John Manners
@jmaus.bsky.social
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jmaus.bsky.social
The average farm size in Australia is ~3000 hectares compared to 14 hectares in the EU. Contrasting extensive and intensive agricultural systems
jmaus.bsky.social
Cirque du Soleil’s stunning Corteo production currently touring Australia - check it out and wonder at what an amazing spectacle trusting teams of acrobats can create #acrobats #circus #gymnastics
Female acrobat steps down and is caught one handed by her male partner The Italian clown character Corteo balances on top of a 6 metre freestanding ladder and is about to be collected by an angel swooping down from the black sky Two teams of acrobats high up on ropes throw and catch each other A large cast of characters brightly dressed in diverse costumes mingle on each side of the stage as acrobats catapult each other up in the centre
jmaus.bsky.social
Sad news. Plant science has lost a global champion with the passing of Steve Long. His recent work on engineering enhanced photosynthesis portends future breakthroughs in crop yield and food security. Here is a tribute from the Uni Essex where started 🧪 #plantscience www.essex.ac.uk/blog/staff/p...
Tribute to Professor Steve Long | Blog | University of Essex
Professor Steve Long was a visionary scientist. His research helped shape our understanding of fundamental plant biology and the long-term impacts of climate change on plant productivity, with wide-ra...
www.essex.ac.uk
jmaus.bsky.social
Some useful suggestions here for how best communicate and hold a conversation about the importance of science with diverse audiences 🧪 #plantscience #climate particle.scitech.org.au/people/scien...
Science communication is a conversation, not a script | Particle
How science is told matters as much as what it says.
particle.scitech.org.au
Reposted by John Manners
museumofscience.bsky.social
Are we blind to the life that keeps our world alive? 🌿🌱🧪

Plant blindness is shaping how we see (or don’t see) the natural world.
jmaus.bsky.social
India drops its 66% tariff on imported Australian chickpeas to just 10%, opening up this massive export market again for Australian farmers #plantscience 🧪 🌿🪴https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-04/australian-chickpeas-boom-as-indian-market-returns/105538646?utm_source=abc_news_app
Farmers go all in on chickpeas as Indian market reopens
Australian growers are planting large crops of chickpeas encouraged by a stabilised trade relationship with India.
www.abc.net.au
jmaus.bsky.social
Tribute to Joanne Chory just published in PNAS - a wonderful plant scientist and woman. I saw her present at a few conferences and met her once. As we chatted I learnt so much about using Arabidopsis for the dissection of hormone signalling #plantscience 🧪
plantevolution.bsky.social
Jennifer Nemhauser’s and my tribute to our amazing friend and mentor, the extraordinary Joanne Chory.

Read about our personal and professional reminiscences. Thanks to all who provided background for this.

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Joanne Chory (1955–2024): Plant geneticist extraordinaire | PNAS
Joanne Chory (1955–2024) was a pioneering biologist whose research transformed our understanding of plant growth and development. Her groundbreakin...
www.pnas.org
jmaus.bsky.social
One issue of ‘fairness’ in Agrifood trade that doesn’t seem to get mentioned is that Australian farmers get no subsidies but agricultural production subsidies are common in the US & rife in the EU. As a vego I won’t be participating in beef origin preferences but do hope for a fair go for 🇦🇺 farmers.
jmaus.bsky.social
Thanks very much - they will probably suit some of the group demographic
jmaus.bsky.social
Thanks very much - I will check them out 🙏
jmaus.bsky.social
Genuine question - what would you include in a playlist for a local community climate change action group party - so far I have got Tracy Chapman’s song ‘Change’ - any more suggestions welcome #climatechange #climate 🧪 m.youtube.com/watch?v=bukX...
Tracy Chapman - Change (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Tracy Chapman
m.youtube.com
jmaus.bsky.social
Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland and Adelaide in the top 10 - nice part of the world to be living in 😊
jmaus.bsky.social
Just visited the Taman Negara National Park in Peninsular Malaysia & went out with the team conserving the critically endangered Malayan Tiger. Now down to only 150 adults - despite poachers and habitat loss the heroic team are optimistic & so committed - hope & despair m.youtube.com/watch?v=BOLl...
Camera Trap Footage – Malayan Tigers
YouTube video by World Wildlife Fund
m.youtube.com
Reposted by John Manners
hillarymonahan.bsky.social
Maybe it's called a corpse flower because that's a dead ballerina stuffed in a bucket.
San Diego's enormous corpse flower looking like aN upside down ballerina.
jmaus.bsky.social
Yes, Henry Wickham, a British explorer appropriated 70,000 seeds from native trees in Brazil and sent them to Kew, very few germinated so a small sub-sample was sent to Ridley in Singapore.
jmaus.bsky.social
The Malayan rubber industry boomed following tyre inventions by Dunlop and mass car manufacturing by Ford. It then declined after the 1940s following synthetic tyre production from petroleum
jmaus.bsky.social
Plant nostalgia from the Singapore Botanical Garden. Founding Director HN Ridley imported 22 seeds of the rubber tree from Kew Gardens in 1877 and in 1905 perfected the herringbone method of tapping latex. By 1917, his team had provided >7 million seeds for the new Malayan industry #plantscience 🧪
An early 1900 picture of Ridley and a worker standing by a rubber tree stem that has a herringbone cut in it to tap rubber A large present day rubber tree established in the Singapore Botanical Garden. Picture is the tree trunk looking up to the canopy