Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Kim Rosvall @rosvall-lab.bsky.social · 17h

I do want to take a minute to share the backstory of our paper on the total solar eclipse that triggered dawn behavior in birds. This was SUCH a fun paper to work on, a major light in a lot of different tunnels over the past 18 months. doi.org/10.1126/scie... < ☀️ Let the light puns begin ☀️ > (1/x)

two men are fighting with lightsabers in front of a doorway

ALT: two men are fighting with lightsabers in front of a doorway

media.tenor.com

2 8 22

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Gustavo Burin 🍉 (ele/dele - he/him) @gburin.com · 1d

Happy to see this finally out! Diego is a brilliant student that took our grad course on Macroevolution during lockdown, and this eventually escalated to me becoming a co-author in his PhD chapter.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Interaction between floral rewards and floral symmetry shapes diversification dynamics in Amazonian trees

Floral zygomorphy, or monosymmetry, is thought to have a positive effect on the diversification rates of angiosperms, but its true impact is still an open topic. Given the controversy surrounding th...

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 3 11

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Damien Farine @damienfarine.bsky.social · 2d

Very pleased to see our study that formally quantifies the society of zebra finches. They have different types of relationships, and these form tiers, but they do not form a multilevel society.

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

This was a very nice collaboration with great colleagues.

10 31

Reposted by Alex Skeels

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 2d

A Systematic Investigation of Overfitting in Maximum Likelihood Phylogenetic Inference https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.07.680876v1

3 4

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · Sep 19

Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.

Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.

Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms “no opt-out" for authors

The US publisher is the latest to capitalise on deals to give tech firms access to its authors’ content to train their Large Language Models (LLMs).

www.thebookseller.com

1 92 99

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Matthew Hahn @3rdreviewer.bsky.social · 2d

New preprint led by grad student, Yu Mo! We introduce new software to calculate evolutionary rates of quantitative characters in the presence of discordance

1/

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Estimating the rate of quantitative trait evolution in the presence of gene tree discordance by calculating likelihoods across trees

Quantitative traits provide insights into how phenotypes evolve across species. However, standard comparative methods often assume a single species tree and overlook the discordant gene tree histories...

www.biorxiv.org

1 17 24

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Fabricio Villalobos @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social · 2d

Just published in @journal-evo.bsky.social: Different diets, different speciation rates in the most ecologically diverse family of mammals, the amazing Phyllostomidae 🦇

tinyurl.com/5xd3p3mz

Para un pequeño resumen, ve las figuras 👇

5 28

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Francis Markham @francismarkham.bsky.social · 17d

I just voted [1] James Blackwell, [2] Alexander (Sasha) Mikheyev.

If you're an ANU academic, I'd encourage you to do the same

James Blackwell @jamesblackwell.bsky.social · 17d

Are you an ANU faculty member? You can vote for me to be your representative on Council!

Running as the NTEU endorsed candidate, I want to be a voice for transparency & good governance!

See my statement and info, voting is open for 1 month here;
apollo.anu.edu.au/default.asp?...

1 4 11

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Australasian Evolution Society @austevolsoc.bsky.social · 18d

Final Week to Register!

AES 2025 | Brisbane | 1–3 Oct
🗓 Registration closes 29 Sept

Don’t miss your chance to be part of three days of evolutionary science, talks & community.

Secure your spot now!

ausevo.com/registration/

#AES2025 #Evolution #AusSci #Conference

AES 2025

Conference Registration

ausevo.com

3 4

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 22d

“Rich Grenyer, a biologist at the University of Oxford, said de-extinction is a “dangerous” distraction and that gene-edited animals are “at best a sort of simulation, rather like those unnerving animated AI portraits of dead relatives some… people create”.”
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Scientists claim they’ve made ‘pivotal step’ in bringing back the dodo for first time in 300 years

Thousands of dodos could return within a decade according to Colossal Biosciences, a ‘de-extinction’ company – but experts warn of ‘moral hazard’

www.theguardian.com

15 66 230

Reposted by Alex Skeels

NTEU @nteunion.bsky.social · 22d

✊UNION WIN✊

The ANU has announced that there will be no forced redundancies.

@nteuact.bsky.social members have fought tirelessly to save these jobs, showing every university staff member facing job cuts that change is possible.

📰Read here: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

4 20

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Dr Liz Allen @drdemography.com · 22d

ANU interim vice chancellor today announced no more forced redundancies under the Renew ANU program. Cuts are ongoing, but forced redundancies are off the table. It’s been a hard slog. Harms are ongoing. There’s still more work to do. I’m so proud of my colleagues, ANU community.

4 10 67

Reposted by Alex Skeels

David Pocock @davidpocock.bsky.social · 23d

What is the threshold for sanctioning PM Netanyahu and his govt?!

