c0nc0rdance
@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social
Molecular biologist from Texas, here to share my meanderings on nature, science, history, politics, and zombies. Long threads a specialty.
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
I had to transcribe a translated version of this meme.
April 16, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I had to transcribe a translated version of this meme.
"Photo 51" was the X-ray diffraction pattern that revealed the internal structure of DNA, produced by PhD student Raymond Gosling working under Rosalind Franklin's direction at King's College in London in 1952.
Let's talk about how CORK & a PAPERCLIP played a central role in DNA's discovery.
Let's talk about how CORK & a PAPERCLIP played a central role in DNA's discovery.
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"Photo 51" was the X-ray diffraction pattern that revealed the internal structure of DNA, produced by PhD student Raymond Gosling working under Rosalind Franklin's direction at King's College in London in 1952.
Let's talk about how CORK & a PAPERCLIP played a central role in DNA's discovery.
Let's talk about how CORK & a PAPERCLIP played a central role in DNA's discovery.
There are two populations of white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum): Northern & Southern.
The Northern white rhino is functionally extinct. The last male, 'Sudan', died in 2018.
Two females remain, leaving only the possibility of artificial insemination with frozen sperm.
The Northern white rhino is functionally extinct. The last male, 'Sudan', died in 2018.
Two females remain, leaving only the possibility of artificial insemination with frozen sperm.
Stem cell breakthrough could save the northern white rhino
To save the northern white rhino species from extinction, researchers are turning stored rhino tissue samples into sperm and egg cells.
www.freethink.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:49 PM
There are two populations of white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum): Northern & Southern.
The Northern white rhino is functionally extinct. The last male, 'Sudan', died in 2018.
Two females remain, leaving only the possibility of artificial insemination with frozen sperm.
The Northern white rhino is functionally extinct. The last male, 'Sudan', died in 2018.
Two females remain, leaving only the possibility of artificial insemination with frozen sperm.
Another species no longer on the global Endangered list:
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).
A few decades after a Star Trek movie where the central conflict was the total extinction of the humpback, their numbers are rising fast enough to put them at "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).
A few decades after a Star Trek movie where the central conflict was the total extinction of the humpback, their numbers are rising fast enough to put them at "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List.
a man with a mustache says there be whales here in a dark room
Alt: Scotty from Star Trek Original Series (played by Jimmy Doohan) says there be whales here in a Klingon vessel's cargo hold.
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Another species no longer on the global Endangered list:
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).
A few decades after a Star Trek movie where the central conflict was the total extinction of the humpback, their numbers are rising fast enough to put them at "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae).
A few decades after a Star Trek movie where the central conflict was the total extinction of the humpback, their numbers are rising fast enough to put them at "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List.
I've said it before: everything giant pandas do makes more sense if you imagine they are six drinks in on a Friday night.
But I feel like we haven't fully celebrated their triumphant return. See, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is no longer Endangered.
A conservation success story!
But I feel like we haven't fully celebrated their triumphant return. See, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is no longer Endangered.
A conservation success story!
a panda bear is sitting on a wooden platform with toys
Alt: a panda bear is sitting on a wooden platform with toys, it barrels through them, falls, and manages to roll down every part of the stairs, as if on purpose. Just agent of chaos behavior.
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I've said it before: everything giant pandas do makes more sense if you imagine they are six drinks in on a Friday night.
But I feel like we haven't fully celebrated their triumphant return. See, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is no longer Endangered.
A conservation success story!
But I feel like we haven't fully celebrated their triumphant return. See, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is no longer Endangered.
A conservation success story!
"Hey boss, I have some stock photos here for the article that shows that longer walks beat several shorter walks. Which one do you want?"
"Uh, good, just whichever one is on top"
"I dunno, this one has a guy with a walker taking his pony..."
"I said WHICHEVER ONE IS ON TOP."
"Uh, good, just whichever one is on top"
"I dunno, this one has a guy with a walker taking his pony..."
