Joe Lapp
@josephtlapp.bsky.social
Grad student at Johns Hopkins studying the similarities between biological systems and computing systems, esp. networks. Sr. software engineer and amateur-but-published spider taxonomist. Occasional tree pics, cool bugs, bug poetry. Charlottesville, VA.
Reposted by Joe Lapp
Every once in a while I have to remove a large Pholcus phalangioides spider from my bathtub before my morning shower, but this morning I have to relocate three!
November 14, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Every once in a while I have to remove a large Pholcus phalangioides spider from my bathtub before my morning shower, but this morning I have to relocate three!
Insect hemolymph does not supply the insect with O2. Instead, trachea branch from spiracles to provide O2 to the proximity of every cell. During development, cells deficient in oxygen release the signal protein FGF to draw the forming trachea nearby. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
November 10, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Insect hemolymph does not supply the insect with O2. Instead, trachea branch from spiracles to provide O2 to the proximity of every cell. During development, cells deficient in oxygen release the signal protein FGF to draw the forming trachea nearby. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
A fertilized insect egg doesn't repeatedly divide like a vertebrate egg. Instead, its nucleus duplicates itself thousands of times (6000 in fruit flies). These nuclei migrate to the cell periphery, where the membrane folds around them to form cells. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
November 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
A fertilized insect egg doesn't repeatedly divide like a vertebrate egg. Instead, its nucleus duplicates itself thousands of times (6000 in fruit flies). These nuclei migrate to the cell periphery, where the membrane folds around them to form cells. (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
"Some of the early microscopists imagined the entire shape and structure of the human body to be already present in the sperm as a 'homunculus,' a miniature human; after fertilization, the homunculus would simply grow and generate a full-sized person." (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
November 9, 2025 at 2:30 AM
"Some of the early microscopists imagined the entire shape and structure of the human body to be already present in the sperm as a 'homunculus,' a miniature human; after fertilization, the homunculus would simply grow and generate a full-sized person." (Alberts et al., Molec Bio of the Cell, 7th ed)
Reposted by Joe Lapp
"I Contain Multitudes"
This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today.
The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)
This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today.
The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)
October 3, 2025 at 2:24 PM
"I Contain Multitudes"
This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today.
The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)
This digitally painted piece honors coyote by tracing its lineage from the first cells of life to the animal trotting our cities and the wilderness today.
The thread gives descriptions of all the extinct organisms shown in this piece (not to scale)
Reposted by Joe Lapp
And that's how you integrate digital elements into an exhibition. Part of the temporary "China's Dinosaur World" at the Shanghai Natural History Museum, China. Closing this November.
Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet
Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet
September 27, 2025 at 3:02 AM
And that's how you integrate digital elements into an exhibition. Part of the temporary "China's Dinosaur World" at the Shanghai Natural History Museum, China. Closing this November.
Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet
Video source: Shanghai Let's Meet
The question of how DNA encoded proteins "stimulated great excitement. Here was a cryptogram set up by nature that, after more than 3 billion years of evolution, could finally be solved by one of the products of evolution—human beings." (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)
September 25, 2025 at 10:41 PM
The question of how DNA encoded proteins "stimulated great excitement. Here was a cryptogram set up by nature that, after more than 3 billion years of evolution, could finally be solved by one of the products of evolution—human beings." (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)
I'm taking notes in Google Docs, and I've been impressed with how it recognizes all the technical jargon of molecular biology.
September 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I'm taking notes in Google Docs, and I've been impressed with how it recognizes all the technical jargon of molecular biology.
DNA nucleotides appear to average a mutation rate ranging from 1 to 3 out of every 10 billion copied. This likely restricts organisms to having at most 30,000 genes that are "essential," placing an upper limit on the complexity of organisms. (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)
September 11, 2025 at 12:11 AM
DNA nucleotides appear to average a mutation rate ranging from 1 to 3 out of every 10 billion copied. This likely restricts organisms to having at most 30,000 genes that are "essential," placing an upper limit on the complexity of organisms. (Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.)
"DNA [is] inherited with such... fidelity that... only about one nucleotide pair in a thousand is randomly changed in the human germ line every million years. Even so, in a population of 10,000... every possible... substitution will have been [tried] on about 20 occasions [every] million years."
September 8, 2025 at 1:05 AM
"DNA [is] inherited with such... fidelity that... only about one nucleotide pair in a thousand is randomly changed in the human germ line every million years. Even so, in a population of 10,000... every possible... substitution will have been [tried] on about 20 occasions [every] million years."
The human genome “[resembles] your garage/bedroom/refrigerator... little evidence of organization; much accumulated clutter... virtually nothing ever discarded; and the few patently valuable items indiscriminately... scattered throughout.” - unattributed quote in Molec. Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.
September 6, 2025 at 8:52 PM
The human genome “[resembles] your garage/bedroom/refrigerator... little evidence of organization; much accumulated clutter... virtually nothing ever discarded; and the few patently valuable items indiscriminately... scattered throughout.” - unattributed quote in Molec. Biology of the Cell, 7th ed.