Signatories to the genocide convention like 🇦🇺 must take action in the face of genocide, including taking measures to stop it.

The global community has to do more.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, major UN report finds

Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide in Gaza, according to the "most authoritative assessment" to date.

www.abc.net.au

9 62 180

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Dr. Bethany Allen @bethanyjallen.bsky.social · Sep 4

Huge thanks to @palaeopercs.bsky.social for inviting and hosting me! If you missed my talk on Tuesday, you can now catch up via their YouTube channel 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x19X...

1 19 40

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Mehreen Faruqi @mehreenfaruqi.bsky.social · 29d

Professor Bell’s resignation is the culmination of months of scandal, plummeting staff and student morale, and a governance system that is completely broken.

Let’s not forget that Chancellor Bishop’s leadership has also been fraught, and she too must be held accountable for the crisis at ANU.

'Not an easy decision': ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell resigns

Australian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell has resigned from her position, after months of controversy due to sweeping staff cuts and allegations of poor governance.

www.abc.net.au

1 16 36

Reposted by Alex Skeels

NTEU ACT @nteuact.bsky.social · 29d

We are incredibly proud of everyone who has stood up for the #ANU and its people. Their example will encourage university staff and students across the country. @nteunion.bsky.social

www.9news.com.au/national/aus...

Scandal-hit uni boss resigns from $1 million role

Embattled Australian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell has resigned from her role after a ...

www.9news.com.au

4 11

Alex Skeels @alexskeels.bsky.social · Sep 10

nb.australiainstitute.org.au/australia_ne...

✍️ PETITION: Australia Needs a National Firearms Register

Our research has revealed there are now more licenced firearms in Australia than before the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. ✍️ Add your name to call on the Federal Government to urgently establish a Nation...

nb.australiainstitute.org.au

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Jonny Gordon @jonathan-gdon.bsky.social · Sep 4

Human-driven extinction event not yet the "sixth mass extinction", but is very likely the largest extinction event of the last 66 million yrs. 🌏 🧪

Read about it in our new paper led by @jackhhatfield.bsky.social
and Katie Davis @anthropocenebio.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

The Greatest Extinction Event in 66 Million Years? Contextualising Anthropogenic Extinctions

Species and ecosystems are changing rapidly in response to human actions, but how does this compare with the deeper past? We review and compare the current extinction event to those over the last 66 ....

doi.org

7 51 130

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Our ANU @ouranu.bsky.social · Sep 3

We need ComCare to make a similar intervention at ANU.

The psychosocial harm ANU executive are inflicting upon ANU staff is completely unacceptable.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

UTS ordered by SafeWork NSW to pause job cuts due to risk of ‘psychological harm’

Union labels intervention a ‘rare and damning rebuke’

www.theguardian.com

1 9 17

Alex Skeels @alexskeels.bsky.social · Sep 3

Did you program this?!

1

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Simon J. Greenhill @simongreenhill.bsky.social · Sep 3

I got bored with the tired old tree visualisations you see everywhere and asked an AI to make me an exciting one.

Here is the Uto-Aztecan language phylogeny visualised in what it calls "space jellyfish" mode.

#phylogenetics #spacejellyfish

2 2 13

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · Sep 2

New updated preprint! Many thanks to reviewers for their suggestions and helpful advice for improving our manuscript. Check it out if you're interested in fossils, phylogenies, and modeling morphologic evolution! 🧪

Assessing the impact of character evolution models on phylogenetic and macroevolutionary inferences from fossil data

Understanding the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of morphologic traits is fundamental to macroevolutionary research. Despite decades of major advances and key insights from molecular systemat...

www.biorxiv.org

1 13 24

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Jesús Martínez-Gómez @jesusgm.bsky.social · Sep 2

Almost 10 years ago Smith and Baum's textbook introduced me to Phylogenetic Comparative Methods.

We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!

We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!

@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!

doi.org/10.32942/X28...

doi.org

2 13 26

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Leandro Duarte @duarteldas.bsky.social · Aug 29

One more step towards more insightful analyses in Evolutionary Macroecology. Thanks @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social and all coauthors still not blueskylized for the collaborative endeavor!

SBEARS - A site-based method to estimate ancestral ranges of species url: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

SBEARS - A site-based method to estimate ancestral ranges of species

Abstract. Assessing the geographic dimension of diversification is paramount to integrate macroecology and macroevolution. Estimating ancestral ranges of s

academic.oup.com

6 14

Reposted by Alex Skeels

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · Sep 1

The federal government provided its lowest ever share of Australian universities’ funding last year, despite its efforts to suppress their main source of private revenue
#academicsky

Australian federal funding ‘well under half’ of university income

Commonwealth share reaches lowest point despite aggregate increase, highlighting likely consequences of international education squeeze

www.timeshighereducation.com

3 2