bookrastinating.com

Richard Lent

Eft-O-Rama along the Pierce Road, #Harvard #Forest, Petersham, #Massachusetts, at various times in recent junctures along the space-time continuum.

Notophthalmus viridescens.

#salamanders #amphibian #amphibians #nature #naturephotography #biology #biodiversity #ecology #forests #harvardforest

An orange salamander (Notophthalmus viridescens) with darker spots on a rock surrounded by fallen leaves and twigs.

An orange salamander (Notophthalmus viridescens) with black spots on a bed of dry leaves and twigs.

An orange salamander (Notophthalmus viridescens) walking on a rocky and sandy ground with small twigs and debris.

Weighing between 0.05 and 0.07 ounces with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat (aka Kitti’s hog-nosed bat) is the world's smallest mammal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitti's_hog-nosed_bat

#nature #bats #bumblebeebat #biology

The bumblebee bat (aka Kitti’s hog-nosed bat)

FediFollows

#ScientificJournals / #ScienceJournals picks of the day:

➡️ @base - Multi-disciplinary academic web search engine run by Bielefeld Univ in Germany

➡️ @PeerCommunityIn - NGO hosting scientific communities, recommending articles in open archives

➡️ @physics - #Physics-related journals from SciPost, non-profit open access foundation

➡️ @OJ_Astro - Open Journal of #Astrophysics, published by Maynooth

➡️ @TrendsEcolEvo - Concise reviews in all areas of ecology & evolutionary #biology

🧵 1/3

likely not a disguised martian

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/kelly-odell-ammonites/

#blogospherefind #art #sculpture #biology

likely not a disguised martian

https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/kelly-odell-ammonites/

#blogospherefind #art #sculpture #biology

Plazi Species

#NewSpecies
Pinalia campanulata

A newly discovered Orchid from the #philippines!

Treatment: http://treatment.plazi.org/id/A83D879D-FFF6-D577-FF28-8246FEB83796
Publication: http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.626.2.2
#Phytotaxa

#FAIRdata
#science #OA #openaccess #biology #ecology #taxonomy #nature #biodiversity #conservation #botany #wildflowers #flowers #wildplants #plants #wildlife #orchidaceae #orchids

meliache reviewed Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

When we think of fungi, we likely think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting …

An appetizer for the world of fungi, not a beginners mycology textbook

4 stars

Fungi are incredibly interesting and this book does them justice. It does an excellent job of describing their importance and the hidden connections between Fungi and plants, but also Fungi and humans. And it's written in a way that you feel close to the author, as he takes us on this journey.

I just wished there was more. More about different kinds of Fungi, more about recent science, about the importance of Fungi in different cultures etc. But I assume this is just no the scope and also not the ambition of this book, it's not meant to be an intro into mycology.

If I could I would give it 4.5 stars. It was very interesting and it made me want to dig more fungi related books, but it was not perfect. E.g. I felt a bit less invested than when reading "Never Home Alone" by Rob Dunn last …

Fungi are incredibly interesting and this book does them justice. It does an excellent job of describing their importance and the hidden connections between Fungi and plants, but also Fungi and humans. And it's written in a way that you feel close to the author, as he takes us on this journey.

I just wished there was more. More about different kinds of Fungi, more about recent science, about the importance of Fungi in different cultures etc. But I assume this is just no the scope and also not the ambition of this book, it's not meant to be an intro into mycology.

If I could I would give it 4.5 stars. It was very interesting and it made me want to dig more fungi related books, but it was not perfect. E.g. I felt a bit less invested than when reading "Never Home Alone" by Rob Dunn last year and which is another biology popular science book talking about life that is normal hidden from us. Not sure why I preferred that, maybe it's the quality of the prose, maybe it felt more scientific and more complete. So as a nitpicky German I feel hesitant to give a perfect score, so 4 it is. But I'll definitely watch out for new books from Merlin Sheldrake.

#fungi #books #entangledlife #merlinsheldrake #popularscience #biology

Sharon Cummings Art

Soft Blue Sea Seahorse....New in this series! Always inspired by the ocean. :)

ART
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/soft-blue-sea-seahorse-art-sharon-cummings.html

#sea #ocean #beach #beaches #nature #blue #art #artwork #artist #artists #coastal #biology #tropical #fish #fishtank #reef #coralreef #animal #animals #AYearForArt #BuyIntoArt #sealife #oceanlife #cute #fun #giftidea #giftideas #fedigiftshop #colorfulart #colorful

beautiful blue and aqua seahorse animal art with textured white background by artist Sharon Cummings.

fx dechaume-moncharmont

Scientists and the general public have long dismissed the cognitive abilities of cows, pigs, and other livestock. But farm animals are capable of much more than we think.

#Science #Biology #AnimalBehaviour #Behaviour #Cognition #intelligence #Cattle #Cow #Pig #Livestock #Chicken

📄 Grimm D (2023) What are farm animals thinking? Science 382:1103–1107 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adn3270

Science magazine's cover showing a cow and a goat looking at the photograph

earthling

Physics of Life: The Physicist's Road to Biology

- Describes how physics is needed for understanding basic principles of biology- Discusses the delicate balance between order and disorder in living systems - Explores how physics play a role high biological functions, such as learning and thinking.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#physics
#biology

The purpose of the book is to give a survey of the physics that is relevant for biological applications, and also to discuss what kind of biology needs physics. The book gives a broad account of basic physics, relevant for the applications and various applications from properties of proteins to processes in the cell to wider themes such as the brain, the origin of life and evolution. It also considers general questions of common interest such as reductionism, determinism and randomness, where the physics view often is misunderstood. The subtle balance between order and disorder is a repeated theme appearing in many contexts. There are descriptive parts which shall be sufficient for the comprehension of general ideas, and more detailed, formalistic parts for those who want to go deeper, and see the ideas expressed in terms of mathematical formulas.
- Describes how physics is needed for understanding basic principles of biology- Discusses the delicate balance between order and disorder in living systems - Explores how physics play a role high biological functions, such as learning and thinking

earthling

A User’s Guide to the New Biology

A cutting-edge new vision of biology that will revise our concept of what life itself is, how to enhance it, and what possibilities it offers.

@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#biology
#life

Biology is undergoing a quiet but profound transformation. Several aspects of the standard picture of how life works—the idea of the genome as a blueprint, of genes as instructions for building an organism, of proteins as precisely tailored molecular machines, of cells as entities with fixed identities, and more—have been exposed as incomplete, misleading, or wrong.

In How Life Works, Philip Ball explores the new biology, revealing life to be a far richer, more ingenious affair than we had guessed. Ball explains that there is no unique place to look for an answer to this question: life is a system of many levels—genes, proteins, cells, tissues, and body modules such as the immune system and the nervous system—each with its own rules and principles.

Laura Bounin

Yesterday, I observed an insect I had never encountered before. I captured an image of it and uploaded it to iNaturalist. It is called Zelus renardii. Interestingly, this turned out to be one of the earliest documented sightings of this species in Germany, and quite possibly the first observation of it in its nymphal form in Germany.
This particular insect is native to North America and has already established itself in the Mediterranean region of Europe. It appears to be gradually moving northward as the climate becomes warmer. Whether it will be invasive / problematic remains to be seen.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/186668115

#insects #heteroptera #biology #neobiota #iNaturalist #nature