Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 5h

On this #fossilfriday, take a few moments to read this.

A touching tribute to the life, career, and discoveries of Mark Norell, from his long-time friend and field companion, Mike Novacek. In @nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Mark Norell obituary: palaeontologist who showed that dinosaurs still walk among us — as birds

Through fieldwork and innovative research, he transformed how scientists and the public perceive the prehistoric world.

www.nature.com

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Dragons of Wales @dragonsofwales.bsky.social · 4h

A new portrait of Monolophosaurus. The crest here is more voluminous than most reconstructions, exploring the idea that the underlying bone might have been anchoring a larger pneumatised casque.
#SciArt

A digital portrait of a large carnivorous dinosaur in a forest setting. The dinosaur has a large boney crest above its snout and eyes, and large folds of skin hanging around its neck and jaws. The dinosaur is mostly earthy brown, but with brighter blues and pinks around the eyes and throat.

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 3h

A Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus) spotted at Mount Faber Park, Singapore on 2 March 2025. Always a challenge getting shots of these birds in dim, forested areas.

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Birds #Aves

A bird with dark, glossy feathers and red eyes and a backward-curving tuft on the forehead. The tail is forked, with two long tail extensions that look like wires with a tuft of feathers at the end. The bird is facing sideways and looking to the right.

The same bird in a different position. The body is now facing the camera with the head turned to the right.

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Armando Rosario-Lebrón @rosariolebronentomology.com · 6h

A mini Welsh dragon? Not quite, just a small Anystid mite in Wales, briefly interrupted while it was hunting a springtail.

#Anystidae #Invert #bugsky🌿

A high-resolution macrophotograph of a vivid red Anystid mite walking across a pale green leaf. The mite's glossy, rounded body and long legs are sharply in focus, showing delicate white setae (hairs) on its limbs and body. The surface of the leaf is finely textured, almost velvety, and a slightly blurred green stem or vein runs diagonally across the upper part of the image. The contrast between the mite’s bright red coloring and the soft green background creates a striking visual. The photo captures the mite mid-motion, its legs splayed out naturally as it moves. This species is a fast-moving predatory mite, often seen darting across vegetation. The image is taken in natural light, highlighting fine details.

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Andy McKay @korimakoecology.bsky.social · 14h

Powelliphanta traversii otakia (Nationally Endangered) shell that we stumbled across yesterday. It was about 20m out from the bush edge in a cow paddock. We are firming up a cross-agency plan with a private landowner to retire wetlands and streams and expand out the forest. 🌏

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Colin Purrington @colinpurrington.bsky.social · 3h

Male and female chalcids that emerged from redbud seedpods. Both are in the genus Eurytoma and are possibly the same species but further identification is beyond my skill set. I can't find any mention of them being recorded as parasitoids of redbud bruchids. 🌿 #wasps #hymenoptera #insects #bruchidae

Two photographs of black wasps that look roughly the same except that top one has hairy antennae with large gaps in between the segments, while the bottom one has more beadlike antennae. The lower one also has an ovipositor. Their legs are partly orange and their head and thorax have pits and short white hairs.

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 4h

One of the cartoons in my new book 'Physics for Cats' which is out now in the UK, USA, Canada, France and Germany. Order from your local bookshops or online: www.tomgauld.com/

Two beetles on a stick.
One beetle says to the other "Do you ever get the feeling we are being observed by another lifeform"
Zoom out to reveal that they are in a glass case with two scientists studying them.
One scientist says to the other "Do you ever get the feeling we are being observed by another lifeform"
Zoom out into space. Abouard a spaceship, two aliens watch the scientists on a screen.
One alien says to the other "Do you ever get the feeling we are being observed by another lifeform"
The aliens turn to look out at the reader.

Text below the cartoon reads:
From 'Physics for Cats' by Tom Gauld. Preorder it at www.tomgauld.

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 5h

"Europe’s largest bat, the greater noctule, is a formidable aerial hunter that captures, dismembers and consumes migrating songbirds for the ultimate in-flight meal, researchers report in the Oct. 9 Science."

#Bats #Birds #Robins #Hunting #Nature

Mic’d bats reveal midnight songbird attacks

Sensor data reveal greater noctule bats chasing, catching and chewing on birds during high-altitude, nighttime hunts.

www.sciencenews.org

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Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 2d

Cooloola monsters are weird, chunky insects endemic to South East Queensland, Australia. They're probably related to king crickets (Anostostomatidae), but not much is known about their evolution. The wingless females live permanently underground. #EverydayEnsifera

📸: Visit Gympie Region

A pale insect with tiny eyes digging underground. It looks almost like a fat potato with legs.

