Dinosaurs Evolved Feathers for Far More Than Flight https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaurs-evolved-feathers-for-far-more-than-flight-180985012/

Dinosaurs Evolved Feathers for Far More Than Flight

Fluff and fuzz helped the creatures keep warm, blend in and communicate

American friends, what are your experiences of learning about evolution? Where did the 'wow!-it-all-fits-together' moment happen? Classroom? University? Interaction with an inspirational teacher? Reading in your own time? Would be interested to hear!

“We know that they can stay underwater for a really long time....We didn’t know whether there was actually any functional role for this bubble...” Love this. Still so many amazing things about animals that we've yet to discover. www.theguardian.com/science/2024...

Lizards use nostril bubbles to breathe underwater and evade predators, researchers find

Water anoles jump into streams when threatened and produce a bubble that helps them stay underwater for up to 20 minutes

And if you've already enjoyed The Last Days of the Dinosaurs, my new one will be out in February! When the Earth Was Green is a celebration of how plants and animals shape each other. “Brilliant, brimming with insight, and boundlessly entertaining." - Jason Roberts, author of Every Living Thing

Really buzzing at two glowing reviews today (Science, Wall Street Journal). For a comprehensive-educated East Midlander, it's quite the thrill.

I wrote for Science Careers about how more funding for science and increased collaboration can counterintuitively be bad for early-career scientists. In short, workplace structures and funding policy matter. 🧪 Read more: www.science.org/content/arti...

Larger teams worsen academic career prospects

As teams grow, new Ph.D. graduates are less likely to land tenure-track jobs and more likely to leave science—especially women and international researchers

And here's an excerpt from Time Magazine from a few days ago. It's a slice of the epilogue of Infinite Life, out this week in the US. Enjoy! time.com/7011760/clim...

Climate Change’s Profound Effects on Eggs

Eggs are survival machines, writes Jules Howard. So, what will climate change do to these adaptive life-vessels?

Wrote a eulogy for my placenta, published today in Slate. That rare thing: a disposable organ. It's here. slate.com/technology/2...

It’s the Human Body’s Only Disposable Organ. It Makes Us Who We Are.

It resembles a floppy Frisbee sprinkled with gore.

Just updated the Nature Writing Starter Pack - now with 75 writers - hope it's helpful. Please repost to help others find it. Also, do join in with the Nature Writing Feed by tagging posts with #naturewritinggo.bsky.app/NXoPc6D

This book has been on my to-get & to-read list since first hearing about it, so thanks for your take! Congrats to @juleshoward.bsky.social for your book birthday!