It's not weird for some species to incorporate toxins from their diet as defenses: poison dart frogs, monarch butterflies, sea slugs, etc

But let's get weird and circuitous with it

#Nicotine was developed by plants to kill insects. As a quirk of #neurochemistry, humans use it addictively, so cigarette butts are everywhere

Birds have figured out they can use them in their nests to repel insect parasites

The original intention of nicotine

Weird!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/science/bird-nests-cigarettes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UFA.F5GS.0LI5710DsNRs

#Science #Ecology

Coal plant forced to stay open due to emergency order isn't even running https://arstechni.ca/Ukbb #departmentofenergy #energyemergency #renewableenergy #Science #Policy #Energy #coal

Never mind Band-Aids, Neanderthals had antiseptic birch tar https://arstechni.ca/bnyt #ancientpeopledidstuff #paleoanthropology #herbalremedies #anthropology #Neanderthals #antibiotics #Archaeology #hominins #Science

Human vision: what we actually see – and don’t see – tells us a lot about consciousness
#Science #Neuroscience #Psychology #Consciousness #HumanBrain #Vision #Perception #Mind #Brain #Awareness #PhilosophyOfMind #Neuropsychology #HumanMind #DeepThinking
https://the-14.com/human-vision-what-we-actually-see-and-dont-see-tells-us-a-lot-about-consciousness/

Un portrait intrigant, mais trop court, de l'informaticien Gilles Brassard. Le chercheur québécois vient de recevoir le prix Turing (avant le Nobel ?).
https://www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/chroniques/2026-03-18/plus-haute-distinction-en-informatique/le-quebecois-gilles-brassard-remporte-le-prix-turing-et-fait-un-pied-de-nez-a-trump.php

#Québec #Science #GillesBrassard #PrixTuring #InformatiqueQuantique

ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer https://thever.ge/aSxe #Science #Health #OpenAI #Report #xAI #AI

"Díaz Cárdenas started his company, Marsh Foods, & he’s joined a small but growing group of Salicornia farmers from around the world, from Mexico to the Netherlands to Israel. For these farmers, the plant stands as a superfood—and a nature-based solution to several environmental and agricultural challenges, such as land degradation and saltwater intrusion, that are only intensifying." Smithsonian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/as-the-planet-warms-a-humble-sea-bean-is-proving-to-be-a-promising-superfood-180988301
#Science #ClimateCrisis
#diversity

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Díaz Cárdenas holds a variety of seagrass and started his company, Marsh Foods, in 2017. © Alfredo Caliz, via Smithsonian

✨🪲 Researchers are studying the mathematical models that allow thousands of #fireflies to blink in perfect unison.

By observing these bioluminescent #insects, scientists can better understand how decentralized systems coordinate complex behaviors without a single leader.

👉 https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/the-science-of-how-fireflies-stay-in-sync/

#biology #physics #nature #science #wildlife #entomology #math #bioluminesence

Residents across northeastern Ohio in the U.S. received a rude — or at least extremely unexpected — wake-up call Tuesday morning.

@popsci reports on a large meteor that entered the atmosphere: https://flip.it/5bUgcU

#Meteor #Space #Cleveland #Science

🗨️ #science should investigate what kind of person actually manages to reach a leading political position, and why everyone in office suddenly loses logical thinking and morality - #research #socialscience #biology

#law #warcrimes #crimesAgainstHumanity
#AbuseOfOffice
#US #UK #EU #UN (...)
#politics #illegalactions
#war #waroniran #palestine
#genocide
#propaganda #media #policies
#journalism

📲 Video: R. Medhurst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcNWJJ8IgUE

Does infinity exist, or is it a tool that mathematics use?
Most people encounter infinity as a symbol ∞ and treat it as shorthand for something very large. In mathematics, this is not what infinity means.

#cosymorg #science #infinity

https://cosym.org/2026/03/18/does-infinity-exist/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

🎨🌛 #Reading usually requires a lamp, but "Goodnight Light" is designed specifically for the dark.

