Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Elodie Mandel-Briefer

COST Action - Positive animal welfare (LIFT) @liftcostaction.bsky.social · 19h

Join us for our next Synergy Webinar on Animal Welfare, by
@affect-evo.bsky.social, @liftcostaction.bsky.social & COST IMPROVE!

“Animal happiness" with Ass. Prof. Laura Webb.

📅 Date & Time: 15 October 2025 | 16:00 CEST
🔗 Registration link: forms.gle/jxHjULq5UrQ9...

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 21h

Hey US scientists, the NY Times wants to hear from you if you've had your funding cut. 🌊🧪

Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.

www.nytimes.com

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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.

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Reposted by Elodie Mandel-Briefer

Elham Nourani @enourani.bsky.social · 4d

🦅PhD position 🦅 in my new group at @fbm-unil.bsky.social in Switzerland, studying how the social and resource landscapes shape the learning process for soaring flight. Deadline: Oct 30. Pls repost! career5.successfactors.eu/career?caree...

Golden eagle on the nest in Finland (by O. Karlin)

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 3d

Some coverage of @behaveco.bsky.social in the Danish newspaper Ud & Se 🙂 ipaper.ipapercms.dk/DSB/udogse/2...

DSB—Side 77

met, kan jeg godt finde på at trække mig og forsvinde lidt, så godt, som det nu kan lade sig gøre. Med al den sik- kerhed, der er her, er det jo ikke nemt.

ipaper.ipapercms.dk

Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 5d

New book chapter on vocalisations in livestock with @monicabattini.bsky.social, Celine Tallet and Silvana Mattiello link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/...

Vocalizations in Livestock

'Vocalizations in Livestock' published in 'Encyclopedia of Livestock Medicine for Large Animal and Poultry Production'

link.springer.com

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 6d

The Trump regime looked at these maps and thought that it's totally okay to defund USAID and kill 14 million people over the next 5 years (including 4.5 million children under five) because they're not white. Trump apparently also deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Two world maps (panels A and B) display the global impact of USAID health funding and its estimated effect on mortality between 2001 and 2021.

Panel A (Top Map):
Title: "USAID disbursement (in quartile)"

This map shows countries shaded in four shades of purple based on the quartile of USAID health disbursements received from 2001 to 2021.

Darker purple (quartile 4) represents the highest levels of USAID disbursement, while lighter purple (quartile 1) represents the lowest levels.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are shaded in the darkest purple, indicating they received the most funding.

Some countries in Latin America, South Asia, and Eastern Europe are shaded in lighter purples.

Grey-colored countries (e.g., China, Russia, Western Europe, and parts of Oceania) are not recipients of USAID funding and are excluded from the analysis.

Panel B (Bottom Map):
Title: "Deaths prevented by USAID, 2001–21 (%)"

This map shows the estimated percentage of deaths prevented due to USAID health assistance, with countries shaded in various tones of blue to green.

Darker blue represents a higher percentage of deaths prevented (up to 18%), while light green represents lower estimated prevention rates (~5%).

Sub-Saharan African countries again show the most notable impact, with many shaded in medium to dark blue, indicating substantial mortality reduction.

Countries in Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia show moderate impact (light blue to green), while much of Europe, East Asia, and North America are greyed out or show minimal/no impact due to lack of USAID engagement.

Color Scales:

Panel A uses a 4-point purple scale for USAID funding quartiles.

Panel B uses a gradient from green to dark blue representing 5% to 18% of deaths prevented.

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Reposted by Elodie Mandel-Briefer

Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 8d

The International Bioacoustics Society is on Bluesky!
@ibacsocial.bsky.social

#bioacoustics

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 11d

EU FARMERS JOIN CIVIL SOCIETY'S CALLS FOR HIGH-ANIMAL WELFARE FARMING
www.ciwf.eu/media-and-ne...

www.ciwf.eu

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 13d

Sad reality at Copenhagen university: massive layoffs coming up within 3 months from now that will heavily affect research quality and teaching programmes for students in the coming years:
uniavisen.dk/en/dreyer-sh...

Dreyer should take responsibility and avert layoffs

There are two reasons why the Faculty of Science face cutbacks. Neither of them are the Faculty of Science's fault. Yet right now, the plan is to let us pay for other people's mistakes. That is not go...

uniavisen.dk

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Alan McElligott @amcell.bsky.social · 18d

2025. Smart dogs have a humanlike knack for naming new objects | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Smart dogs have a humanlike knack for naming new objects

In games with toys, “gifted” dogs can extend names to new objects with the same purpose as known ones

www.science.org

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Reposted by Elodie Mandel-Briefer

Anna N Osiecka 🍉 @aosiecka.bsky.social · 24d

🔊 Cornell lab of #ornithology is looking for a full professor in animal comm & behaviour, and I think y'all are amazing and overqualified, sooo: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/302...

Job Listings

Full service online faculty recruitment and application management system for academic institutions worldwide. We offer unique solutions tailored for academic communities.

academicjobsonline.org

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Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 24d

Bioacoustics Winter School - January 2026
Time to apply! 👇Program and application form👇

www.eneslab.com/bioacoustic-...

