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Dr. Catherine Scott

@cataranea.bsky.social
8.1K followers 718 following 257 posts

No-longer-a-professional arachnologist/behavioural ecologist/natural historian; current research-admin type & luddite. I also knit, sew, & have strong opinions. Pronouns: she or they

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Reposted by Dr. Catherine Scott
franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 2h
Moth 5/12 - Ashinaga #Art #SciArt
illustration of a dark brown moth with triangular wings going backwards, long legs with fluff that look like baggy jeans, and a pair of long, featherlike antennae in bright red/orange.
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Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 26/09/2026
This is one of those things I'm going to keep reposting until you're sick of it. It's not just because I want to make sure everyone sees it. I want everyone to see it multiple times. I want it in your long-term memories so that it's something you use and share and don't forget when you scroll away
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026
Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.
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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is an excellent resource for anyone who supervises trans+ folks doing fieldwork but, also, many of these recommendations are applicable well beyond fieldwork, for anyone leading, supervising, mentoring, employing, or otherwise collaborating with trans+ colleagues I highly recommend it:
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Beetle 4/11 - Anthaxia #Art #SciArt
illustration of a dark green-turquoise iridescent beetle with two big streaks of vivid red and two dark blue on the wings. The entire animal's surface is visibly mottled with fine hair on the legs.
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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026
I just honestly can't get over that Save Women Sports, an anti-trans group could only find five trans athletes competing K through 12. Five. The NCAA president testified a year and a half ago or so that there were less than 10 college level trans athletes. What the fuck are we doing, people
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Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · 28/04/2026
Oh and "there's good AI" they shout, assuming we never considered that, but also with their clear goal of using AI in a deflated sense (that only helps companies)... Yes, there's good computational models. So what? bsky.app/profile/oliv...
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Lovely day picking blueberries on the East Coast Trail. Diego was a very enthusiastic participant but did little to improve efficiency.
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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Three final things: Carney isn’t returning to a hardball strategy from 2018. He’s returning to the Trudeau strategy that Carney rejected in 2025 in favour of appeasement and the pursuit of a negotiated comprehensive trade and security agreement. From Sept 2025.
cbc.ca
Carney government quietly dropped more U.S. counter-tariffs than advertised | CBC News
The federal government has quietly removed more counter-tariffs on American goods than initially advertised, according to an order-in-council published online.
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Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It took Mark Carney almost two years and billions of dollars in concessions to recognize what was *immediately* obvious in Nov 2024: that Trump won’t keep his word. Going forward, Carney needs to explain this profound miscalculation, and if his strategy has changed to reflect reality.
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Isabel @isabelott.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“The issues [we face] now are similar to issues that other scientific and creative professions are facing, and indicate issues that all of humanity might face: how to make sure that, as AI changes the way work is done, we do not lose sight of what that work was meant to achieve in the first place.”
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
OpenAI set $22M on fire just to steal $1M from a human who did the actual work, and that’s the business plan our economy is betting everything on? Lol.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 07/09/2026
there’s a lot more nuance to it but as a basic principle you could do a lot worse than unions good, billionaires bad happy Labor Day, everyone
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Omg look what the Canadian mint made 🕷️🕸️ www.mint.ca/en/shop/coin...
mint.ca
Nature’s Delight: The Spider – 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin | The Royal Canadian Mint
A web of wonder: Nature’s geometry, glistening in the sunlight.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Attention Philadelphia! We're hosting a rally to demand that Drexel University maintain The Academy of Natural Sciences Museum open to the public. Join us on Tuesday morning at 10am in front of the academy. Please spread the word, we need all hands on deck! RSVP here: luma.com/1qwnrqz2
A dinosaur on a white background with the text SAve the academy of Natural sciences museum rally Tuesday Sept 8 10am in front of the academy 1900 ben Franklin Parkway. "Tell Drexel University "Keep the museum open!" with the logos for Philly Science Action, Skype a Scientist, and Green Philly
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Iron Spike @ironspike.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Doesn't look very "inevitable" to me
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The problem with being a good (I hope) reviewer who responds promptly to requests and provides on-time or not-ridiculously late reviews is that you just keep getting more and more requests. I wonder what proportion of active researchers are carrying the bulk of the reviewing burden?
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Jess Taylor @loadofolbobbins.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Another hot of the presses bug for your enjoyment...this time a super fancy Golden Tortoise Beetle for the last day of #InverteFest Stats: Drawing time total 21hr 15 min #SciArt #BugSky #Insects #ArtSky #Illustration #Procreate
An original digital illustration by Loadofolbobbins of a Golden Tortoise Beetle against a white background. Overall a wide oval in shape, the main body of the beetle is like liquid gold, shining and speckled with thin lines of very small dark brown dots that form a loose almost stripe like pattern. The upper section of the beetle also has a more iridescent metallic effect in greens, yellows and blues with dark speckled markings. Surrounding the body and head the outer section of the beetle is a semi transparent plating, where you can just glimpse it's legs curled underneath it.
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A wee purple damselfly to wrap up #InverteFest. They come in a range of beautiful colors and it always surprises me to see these jewel tones. Also, here’s a free art book filled with incredible invertebrates! #BugSky 🌿
A long thin purple bug stands on a light brown rock facing into the camera with its big, round, appealing eyes.
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 31/08/2026
The "Lake America" hissy fit "highlights the cost of Canada not having its own Google Maps equivalent or mapping APIs, Levy said, leaving a huge portion of online activity powered and collected by American companies." #datasovereignty #digitalsovereignty www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Lake America replaces Lake Ontario on multiple Canadian websites after Google Maps update | CBC News
Some Canadian websites, including for the federal government, displayed maps with Lake Ontario renamed as Lake America on Sunday, a day after Google Maps announced the change to align with an executiv...
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Stephen Kinsella @stephenstroud.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Yet more copytheft. Why would we tolerate an “industry” based on wholesale lawbreaking?
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Jane Rosenzweig @janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Also: a lot of decisions have been made about AI in ed by people who had not tried LLMs, did not understand how they work, were not in the classroom, did not really understand how students were likely to use them, and were driven by FOMO rather than by data/knowlege/understanding/learning.
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John Michael McGrath @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
"we should rename Mar-a-Lago something funny, make Google display that" My brother in Christ, the Ontario legislature can declare Google's workers in Ontario to be unionized and assign their collective labour rights to whichever union will be most militant, think bigger
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
“What are you hoping to achieve with tools sold as “AI” that cannot be done with traditional [methods] that already exist? Is that outcome so valuable that it outweighs the ethical problems of using these tools?” There is no ethical use of “ai”
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
And sure, any individual query and/or brag about an individual query is just a small part of that. But why contribute at all? And more to the point, why say so and then scold everyone else for pointing out how shameful it is? >>
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
helping the tech barons further centralize wealth and power, benefitting from the atrociously exploitative labor practices that "cleaned up" system output, etc. >>
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Just to name a few, every time you use (let along brag about using) a synthetic media extruding machine, you are helping to build the case for the next hyperscale data center, helping to normalize the data collection (theft & surveillance) they are built on, >>
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
We present: The Art of #InverteFest - August 2026 Edition A digital art book showcasing the work of 100 artists, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna. Thank you to the artists who contributed to our book! Download & submit to the next edition: invertefest.com/#artbook #Art #SciArt
a promo image showing various pages from the book, each page showcasing different animals like a mantis, trilobite, cephalopod, beetle grub, tick, among others. the art featured shows a range of different medium, including 3D, paper cutout, pixel art, and so on.
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Chris @cperez.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"Principal investigators need cheap grad and postdoc labor to boost their own research profiles. Treating them like workers by allowing them to unionize disrupts the feudal lord-serf relationship that exists in most labs." There I fixed it for you
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
WTAF. “If our schools are not teaching our youth how to write a book report using artificial intelligence, we are doing them a disservice,” Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D-Queens Village), one of Albany’s most prominent boosters of AI, told the Chronicle in a recent interview
Screenshot of an excerpt from the linked article in the quoted post reading,  “Are you familiar with those robot dogs?” he asked, in reference to the Spot brand of metal canines, recently rolled out by Boston Dynamics and marketed, largely, to police departments.