Using special glow-in-the-dark ink, the pages appear empty in daylight but uncover a story of friendship once the #sun sets. Created to help kids embrace the #night and promote #energy efficiency, the #book even folds out into a star-shaped bedside lamp.

👉 https://www.creativebloq.com/entertainment/books/this-childrens-book-appears-blank-in-the-daytime

#art #books #design #sustainability #innovation #lighting #creativity #education #parenting #science

WTF? One of these days, we're just going to cease to exist as a black hole instantly forms in some location by a hadron collider and swallows all of us whole:

https://home.cern/news/news/physics/lhcb-collaboration-discovers-new-proton-particle?user_id=688df53416db12a71511c696

#science #proton #wtf

Is the Universe Defective? Part 3: The Great Vanishing Act

https://www.universetoday.com/articles/is-the-universe-defective-part-3-the-great-vanishing-act

#science #astrophysics #cosmology

Study finds ChatGPT gets science wrong more often than you think

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260317064452.htm

#ai #science

NGC 2170, the Angel Nebula in Orion. #Science #Astronomy

Alt...

A dark nebula with glowing blue and white regions is surrounded by numerous stars against a black background in deep space.

Scientists Spot a Black Hole-Neutron Star Pair Breaking the Rules of Cosmic Orbits

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-spot-a-black-hole-neutron-star-pair-breaking-the-rules-of-cosmic-orbits/

#science #astronomy #astrophysics

St Patrick's Day: Textbooks Might Be Wrong About Why Plants Are Green

https://www.sciencealert.com/st-patricks-day-textbooks-might-be-wrong-about-why-plants-are-green

#science #physics #biology #plants

The science of how fireflies stay in sync

Engineers have uncovered the mathematical rules fireflies follow to sync up their flashes.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/the-science-of-how-fireflies-stay-in-sync/#biology #biophysics #collective-motion #quorum-sensing #science #swarms

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Long-exposure photo of a firefly swarm in Congaree.

Good news, folks! mRNA vaccines don't cause "turbo cancers" — first, because those don't exist, and second, because mRNA technology has been studied for decades and large population studies have found no increased cancer risk at all following vaccination. Here's more from @TheConversationUS on how the rapid spread of vaccine misinformation is threatening the development of this potentially transformative technology.

https://flip.it/sxUmR0

#Science #COVID #Vaccination #Misinformation #Cancer

US judge blocks efforts to reshape childhood #vaccine policy

#law #PublicHealth #health #medicine #science #Trump #RFKJr #ConspiracyTheories
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-blocks-efforts-reshape-childhood-vaccine-policy-2026-03-16/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

"To local tribes, the scientists’ battle recalled pākehā fighting over access to Indigenous land—one of the oldest stories in New Zealand’s history."

Sean Williams for Now Voyager: https://nowvoyagermag.com/reporting/beneath-the-long-white-cloud

#Longreads #NewZealand #Environment #History #Indigenous #Research #Science #Volcano #NaturalDisaster

A large meteor is visible from much of Ohio and parts of neighboring states https://arstechni.ca/Q83w #Science

A Physicist Recreated The Sound Of The Big Bang – And It Sounds Eerily Wonderful

https://www.iflscience.com/a-physicist-recreated-the-sound-of-the-big-bang-and-it-sounds-eerily-wonderful-82841

#science #physics

"The odds of being struck by lightning in America in a given year are one in 1.2 million. How does the experience reorient a person’s sense of chance, of fate?"

From @TheAtlantic: "What 100 Million Volts Do to the Body and Mind."

https://flip.it/yLkR5C

#Lightning #Science #Electricity #Health

"However, king penguins’ shifting breeding habits also demonstrate just how quickly the planet is changing. If global warming continues, they may not be able to keep pace in the long run."
Smithsonian https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/king-penguins-seem-to-be-benefiting-from-a-warming-world-while-thats-good-news-for-now-it-could-spell-trouble-for-the-future-180988352/
#Science #ClimateCrisis

Alt...

