Matthew Cobb
@matthewcobb.bsky.social
Professor Emeritus (University of Manchester), writes on biology, history of science & French Resistance. Most recent book: a biography of Francis Crick. Now writing THE IDEA OF HEREDITY.
Link to publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-4913
Link to publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-4913
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
2026 basically
February 18, 2026 at 4:23 PM
2026 basically
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Winter light. Full of promise.
February 17, 2026 at 8:04 AM
Winter light. Full of promise.
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Look at the foot on this guy! This bivalve juvenile is old enough to have a fabulous appendage, called the foot, which it will use to move about and find somewhere to settle. You can also see the gills in the shell (the rib-looking things).
#marineplankton 🦑
#marineplankton 🦑
February 18, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Look at the foot on this guy! This bivalve juvenile is old enough to have a fabulous appendage, called the foot, which it will use to move about and find somewhere to settle. You can also see the gills in the shell (the rib-looking things).
#marineplankton 🦑
#marineplankton 🦑
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
As a general rule, because deep-sea assets are often loud and clunky, creating noise and dropping light on otherwise pitch black regions, we have categorically undersampled large, mobile fauna from the deep sea.
There are monsters in the abyss yet to be glimpsed.
There are monsters in the abyss yet to be glimpsed.
Scientists have captured footage of a sleeper shark farther south than ever before, suggesting this Antarctic ocean is not shark-free
Elusive sleeper shark seen off Antartica in a first
Scientists have captured footage of a sleeper shark farther south than ever before, suggesting this Antarctic ocean is not shark-free
www.scientificamerican.com
February 18, 2026 at 7:54 PM
As a general rule, because deep-sea assets are often loud and clunky, creating noise and dropping light on otherwise pitch black regions, we have categorically undersampled large, mobile fauna from the deep sea.
There are monsters in the abyss yet to be glimpsed.
There are monsters in the abyss yet to be glimpsed.
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22
nyti.ms
February 18, 2026 at 7:12 PM
One of the biggest questions in biology is how complex cells evolved about 2 billion years ago. Here's my new story on how scientists are solving the mystery of eukaryotes like us. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qMbo22
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Sol Violinsky, "The Eccentric Entertainer," from a 1929 Vitaphone short.
When's the last time you got to see a guy play the piano and the violin at the same time before some stupid Marvel Comic Universe picture? Huh? Never! Entertainment ain't what it usta be, I tell ya!
When's the last time you got to see a guy play the piano and the violin at the same time before some stupid Marvel Comic Universe picture? Huh? Never! Entertainment ain't what it usta be, I tell ya!
February 18, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Sol Violinsky, "The Eccentric Entertainer," from a 1929 Vitaphone short.
When's the last time you got to see a guy play the piano and the violin at the same time before some stupid Marvel Comic Universe picture? Huh? Never! Entertainment ain't what it usta be, I tell ya!
When's the last time you got to see a guy play the piano and the violin at the same time before some stupid Marvel Comic Universe picture? Huh? Never! Entertainment ain't what it usta be, I tell ya!
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
I imagine it was extremely disturbing
February 18, 2026 at 6:14 PM
I imagine it was extremely disturbing
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
February 18, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
This local Wolfdog joined an Olympic ski event and triggered the finish-line camera. This is Nazgul. He snuck into a cross-country skiing sprint this morning and raced the homestretch with some competitors before being escorted home. 14/10 someone get him a medal
February 18, 2026 at 5:48 PM
This local Wolfdog joined an Olympic ski event and triggered the finish-line camera. This is Nazgul. He snuck into a cross-country skiing sprint this morning and raced the homestretch with some competitors before being escorted home. 14/10 someone get him a medal
They said that about zeppelins.
February 18, 2026 at 6:11 PM
They said that about zeppelins.
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Roman parade helmet showing a winged cupid riding a chariot. The brass helmet was found at Trimontium Roman Fort, near Newstead in the Scottish Borders. Now part of the collections at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. 📸 My own. #ReliefWednesday #RomanScotland
February 18, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Roman parade helmet showing a winged cupid riding a chariot. The brass helmet was found at Trimontium Roman Fort, near Newstead in the Scottish Borders. Now part of the collections at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. 📸 My own. #ReliefWednesday #RomanScotland
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
No light quite like that produced against gathering clouds after a day of sunshine. The pinky-hues drenching the road paving and walls of Pompeii are magical.
February 17, 2026 at 10:34 PM
No light quite like that produced against gathering clouds after a day of sunshine. The pinky-hues drenching the road paving and walls of Pompeii are magical.