"I said WHICHEVER ONE IS ON TOP."
Accumulating daily steps in longer bouts of walking is better for the heart than taking multiple short walks
go.nature.com/47LvbXE
go.nature.com/47LvbXE
Longer walks beat shorter strolls for heart health
Nature - People who rack up most of their daily steps in walks lasting less than five minutes have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than do those who amass their steps in big blocks.
go.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
"Hey boss, I have some stock photos here for the article that shows that longer walks beat several shorter walks. Which one do you want?"
"Uh, good, just whichever one is on top"
"I dunno, this one has a guy with a walker taking his pony..."
"I said WHICHEVER ONE IS ON TOP."
"Uh, good, just whichever one is on top"
"I dunno, this one has a guy with a walker taking his pony..."
"I said WHICHEVER ONE IS ON TOP."
TIL:
Tallinn was one of the last pagan strongholds in Europe, leading to the Papal-sanctioned "Northern Crusades" to defeat the "Baltic heathens" from c.1200 - 1225.
The Livonian Crusade ended with Danish Christian control of Estonia, but German Teutonic knights left strongholds.
Lovely photos!
Tallinn was one of the last pagan strongholds in Europe, leading to the Papal-sanctioned "Northern Crusades" to defeat the "Baltic heathens" from c.1200 - 1225.
The Livonian Crusade ended with Danish Christian control of Estonia, but German Teutonic knights left strongholds.
Lovely photos!
Last morning in Tallinn, with views over and under the city walls (as I wandered the long corridors of the subterranean bastion, I began to wonder where/when/if I'd come out!).
November 9, 2025 at 1:52 PM
TIL:
Tallinn was one of the last pagan strongholds in Europe, leading to the Papal-sanctioned "Northern Crusades" to defeat the "Baltic heathens" from c.1200 - 1225.
The Livonian Crusade ended with Danish Christian control of Estonia, but German Teutonic knights left strongholds.
Lovely photos!
Tallinn was one of the last pagan strongholds in Europe, leading to the Papal-sanctioned "Northern Crusades" to defeat the "Baltic heathens" from c.1200 - 1225.
The Livonian Crusade ended with Danish Christian control of Estonia, but German Teutonic knights left strongholds.
Lovely photos!
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
Both of these animals are 'pandas':
the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and
giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
But they're not closely related, with a common ancestor ~40 MYA.
So which one is the TRUE panda?
the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and
giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
But they're not closely related, with a common ancestor ~40 MYA.
So which one is the TRUE panda?
February 12, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Both of these animals are 'pandas':
the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and
giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
But they're not closely related, with a common ancestor ~40 MYA.
So which one is the TRUE panda?
the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and
giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).
But they're not closely related, with a common ancestor ~40 MYA.
So which one is the TRUE panda?
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
Take this image in: road signs leading down into the sea.
You're looking at 'Passage du Gois', a causeway that joins the island of Noirmoutier to mainland France, near Beauvoir-sur-Mer.
It's drivable twice a day at low tide, at high tide the water is *up to* 4 meters deep.
(📷: Florian Pépellin)
You're looking at 'Passage du Gois', a causeway that joins the island of Noirmoutier to mainland France, near Beauvoir-sur-Mer.
It's drivable twice a day at low tide, at high tide the water is *up to* 4 meters deep.
(📷: Florian Pépellin)
January 3, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Take this image in: road signs leading down into the sea.
You're looking at 'Passage du Gois', a causeway that joins the island of Noirmoutier to mainland France, near Beauvoir-sur-Mer.
It's drivable twice a day at low tide, at high tide the water is *up to* 4 meters deep.
(📷: Florian Pépellin)
You're looking at 'Passage du Gois', a causeway that joins the island of Noirmoutier to mainland France, near Beauvoir-sur-Mer.