Scientists tracked the breeding behaviors of king penguins on Possession Island, part of the French-controlled Crozet archipelago. Patrick Hertzog / AFP via Getty Images & Smithsonian

Could paraxanthine replace caffeine? What we know about the new stimulant appearing in coffee and energy drinks
#Paraxanthine #Caffeine #EnergyDrinks #Coffee #Health #Science #Nutrition #Fitness #BrainHealth #Focus #Wellness #FoodScience #Stimulants
https://the-14.com/could-paraxanthine-replace-caffeine-what-we-know-about-the-new-stimulant-appearing-in-coffee-and-energy-drinks/

NASA kills future x-ray mission

$1 billion AXIS proposal fell victim to agency upheaval, principal investigator says.

https://www.science.org/content/article/nasa-kills-future-x-ray-mission

#science #news #astrodon #NASA #space #astronomy #astrophysics #AXIS #AXISobservatory

Can animals sense earthquakes?
#Earthquakes #Science #Animals #Wildlife #Nature #Research #Geology #Environment #SeismicActivity #AnimalBehavior #Climate #Discovery #ScienceNews #Education
https://the-14.com/can-animals-sense-earthquakes/

Researchers develop computational method to design efficient sunlight-driven catalysts

📰 Original title: Scientists unlock a powerful new way to turn sunlight into fuel

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/researchers-develop-computational-method-to-design-efficient-sunlight-driven-catalysts/?redirpost=5e60ad72-131e-46cd-95a3-20c461417203

#science #photocatalysis #solarenergy #materialsscience

A strange twist in the universe’s oldest light may be bigger than we thought
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315225141.htm?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=Econopass%2Fmagazine%2FFLIPBOARD+EXCHANGE+FEED+%F0%9F%97%9E%EF%B8%8F
Scientists studying a mysterious effect called cosmic birefringence—a subtle twist in the polarization of the universe’s oldest light—have developed …
#science #universe

Webb’s resolution reveals structures never seen before in distant galaxies. See the breakthrough → https://www.jameswebbdiscovery.com/astronomy-news/james-webb-deep-field-image #SpaceExploration #Space #Science #JWST #Astrophysics #Hubble

Webb’s resolution reveals stru...

Can animals sense earthquakes?

https://theconversation.com/can-animals-sense-earthquakes-275464

#science #animals #earthquake

Scientists just discovered a tiny signal that volcanoes send before they erupt

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/03/260315004411.htm

#science #geology #volcano

Evaluating Academic Writing Services for Microbiology Students

📰 Original title: Best Academic Writing Websites For Writing Papers On Microbiology Topics

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/evaluating-academic-writing-services-for-microbiology-students/?redirpost=7037be74-8041-4afe-b741-13a7f1fade73

#science #microbiology #academicwriting

Only fascists & billionaire oligarchs deny science . These are unprecedented climate events on the West Coast & floods in Hawaii #science #climate

Big Picture Science for Mar. 16, 2026: Skeptic Check: Project Hail Mary

As protagonist Ryland Grace fights to save Earth - and possibly the universe - in Project Hail Mary, author Andy Weir discusses the science behind his sci-fi story and what it’s like to see it adapted for the big screen. From a diversity of aliens thriving in extreme environments, to our sun’s shortening lifespan, to the conundrum of keeping astronauts alive during intergalactic missions, we consider the possibility of science fiction becoming future reality. A NASA astrobiologist who consulted on the book weighs in on how Earthly creatures have inspired some of our favorite science fiction aliens. Plus, science fiction author Becky Chambers discusses how she balances science fact with fiction in her work.