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
We live in a bizarre world where longevity influencers tell millions to take rapamycin, sit in hyperbaric oxygen chambers, blast themselves with red light therapy, and take 50+ supplements daily. Meanwhile something that cuts dementia risk by 20% Is invisible.
open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...
open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...
Your anti-ageing stack should include this vaccine
The shingles vaccine seems to reduce the risk of dementia. There is speculation that it might slow down ageing
open.substack.com
February 17, 2026 at 12:40 PM
We live in a bizarre world where longevity influencers tell millions to take rapamycin, sit in hyperbaric oxygen chambers, blast themselves with red light therapy, and take 50+ supplements daily. Meanwhile something that cuts dementia risk by 20% Is invisible.
open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...
open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich
February 18, 2026 at 4:03 PM
notorious radical left communist rag says tax the rich
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
They have waterproof feathers, nasal flaps that block water when submerged.
Rather than an insulating layer of fat, they just embrace the cold with a reduced metabolism and low critical temperature.
They can also load their blood with oxygen for extended dives/underwater walks.
Rather than an insulating layer of fat, they just embrace the cold with a reduced metabolism and low critical temperature.
They can also load their blood with oxygen for extended dives/underwater walks.
Responses to temperature in the dipper, Cinclus mexicanus
1.1. Dippers have an excellent insulation as indicated by their low thermal conductance (0.33 cal/g per hr per °C) and lower critical temperature (11.…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:27 PM
They have waterproof feathers, nasal flaps that block water when submerged.
Rather than an insulating layer of fat, they just embrace the cold with a reduced metabolism and low critical temperature.
They can also load their blood with oxygen for extended dives/underwater walks.
Rather than an insulating layer of fat, they just embrace the cold with a reduced metabolism and low critical temperature.
They can also load their blood with oxygen for extended dives/underwater walks.
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
The dog is called Nazgul. (presumably he is one of nine)
This GOOD BOY ran onto the course during the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line and being automatically recorded by OMEGA’s photofinish camera 😆
February 18, 2026 at 2:06 PM
The dog is called Nazgul. (presumably he is one of nine)
But portraits of Ukrainian sportsmen killed by the Russians are not allowed.
A tour of the sick-ass helmets of skeleton: defector.com/a-tour-of-th...
February 18, 2026 at 1:48 PM
But portraits of Ukrainian sportsmen killed by the Russians are not allowed.
Cracking review by @jonhenley.bsky.social of what sounds like a brilliant expo of Capa photos. Time to go to Paris!
‘He invented a style’: war chronicler Robert Capa refashioned himself and revolutionised photography
A Paris exhibition showcases how the Magnum agency founder documented not just battle but also victims of war
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Cracking review by @jonhenley.bsky.social of what sounds like a brilliant expo of Capa photos. Time to go to Paris!
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
Wow!
2025: Host-specific leaf-mining behaviour of holometabolous insect larvae in the early #Permian
#ichnology #paleobotany #palaeobotany
Michael Laaß, Ludwig Luthardt, Steffen Trümper, Angelika Leipner, Norbert Hauschke & Ronny Rößler
2025: Host-specific leaf-mining behaviour of holometabolous insect larvae in the early #Permian
#ichnology #paleobotany #palaeobotany
Michael Laaß, Ludwig Luthardt, Steffen Trümper, Angelika Leipner, Norbert Hauschke & Ronny Rößler
February 18, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Wow!
2025: Host-specific leaf-mining behaviour of holometabolous insect larvae in the early #Permian
#ichnology #paleobotany #palaeobotany
Michael Laaß, Ludwig Luthardt, Steffen Trümper, Angelika Leipner, Norbert Hauschke & Ronny Rößler
2025: Host-specific leaf-mining behaviour of holometabolous insect larvae in the early #Permian
#ichnology #paleobotany #palaeobotany
Michael Laaß, Ludwig Luthardt, Steffen Trümper, Angelika Leipner, Norbert Hauschke & Ronny Rößler
Reposted by Matthew Cobb
1Died (alas!) on this day in 1455, Fra Angelico, the Angelic Friar. Here, Annunciation from the 1440s on the stair landing at the convent of San Marco, Florence.
February 18, 2026 at 12:19 PM
1Died (alas!) on this day in 1455, Fra Angelico, the Angelic Friar. Here, Annunciation from the 1440s on the stair landing at the convent of San Marco, Florence.
Get thee to Ecclesall Road! It does sound very relaxing.
‘Like an electrical gong bath!’ The Sheffield supermarket going viral for the symphonic sound of its freezers
Redditors are thrilled by the Co-op on Ecclesall Road, where a magnificent drone is reminiscent of Brian Eno’s ambient music. We take a visit to the back aisles
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Get thee to Ecclesall Road! It does sound very relaxing.