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Reposted by Paula Ibáñez de Aldecoa

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 1d

Fear of novelty varies across species & individuals, impacting adaptability & survival. @themanybirds.bsky.social @drrmiller.bsky.social &co assess #neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 #bird species, identifying phylogenetic influences & broad ecological drivers @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4haLEsN

Left: Examples of novel objects used. Each black/white bar is 5 cm long. The objects ranged in size from a third to half the size of the subjects: (a) Southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, (b) Moluccan eclectus, Eclectus roratus, (c) Rüppell’s vulture, Gyps rueppelli, (d) gray-winged trumpeter, Psophia crepitans, (e) common waxbill, Estrilda astrild. Right: Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius) at Adlerwarte Berlebeck, Germany, interacting with a novel object. Image credit Kai Caspar.

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Paula Ibáñez de Aldecoa @pialdecoa.bsky.social · 1d

⚠️ PAPER ALERT!

Stoked to be part of @themanybirds.bsky.social 1st paper on the evolutionary correlates of #neophobia in #birds on @plosbiology.org

Contributing to this BTS project has been a truly enriching experience!

🦜🦉🐥🐧🦚🦅🦩🦆🪿

Kudos to @drrmiller.bsky.social for leading this titanic effort 💪🏻

Dr Rachael Miller (Harrison) @drrmiller.bsky.social · 1d

So excited that our first major empirical @themanybirds.bsky.social paper is now out in @plosbiology.org!
Leading this big team science project, with our excellent core leadership team, is a labour of love for me, delighted to see our hard work over the past 4 years has reached this milestone!

ManyBirds Project @themanybirds.bsky.social · 1d

🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology:
“A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.”
Led by the #ManyBirds Project - 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍
🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@themanybirds.bsky.social

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ManyBirds Project @themanybirds.bsky.social · 1d

🐦 Exciting news! Our new paper is out in PLOS Biology:
“A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia.”
Led by the #ManyBirds Project - 129 researchers, 82 institutions, 24 countries 🌍
🔗 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
@themanybirds.bsky.social

A large-scale study across the avian clade identifies ecological drivers of neophobia

Neophobia (the aversive response to novelty) varies considerably across species and individuals, and can impact adaptability and survival. This study assesses neophobia in 1400 subjects from 136 bird ...

journals.plos.org

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 6d

Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists.

We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.

Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Sign Up

Skype a Scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students and the public around the world.

www.skypeascientist.com

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 14d

The naturalist Jane Goodall died today at 91. Hope, she argued, is not merely “passive wishful thinking” but a “crucial survival trait.” Revisit a conversation with Goodall, from 2021: nyer.cm/F55JtsS

An image of Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee, from 1965. Photo courtesy CBS Photo Archive / Getty.

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 15d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 17d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 19d

New episode!! 🎉🎙️

A chat w/ @evoneuro.bsky.social & Georg Striedter about their new book, 'Bird Brains and Behavior.'

Birds do some astonishing things. They sing, fly, migrate, cache food, and hunt in total darkness. How do their brains make all this possible?

Listen: disi.org/brains-of-a-...

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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · Sep 5

A new academic year is ramping up. Have you considered adding us to your syllabus?

Podcasts episodes are a great way to add variety & boost engagement, and they offer a launchpad for exploration. A number of instructors have used our episodes to good effect!

(Let us know if you're among them!)

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Reposted by Paula Ibáñez de Aldecoa

Nature @nature.com · Sep 3

How is this possible?

This ant can lay eggs of two different species, birthed by the same mother

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Patrick Vallely @pjvphotography.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?"

Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Tighter crop of the same pika, focusing on its head.

An even tighter crop, focusing more on the pika's eye.

An extremely tight crop of the pika's eye, emphasizing their reflection of an early morning mountain scene.

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Copernicus ECMWF @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social · Aug 19

#Wildfires in Spain have reached record emissions in just one week according to our #CopernicusAtmosphere data. Heatwaves & drought are fueling fires, forcing evacuations & worsening air quality hundreds of km away. 🔥 Read the article for details
atmosphere.copernicus.eu/spain-below-...

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Caroline Hu @hudrewthis.bsky.social · Aug 20

Seeking scientist volunteers for this fall! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? I need collaborators for the next cohort of SciComm & Comics art and design students. All countries and scientific fields eligible.

An anole extends its dewlap, which says "call for scientists!"