Guests:

* Andy Weir – science fiction writer, author of Project Hail Mary, The Martian, and Artemis
* Andy Fraknoi – professor of astronomy at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco
* Becky Chambers – science fiction writer, author of To Be Taught if Fortunate, the Wayfinders series, and the Monk and Robot novellas
* Shawn Domagal-Goldman – NASA acting director, astrophysics division

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-project-hail-mary

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

#ProjectHailMary #ScienceFiction #BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science

Earliest known whale song recording from 1949 found https://www.sciencealert.com/watch-oldest-known-whale-song-recording-found-on-a-lost-1949-disc

#whales #science #whale #WhaleSongs #biology #history

Scientists Complete Schrödinger's Color Theory Over 100 Years Later https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-complete-schrdingers-color-theory-over-100-years-later #science

It might seem like we have our planet fairly well mapped out. But we know almost nothing about the ocean floor. So a team of scientists put together a Global Dive Dataset with information from some 44,000 dives into the deep. They’ve covered about 0.001% of it. You have to start somewhere. Read more from @sciencefocus:

https://flip.it/fNpXt3

#Science #Earth #Ocean #Geology

#theBeeAt3
Basic bee facts every day at 3pm.

# 292
# 291 contd.

Option 2: Queens lay UNFERTILISED eggs late in the nest cycle which develop into MALE #bees with chromosomes from the queen only. Males have no father.
Laying male eggs signals the start of the end for the nest!

#nature #science
#bumblebees #education
#wildlife #biodiversity
#knapweed #environment
#worldbeesanctuary

Potentially good news for people with osteoporosis. Scientists from the University of Leipzig in Germany and Shandong University in China identified the cell receptor GPR133 (also known as ADGRD1) as being crucial to bone density. @ScienceAlert shares what they discovered after running some tests on mice:

https://flip.it/uWjGo-

#Science #Health #Osteoporosis #Humans #Research

English navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders, born OTD in 1774, led the 2nd circumnavigation of what he identified as the continent of Australia; oceanic currents do move counterclockwise south of the equator https://toilet-guru.com/blog/41.html?s=mb #science #travel

A U.S. federal judge has temporarily blocked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s changes to the vaccine schedule. The judge has also put on hold Kennedy's appointments to the CDC's vaccine advisory committee and all decisions made by them. Here's more from @AssociatedPress.

https://flip.it/Gr3H8A

#Health #USPolitics #Science #RFK #TrumpAdministration

In a study of two million people with breast cancer, those who used complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) had a substantially increased risk of dying over a five-year span compared to people undergoing mainstream treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and endocrine therapy). This was true even if both CAM and conventional treatments were used — the theory being that some patients may have opted out of some mainstream treatments. Here's @Gizmodo's story at the first link, plus the JAMA Network writeup at the second.

https://flip.it/6rW6jx
https://flip.it/3o94-D

#Health #Science #AlternativeMedicine #Cancer

“This is the systematic elimination of scientific stewardship at the world’s largest biomedical research funder.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/elizabethginexi/p/i-wrote-research-funding-announcements?r=1j872&utm_medium=ios #science #health #uspol

@tkuhn

"Our researchers began designing experiments differently from the start. They became more creative and collaborative. The goal shifted from telling polished stories to uncovering useful truths. All results had value, such as failed attempts, abandoned inquiries, or untested ideas…"

"There are so many problems with our current way of doing things, and most of those problems are complicated and difficult to solve. This one isn’t."

#Science #research #scientificPapers #scienceJournals

Reflect Orbital and SpaceX have filed proposals with the US Federal Communications Commission that threaten ground-based astronomy. We submitted replies and collaborated with the UK Royal Astronomical Society & the International Astronomical Union for their responses. 1/

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

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A blurried view of a starry night sky above a desert landscape with the Milky Way visible. On the right, a globe of Earth is surrounded by thousands of colored dots representing satellites in orbit. Overlaid text reads: “ESO files response to new threats to dark skies.”

The science of how fireflies stay in sync https://arstechni.ca/bnta #collectivemotion #quorumsensing #biophysics #Science #Biology #swarms