Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 30m

I have a NEED

Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · 12h

Whale Fall pin 🦀🐋🦑

A photo of a large gold-plated enamel pin photographed on top of a lichen-covered rock. The enamel pin features a whale skeleton covered with various deep sea creatures, such as octopuses, hagfish, a giant isopod, a crab, and chimaeras.

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 40m

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan- Hamid Ismailov, We Computers

A poet convinced meaning only exists in the reading and not the writing of poetry trains a computer to write for him. Feels like an essential book for this moment where genAI looms large.

We Computers: A Ghazal Novel

A Ghazal Novel

bookshop.org

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 33m

Mine gets constant compliments, don't miss this chance!

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 5h

I'm doing another print run of these "Biology is Bigger than Binaries" shirts!

Back, quite literally, by popular demand. Bullying works, sure, but so does a bunch of nice cutie patooties politely asking!

Order 'em now, I'll mail 'em in early November.

SquidFacts.net

a woman with short bown hair, glasses, and tassel earrings, wears a purple KN95 and looks cool as hell in her biology is bigger than binaries shirt, in orange

a woman with green glasses takes a selfie lookin' cool as hell in her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt. She's also got ice cream, that lucky dog.

a woman with long brown hair and glasses hangs out in the back yard with her pink biology is bigger than binaries shirt

A man with a hat and sunglasses stands in hero-pose with his biology is bigger than binaires shirt (orange)

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 40m

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan- Hamid Ismailov, We Computers

A poet convinced meaning only exists in the reading and not the writing of poetry trains a computer to write for him. Feels like an essential book for this moment where genAI looms large.

We Computers: A Ghazal Novel

A Ghazal Novel

bookshop.org

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 44m

Yeah, definitely will keep an eye on it. Hit it with antibiotic ointment pretty hard, hopefully it's not as dramatic as the last time I got bitten by a cat

Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · 15h

As I tell my students, if you arrived at a simple answer in biology you have done one of two things: arrived at the wrong answer or asked the wrong question

Claus Wilke @clauswilke.com · 2d

Biology is much more complicated than most non-biologists can imagine. And AI is not going to change this anytime soon.
blog.genesmindsmachines.com/p/we-still-c...

We still can’t predict much of anything in biology

Biology is hard. Yes, even for AI.

blog.genesmindsmachines.com

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 6h

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

C.A. Petrified 🎃 @capetrov.bsky.social · 2h

OK, a lot of my mutuals are still following her here, and I need people to realize that just because she's keeping things neutral here doesn't mean she isn't being awful. Her anti-Zionism has devolved. Badly.

In the replies to this she's agreeing that they should go back in body bags. On a train.

Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 16h

This is a person who is still taken seriously and published in left-wing spaces.

To be clear: No, most Israeli Jews are not descended from Polish Jews. And even for the minority who are, it would obviously not be safe for them all to go there now, given the Polish government.

Tweet from Axel Folio, PhD: "To Poland where they are from"

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 1h

Yep! Definitely hard to tell when she's in shed, but she's a handsome little sausage

The same snake but not in full shed, posing on a rock hide. Her colors are more blackish brown on a white background, like if a cow were a very plump noodle

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

Normally her colors are brighter but she's apparently decided to shed again even though I swear she just finished the last one

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

Possibly the single greatest snake pic I've ever taken

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

If you are new around here, this muppet is Lovelace, who is presumably some sort of cousin to these babies (got her from Ethan during my brief time in the Northeast)

A sand boa in shed who just had a quick soak, looking directly at the camera with an incredibly derpy look. She looks like one of the robots from MST3K.

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

If you are new around here, this muppet is Lovelace, who is presumably some sort of cousin to these babies (got her from Ethan during my brief time in the Northeast)

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

Lovelace ate like two frozen mice and then decided she required fresh ones again, such a diva

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

Baby Lovelaces!

Ethan “Brother Ethan” Kocak @ethankocak.com · 18h

Welcome to the world 21 baby sand boas

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

The most stubborn and picky of noodles

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Ethan “Brother Ethan” Kocak @ethankocak.com · 11h

There’s not much there yet but if you want to check it out:

forums.mossyunderlog.blog

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Ethan “Brother Ethan” Kocak @ethankocak.com · 2h

Pro tip: don’t quote post my animals commenting you don’t like them. I’m fine with people not liking snakes; but stay out of my mentions about it.

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 2h

Yeah I already talked with AAAC and got an open case number, and made it clear I want it tested for rabies. Dropping it off in the morning.

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 3h

Give her some extra scritches for me please

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 4h

Feeling guilty that its last few minutes were two dogs barking at it and trying to get at it, on top of everything else.

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 4h

Also I have to go drop it off at animal control tomorrow to test for rabies because it bit me, and while rabies is rare up here my vaccination expired and I don't fuck with rabies

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 4h

Tw: animal death

Cat owners: please please PLEASE keep your cats inside. My evening is ruined because I just held a little kitten with a broken spine while they passed, likely bc of a dog attack or car, and I am a bit of a wreck rn.

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 6h

Ooh, I'll be forwarding this to one of my colleagues who was looking for papers to share with class...

Claudia Astorino @claudistics.bsky.social · 9h

new article is up in full-text in #AJBA @bioanth.org! 🧪 💀

I predicted expression levels for skeletal sex indicators for 9 forms of #intersex, based on what we know ab these intersex variations (and which traits are most likely to affect bone growth, development, & remodeling) #SexualPolymorphism

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)

Claudia Astorino @claudistics.bsky.social · 9h

new article is up in full-text in #AJBA @bioanth.org! 🧪 💀

I predicted expression levels for skeletal sex indicators for 9 forms of #intersex, based on what we know ab these intersex variations (and which traits are most likely to affect bone growth, development, & remodeling) #SexualPolymorphism

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 9h

I was unfortunately talking with a student and running late to class, so no time for snark, but I did lodge a complaint with the office that approves posters

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