After 100 years of only studying dead specimens, scientists have finally filmed a living colossal squid in its natural habitat. This juvenile specimen was spotted 600m deep during a Schmidt #Ocean expedition near the South Sandwich Islands.
Adult colossal squids can weigh over 500kg (heavier than a small car!) and reach lengths of 6-7m, making them the heaviest invertebrates known to #science. They lose their transparent appearance as they mature.
Learn more: https://zurl.co/yavMM
A huge sigh of relief: I've finally managed to explain moss sex in a way that I hope is generally understandable. Not easy because there are only complicated technical terms for some stuff. Moss is generally neglected in all languages I know. So I have to find analogies ... We should have a moss sex cartoon. 
This is a well written and researched article explaining why (even) *biological sex* is so much more complicated than 0 or 1.
https://theness.com/neurologicablog/a-discussion-about-biological-sex/
Steven, the author, is also a host on one of my favourite podcasts, the Skeptics Guide to the Universe: https://www.theskepticsguide.org/podcasts
An unfurling leaf of Drosera binata, the Fork-leaved #Sundew, native to southeastern Australia and New Zealand.
Another #spotLights episode just aired! 
We’re launching our #biologists100 conference series with @richardsever, discussing:
The launch of openRxiv The role of preprints in supporting early-career researchers What’s ahead for scholarly publishing & peer review
Recorded live in Liverpool, March 2025 by Jonathan Townson & Reinier Prosee.
ICYMI: 
Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra made a surprising finding while examining museum specimens: caddisfly larvae from the early #1970s were already incorporating microplastics into their protective casings.
These #underwater #insects normally build tubes from pebbles, sand, and plant matter. Finding plastic in 50-year-old specimens from non-urban streams shows how long these pollutants have affected even relatively pristine ecosystems.
Learn more: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/microplastic-pollution-found-in-a-caddisfly-casing-from-1971
Students are neither left nor right brained: how some early childhood educators get this ‘neuromyth’ and others wrong https://theconversation.com/students-are-neither-left-nor-right-brained-how-some-early-childhood-educators-get-this-neuromyth-and-others-wrong-248888 #education #biology #neuroscience #children #science #STEM
I Am Violet is on YouTube!
I’ve reactivated my YouTube channel! For a little while, I had a playlist called How to Be Happy, but I stopped adding new videos to it around January. The two main reasons for my hiatus were an interruption in employment and a certain event outside Canada that gave trans people many reasons not to be happy.
I’ve been planning a new direction for my channel for some time now, and tonight I finally launched my first new video. My channel is going to be a “Trans 101” information source. There are already a lot of sources of information available online, but my contribution will be a series of brief, simple videos explaining the biology, psychology, and history of being transgender.
Please like, subscribe, and share this video. Even if you’re not trans or gender diverse, you may gain unexpected insights into your own personality.
And please ask questions in the comments. That’s why I’m here!
Adventurous or aggressive? Fairy-wren song reveals bird's personality
By Peter de Kruijff
The complex songs of the tiny social bird could advertise whether it's a risk-taking explorer or a stay-at-home defender, and influence how it chooses a mate.
Power plants in Brazil deploy GMOs to combat Asian pest
#politics #brazil #science #biology
https://valorinternational.globo.com/environment/news/2025/04/15/power-plants-deploy-gmos-to-combat-asian-pest.ghtml?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=compartilhar
Biologist Auke-Florian Hiemstra made a surprising finding while examining museum specimens: caddisfly larvae from the early #1970s were already incorporating microplastics into their protective casings.
These #underwater #insects normally build tubes from pebbles, sand, and plant matter. Finding plastic in 50-year-old specimens from non-urban streams shows how long these pollutants have affected even relatively pristine ecosystems.
Learn more: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/microplastic-pollution-found-in-a-caddisfly-casing-from-1971
@daniel And I found this quite an interesting read too: https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-everything-in-the-universe-turns-more-complex-20250402
Flying Without a Rudder
Aircraft typically use a vertical tail to keep the craft from rolling or yawing. Birds, on the other hand, maneuver their wings and tail feathers to counter unwanted motions. Researchers found that the list of necessary adjustments is quite small: just 4 for the tail and 2 for the wings. Implementing those 6 controllable degrees of freedom on their bird-inspired PigeonBot II allowed the biorobot to fly steadily, even in turbulent conditions, without a rudder. Adapting such flight control to the less flexible surfaces of a typical aircraft will take time and creativity, but the savings in mass and drag could be worth it. (Image credit: E. Chang/Lentink Lab; research credit: E. Chang et al.; via Physics Today)
Bring bacteria back! 
The influence of microbial manipulation on sugar kelp development.
Jasmine Talevi covers work from Jungsoo Park & team (#ParfreyLab) that highlights the fundamental role microbiomes play across diverse biological systems. #preprint
#preLight 
https://prelights.biologists.com/highlights/an-experimental-test-of-the-influence-of-microbial-manipulation-on-sugar-kelp-saccharina-latissima-supports-the-the-core-influences-host-function-hypothesis/
This is another interesting view of something that is gradually emerging: that all our theories (etc) are too simplistic! The universe is more diverse than our theories lead us to think...
https://aeon.co/essays/a-resurrected-defence-of-beanbag-genetics
Job - Alert 
RESEARCH ASSISTANT / PHD STUDENT (ALL GENDERS) - DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGY OF ALGAE-ASSOCIATED FLAGELLATES
Deadline: 2025-05-13
Location: Germany, Darmstadt, Hessen
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A mysterious ocean glow reported for over 400 years has stumped scientists. A new study could offer clues.
From @CNN: "For over 400 years, sailors have reported a mysterious phenomenon in which the ocean appears to glow as far as the eye can see."
