Alun Salt
@alunsalt.bsky.social
Web thing for @botany.one. Reluctant tech adopter. Dysgwr Cymraeg.
he / him / fe
he / him / fe
Reposted by Alun Salt
Starmer has declared his ambivalence in the strongest possible terms and announced that the British government will equivocate with immediate effect.
January 3, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Starmer has declared his ambivalence in the strongest possible terms and announced that the British government will equivocate with immediate effect.
The view of the Diamond Light Source from the Rutherford Appleton Lab at Harwell.
January 1, 2026 at 8:45 PM
The view of the Diamond Light Source from the Rutherford Appleton Lab at Harwell.
Reposted by Alun Salt
First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots
December 31, 2025 at 8:56 AM
First mating of the 2026 #kakapo breeding season! True to form, it was Pearl and Boss on Whenua Hou, who mated on the night of 28th Dec. They were also the first two to mate in the last two breeding seasons. We're expecting a bumper year, so follow for updates! #conservation #parrots
Reposted by Alun Salt
My biweekly chapter-by-chapter reread of The Lord of the Rings gets into the book proper this week with a discussion of "A Long-Expected Party". Click through to learn how J.R.R. Tolkien is (and is not) like Jane Austen. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
The Great Tolkien Reread: A Long-Expected Party
"Eleventy-First Birthday" by Nicole Gustafsson He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
December 30, 2025 at 4:03 PM
My biweekly chapter-by-chapter reread of The Lord of the Rings gets into the book proper this week with a discussion of "A Long-Expected Party". Click through to learn how J.R.R. Tolkien is (and is not) like Jane Austen. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-...
Giving to the poor “sets worrying precedent” say MPs at Christmastime.
A group of MPs and peers have urged the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury to stop the Church of England from spending £100 million on slavery reparations
MPs and peers urge new Archbishop of Canterbury to scrap £100m reparations plan
A group of MPs and peers have urged the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury to stop the Church of England from spending £100 million on slavery reparations. The 27 parliamentarians warn in a letter to D...
wp.me
December 28, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Giving to the poor “sets worrying precedent” say MPs at Christmastime.
Wife thought we had at least two hedgehogs still visiting. I thought it could be just one. That puzzle was solved last night.
#ukwildlife
#ukwildlife
December 27, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Wife thought we had at least two hedgehogs still visiting. I thought it could be just one. That puzzle was solved last night.
#ukwildlife
#ukwildlife
Reposted by Alun Salt
Machlud Bae Ceredigion
December 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Machlud Bae Ceredigion
Reposted by Alun Salt
Do you hear ghostly hooves, cantering through the night?
Our Mari is stirring… she races to sunset on Alban Arthur, the Winter Solstice tomorrow ❤️
So lucky to see this little piece of Welsh heritage bought back to life and celebrated in the here and now, even if her beginnings are a mystery
Our Mari is stirring… she races to sunset on Alban Arthur, the Winter Solstice tomorrow ❤️
So lucky to see this little piece of Welsh heritage bought back to life and celebrated in the here and now, even if her beginnings are a mystery
December 20, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Do you hear ghostly hooves, cantering through the night?
Our Mari is stirring… she races to sunset on Alban Arthur, the Winter Solstice tomorrow ❤️
So lucky to see this little piece of Welsh heritage bought back to life and celebrated in the here and now, even if her beginnings are a mystery
Our Mari is stirring… she races to sunset on Alban Arthur, the Winter Solstice tomorrow ❤️
So lucky to see this little piece of Welsh heritage bought back to life and celebrated in the here and now, even if her beginnings are a mystery
Reposted by Alun Salt
Wow @thetimes.com, that’s impressive
An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼♀️
🧵
1/5
An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼♀️
🧵
1/5
December 18, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Wow @thetimes.com, that’s impressive
An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼♀️
🧵
1/5
An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼♀️
🧵
1/5
Reposted by Alun Salt
#SundaySquirrel seems to have a bit of a knowing look in this shot 🤔
I hope he is safely tucked up in a well built drey today as we enter a 36 hour amber rain warning - time for me to go and move my hide further away from the river in case of flooding
Cumbrian red squirrel
#UKwildlife #mammals
I hope he is safely tucked up in a well built drey today as we enter a 36 hour amber rain warning - time for me to go and move my hide further away from the river in case of flooding
Cumbrian red squirrel
#UKwildlife #mammals
December 14, 2025 at 9:45 AM
#SundaySquirrel seems to have a bit of a knowing look in this shot 🤔
I hope he is safely tucked up in a well built drey today as we enter a 36 hour amber rain warning - time for me to go and move my hide further away from the river in case of flooding
Cumbrian red squirrel
#UKwildlife #mammals
I hope he is safely tucked up in a well built drey today as we enter a 36 hour amber rain warning - time for me to go and move my hide further away from the river in case of flooding
Cumbrian red squirrel
#UKwildlife #mammals
Reposted by Alun Salt
Not easy to get to sleep tonight - have burnt the bridge of whatever career I had left and really don’t feel that my opinions are so extreme that that should have been necessary
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
December 13, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Not easy to get to sleep tonight - have burnt the bridge of whatever career I had left and really don’t feel that my opinions are so extreme that that should have been necessary
Reposted by Alun Salt
For the record, Robin Ince is a superb comedian, an absolute mensch, a remarkable thinker and the kindest human you’ll ever meet. And the BBC is a genuinely great and globally unique institution that needs to stop being afraid. I think that’s where most of its faults and issues stem from.
