Realm of the Winter Wren

Birds, nature, science, etc.

[wran]

‘Turbocharged’ Mitochondria Power Birds’ Epic Migratory Journeys | Quanta Magazine

Changes in the number, shape, efficiency and interconnectedness of organelles in the cells of flight muscles provide extra energy for birds’

[dailyisopods]

Today's isopod is Thai Spikey (Isopoda sp.)

[wran]

Cutting-edge tech made this tiny country a major exporter of food

The Netherlands has used advances in vertical farming, seed technology and robotics to become the world’s second-largest agriculture exporter.

[wran]

The Supreme Court Could Foster a New Kind of Civil War

With three decisions this month, the Court could break the back of Washington’s authority over regulation. Then, the battles over some of America’s biggest issues shift to the states.

[wran]

The Coronavirus Funding Collapse Is a Disaster

All epidemics trigger the same Sisyphean cycle of panic and neglect. Even so, that cycle isn’t meant to spin this quickly.

[bunjywunjy]

Any other birds, apart from cassowaries, that look like dinos?

thick-billed ravens rank pretty high on the "jesus christ a dinosaur" scale imho

[im-flashtoo]

How about this little guy? Vinous-throated parrotbill - just needs some teeny weeny teeth

[theflashisgone]

Emus look quite a bit like Struthiomimus with no tail and tiny wings.

[the-long-dog]

My favorite dinosaur looking bird is the pheasant coucal

[tetrabytez]

Parrot Beak Aseels are quite dinosaur looking! They remind me a lot of skinny Terror Birds and Oviraptors.

[teethwreath]

Takahe always give me dinosaur vibes. They're BIG, & something about those thick legs, broad beak, tiny eyes, body shape ... when you see them in real life they just FEEL paleo especially when you see them alongside their sleek little pukeko cousins

[velociraptrix]

roadrunners remind me of little Velociraptors

[raptorcivilization]

Got a few more for you: smooth-billed ani

Ground hornbills (why is baby dino so baby)

Hornbills in general have great "prehistoric" vibes

Others may not agree, but I think spur-winged geese count

[todaysbird]

pesquet’s parrot

vulturine guineafowl

x

[wran]

Sources:

https://xkcd.com/2456/ https://twitter.com/RVirologist/status/1388554738610884610?s=20 https://twitter.com/Maurice_Y_Lee/status/1388785667749007361?s=20 https://twitter.com/VasanthiViswa/status/1388734321498984451?s=20 https://twitter.com/HyvonenGroup/status/1388016456089096193?s=20 https://twitter.com/UriCohen42/status/1387652186037960706?s=20 https://twitter.com/VikiLovesFACS/status/1387830405869576195?s=20

[sinkinginthepee]

some day ill be able to post this on thursday

[adulthoodisokay]

it’s out of touch thursday

[dynastylnoire]

Okayyyy FootWork!

[the-big-milk]

@glumshoe walking the sand

[glumshoe]

I helped lead a woodcock walk a few weeks ago and this was all I could think about. It wasn’t supposed to be part of the program but I said “It wouldn’t be a woodcock walk without woodcock walking,” and made everyone who would go along with it do little woodcock wiggle-walks down the trail with me.

[pigcatapult]

Why do woodcocks wiggle so? Is it like how stickbugs and chameleons wiggle to imitate the wind?

[glumshoe]

No one is really sure. The most popular explanation is that it startles worms and insects into motion and makes them easier to detect, but it may also be an alarm signal in response to potential threats; they only seem to do it when they know they’re being observed, even while walking on flat rock or snow. It could possibly mean “hey, I know you see me, you know I see you, let’s both agree to just be cool and move on’.

[lyrslair]

[glumshoe]

Thanks! I won’t be able to unsee that.

[wran]

Meet the Sea Slugs That Chop Off Their Heads and Grow New Bodies

Their severed heads get around just fine until they regenerate perfectly functioning, parasite-free new bodies, scientists say.

[wran]

“I always wondered what all of the amino acids tasted like, thanks @abrowntable!”

