Miriam Richards
@richardsmiriam1.bsky.social
Scientist, professor, gardener, grandmother.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Is this the moment Canada gets serious about science and the economy?
The federal budget includes $1.7-billion to attract international researchers and support Canadian R&D and IP protections
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
Fund the scientists who are already here. Fund basic science.
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Reposted by Miriam Richards
This world carries darkness in abundance, shadows that stretch long and cold. Joy is the medicine that mends what breaks, the balm that soothes what aches, the light that refuses to be extinguished. Seek joy in each dawn that breaks—let it be your daily practice, your ritual.
Gurdeep.ca/magazine
Gurdeep.ca/magazine
November 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
This world carries darkness in abundance, shadows that stretch long and cold. Joy is the medicine that mends what breaks, the balm that soothes what aches, the light that refuses to be extinguished. Seek joy in each dawn that breaks—let it be your daily practice, your ritual.
Gurdeep.ca/magazine
Gurdeep.ca/magazine
Reposted by Miriam Richards
If you're keeping score this week, Carney is:
* Negotiating backroom deals on pipelines with Alberta and without BC or Indigenous folks.
* Undermining anti-greenwashing laws.
* Making deals with the UAE despite their role in Sudan.
* Cutting funding for infectious disease work in Africa.
* Negotiating backroom deals on pipelines with Alberta and without BC or Indigenous folks.
* Undermining anti-greenwashing laws.
* Making deals with the UAE despite their role in Sudan.
* Cutting funding for infectious disease work in Africa.
November 21, 2025 at 8:55 PM
If you're keeping score this week, Carney is:
* Negotiating backroom deals on pipelines with Alberta and without BC or Indigenous folks.
* Undermining anti-greenwashing laws.
* Making deals with the UAE despite their role in Sudan.
* Cutting funding for infectious disease work in Africa.
* Negotiating backroom deals on pipelines with Alberta and without BC or Indigenous folks.
* Undermining anti-greenwashing laws.
* Making deals with the UAE despite their role in Sudan.
* Cutting funding for infectious disease work in Africa.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reveals torture, abuse carried out against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
‘It’s Israeli policy’: Report reveals abuse of Palestinians in prisons
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reveals torture, abuse carried out against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
bit.ly
November 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel reveals torture, abuse carried out against Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Ontario NDP leader ejected from Question Period after incorrectly labelling Ford gov as "corrupt," not "evil"
Ontario NDP leader ejected from Question Period after incorrectly labelling Ford gov as "corrupt," not "evil"
QUEEN’S PARK - Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles was kicked out of Question Period this morning after criticizing Doug Ford and incorrectly calling him and his entire government “corrupt,” instead of “t...
www.thebeaverton.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Ontario NDP leader ejected from Question Period after incorrectly labelling Ford gov as "corrupt," not "evil"
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Happy #WorldAnteaterDay! This Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) #SciArt is by Édouard Traviès for Charles Dessalines d'Orbigny, Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle (1849). Contributed to BHL by @ncsulibraries.bsky.social: www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19538021 🧪 📖 🌎 🐜 #ILoveBHL
November 19, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Happy #WorldAnteaterDay! This Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) #SciArt is by Édouard Traviès for Charles Dessalines d'Orbigny, Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle (1849). Contributed to BHL by @ncsulibraries.bsky.social: www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19538021 🧪 📖 🌎 🐜 #ILoveBHL
Now playing (in honour of our new AI friends)
November 19, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Now playing (in honour of our new AI friends)
A PhD student with a female supervisor that they refer to as "Dr", just sent me an email with "Dear Mrs. Richards". Trying not to be irritated because maybe it's an overdue email to my long-dead grandmother.
November 12, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A PhD student with a female supervisor that they refer to as "Dr", just sent me an email with "Dear Mrs. Richards". Trying not to be irritated because maybe it's an overdue email to my long-dead grandmother.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
We are out here fighting over whether we should keep burning the atmosphere or if people should have enough food to eat, and meanwhile the spiders are learning to cooperate. You do not want the spiders to cooperate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...
Stinking, Spongy, Dark, Huge: A Spider Web Unlike Any Seen Before
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:08 PM
We are out here fighting over whether we should keep burning the atmosphere or if people should have enough food to eat, and meanwhile the spiders are learning to cooperate. You do not want the spiders to cooperate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/s...
Reposted by Miriam Richards
An Oxytrigona cagafogo fire bee launches from her nest in subtropical Brazil.
When I took this photo in 2012, the resources available for species IDs were sparser than now, and I often left images unprocessed if I couldn’t figure it out.
Turns out I’ve got buried treasures!
When I took this photo in 2012, the resources available for species IDs were sparser than now, and I often left images unprocessed if I couldn’t figure it out.
Turns out I’ve got buried treasures!
November 11, 2025 at 3:43 PM
An Oxytrigona cagafogo fire bee launches from her nest in subtropical Brazil.
When I took this photo in 2012, the resources available for species IDs were sparser than now, and I often left images unprocessed if I couldn’t figure it out.
Turns out I’ve got buried treasures!
When I took this photo in 2012, the resources available for species IDs were sparser than now, and I often left images unprocessed if I couldn’t figure it out.
Turns out I’ve got buried treasures!
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How Inventors Find Inspiration in Evolution (Gift Article)
Soft batteries and water-walking robots are among the many creations made possible by studying animals and plants.
www.nytimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
PSA from the Tired Prof: Google Gemini creates way better multiple choice questions than GPT-5 does. In general, Gemini seems to 'know' way more science. Also, GPT-5 thinks the answer to 80% of multiple choice questions is B.
