Stuart Thompson
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drdsthompson.bsky.social
Stuart Thompson
@drdsthompson.bsky.social
280 followers 490 following 460 posts
Into plants, science fiction and comics, naturism (inasmuch as defining yourself by what you wear or don't is meaningful), mythology and archaeology.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
carlbergstrom.com
And just like that, the US has left the World Health Organization.

Link goes to the official announcement—lies pretending to justify a decision that will kill countless numbers—from people too stupid to even include a proper twittercard.

www.hhs.gov/press-room/u...
United States Completes WHO Withdrawal WASHINGTON —  January 22, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of State today announced the United States’ completion of its withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a joint statement on the termination of U.S. membership in the WHO.President Trump on January 20, 2025, announced the U.S. plan to leave the WHO. During the yearlong process, the U.S. stopped funding WHO, withdrew all personnel from WHO, and began pivoting activities previously conducted with WHO to direct bilateral engagements with other countries and organizations. With the exit from WHO, the U.S. will be coordinating with WHO solely in a limited fashion to effectuate withdrawal.  The WHO delayed declaring a global public health emergency and a pandemic during the early stages of COVID-19, costing the world critical weeks as the virus spread. During that period, WHO leadership echoed and praised China's response despite evidence of early underreporting, suppression of information and delays in confirming human-to-human transmission. The organization also downplayed asymptomatic transmission risks and failed to promptly acknowledge airborne spread.After the pandemic, the WHO did not adopt meaningful reforms to address political influence, governance weaknesses or poor coordination, reinforcing concerns that politics took priority over rapid, independent public health action and eroding global trust. Its report evaluating the possible origins of COVID-19 rejected the possibility that scientists cre…
January 23, 2026 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
kjhealy.co
All My Apes Gone, academia edition.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
When two years of academic work vanished with a single click
After turning off ChatGPT’s ‘data consent’ option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. Here’s what happened next.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
nature.com
Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 The biggest 'Schrödinger's cat' yet — physicists put 7,000 atoms in superposition 🧪

go.nature.com/3LtK7mp
The biggest 'Schrödinger's cat' yet — physicists put 7,000 atoms in superposition
Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 21 January 2026
go.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
jxbotany.bsky.social
🌱🍅 RESEARCH 🌱🍅

The FW2.2-LIKE/CELL NUMBER REGULATOR protein SlFWL5 is localized at plasmodesmata and regulates aerial vegetative growth in tomato, via cell expansion - Beauchet et al.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2.Subcellular localization of SlFWLs fused to YFP in N. benthamiana leaf epidermal cells. (A) ER localization revealed by the use of the ER-specific marker construct pUBI::mTagBFP2-HDEL. Scale bar=10 µm. (B) Cytosol and nuclear localization revealed by the use of the marker construct pUBI::mScarlet-I. Scale bar=10 µm. (C) PM localization revealed by the membrane-specific dye FM4-64. Scale bar=20 µm. Intensity plots delineated by the dashed lines are shown for each co-localization pattern.
January 22, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
drdavidlroberts.bsky.social
BBC News - Nature loss is a national security risk, intelligence groups warn - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Nature loss is a national security risk, intelligence groups warn
The degradation of ecosystems around the world threatens UK food security, a long-awaited report says.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 6:56 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
bylinesnetwork.co.uk
Should the River Wye have legal rights?
Giving the natural world enforceable rights in law, known as rights of nature, is not fanciful. Those rights can have practical application

westenglandbylines.co.uk/region/heref...
Should the River Wye have legal rights?
Giving the natural world enforceable rights in law, known as rights of nature, is not fanciful. Those rights can have practical application
westenglandbylines.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
crookedfootball.bsky.social
Partha Dasgupta on why the disappearance of humanity would be bad
The Repugnance of Human Extinction: Why Our Survival Matters
Runaway carbon emissions and biodiversity loss are interfering so much with the workings of the biosphere that humanity now faces a problem it did not face in the past: a human-created possibility …
lithub.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
pnas.org
Hyracotherium, the “dawn-horse,” was not closely related to horses at all, according to a fossil analysis that also traces the fast dispersals of the genera Pliolophus and Cardiolophus across three continents 56 million years ago. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/c8J450Y0O2O
Partial skull of Pliolophus vulpiceps (holotype, NHMUK PV M 10657). CREDIT: The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
January 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
markrubin.bsky.social
Including teaching on critical thinking….

doi.org/10.1016/j.je...
Misplaced trust: When trust in science fosters belief in pseudoscience and the benefits of critical evaluation At a time when pseudoscience threatens the survival of communities, understanding this vulnerability, and how to reduce it, is paramount. Four preregistered experiments (N = 532, N = 472, N = 605, N = 382) with online U.S. samples introduced false claims concerning a (fictional) virus created as a bioweapon, mirroring conspiracy theories about COVID-19, and carcinogenic effects of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). We identify two critical determinants of vulnerability to pseudoscience. First, participants who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims that contain scientific references than false claims that do not. Second, reminding participants of the value of critical evaluation reduces belief in false claims, whereas reminders of the value of trusting science do not. We conclude that trust in science, although desirable in many ways, makes people vulnerable to pseudoscience. These findings have implications for science broadly and the application of psychological science to curbing misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
January 11, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
timby2.bsky.social
BBC News - Oldest cave painting could rewrite origins of human creativity - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Really interesting.
Oldest cave painting could rewrite origins of human creativity
A stencilled outline of a hand found on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the world's oldest known cave painting, researchers say.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 21, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
science.org
Researchers have applied serial biopsies to safely monitor glioblastoma progression and responses to immunotherapy in two patients, capturing details that are invisible to standard-of-care MRI.