December 13, 2025 at 11:21 AM
For the record, Robin Ince is a superb comedian, an absolute mensch, a remarkable thinker and the kindest human you’ll ever meet. And the BBC is a genuinely great and globally unique institution that needs to stop being afraid. I think that’s where most of its faults and issues stem from.
Reposted by Alun Salt
Our department's Quantitative Botany Journal Club has chosen its best paper of the year.
🥁🥁🥁🥁
It is "Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through a 50-fold expansion of leaf trait datasets" by Guo et al besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
🥁🥁🥁🥁
It is "Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through a 50-fold expansion of leaf trait datasets" by Guo et al besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through a 50‐fold expansion of leaf trait datasets
This image illustrates the initial step to extracting leaf area from a specimen image using a new machine learning method. The authors used this novel method to reveal that the relationship between l...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Our department's Quantitative Botany Journal Club has chosen its best paper of the year.
🥁🥁🥁🥁
It is "Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through a 50-fold expansion of leaf trait datasets" by Guo et al besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
🥁🥁🥁🥁
It is "Using machine learning to link climate, phylogeny and leaf area in eucalypts through a 50-fold expansion of leaf trait datasets" by Guo et al besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alun Salt
the tl,dr version of the review:
imagine a review written which is a cross between Father Ted's golden cleric winning speech and the editorial commentary in Pale Fire.
It is magnificent. Highly recommended. Take an afternoon off and really revel in it.
imagine a review written which is a cross between Father Ted's golden cleric winning speech and the editorial commentary in Pale Fire.
It is magnificent. Highly recommended. Take an afternoon off and really revel in it.
An academic disliked an Oxford Very Short Introduction (145 pages) in his field so much that he wrote a 200 page book review attacking it. www.pierre-legrand.com/ewExternalFi...
December 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
the tl,dr version of the review:
imagine a review written which is a cross between Father Ted's golden cleric winning speech and the editorial commentary in Pale Fire.
It is magnificent. Highly recommended. Take an afternoon off and really revel in it.
imagine a review written which is a cross between Father Ted's golden cleric winning speech and the editorial commentary in Pale Fire.
It is magnificent. Highly recommended. Take an afternoon off and really revel in it.
Reposted by Alun Salt
Goldfinch flying to thistle. 😍
Taken last weekend at the Huntspill seawall in Somerset. 😊🐦
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for nature lovers in my shop here;
www.carlbovis.com/shop-3
Taken last weekend at the Huntspill seawall in Somerset. 😊🐦
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for nature lovers in my shop here;
www.carlbovis.com/shop-3
November 19, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Goldfinch flying to thistle. 😍
Taken last weekend at the Huntspill seawall in Somerset. 😊🐦
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for nature lovers in my shop here;
www.carlbovis.com/shop-3
Taken last weekend at the Huntspill seawall in Somerset. 😊🐦
Lots of Christmas gift ideas for nature lovers in my shop here;
www.carlbovis.com/shop-3
Reposted by Alun Salt
I've mentioned this quietly, but - since the summer my hobby has been making this ambitious murder mystery podcast. A story. Narrated by me, with a mouthwatering cast. Partly interactive. Trailer is coming tomorrow but if you like the sound of this, please follow @murderbastard.bsky.social.
November 18, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I've mentioned this quietly, but - since the summer my hobby has been making this ambitious murder mystery podcast. A story. Narrated by me, with a mouthwatering cast. Partly interactive. Trailer is coming tomorrow but if you like the sound of this, please follow @murderbastard.bsky.social.
Reposted by Alun Salt
My students have set up a petition to persuade the University of Nottingham not to close our Plant Biology BSc course
c.org/VPhzVVrHPS
Please consider signing
c.org/VPhzVVrHPS
Please consider signing
Sign the Petition
Reconsider the potential suspension of Plant Biology Courses at UoN
c.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:33 AM
My students have set up a petition to persuade the University of Nottingham not to close our Plant Biology BSc course
c.org/VPhzVVrHPS
Please consider signing
c.org/VPhzVVrHPS
Please consider signing
Reposted by Alun Salt
"The Perception of trees matters more than the reality"
(in UK) 🌳🤔🌍
>PR: findingnature.org.uk/2025/10/24/g...
>Paper: Green pathways to mental health: Relationships between treescapes and well-being and distress
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
(in UK) 🌳🤔🌍
>PR: findingnature.org.uk/2025/10/24/g...