Packaging human DNA in a cell nucleus "is geometrically equivalent to packing 40 km (24 miles) of extremely fine thread into a tennis ball." - Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed. (2022)
September 6, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Packaging human DNA in a cell nucleus "is geometrically equivalent to packing 40 km (24 miles) of extremely fine thread into a tennis ball." - Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of the Cell, 7th ed. (2022)
Reposted by Joe Lapp
I started a blog and my first post is online!
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
Species Identifications: Common Pitfalls
Some thoughts about Identifications. How do we identify properly? How do we avoid mistakes?
weevil-see.github.io
August 8, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I started a blog and my first post is online!
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
The posts will try to explore topics which are not typically covered by introductory literature and textbooks, e.g. because they are considered to be "too basic". Let me know what you think!
weevil-see.github.io/taxonomy/Ide...
Reposted by Joe Lapp
Bluesky right now ...
August 30, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Bluesky right now ...
Reposted by Joe Lapp
Are there any authors on here? They might want to take a look at this, and take action by Sunday:
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
Anthropic Authors’ & Publishers’ Rights Class Action – Author Contact Page – Lieff Cabraser
www.lieffcabraser.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Are there any authors on here? They might want to take a look at this, and take action by Sunday:
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
This web has been on my car for about 3 weeks now, surviving all my driving, including once for 2 miles at 60 mph. It sometimes catches small flies at slow speeds. The spider stays behind the mirror during the day. I visited at 4am once to try to ID, but I wasn't sure. Maybe a young Neoscona.
August 9, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This web has been on my car for about 3 weeks now, surviving all my driving, including once for 2 miles at 60 mph. It sometimes catches small flies at slow speeds. The spider stays behind the mirror during the day. I visited at 4am once to try to ID, but I wasn't sure. Maybe a young Neoscona.
A funnel weaver is making a grand living on the 6th floor of a new, well-sealed office building. Body length ~5mm, its web is about 10" wide, 10" high in the pot of a tall plant. The plant has scale insects producing honeydew, and the fruits people bring for lunch provide a regular supply of flies.
July 23, 2025 at 10:34 PM
A funnel weaver is making a grand living on the 6th floor of a new, well-sealed office building. Body length ~5mm, its web is about 10" wide, 10" high in the pot of a tall plant. The plant has scale insects producing honeydew, and the fruits people bring for lunch provide a regular supply of flies.
Reposted by Joe Lapp
An interesting find today, because a juvenile Xysticus sp. was just hanging out in an Argiope bruennichi web! She tolerated it too as it was moving around a lot and she paid it no heed. At one point it even walked across her. @britishspiders.bsky.social
July 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM
An interesting find today, because a juvenile Xysticus sp. was just hanging out in an Argiope bruennichi web! She tolerated it too as it was moving around a lot and she paid it no heed. At one point it even walked across her. @britishspiders.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Lapp
Spiders and mites are hard to ID.
FREE entoLIVE webinar | Falling through the Cracks: iNaturalist Invertebrate Records in the UK | @josscarr.bsky.social | 16th Sept 2025
Sign up here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1461082720...
#iNaturalist #Biodiversity 🧪 🌍
@amentsoc.bsky.social @britentsoc.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
Sign up here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1461082720...
#iNaturalist #Biodiversity 🧪 🌍
@amentsoc.bsky.social @britentsoc.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social
July 11, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Spiders and mites are hard to ID.
I just read that the arguments between gradualism in evolution and punctuated equilibria were so heated that biologists bandied about the phrases "evolution by jerks" and "evolution by creeps." 🤣
July 5, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I just read that the arguments between gradualism in evolution and punctuated equilibria were so heated that biologists bandied about the phrases "evolution by jerks" and "evolution by creeps." 🤣
"The Administration is proposing to modify the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude effects to species’ essential habitats... limiting public comment to just 32 days... [Use the link] to request that the public comment period be extended to 90 days." savetheesa.org
Protect Endangered Species Act - Take Action Now | What you can do to help save the Endangered Species Act
Join us in safeguarding the Endangered Species Act. Learn how to take action against regulatory changes threatening vital protections for species at risk. Your voice matters in preserving biodiversity...
savetheesa.org
May 7, 2025 at 12:45 AM
"The Administration is proposing to modify the definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to exclude effects to species’ essential habitats... limiting public comment to just 32 days... [Use the link] to request that the public comment period be extended to 90 days." savetheesa.org
Reposted by Joe Lapp
This study was:
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
New research from the University of Texas may give the U.S. an added edge in the race toward rare element dominance.
Rare earth element extraction tech may give US a new edge in China trade war
Researchers at the University of Texas have developed a new method for extracting rare earth elements, such as lanthanum, using tiny tubes made of proteins. This process is similar to how cells in …
www.kxan.com
May 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
This study was:
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes
-done by immigrant scientists, who are now being turned away from the United States by the Trump regime,
-funded by the U.S. Dept of Energy, which is being defunded and purged by the Trump regime
-hosted at a public university experiencing vast Trump regime funding freezes