Learn more in #ScienceTranslationalMedicine: https://scim.ag/46Id31J
Now you see me; now you don’t
Multiomics on serial glioblastoma biopsies can enable differentiation of pseudoprogression from true tumor progression (see Ling et al.).
scim.ag
January 21, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
matthewcobb.bsky.social
Link to Nature paper in article.
Hand shape in Indonesian cave may be world’s oldest known rock art
Archaeologists say stencil painted with ochre in limestone cave on Muna Island was created at least 67,800 years ago
www.theguardian.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
nature.com
Schrödinger’s cat just got a little bit fatter

go.nature.com/3NyahF6
Schrödinger’s cat just got bigger: quantum physicists create largest ever ‘superposition’
Record-breaking experiment shows that a cluster of thousands of atoms can act like a wave as well as a particle.
go.nature.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
dri.ie
We are delighted to announce another ingest from the National Botanic Gardens - The National Herbarium of Ireland digital collection of Irish plants.

This comprehensive collection holds 5,000+ scaled photographs of a variety of herbarium specimens collected in Ireland.

More: dri.ie/news/new-col...
New Collection in DRI – The National Herbarium of Ireland digital collection of Irish plants - Digital Repository of Ireland
The Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI) is delighted to announce that a new collection – The National Herbarium of Ireland digital collection of Irish plants – has been published in the Repository by ...
dri.ie
January 20, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
plantspeopleplanet.bsky.social
❗Decline in botanical education threatens response to climate action and food security

www.ucd.ie/newsandopini...

Research reveals what inspires people to study plant biology, a subject essential for addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and food security.

#PlantScience 🧵1/2
January 21, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
us.theconversation.com
‘Water bankruptcy’ is a growing problem worldwide — from Tehran’s depleted reservoirs to the overdrawn Colorado River in the U.S. west. buff.ly/Dz0Ozez
The world is in water bankruptcy, UN scientists report – here’s what that means
Like living beyond your financial means, using more water than nature can replenish can have catastrophic results.
theconversation.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
newphyt.bsky.social
✨ Paper spotlight ✨

(🧵 1/7) Beyond species means – the intraspecific contribution to global wood density variation
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fig. 1 Tree species coverage in the Global Wood Density Database (GWDD) v.2.
January 21, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
newscientist.com
Concerns around common sunscreen chemicals have prompted the search for natural alternatives, with lignin from wood being one of the most promising candidates
Sunscreens made from ground-up wood reach an SPF of over 180
Concerns around common sunscreen chemicals have prompted the search for natural alternatives, with lignin from wood being one of the most promising candidates
www.newscientist.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
sufs-paris-rp.bsky.social
“The speed, the scope and the severity of the attacks on science are beyond anything we’ve ever seen.”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Shattered’: US scientists speak out about how Trump policies disrupted their careers
Researchers lay bare the human toll of lay-offs, funding cuts and attacks on science one year after the president’s return to the White House.
www.nature.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:54 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
nature.com
Book review 📚 Forget formalism: mathematics was built on infighting and emotional turmoil

go.nature.com/3LUmwvd
Forget formalism: mathematics was built on infighting and emotional turmoil
A fast-paced book captures how theory and formal proof intertwined with the personal lives of prominent mathematicians.
go.nature.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
johngosland.bsky.social
philosophynow.org/issues/168/W...

Also did you read this in Philosophy Now? (not sure your opinion on the mag):

Zizek was kinda cooking with the obsessional neurotic (coupled with a lie) and the histrionic (coupled with the truth)

A lot of disconnected/lazy/uneducated 🇺🇸’s struggle parsing this
Welcome to the Civilization of the Liar’s Paradox | Issue 168 | Philosophy Now
Slavoj Žižek uncovers political paradoxes of lying.
philosophynow.org
January 20, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
biotay.bsky.social
Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
science.org
The barrel-shaped structures found by the thousands in most animal cells are one of biology’s biggest mysteries. But although researchers haven’t figured out the function of these “vaults,” they now report a new use for the puzzling particles.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/49pv8mB
Two panel graphic showing new method for tracking gene activity.
January 19, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Stuart Thompson
adamrutherford.bsky.social
The new ICE Bluesky account only follows journalists from NPR, The Washington Post and the NY Times. I guess they must be interested in keeping up with current affairs, cos of course public monitoring of the free press by a Governmental violent militia might look a bit fashy.
January 17, 2026 at 7:34 AM