It's drivable twice a day at low tide, at high tide the water is *up to* 4 meters deep.
(📷: Florian Pépellin)
Americans are 'somber', while Brits are 'sombre'.
Americans have 'fiber', while Brits have 'fibre'.
Americans go to the 'theater', while Brits attend the 'theatre'.
The -er v. -re difference stems from a more 'conservative' approach to French borrow words.
Let's take "somber"...
Americans have 'fiber', while Brits have 'fibre'.
Americans go to the 'theater', while Brits attend the 'theatre'.
The -er v. -re difference stems from a more 'conservative' approach to French borrow words.
Let's take "somber"...
November 8, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Americans are 'somber', while Brits are 'sombre'.
Americans have 'fiber', while Brits have 'fibre'.
Americans go to the 'theater', while Brits attend the 'theatre'.
The -er v. -re difference stems from a more 'conservative' approach to French borrow words.
Let's take "somber"...
Americans have 'fiber', while Brits have 'fibre'.
Americans go to the 'theater', while Brits attend the 'theatre'.
The -er v. -re difference stems from a more 'conservative' approach to French borrow words.
Let's take "somber"...
Ah the deep ocean, answering the question (this time) of:
What if shark but ALSO pig?
Let's meet the angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), found across the eastern Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean.
They're 'hairy', they grunt & they look like this 👇
What if shark but ALSO pig?
Let's meet the angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), found across the eastern Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean.
They're 'hairy', they grunt & they look like this 👇
November 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Ah the deep ocean, answering the question (this time) of:
What if shark but ALSO pig?
Let's meet the angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), found across the eastern Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean.
They're 'hairy', they grunt & they look like this 👇
What if shark but ALSO pig?
Let's meet the angular roughshark (Oxynotus centrina), found across the eastern Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean.
They're 'hairy', they grunt & they look like this 👇
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
I love this GIF of a grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) munching away on a red grape, cheeks stuffed full of goodness.
But I managed to track down the story, and it's even sweeter. This is Sully, who was found comatose in a Sydney park in 2015, 2 months pregnant, possibly concussed.
But I managed to track down the story, and it's even sweeter. This is Sully, who was found comatose in a Sydney park in 2015, 2 months pregnant, possibly concussed.
a bat with its tongue out is eating a piece of meat .
Alt: Sully, a grey-headed flying-fox, is wrapped in a towel, and is munching on a red grape, messily eating it, with wet-looking eyes and little puppy ears twitching out of joy. It's a very happy image.
media.tenor.com
January 30, 2025 at 2:07 AM
I love this GIF of a grey-headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) munching away on a red grape, cheeks stuffed full of goodness.
But I managed to track down the story, and it's even sweeter. This is Sully, who was found comatose in a Sydney park in 2015, 2 months pregnant, possibly concussed.
But I managed to track down the story, and it's even sweeter. This is Sully, who was found comatose in a Sydney park in 2015, 2 months pregnant, possibly concussed.
My ask of any science enthusiasts who tell the story of Rosalind Franklin:
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Her sister wrote my favorite essay about her. She points out that RF would have been famous even if she'd never looked at DNA
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Remembering my sister Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 aged 37 years. Sympathy and feminism
have combined to give us her familiar image as a downtrodden woman scientist, brilliant
but neglected, a heroine t...
www.thelancet.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:17 AM
My ask of any science enthusiasts who tell the story of Rosalind Franklin:
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
Don't make her life be about the DNA debacle. She died far too young, but she was a promising scientist in her own right, a mentor and scientific author.
Not for Watson or Crick, but for her legacy.
I hope he lived long enough to change his mind on some topics.
If nothing else, his life showed that even the deepest legacies of science & discovery do not overcome personal accountability in word and deed.
If nothing else, his life showed that even the deepest legacies of science & discovery do not overcome personal accountability in word and deed.
James D. Watson died on Thursday in East Northport, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 97.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Who Helped Discover the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I hope he lived long enough to change his mind on some topics.