Bioacoustics Winter School | ENES lab

www.eneslab.com

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Anna N Osiecka 🍉 @aosiecka.bsky.social · 25d

🔊 This the season! Looking or two MSc students to tackle
1. vocal efficiency across pipit species
and, surpsingly,
2. vocal tract anatomy of the great cormorant (bonus: I also have the heads to model hearing!)

Drop me a line! I love people! :)

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

MSc project

MSc thesis projects in animal communication Laws of brevity across pipit (Anthus) species Across many human languages, there are several general principles in temporal patterning: most frequent word...

docs.google.com

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 25d

@behaveco.bsky.social was very busy and had a great time this week at #ibac2025, with 2 posters and 3 talks @biologen.bsky.social, @damaris-riedner.bsky.social, @karina-stampe.bsky.social

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Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · 27d

Ultrasonic signals support a large-scale communication landscape in wild mice. 👇 New paper by the ENES Bioacoustics Research Team in @currentbiology.bsky.social

authors.elsevier.com/a/1llMH3QW8S...

authors.elsevier.com

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Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · Sep 10

Nice article about our paper published today in @royalsocietypublishing.org Interface.

#bioacoustics

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Babies’ cries can make humans physically hotter, research finds

When in distress, babies produce chaotic wails which have pronounced effects on humans, including changes in facial temperature

www.theguardian.com

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Juliette Aychet @julietteaychet.bsky.social · Aug 27

Our review on flexibility in animal communication is out! 🥳Many thanks again @marlenfroehlich.bsky.social and @kirstyegraham.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute, and to all co-authors for the inspiring exchange of ideas! 🐵

Marlen Fröhlich @marlenfroehlich.bsky.social · Jul 28

Now published! 📝✅📢
Our review on flexibility in animal communication is out in Biological Reviews @camphilsoc.bsky.social (Open Access).
Huge thanks again to my fantastic co-authors, especially @kirstyegraham.bsky.social. It was a delight to learn from them!

📖 Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/brv....

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Nicolas Mathevon @nicolasmathevon.bsky.social · Aug 26

For over 5,000 y, chanting has been practiced across many Western and Eastern traditions. Chants share distinctive acoustic traits which have evolved culturally to optimize listener relaxation. 👇 new paper @pnas.org by ENES Bioacoustics Research Lab & Co

#bioacoustics
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Chants across seven traditions share acoustic traits that enhance subjective relaxation | PNAS

For over 5,000 y, chanting has been practiced across many Western and Eastern traditions. However, there is hardly any empirical research on 1) whe...

www.pnas.org

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Jennifer N. Phillips @jphillips.bsky.social · Aug 12

WSU biology is hiring a vertebrate ecologist! wsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WSU_Jo...

Assistant Professor

Online applications must be received before 11:59pm on: September 14, 2025 If a date is not listed above, review the Applicant Instructions below for more details. Available Title(s): 270-NN_FACULTY -...

wsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com

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Fredrik Jutfelt 🐠 @jutfelt.bsky.social · Aug 18

Associate Professor position in animal physiology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
(to replace me basically). An amazing permanent position at a great university!

Please spread widely 🙏

www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

Associate Professor in molecular/cellular animal physiology (281754) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Job title: Associate Professor in molecular/cellular animal physiology (281754), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Monday, September 1, 2025

www.jobbnorge.no

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · Aug 22

Hi Anna, I think null results (the fact that something does not seem to occur) are as interesting as significant results, and should be published. We should stop with this publication bias! Can you clarify what you mean with the XGBoost issue? You could train it to find a pattern?

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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · Jul 31

New paper with @masonyoungblood.bsky.social: crows follow Menzerath’s law showing vocal efficiency in their communication. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Vocal efficiency in crows - Animal Cognition

Many communicative systems have been selected for efficiency, shaped by the trade-off between information transmission and energetic or temporal constraints. Linguistic laws such as Menzerath’s law—pr...

link.springer.com

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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · Jul 15

@behaveco.bsky.social

Rob Davis @robdavis1104.bsky.social · Jul 15

Happy to share our new paper, led by Cornelia Warrer, investigating large carnivore snaring rates & drivers of snare occurrence across Kruger NP!

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

We found that carnivores were highly susceptible to being caught in snares & predicted snaring hotspots in Kruger

A spotted hyaena with a snare around its neck. Photo credit: big5photos.com

Predicted snare hotspots in Kruger, with the right side image showing predicted presence/absence of snares with sites of known snare detection

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Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu.bsky.social · Jul 13

🚨 Lecturer in Animal Ecology position @jcuofficial.bsky.social. Candidates with expertise in terrestrial animal ecology are encouraged.

📍 Townsville, AU
Closes: 8th Aug 2025
🔗 careers.jcu.edu.au/jobs/lecture...

Lecturer, Animal Ecology - Townsville, QLD, Australia

James Cook University (JCU) is creating a brighter future for life in the Tropics and beyond, through education and research that makes a difference locally and globally. We now have an opportunity a...

careers.jcu.edu.au

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