AI Teaching Assistant Pro | Contact North | Contact Nord
www.aiteachingassistantpro.ca
November 10, 2025 at 5:20 PM
PSA from the Tired Prof: Google Gemini creates way better multiple choice questions than GPT-5 does. In general, Gemini seems to 'know' way more science. Also, GPT-5 thinks the answer to 80% of multiple choice questions is B.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Scientist helped break new ground in study of genetics, but later caused outcry with promotion of racist ideas.
James Watson, who co-discovered DNA double helix, dies at 97
Scientist helped break new ground in study of genetics, but later caused outcry with promotion of racist ideas.
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Scientist helped break new ground in study of genetics, but later caused outcry with promotion of racist ideas.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Canadian reality TV star threatens to go full Karen on most powerful elected official in NYC
Canadian multimillionaire and Shark Tank guy Kevin O'Leary went on TV to say he's upset Zohran won't talk to him: "I and others who invest in real estate have tried to get a meeting to figure out what's rhetoric and what's policy. So far for me it's been crickets."
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Canadian reality TV star threatens to go full Karen on most powerful elected official in NYC
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Poilievre prevents more MPs from leaving party by locking doors, swallowing key
Poilievre prevents more MPs from leaving party by locking doors, swallowing key
OTTAWA – In an effort to prevent any more defections from caucus, party leader Pierre Poilievre has reportedly locked all Conservative MPs in an undisclosed room in Parliament Hill before swallowing the key.
www.thebeaverton.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Poilievre prevents more MPs from leaving party by locking doors, swallowing key
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Happy Halloween
October 31, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Happy Halloween
Reposted by Miriam Richards
This week, our “Babbage” podcast meets Madagascar’s seed hunters. We find out how, seed-by-seed, they hope to repair the country’s ancient, dwindling forests
Protecting the jungle: on the road with Madagascar’s seed hunters
Our podcast on science and technology. Botanists in Madagascar are stocking the world’s largest seed bank, hoping to restore the country’s dwindling forests
econ.st
October 30, 2025 at 10:01 PM
This week, our “Babbage” podcast meets Madagascar’s seed hunters. We find out how, seed-by-seed, they hope to repair the country’s ancient, dwindling forests
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Arthropod Photo of the Week: October 15, 2025
Tangerine furry-legs moth
Acraga moorei
Lepidoptera: Dalceridae
By Tom Myers, Kentucky, USA
#arthropodPOTW
Tangerine furry-legs moth
Acraga moorei
Lepidoptera: Dalceridae
By Tom Myers, Kentucky, USA
#arthropodPOTW
October 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Arthropod Photo of the Week: October 15, 2025
Tangerine furry-legs moth
Acraga moorei
Lepidoptera: Dalceridae
By Tom Myers, Kentucky, USA
#arthropodPOTW
Tangerine furry-legs moth
Acraga moorei
Lepidoptera: Dalceridae
By Tom Myers, Kentucky, USA
#arthropodPOTW
Llama lessons: Find all the plants with velcro attachments before the llama does.
October 22, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Llama lessons: Find all the plants with velcro attachments before the llama does.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Grass-powered lawnmower
October 7, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Grass-powered lawnmower
Reposted by Miriam Richards
"Why would it bow to antidemocratic pressures by placing a professor on leave without their request, consent, or involvement? That any university would do this is beyond comprehension and is cause for alarm about the future of academic freedom in Canada."
What Happened to the University’s Commitment to Free Expression? Charley Kirk, uAlberta, and Me | Centre for Free Expression
I was shocked when the University of Alberta administration informed me, one of its law professors, that I was being placed on non-disciplinary leave for my social media comments in the wake of Charli...
cfe.torontomu.ca
September 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
"Why would it bow to antidemocratic pressures by placing a professor on leave without their request, consent, or involvement? That any university would do this is beyond comprehension and is cause for alarm about the future of academic freedom in Canada."
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Going to share this with my mom and sister, both U of A graduates, and any other alumni I know, encouraging them to send a message to the university that their future financial support will be dependent on the school's commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
"Why would it bow to antidemocratic pressures by placing a professor on leave without their request, consent, or involvement? That any university would do this is beyond comprehension and is cause for alarm about the future of academic freedom in Canada."
What Happened to the University’s Commitment to Free Expression? Charley Kirk, uAlberta, and Me | Centre for Free Expression
I was shocked when the University of Alberta administration informed me, one of its law professors, that I was being placed on non-disciplinary leave for my social media comments in the wake of Charli...
cfe.torontomu.ca
September 29, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Going to share this with my mom and sister, both U of A graduates, and any other alumni I know, encouraging them to send a message to the university that their future financial support will be dependent on the school's commitment to academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Reposted by Miriam Richards
Canada Post “lost” 1 billion dollars last year?
How about, “it cost Canadians 1 billion dollars to have a national postal service” which works out to costing about $25 a year per person (population of Canada in 2024 = 40 million). Seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me.
How about, “it cost Canadians 1 billion dollars to have a national postal service” which works out to costing about $25 a year per person (population of Canada in 2024 = 40 million). Seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me.
"Canada Post is on track to lose money" Hum. Duh. It cost less than a toonie to send a letter across Canada.
"Canada Post is a service and not a business" was common knowledge until late stage capitalism brain rotted most people into think if it ain't making money for shareholders, it's failing.
"Canada Post is a service and not a business" was common knowledge until late stage capitalism brain rotted most people into think if it ain't making money for shareholders, it's failing.
September 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Canada Post “lost” 1 billion dollars last year?
How about, “it cost Canadians 1 billion dollars to have a national postal service” which works out to costing about $25 a year per person (population of Canada in 2024 = 40 million). Seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me.
How about, “it cost Canadians 1 billion dollars to have a national postal service” which works out to costing about $25 a year per person (population of Canada in 2024 = 40 million). Seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me.