Ian Thompson
@iantho.bsky.social
790 followers 700 following 1.1K posts
Once practiced natural resources management and conservation. Now largely an interested observer in Australia
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iantho.bsky.social
Walk to work? There are rumour mongers spreading gossip that UNSW is seriously trying to deepen and broaden its offerings in Canberra. Not that first class engineering (there is more I think but to me UNSW=eng and wool and pastoral science) is a bad thing but there is room for more.
iantho.bsky.social
Add chickpeas for veg curries and green lentils for soup and dahl. Cheap protein, filling and feel virtuous adding nitrogen to pot Aussie soil. Wash lentils, the teeth breaking mallee gravel sinks. Only need one stone to make the meal very expensive.
iantho.bsky.social
A meta ad has so far sold me over $300 worth of very good, very expensive steak from a producer I used to work with. Cunning links, indirect person contact, interest in sustainable, quality production, beef breeds and local produce. Not sure they need AI
Reposted by Ian Thompson
joneshowdareyou.bsky.social
As of 7:33 this morning, Diamond and Gimbir have a clutch of three. 🥚🥚🥚 #OrangeNSW #PeregrineFalcons
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv2R...
iantho.bsky.social
One of the joys of the internet is people whose taste you can judge recommending good books, articles and films. Because I have a bit of time, my reading can keep up with and sometimes lead my kids now. Though they did give some good starter suggestions.
Reposted by Ian Thompson
us.theconversation.com
Her parents discovered radioactivity. She made it useful.

Irène Joliot-Curie’s breakthrough in artificial radioactivity laid the foundation for cancer therapies and nuclear medicine used around the world today.
Meet Irene Curie, the Nobel-winning atomic physicist who changed the course of modern cancer treatment
Marie Curie’s daughter Irene continued her family’s Nobel legacy by discovering artificial radioactivity.
buff.ly
iantho.bsky.social
How come I never heard this till 1975? The tyranny of radio stations?
Reposted by Ian Thompson
euanritchie.bsky.social
A lovely story about Dr Jane Goodall's career & legacy, from Rachel Fieldhouse & Mohana Basu, in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41.... Includes some comments from me about how researchers _can also_ be advocates and science communicators, and still be taken seriously (I hope)!

Vale, Jane.
Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science
The primatologist challenged what it meant to be a scientist.
www.nature.com
iantho.bsky.social
I read Jane Goodall’s ‘In the Shadow of Man’ in 1972. Fascinating & inspiring. Criticism from established primatologists over methods & anthropomorphism was large. I am glad her work was largely vindicated. Cameras now everywhere, individuals named & complex animal behaviour considered normal
iantho.bsky.social
There are Jane Goodall signed versions being circulated too, so pretty confident Dr Goodall would not see at as disrespect. Can’t speak for the chimps though and their views on Larson
iantho.bsky.social
Wild dogs dressed for the Lilac Festival taking over the streets of Goulburn
Bronze dogs draped in local scarves on the street of a country town
iantho.bsky.social
The wildlife enjoying the view from a wedding. The whales came past too.
A kookaburra brown body with white head sitting on a rusty wire fence admiring a sea cliff view.
Reposted by Ian Thompson
libbydeq.bsky.social
inside.org.au/are-we-count... Terrific review of a book with an important focus: what we count is what we notice. Any conservation practitioner knows this. But it's things we don't notice that make habitat work. Both *noticing* & counting matter. The Economy (or $) is no proxy for Society or Life.
Are we counting what really counts? • Andrew Leigh
Statisticians are struggling to capture the twenty-first-century economy
inside.org.au
iantho.bsky.social
Fussy about soil & temp. There is a good native nursery here. Specialises in plants for the cold, heavy soils & local provenance. But, has everything else for those who have warmer sandier soils. I thought I was unlucky losing quite a few established plants to 9 long nights of <-6. Nup, everyone.
iantho.bsky.social
You could grow flannel flowers and boronia
iantho.bsky.social
I am in Canberra and the allegedly easiest blue bell to grow is Wahlenbergia stricta. The ACT emblem W gloriosa is finnicky about soil and water. The propagaters here say get going in pots then let to plants go to seed where you want more. Tassie has Wahlenbergias too.
iantho.bsky.social
I am sequencing a cool season grass nature strip to local native grasses and herbs. I can get a bazillion native blue bells to seedlings, they come up in cracks in concrete, but try growing them, tough. According to experts they like self seeding. Have to be careful weeding.
iantho.bsky.social
But I can skip a gym day.