>Paper: Green pathways to mental health: Relationships between treescapes and well-being and distress
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
October 28, 2025 at 12:00 AM
"The Perception of trees matters more than the reality"
(in UK) 🌳🤔🌍
>PR: findingnature.org.uk/2025/10/24/g...
>Paper: Green pathways to mental health: Relationships between treescapes and well-being and distress
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
(in UK) 🌳🤔🌍
>PR: findingnature.org.uk/2025/10/24/g...
>Paper: Green pathways to mental health: Relationships between treescapes and well-being and distress
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Alun Salt
Join iNaturalist for a webinar to learn more about how you can help others, even if you're not an expert. Rather than doomscroll on social media, you can positively contribute to improving our knowledge about biodiversity!
Nov 6, 2025 @ 1700 in London / Midday EST
botany.fyi/diq8zn
Nov 6, 2025 @ 1700 in London / Midday EST
botany.fyi/diq8zn
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Identifying on iNaturalist: How you can help!. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
At its core, iNaturalist is about people helping each other identify and learn about the organisms they observe, but did you know only about 10% of the iNaturalist community identifies observations…
botany.fyi
November 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Join iNaturalist for a webinar to learn more about how you can help others, even if you're not an expert. Rather than doomscroll on social media, you can positively contribute to improving our knowledge about biodiversity!
Nov 6, 2025 @ 1700 in London / Midday EST
botany.fyi/diq8zn
Nov 6, 2025 @ 1700 in London / Midday EST
botany.fyi/diq8zn
Reposted by Alun Salt
Best time to join the growing ranks of #BSBImembers?
In October to get 15 months of benefits for price of 12: that's when 100s of people inc @markavery.bsky.social & @alunsalt.bsky.social joined!
2nd best time? In November, to enjoy 14 months of benefits: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
In October to get 15 months of benefits for price of 12: that's when 100s of people inc @markavery.bsky.social & @alunsalt.bsky.social joined!
2nd best time? In November, to enjoy 14 months of benefits: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
November 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Best time to join the growing ranks of #BSBImembers?
In October to get 15 months of benefits for price of 12: that's when 100s of people inc @markavery.bsky.social & @alunsalt.bsky.social joined!
2nd best time? In November, to enjoy 14 months of benefits: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
In October to get 15 months of benefits for price of 12: that's when 100s of people inc @markavery.bsky.social & @alunsalt.bsky.social joined!
2nd best time? In November, to enjoy 14 months of benefits: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi...
Reposted by Alun Salt
"At a writing conference, you attend an 'Empowering Women Writers' discussion panel, but when you arrive, it is composed entirely of men. Describe, in detail, how you would burn this motherfucker down."
Horrifying Writing Prompts
You inadvertently send your My Little Pony/The West Wing fan fiction to the New Yorker. If your reaction was a New Yorker cartoon, what would it lo...
buff.ly
November 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM
"At a writing conference, you attend an 'Empowering Women Writers' discussion panel, but when you arrive, it is composed entirely of men. Describe, in detail, how you would burn this motherfucker down."
Reposted by Alun Salt
My first rainbow diffraction shot of the season can’t wait to see what happens next. Taken with the fab OM System 50-200 - f2.8 gives great background! @omsystem.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @bto-gbw.bsky.social @shropshirewildlife.bsky.social @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 8:14 AM
My first rainbow diffraction shot of the season can’t wait to see what happens next. Taken with the fab OM System 50-200 - f2.8 gives great background! @omsystem.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @bto-gbw.bsky.social @shropshirewildlife.bsky.social @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social
Reposted by Alun Salt
Great Tit arriving in style! 😍
Taken at the weekend at RSPB Greylake in Somerset. 😊🐦
#birds 🪶
You can buy my 2026 Birds calendars here;
www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c...
Taken at the weekend at RSPB Greylake in Somerset. 😊🐦
#birds 🪶
You can buy my 2026 Birds calendars here;
www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c...
October 28, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Great Tit arriving in style! 😍
Taken at the weekend at RSPB Greylake in Somerset. 😊🐦
#birds 🪶
You can buy my 2026 Birds calendars here;
www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c...
Taken at the weekend at RSPB Greylake in Somerset. 😊🐦
#birds 🪶
You can buy my 2026 Birds calendars here;
www.carlbovis.com/2026-birds-c...
Reposted by Alun Salt
I'm trying to use Bluesky to sell tickets to my comedy special taping. Don't make me promote on Twitter. I'd rather have an empty house. But it'd be so much nicer if it were full.
October 28, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I'm trying to use Bluesky to sell tickets to my comedy special taping. Don't make me promote on Twitter. I'd rather have an empty house. But it'd be so much nicer if it were full.
Reposted by Alun Salt
Have you ever seen a wren have a bath? No? Nor had I till just now. Filmed through a rain-spotted window & on my phone, so not perfect, but hope it brings you a spot of delight nonetheless 🪶
October 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Have you ever seen a wren have a bath? No? Nor had I till just now. Filmed through a rain-spotted window & on my phone, so not perfect, but hope it brings you a spot of delight nonetheless 🪶