If nothing else, his life showed that even the deepest legacies of science & discovery do not overcome personal accountability in word and deed.
If nothing else, his life showed that even the deepest legacies of science & discovery do not overcome personal accountability in word and deed.
A friend at UT was calling Bari Weiss's anti-woke "University of Austin" the "Scarbrough Highrise Institute of Technology" because it's leasing space in the historical Scarbrough Building in downtown Austin, but I've only just realized the acronym.
To Bari U, the propaganda school...
Trader Jeff Yass Is Giving $100 Million to ‘Anti-Woke’ University of Austin
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Trader Jeff Yass Is Giving $100 Million to ‘Anti-Woke’ University of Austin
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Exclusive | Trader Jeff Yass Is Giving $100 Million to ‘Anti-Woke’ University of Austin
CBS News’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, co-founded the Texas school, which describes its mission as “the fearless pursuit of truth.”
www.wsj.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:59 PM
A friend at UT was calling Bari Weiss's anti-woke "University of Austin" the "Scarbrough Highrise Institute of Technology" because it's leasing space in the historical Scarbrough Building in downtown Austin, but I've only just realized the acronym.
TRUE FACT:
Die Hard (1988) is based on the book "Nothing Lasts Forever" published in 1979 as a SEQUEL to Roderick Thorp's 1966 novel "The Detective" which was turned into a film in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra.
Bruce Willis plays the same character as Frank Sinatra.
Die Hard (1988) is based on the book "Nothing Lasts Forever" published in 1979 as a SEQUEL to Roderick Thorp's 1966 novel "The Detective" which was turned into a film in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra.
Bruce Willis plays the same character as Frank Sinatra.
November 7, 2025 at 5:37 PM
TRUE FACT:
Die Hard (1988) is based on the book "Nothing Lasts Forever" published in 1979 as a SEQUEL to Roderick Thorp's 1966 novel "The Detective" which was turned into a film in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra.
Bruce Willis plays the same character as Frank Sinatra.
Die Hard (1988) is based on the book "Nothing Lasts Forever" published in 1979 as a SEQUEL to Roderick Thorp's 1966 novel "The Detective" which was turned into a film in 1968 starring Frank Sinatra.
Bruce Willis plays the same character as Frank Sinatra.
I guess they moved on from the dislike button project? 😉
Blue Skies Space will sell data from its tiny, low-cost UV telescope. https://scim.ag/47B6eyc
Startup pioneers subscription service for space-based astronomy
Blue Skies Space will sell data from its tiny, low-cost UV telescope
scim.ag
November 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I guess they moved on from the dislike button project? 😉
I love that you can just casually stroll along a path and discover the homes of sea creatures that lived & strived on Earth before Saturn had its rings.
Deep time is even more intriguing (in some ways) than deep space.
Deep time is even more intriguing (in some ways) than deep space.
These dark patches on the limestone are ancient animal (shrimp-like creatures, we think!) burrows, made when this was a muddy sea floor. It is believed that a storm washed the the animals from these burrows and filled them in with gravel or sand (in this case Crinoid segments).
November 7, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I love that you can just casually stroll along a path and discover the homes of sea creatures that lived & strived on Earth before Saturn had its rings.
Deep time is even more intriguing (in some ways) than deep space.
Deep time is even more intriguing (in some ways) than deep space.
TIL: A million-year old fossil of a pregnant sea snail led me to the discovery that a small percentage of modern snails have internal fertilization, development & live birth.
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
November 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
TIL: A million-year old fossil of a pregnant sea snail led me to the discovery that a small percentage of modern snails have internal fertilization, development & live birth.
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
In Apple's "Prehistoric Planet", two male Dreadnoughtus dinosaurs challenge each other, displaying gular throat sacs.
There's no fossil evidence of these, but the titanosaurs did have extensive air sacs in their bones, so it's possible.