Source: https://www.visitgympieregion.com.au/great-experiences/wildlife/

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Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 17h

The koringkriek (Acanthoplus discoidalis) is a katydid found in southern Africa. Not only does the species have a powerful bite, it's also known to squirt toxic blood or throw up its stomach contents as a defense mechanism! #EverydayEnsifera

📸: Rudi Bosbouer

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Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 22d

Say hi to Micropathus ditto and M. zubat, two #NewSpecies of cave cricket from forests in southern Tasmania! These crickets are threatened by climate change, land clearing, and logging. Giving them names is an important step towards their conservation. But why did we choose these ones? #bugsky 🧵 1/6

Macro photos of the morphology of Micropathus zubat, showing the head, ovipositor, and genital plates. Superimposed in the corner is a sprite of the Pokemon Zubat.

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Perry Beasley-Hall, PhD @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 1d

The Cook Strait giant wētā (Deinacrida rugosa) is an anostostomatid from New Zealand. It's one of the largest insects in the world! Major threats to this cutie include land clearing and predation by rats. It's listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. #EverydayEnsifera

📸: d_kluza (iNaturalist)

Source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6343096

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Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 1d

A literary Iguanodon at the Earth Sciences Library. Do any other libraries have dinosaurs or other antediluvian creatures carved into the furniture?

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 11h

Read the description of the image. It might help you figure out which is which. :-)

Reposted by Soh Kam Yung

Natalia Jagielska @nataliajagielska.bsky.social · Aug 1

An illustration I did for a competition in China 🤞Anchiornis

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Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 1d

Throwback pic from October '21 of a female Golden Orb Weaver (Trichonephila clavipes) at Green Swamp Preserve, NC. The background shows a hint of the habitat, longleaf pine savanna. I love this shot because it reminds me of a gorgeous day; I saw only one other person in six hours. #Arachtober 🌿🐙📷

A closeup photo of a golden orb weaver spider, hanging upside down diagonally along a strand of silk. The spider has an elongated orange abdomen, and long orange and black banded legs. The background is out of focus vertical tree trunks in the upper third, with greenery in the lower two thirds.

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Nash Turley @nashturley.bsky.social · 26d

gigantic imperial moth caterpillar I spotted on a hike in the woods last week 😍

giant green caterpillar on a stick with blue spots and long white hairs and yellow legs face and horns

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Nash Turley @nashturley.bsky.social · 22h

Big fan of this weevil's color scheme, pointy snoot, and huge feet!

www.inaturalist.org/observations...

black and yellow weevil on a green leaf with long thin rostrum and very large foot pads

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Thomas Shahan @tshahan.bsky.social · 1d

Beautiful, spooky wings of the "Halloween Pennant" dragonfly (Celithemis eponina) 🎃

seen near water - June, July - NE OK

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 18h

This is Manolo. His family invited strangers to spend time with him on his last day. His mom said, "This was such a perfect way to celebrate the life of a dog who truly loved spending time with people and their dogs. Run free and fast forever, Manolo. I will never stop missing you." 14/10 for all

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

The caterpillar of a Fruit-piercing Moths (genus Eudocima) spotted at Thomson Nature Park, Singapore on 5 Oct 2025. A close-up look reveals subtle colour patterns

On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ].

#iNaturalist #Nature #Photography #Singapore #Insects #Moths #Lepidoptera

A dark grey caterpillar on a twig. It is holding its tail in the air. The front part of the body is bent double so that the head is near the middle of the body. A rainbow like sheen can be seen on the side of the body.

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James Davis Nicoll @jdnicoll.bsky.social · 1d

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl

A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/just-...

Just Another Day in Paradise

Frederick Pohl’s 1981 The Cool War is a near-future stand-alone science fiction fix-up. Many Americans chafe at the endless energy shortages, rampant crime, spiralling bigotry, and endless crises they...

jamesdavisnicoll.com

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

"As the Earth moves through space, it wobbles. Researchers in Germany have now directly observed this wobble with the highest precision yet thanks to a large ring laser gyroscope they developed for this purpose."

#Physics #Gravity #Sensors

Optical gyroscope detects Earth's rotation with the highest precision yet – Physics World

With further improvements, the instrument could enable direct tests of relativistic effects

physicsworld.com

Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

"Just before flying, the earwig unfurls the hindwings, and all the tightly packed creases elegantly open as thin, delicate wings stretching out to more than 10 times their folded size. The process takes place without the use of muscles."

#Origami #Nature #Biology #Biomechanics

Animal origami: The physics of nature’s folds

Insects that tuck away wings; a protist with an accordion-like neck — studying these clever creases may inspire foldable structures for drones

knowablemagazine.org

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 1d

iNaturalist now has options to flag artificially generated content.

"iNaturalist has introduced a new flag for artificially generated content, and a new Data Quality Assessment metric for evidence that is has been edited in a way to make it inaccurate"

#iNaturalist

New tools to flag and assess evidence on iNaturalist

Main points: Media attached to iNaturalist Observations are evidence and should be accurate It’s easier than ever to now generate realistic-seeming but inaccurate evidence iNaturalist has introduced a...

www.inaturalist.org

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