iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ann Van Baelen @amjvanbaelen.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

For #MineralMonday ⚒️: A first set of 589 minerals from the collection of the KU Leuven dept. Earth & Environmental Sciences can from now onwards be consulted online : blendeff.be/s/en/collect... 📷 KU Leuven. Imaging Lab #Mineralogy #OpenAccess #FAIRdata #digitalspecimen #naturalhistory 1/3

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Ann Van Baelen @amjvanbaelen.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

For today's #TaxidermyTuesday 🐦 a case of taxidermal engineering: This mounted bird with its striking tail feathers from the #KULeuven Zoology Museum recently caused quite a few raised eyebrows as it turned out to be “not a real bird” (1/5) 📷 by KU Leuven. Imaging Lab @disscoflanders.bsky.social

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Reposted by Ann Van Baelen

Quentin Cosnefroy @quentin-cosnefroy.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Did Neandertals choose their prey when practicing cannibalism?🍖 Check out our new study, just published in Scientific Reports - @natureportfolio.nature.com! We provide the strongest evidence to date for a highly selective cannibalism at the end of Neandertal lineage, 41-45.000 years ago. 1/7

doi.org

Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Highly selective cannibalism in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Europe reveals Neandertals were targeted prey

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Reposted by Ann Van Baelen

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 01/10/2025

One of my favorite anecdotes from THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE: "That doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know."

A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute.
Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.
I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn't see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly, but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to pri-matology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.
Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose.
The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a

desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.
Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic was shocked. They told my editor that "that doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know." They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this "stuff" was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was not only reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic, but was also used by her Institute on a T-shirt for fund-raising purposes.
I've since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe. It's a wonderful place (sort of like right out of National Geographic).
"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid." —Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus

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Ann Van Baelen @amjvanbaelen.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Sinds enkele jaren zet onze dienst in het kader van @disscoflanders.bsky.social sterk in op de digitalisatie van de natuurwetenschappelijke collecties van @kuleuven.bsky.social. Maar waarom digitaliseren we al die opgezette vogels, mineralen, bodemmonolieten en fossielen eigenlijk? 👇🏻

eoswetenschap.eu

Van kikker tot kennisbank: waarom we onze natuurwetenschappelijke collecties digitaliseren

Hoewel natuurwetenschappelijke collecties in het verleden vaak een ietwat stoffig imago hadden, vormen ze een onschatbare bron van kennis. Digitalisering en ...

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Reposted by Ann Van Baelen

TraceoLab @traceolab.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

We’re deeply concerned about the disappearance of our colleague Pierre Noiret. Please share and help us spread the word. For more information please check: www.police.be/avis-de-rech...

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Ann Van Baelen @amjvanbaelen.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

With its small bifaces also a very interesting parallel for the nearby 🇧🇪 Middle #Palaeolitic site of Oosthoven-Heieinde

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Ann Van Baelen @amjvanbaelen.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

To document the KU Leuven scientific #collections, our unit (Scientific Collections & Heritage) teamed up w/ Storyrunner to create a series of interviews in which former curators & collection managers talk abt the history of the collections and their own role & contribution. A 🧵:

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