But here's MY question: Why did they have such long necks?
There's no fossil evidence of these, but the titanosaurs did have extensive air sacs in their bones, so it's possible.
But here's MY question: Why did they have such long necks?
November 7, 2025 at 1:53 PM
In Apple's "Prehistoric Planet", two male Dreadnoughtus dinosaurs challenge each other, displaying gular throat sacs.
There's no fossil evidence of these, but the titanosaurs did have extensive air sacs in their bones, so it's possible.
But here's MY question: Why did they have such long necks?
There's no fossil evidence of these, but the titanosaurs did have extensive air sacs in their bones, so it's possible.
But here's MY question: Why did they have such long necks?
Disney's animators claim to observe wild animals for weeks before drawing them.
Draw a flamingo beak RIGHT, you cowards!
Draw a flamingo beak RIGHT, you cowards!
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Disney's animators claim to observe wild animals for weeks before drawing them.
Draw a flamingo beak RIGHT, you cowards!
Draw a flamingo beak RIGHT, you cowards!
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
Let's talk about abyssal gigantism:
The tendency of animals found in ocean depths to be substantially LARGER than shallow-water cousins.
This is the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), which can reach 13 m (~40 feet) long from 'head' to tentacle tip.
They can live at depths of 1000+ m.
(📷:NTNU Museum)
The tendency of animals found in ocean depths to be substantially LARGER than shallow-water cousins.
This is the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), which can reach 13 m (~40 feet) long from 'head' to tentacle tip.
They can live at depths of 1000+ m.
(📷:NTNU Museum)
June 9, 2024 at 6:12 PM
Let's talk about abyssal gigantism:
The tendency of animals found in ocean depths to be substantially LARGER than shallow-water cousins.
This is the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), which can reach 13 m (~40 feet) long from 'head' to tentacle tip.
They can live at depths of 1000+ m.
(📷:NTNU Museum)
The tendency of animals found in ocean depths to be substantially LARGER than shallow-water cousins.
This is the giant squid (Architeuthis dux), which can reach 13 m (~40 feet) long from 'head' to tentacle tip.
They can live at depths of 1000+ m.
(📷:NTNU Museum)
To fix this engine, you'll need an ingenious engineer, OR a catapult straight to the dump!
See: engine, engineer, ingenious all share the same Latin root: 'ingenium', which means something like "innate talent", as in- ‘in’ + gignere ‘beget’.
And the craft of the ingenious were 'engines' of war!
See: engine, engineer, ingenious all share the same Latin root: 'ingenium', which means something like "innate talent", as in- ‘in’ + gignere ‘beget’.
And the craft of the ingenious were 'engines' of war!
a man is working on the engine of a car with his hood open .
Alt: a man is working on the engine of a car with his hood open .
media.tenor.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 PM
To fix this engine, you'll need an ingenious engineer, OR a catapult straight to the dump!
See: engine, engineer, ingenious all share the same Latin root: 'ingenium', which means something like "innate talent", as in- ‘in’ + gignere ‘beget’.
And the craft of the ingenious were 'engines' of war!
See: engine, engineer, ingenious all share the same Latin root: 'ingenium', which means something like "innate talent", as in- ‘in’ + gignere ‘beget’.
And the craft of the ingenious were 'engines' of war!
It's like if Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas suddenly invented socialism.
Trump to the Novo Nordisk CEO: "Maybe you should give us a piece of the company like I've been asking for."
November 6, 2025 at 10:12 PM
It's like if Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas suddenly invented socialism.
Reposted by c0nc0rdance
"Mike Johnson is starving families and gutting healthcare to cover up the Epstein Files.
CHANGE MY MIND"
CHANGE MY MIND"
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.
November 6, 2025 at 7:35 PM
"Mike Johnson is starving families and gutting healthcare to cover up the Epstein Files.
CHANGE MY MIND"
CHANGE MY MIND"