

It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible

aeon.co

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 15

Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecology. theguardian.com/environment/... #ecology #mycology #biology #SciChat

Magic mushrooms: how scientists discovered fungi are the secret ingredient for restoring the world’s forests

Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecology

theguardian.com

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 7

Alberta tries new treatment to save declining bat population using a new probiotic in an attempt to prevent a fungal disease that's killed millions of bats across North America. cbc.ca/news/canada/... #AbSci #conservation #biology #SciChat

As deadly fungus spreads, Alberta turns to probiotics to save dwindling bat population | CBC News

Eighteen bat houses in southern Alberta have been sprayed with a probiotic cocktail, aimed at preventing white-nose syndrome — a disease that’s killed millions of bats across North America.

cbc.ca

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The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · Aug 6

Lobbyists and petrostates want to avoid a strong focus on human health in the impending global treaty on plastic pollution.

Plastics and human health: what’s at stake in the global treaty talks in Geneva

Lobbyists and petrostates want to avoid a strong focus on human health in the impending global treaty on plastic pollution.

tcnv.link

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Aug 5

Those who survived the 1945 bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – known as Hibakusha – have carried their suffering for 80 years as living testimony to the catastrophic consequences of nuclear war, with one key wish: that no one else will suffer as they have.

Survivors’ voices 80 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki sound a warning and a call to action

The voices of the Hibakusha offer not only memory, but also moral clarity in an age of growing peril.

buff.ly

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Alberta ScienceNetwork @albertascience.bsky.social · Aug 4

Alberta Parks 'closely monitoring' continued wolf sightings in Kananaskis - Wolf possibly habituated to humans, rehabilitation not an option. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #ecology #wildlife #AbSci

Alberta Parks 'closely monitoring' continued wolf sightings in Kananaskis | CBC News

A wolf that is possibly habituated to humans continues to be seen in Kananaskis Country, prompting concern from Alberta Parks. Conservation officers are trying to keep track of the wolf and are using ...

www.cbc.ca

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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · Aug 4

Palaeontologists in Alberta recently uncovered an incredible find: the giant skull of a Pachyrhinosaurus! This dinosaur, which lived over 70 million years ago, was discovered near Grande Prairie. discoverwildscience.com/huge-70-mill... #palaeontology #AbSci #science #SciChat

Huge 70 Million Year Old Dinosaur Skull Found In Canada

Paleontologists in Alberta recently uncovered an incredible find: the giant skull of a Pachyrhinosaurus! Let's discover this dinosaur!

discoverwildscience.com

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ScienceMan™ @realscienceman.bsky.social · Aug 4

I swear, there’s a trail here somewhere! 😆❤️ #trailrunning

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