“I have one in my office now. I bought one for myself that’s going to be able to connect to AI and I’m going to bring it to work next [legislative] year because we can’t be afraid of these tools. We have to master them.”
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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I’m worried that governments and businesses are “pivoting” from mitigation to adaptation/resilience and then calling that their “climate” or “sustainability” plan. We need to urgently reduce emissions AND make our systems more robust to withstand inevitable amounts of warming.
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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
6. Climate change shouldn’t be treated as an abstract environmental issue anymore. It’s also about health, homes, food, energy bills, insurance, infrastructure and whether the places we live remain comfortable and safe.
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Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
5. There’s something deeply strange about living through increasingly obvious climate disruption while politicians become less willing to talk about why it is happening and what we can do about it. The crisis is becoming harder to ignore, but apparently easier to avoid discussing.
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Dr. Cara Berg Powers @clbergpowers.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Things you could do this week to honor the impact Dolly has had: *Donate to the Imagination Library or a local kids reading initiative *Read with a kid you care about *Support and protect LGBTQIA kids *Support a Black owned business *Schedule your vaccine appointments *Show up authentically as you
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We need YOU to spread the word about @skypeascientist.bsky.social - our *free* program that matches scientists w/classrooms & more! When educators sign up, they can tell us who told them about us. We'll hold a monthly drawing for $150 of science supplies* from the referrers! SkypeAScientist.com
a praying mantis is on the telephone and excited to hear someone on the phone say "Skype a Scientist has a new referral program"
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🌈Dr. Frizzle @swilua.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
we should all buy someone a book in Dolly’s honor today
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SEIU Local 925 @seiu925.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We’re not in the habit of recognizing celebrity deaths here at 925. That said, Dolly Parton is a national treasure and some folks here joke that Dolly is our Locals patron saint. After all her song “9 to 5” is our anthem. Today we remember all the love and kindness Dolly brought the world.
Tribute-style portrait of a Dolly Parton performing in a ruffled light purple blouse, arm raised and singing into a microphone, overlaid with the lyric: "You're just a step on the bossman's ladder / But you've got dreams he'll never take away."
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Jill Weinberger @jillybobww.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I saw her say that, as a child, she saw some women w/ big hair & long nails & makeup & thought they were so glamorous. Her mom said, "Those women are trash," & Dolly thought, "Well, I guess I want to be trash when I grow up." She chose her style b/c it was her idea of beautiful, not for anyone else.
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
donated a bunch to recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene too:
edition.cnn.com
Dolly Parton pitches in toward Hurricane Helene relief efforts | CNN
Dolly Parton is doing her best to lend support to flood- and storm-ravaged areas in the aftermath of Helene.
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
straight up cut a check for a million dollars to help fund the Moderna Covid vaccine:
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
has been supporting high school band programs across TN for years:
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights for literally longer than i've been alive:
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
and the Imagination Library doesn't just help kids- it supports the people who make those books too!
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
cool things Dolly Parton did that you may not have known: a thread. supported families after the Gatlinburg fires:
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Amadi Lovelace @amaditalks.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Remember that if you got the Moderna Covid vaccine, you have Dolly Parton to thank, she gave the largest individual contribution toward their research to make it possible.
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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026
[Exit Queen.]
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
with alt text. this is so beautiful 💕
Dolly Partons IMAGINATION LIBRARY