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Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias @ceciliapad.bsky.social · Aug 7

What a fantastic new paper out today in @pnas.org: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... - and what a great resource, summarising the climatic niche of primates and tackling the hypothesis on whether primates evolved in warm tropical forests 😍

The radiation and geographic expansion of primates through diverse climates | PNAS

One of the most influential hypotheses about primate evolution postulates that their origin, radiation, and major dispersals were associated with e...

www.pnas.org

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Robert Francis @birdhistory.bsky.social · Jul 29

Actually my favorite bird etymology is that in 1400s England they gave human nicknames to birds (Jenny Wren, Tom Tit) but some of them stuck. Jack Daw became Jackdaw, Maggie Pie became Magpie. With Robin Redbreast they just dropped the original name of the bird entirely.

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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · Jul 21

All ~40 Cambridge Elements in Philosophy of Biology are available to download for free this week. Find them at www.cambridge.org/core/publica...

Philosophy of Biology

Welcome to Cambridge Core

www.cambridge.org

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University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · Jul 15

Then vs Now: Same chimp, same task - 17 years apart 🐒🔧

New Oxford-led research suggests that ageing can affect how wild chimpanzees use tools, though the impact varies widely between individuals.

More info ⬇️
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-07...

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Dieter Lukas @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy · Jul 8

Our #study finds that #male #dominance isn't the norm among #primates, and starts to unravel what shapes flexibility in intersexual power

paper (OA) https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2500405122

press release https://www.mpg.de/24986976/0630-evan-beyond-the-alpha-male-150495-x?c=2249

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Andra Meneganzin @andrameneganzin.bsky.social · Jul 2

🔥New paper out!🔥

Here, Grant & I defend a novel, multidimensional account of behavioural innovativeness that is multilevel too. This complicates comparative claims, as the links btwn individual & group innovativeness are far from straightforward.

Yes, #Neanderthals do pop up in the mix 💀🏺
#philsky

The Ramsey Lab @theramseylab.bsky.social · Jul 2

🚨What is behavioral innovativeness? And how can we make sense of claims that individuals or taxa are 'more innovative' than others? In their new EJPS paper, Grant Ramsey & @andrameneganzin.bsky.social defend a novel, multidimensional & multilevel account of innovativeness.👇

#philsci #HPbio #evobio

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Dr Craig R McClain @drcraigmc.bsky.social · Jun 24

I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science

Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM

From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...

journals.plos.org

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Joanna Bagniewska @joannabagniewska.com · Jun 24

Killer whales work together to make nifty exfoliating scratchers out of kelp.

This is the first time tool use has been documented for grooming in cetaceans; it's probably also the first time a tool is made that benefits two animals simultaneously.
🧪🐋

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Manufacture and use of allogrooming tools by wild killer whales

Michael Weiss and colleagues report on wild orcas using kelp as a tool for social grooming.

www.cell.com

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Ed Hawkins @edhawkins.org · Jun 21

Every country is warming.

Every country is experiencing more extreme weather events because of climate change, mainly caused by burning fossil fuels. www.ShowYourStripes.info

Time to #ShowYourStripes and start climate conversations to prompt actions to reduce emissions, personally & collectively.

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jun 6

We interrupt our regularly scheduled shitshow for a bit of delightful bird behavior.

Clever Cockatoos Have Figured Out How to Drink From Water Fountains

www.nytimes.com

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Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute #DISI @divintelligence.bsky.social · May 27

New postdoc positions at the (DISI-affiliated) Center for Possible Minds at Indiana University.

Looking for scholars interested in interdisciplinary research on the nature of biological, artificial, and collective intelligence.

Please share widely!

indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/29547

Center for Possible Minds Postdoctoral Fellow

The Center for Possible Minds at Indiana University, Bloomington, invites applications for Postdoctoral Fellows to join its Program for Advanced Research in Diverse Intelligences. The fellowship provi...

indiana.peopleadmin.com

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Michelle Ma @michellema.bsky.social · May 8

Each time you ask an AI chatbot a question, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water.

A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

The AI Boom Is Draining Water From the Areas That Need It Most

A Bloomberg News analysis finds that roughly two thirds of new data centers built or in development in the US since 2022 are in places with high levels of water stress.

www.bloomberg.com

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spencer roberts 🦈 @unpopularscience.bsky.social · May 9

I will forever be haunted by this footage.

Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity.

What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives.
🌎🦑🧪

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