[panda-poes]

An Ode to the Leading Ladies of Technology, on International Women’s Day by Kaitlin McAndrews

“Most engineers like to proceed from A to B to C in a series of logical steps. I’m the rare engineer who says the answer is obviously Z and we will get on with that while you guys work out how to do all the intermediate steps. It makes me a dangerous person to employ in IT but a useful one.“

Sophie Wilson is a computer scientist who designed the architecture behind the Acorn Micro-Computer — the first computer sold by British technology company, Acorn Computers • She CREATED THE ORIGINAL ARM COMPUTER PROCESSOR, which would later become one of the most successful IP cores • By 2012, her design could be found in most of the world’s mobile computers & smartphones

[glumshoe]

hiking? to get places? can’t relate

[glumshoe]

I hate hiking with people who want to reach destinations or travel a certain distance. I LOVE hiking with people who don’t mind stopping every thirty feet to look inside rotting logs or photograph spiders or identify salamanders. people who hike for exercise confuse and terrify me.

[lyrslair]

OH MY GOD YOU UNDERSTAND.

[glumshoe]

I joined an outdoors club in college and it fucking sucked because all anyone wanted to do was get to the top of the mountain as quickly as possible and only stopped to drink water and eat trail mix. It was awful.

[glumshoe]

Ideal hiking companions: botanists, entomologists, mycologists, people with asthma, children with ADHD, easily distractible dogs, people with great butts who walk slightly faster than I do

[ashwilliamsrighthand]

I do not hike. I take a leisurely stroll through the woods at my own pace, taking time to enjoy the view, take pictures, look at rocks and bugs, sit in the sun. I don’t have any sort of destination in mind, I’m just here for the vibes. Also my knees are shot to shit so I cannot go up or down a mountain with any sense of urgency.

[witchyseastars]

I only have one lung and I love taking pictures and just sitting in nature… im also a biologist and love looking at ecosystems in miniature. my family hikes to get to the top and I hate it!!! They’ll stop for 30 seconds to get a photo but thats it! I hate living in colorado everyone hikes for the exercise

[glumshoe]

I also hate Coloradorans for the same reason so you and your lung sound like my ideal hiking partner

[speciesofleastconcern]

I have a friend who proudly says “we hiked 5 miles in 2 hours!” and I’m like how did you see any bugs???

[littlemuseums]

My partner is an elite athlete with hyperactivity issues (like, professional fighter and crazy endurance sports enthusiast who impulsively jumps and climbs on everything) and hiking for him is like, “Awesome obstacle course jungle gym!!!” and I’m like, “Imagine being this little mushroom on this rotting log by this tiny stream…”

[wran]

Special report: Twenty extraordinary women blazing trails in biopharma R&D — Covid-19 and beyond

In the second year of Endpoints News' budding tradition of highlighting women blazing trails in biopharma R&D, we've seen a number of firsts. For the first time, the biggest story in R&D is also top of mind for a world anxious to end the most devastating health crisis in decades. With

[monamoni]

[wran]

How mRNA went from a scientific backwater to a pandemic crusher

For decades, Katalin Karikó's work into mRNA therapeutics was overlooked by her colleagues. Now it's at the heart of the two leading coronavirus vaccines

In 2005, Karikó and Weissman published a study announcing a specifically modified form of mRNA, which replaced Uridine with an analog – a molecule which looked the same, but did not induce an immune response. It was a clever biological trick, and one which worked. When mice were injected with this modified mRNA, they lived. “I just remember Drew saying, ’Oh my god, it’s not immunogenic,’” said Karikó. “We realised at that moment that this would be very important, and it could be used in vaccines and therapies. 

In 2013, she accepted an offer to become Senior Vice President at BioNTech after UPenn refused to reinstate her to the faculty position she had been demoted from in 1995. “They told me that they’d had a meeting and concluded that I was not of faculty quality,” she said. ”When I told them I was leaving, they laughed at me and said, ‘BioNTech doesn’t even have a website.’”

[justcatposts]

“Lily likes the pretty shinies“ 

(via)

[mellifexfarm]

why do Tinamou eggs look like that. i want to eat them whole 

[mellifexfarm]

im going to swallow these like a snake

[gallusrostromegalus]

I was seized with a primal need to know what this bird looks like and I’m not sure what I was expecting but:

I am EXTREMELY pleased with everything about this animal.

[wran]

More behind the colors:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/vvby9a/the-great-tinamou-lays-the-fanciest-eggs-in-the-bird-world

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68070-7