Dear Imagination Library Graduate,

My, how time flies. It seems it was only yesterday when your family and friends read you your first story. You were just a baby. Now you're five years old and about to go to school. How exciting!
This may be your last book from my Imagination Library but you have to promise me you will keep on reading. If you go to your local public library you will find a great number of books just for kids your age. Every book is a treasure and every time you open one up you will meet new friends and take wonderful journeys to magical places.
I hope you have a great time in school. I bet your school will even have a library where you can check out books. You and all of your friends are very special. There is no limit to what you can do or how far you can go.

Just remember the lessons my family taught me - dream big dreams; learn everything you can learn; and care for all those who care for you. You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.

You are terrific, and remember...
I Will Always Love You,
Dolly
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
#InverteFest begins at midnight your local time. Post your invertebrate art, join the community art book, go find critters in the wild, celebrate with us using the hashtag!
A poster showing 14 crabs of various shapes and colors. some are spiky, others have suspiciously long limbs, serrated claws, paddle legs, hairy shell, triangular body, and so on.
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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Cool #postdoc opportunity to study sexual behaviour in widow #spiders! 🕷️🕷️🕷️ @arachnology.bsky.social @britishspiders.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social @royentsoc.bsky.social @canentomologist.bsky.social
HOW MANY TIMES DID SEXUAL CANNIBALISM AND MALE SELF-SACRIFICE EVOLVE?

We are searching for an outstanding postdoc with a background in behavioural and evolutionary ecology to join an exciting project comparing sexual behaviour across all widow spider species at Ben-Gurion University.

THE PROJECT INCLUDES:
Literature survey of sexual behaviour and life history in widow spiders
Locating widow spider populations across the globe
Fieldwork in natural populations
Spider rearing and maintenance
Behavioural observations of mating interactions and outcomes
Integrating behavioural, morphological, ecological and phylogenetic data to reconstruct evolutionary trajectories and uncover coevolutionary relationships
JOIN OUR MISSION TO UNCOVER THE EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR IN WIDOW SPIDERS

INTERESTED? GET IN TOUCH!
Send your CV and a short statement of research interests to Michal Segoli, Ben-Gurion University, msegoli@bgu.ac.il
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Adrian Tchaikovsky @aptshadow.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Children of Glam.
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