Snail fans! This photo is a roadside verge that the local council have stopped mowing. On a rainy day, there are so so so many snails (mostly Cepaea nemoralis). You'll need to zoom in to see them. How many? 100, 200 or more per square metre? Incredible.
Of course, now also a sample site for #Genomics #snails #cepaea #springwatch #beeston #nottingham
Garden snails 🐌 try to stab each other with 'love darts' prior to mating. We finally got it on video!
With sound on you can hear the 'ding' as the dart pierces through the body and hits the glass on the other side. Ouch!
Our snails 🐌 featured on #BBCSpringwatch last night, links below. It was a lot of work for five minutes of film - but quite pleased overall. Of course, we did not quite get the highly desired #lovedart shooting (despite what the video says) but have subsequently managed (to follow 😉).
Mostly shot in studio in Life Sciences, rest on UoN campus. No lefties either, at least not obviously.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002dfm5/springwatch-2025-episode-12 (14 minutes into program, UK only or VPN)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK0DmMntmMZ/?igsh=MTllaTkzODBrd3M5OA== #BBC #snails #UoN
It is with great sadness that I am doing what I would once have thought unthinkable. Following Salim Abdool Karim's superb Faraday Lecture 10 days ago, i have decided to return my own Faraday prize, awarded in 2014.
The silence of the Royal Society in the face of Elon Musk's rampage (a member of the RS since 2018) across US science is incomprehensible to me.
We must all draw the line somewhere in the face of authoritarian attacks and this is mine.
https://www.ft.com/content/877853df-1687-4d1f-940b-9eefc0cf69c0?accessToken=zwAAAZdYtYr2kdOHeFPfFodNH9OUC57vwM9pwA.MEUCIQDNG6kcQyHa-g6Kx4G9NHE2ofD36kR8OX0yEu-KfXlV0QIgcmMFKTaT90y42QfwQTWb05khk6thpQPe-JvIGkaZzQY&segmentId=e95a9ae7-622c-6235-5f87-51e412b47e97&shareType=enterprise&shareId=5fbecded-0dc9-419a-b064-cda0dee0d73a
Award-winning scientist, Andrea Sella, has returned his Royal Society award in protest over the Society's continued apathy over Elon Musk.
My latest substack in which I make the case that we need more scientists like Andrea, who are prepared to take a stand: https://open.substack.com/pub/kityates/p/there-comes-a-moment-where-all-of
Vast areas of land are now dominated by one species – purple moor-grass – and good luck with seeing a bird or insect there. How do we revive these habitats, asks Guardian columnist George Monbiot
This who work in universities will see the managerial practices as De Montfort University as merely an extreme version of how their own executive level operates, I should think. Its gone further at DMU than at many universities, but the disconnect of the management, the shift to a profit oriented model & the adventurism of their practices will all be oh so familiar....
Universities not only need a new business model they need a new managerial approach!
SellaTheChemist
Kit Yates
George Monbiot
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
