Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Simon Evans

PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 11h

JOB ALERT: We have an exciting Senior Research Assistant post available for a project tracking predators and prey simultaneously starting early 2026. We need someone with experience tagging adult raptors or wader chicks. This you? app.vacancy-filler.co.uk/salescrm/Car...

4 2

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 1d

It has taken only four weeks of primary education for my son to start teaching me new concepts.

Reposted by Simon Evans

Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 2d

Some good advice in here but one critical piece I always give is this:

Get a hobby. Preferably a mildly social one. One that has NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCE. NOTHING.

You need friends. Not colleagues. FRIENDS. Friends who will love you no matter your research prospects...

Nature @nature.com · 2d

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone considering a PhD?

We asked 3785 doctoral candidates across 107 countries for their hard-won wisdom
go.nature.com/4nDjJ7t

27 things we wish we’d known when we started our PhDs

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

go.nature.com

2 24 83

Reposted by Simon Evans

martinadams1.bsky.social @martinadams1.bsky.social · 4d

Spooneration on Brownsea yesterday @dorsetwildlife.bsky.social @dorsetbirdclub.bsky.social @harbourbirds.bsky.social @nationaltrust.org.uk

2 10 76

Reposted by Simon Evans

Dr Delyth Badder @folklorewales.com · 3d

Six weeks ago, I picked up a year-old tawny owl with a broken leg off the main road near our home and dropped him off at our nearest vet.

After a few days, I received one of the most bizarre phone calls I’ve ever had, asking “So when are you coming to pick up your owl?” 🧵

240 2.1K 8.9K

Reposted by Simon Evans

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 5d

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

www.popsci.com

26 890 2K

Reposted by Simon Evans

Daniel Lakens @lakens.bsky.social · 4d

People sometimes say they do not have time to do open science. But they can use the time they would have needed 40 years ago to send and request paper copies of articles to read the literature.

Somehow we never acknowledge where we gained time that we can invest in open science.

2 1 16

Reposted by Simon Evans

Ian Hussey @ianhussey.mmmdata.io · 4d

My article "Data is not available upon request" was published in Meta-Psychology. Very happy to see this out!
open.lnu.se/index.php/me...

LnuOpen | Meta-Psychology

open.lnu.se

4 36 100

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 8d

Utterly astonishing.

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 9d

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

1

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 9d

After knocking 4 minutes off our Junior Parkrun PB, we got to the car and listened to a firecrest singing. A fabulous Sunday morning.

2

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 9d

Wow!

Reposted by Simon Evans

Dan Chamberlain @danc-eco.bsky.social · 9d

We are seeking an ornithologist/modeller for a 2-year POST-DOC in Turin. Using archaeological remains, we will reconstruct past avian communities to understand the impacts of climate change and human pressure on birds through time. For details see cutt.ly/irN76QDZ PLEASE RT. #ornithology #AviArch

56 53

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 9d

Our 4yo wants to keep some of our kitchen’s fruit flies as pets. Feels like I’m already l losing him to popgen.

1 3 15

Reposted by Simon Evans

Stu Bearhop @stubearhop.bsky.social · 20d

Fully funded PhD working on insectivorous bird declines with a broad range of stakeholders. Starting ASAP #ornithology #zoology #biodiversity #science #ecology
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

77 67

Reposted by Simon Evans

Wildlife @worldwildlife.bsky.social · 10d

Turtle Ant (Cephalotes varians): This is a species of arboreal ant of the genus Cephalotes which is most characterised by a shield shaped head which they use to block their nest entrances from intruders. Extraordinary photo taken by Alex Wild. #turtleant #ant #insect #nature #wildlife #ants #insects

7 31 150

Reposted by Simon Evans

Natalia Jagielska @nataliajagielska.bsky.social · 11d

Museums of the future. A digital aquarium tunnel of the Triassic marine life, at the Geological Museum of Guizhou, China.

4 49 200

Reposted by Simon Evans

Arvid Ågren @arvidagren.bsky.social · 12d

Three covers for the Swedish translation of The Selfish Gene: from 1983, 1992, and 2019.

Note how the 1992 edition has an added subtitle: “A study in sociobiology”, which was never used in English.

I’m not aware of any other instance where a subtitle was added. Has anyone seen another example?

2 2

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 13d

Came out of my back door at 6am and nearly bumped into a stag. Having given us both a bit of space, he was beautifully silhouetted against the light from a street lamp, but you’ll have to take my word for it.

1

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 14d

Elegantly explains how we can do better. Given so many ecologists espouse the value of non-local field research, it’s way past time to end what the author powerfully refers to as “extractive collaboration” that maintains invisibility of key contributors. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Equity in science is a beautiful lie — and I’m done pretending

Science isn’t really moving towards equity; institutions are just perfecting the appearance of equity. We need to build an alternative system.

www.nature.com

1 1

Reposted by Simon Evans

Susie Dent @susiedent.com · 15d

To ‘ultra-crepidate’ (19th century) is to lecture others on subjects you know very little about.

77 680 2.2K

Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 15d

Outside my office window, large whites are feuding over the last of the Buddleia blooms in the autumnal sunshine.

1

Reposted by Simon Evans

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · Jun 30

Reconstructing animals from their fossilized remains requires meticulous artistry and scientific rigour.

What was done to bones partly of a woolly rhinoceros discovered in Germany in 1663 arguably involved neither.

Behold the 'Magdeburg Unicorn' in all its tea-spitting glory.

(Yes, it's real.)

The Magdeburg Unicorn, a truly ludicrous "reconstruction" with two legs, no torso or neck, and one enormous horn projecting from its horse-like skull.

8 50 220

Reposted by Simon Evans

Marshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · 16d

let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts

I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??

here she is at her burrow entrance.

30 170 660

Reposted by Simon Evans

Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 16d

"Why do queen bumblebees emerge from hibernation during weekends?"

I love this framing about bias in hobbyist-collected data.

Why do queen bumblebees emerge from hibernation during weekends? - Apidologie

Climate-driven shifts in bumblebee emergence and flowering time can disrupt plant reproduction and affect pollinator health. To study such mismatches, accurate phenological data is crucial but challen...

link.springer.com

3 39 140

Reposted by Simon Evans

Joel Wood 🇨🇦 @joelwwood.bsky.social · 23d

Whoa! Elsevier fired @richardtol.bsky.social, longstanding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Energy Economics. Richard's side of the story should be ringing alarm bells. #EconSky

Fraud and cover-up
richardtol.substack.com/p/fraud-and-...

Fraud and cover-up

richardtol.substack.com

4 44 91