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Charvaka

@charvaka.bsky.social
481 followers 2.5K following 139 posts

I like: photography, bugs, bug photography, astronomy, physics, mathematics, nature and science in general, literature, poetry, sports. alittlewild.blog bugs anaturalslant.wordpress.com nature photos edgeofthecircle.net writings

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Reposted by Charvaka
lynn @chordbug.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
fixed your headline
A hit song on the Billboard 100 charts is termed *$k$-good* if it is _ever_ in a weekly top-$k$, and *$k$-immediate* if it _debuts_ in the top-$k$.


An artist is *$(n,k)$-Olivian* if their $n$ first $k$-good hits are all also $k$-immediate.

*Headline 1.* Olivia Rodrigo is the first $(10,10)$-Olivian woman.
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Reposted by Charvaka
Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
A newly discovered comet might — MIGHT — get bright enough to put on an interesting show. Also, astronomers may have found evidence of the very first stars! badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-new-come... [Thursday issues are for Premium subscribers, but you can become one! All the cool kids do it.] 🧪 🔭
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
A new comet to watch for, and more evidence for the very first stars
The comet may get very bright, but who knows?
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
www.quantamagazine.org/networks-hol...
quantamagazine.org
Networks Hold the Key to a Decades-Old Problem About Waves | Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians are still trying to understand fundamental properties of the Fourier transform, one of their most ubiquitous and powerful tools. A new result marks an exciting advance toward that goal.
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Reposted by Charvaka
Sophie Carr @sophiecarr.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
A few more reflections from a lunchtime wander - the patterns are just amazing! #CanaryWharf #abstract #iphone15pro #reflections
Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly silver and green.Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly green. Lots of circular lines and patterns.Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly green. Lots of circular lines and patterns and squiggles.More water squiggle reflections. Zoomed in a bit.
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iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
You're currently looking at fungus (specifically Gibellula alata) emerging from a spider. Right now, there are only six observations of this species on iNaturalist! 📷 cajqld on iNaturalist 📍 Australia 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay
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Reposted by Charvaka
iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
A diver saw something incredibly special at the ocean's surface: this juvenile King-of-the-salmon (Trachipterus altivelis), a kind of ribbonfish that spends the majority of its time in the deep. 📷 tedjudah on iNaturalist 📍 United States 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay
A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean.A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean.A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean.A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean.
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Reposted by Charvaka
iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Consider your sign to stop and stare at logs a little more often because just LOOK at this glorious velvet mite! (Third photo is where it was spotted.) 📷 jeremyhegge on iNaturalist 📍 Australia 🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations... #ObservationOfTheDay
A fuzzy, bright red mite crawls along a log.A fuzzy, bright red mite crawls along a log.There is a fallen log surrounded by leaf litter and tall, slender trees.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
eventhorizontelescope.org/news/2026/01...
eventhorizontelescope.org
Event Horizon Telescope maps twisting magnetic fields near the supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ287 | Event Horizon Telescope
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
snowflake caught in a spiderweb
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
One of my favorite photos from yesterday
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Cold here, which makes for some good photos
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
www.sciencealert.com/chernobyl-fu...
sciencealert.com
Chernobyl Fungus Appears to Have Evolved an Incredible Ability
The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only move...
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
esawebb.org/news/weic2522/
esawebb.org
Webb witnesses a feasting supermassive black hole in the early Universe
Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed an actively growing supermassive black hole within a galaxy just 570 million years after the Big Bang. Part of a class of s...
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Reposted by Charvaka
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
For the #fossilfriday here is one of my favorite #fossil species I ever described - a 38 MYA mantid fly from Baltic amber. Enjoy my CT reconstruction of the specimen! fr.pensoft.net/article/8013... 🦖⚒️
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Reposted by Charvaka
Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 07/11/2025
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
What an utterly stunning spider!
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Since the bug season is done for the year, here in northeast USA, here is a selection of my bug photo highlights from this past year alittlewild.blog/best-insect-...
alittlewild.blog
2025
Moose Hill, water mite (Hydrachnidia? Eylais?) Moose Hill, caddisfly larva Canoe River, 2025-05-26 Backswimmers, in a reflection of a powerline tower Ichneumonid Pseudomethoca velvet ant Grasshoppe…
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Reposted by Charvaka
Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
The thing about entomology is, there are always weirder bugs than anything you could imagine on your own. Here's Cysteodemus wislizeni, a blister beetle from west Texas.
Photograph of a metallic blue/green beetle with a very spider-like body, a huge fake "abdomen" that is swollen and dented with even pits over its bulbous surface. It is otherwise ant-like, standing on a pure white stylized background.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Honey Hollow trail, Vermont
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Spiders Will Hunt in Groups and Share Meals if They Have Enlarged Brain Structures www.discovermagazine.com/social-spide...
discovermagazine.com
Spiders Will Hunt in Groups and Share Meals if They Have Enlarged Brain Structures
Learn why a tiny fraction of spiders live in groups rather than go alone, showing social behaviors that may be linked with brain structure.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Hey, everyone! I made a new website for my photos and just released it publicly. It's anaturalslant.wordpress.com. I would love it if you could take a look and give me feedback.
anaturalslant.wordpress.com
a natural slant
nature photos from a different angle
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
phys.org/news/2025-09...
phys.org
The tale of the creature with the most chromosomes
The Atlas blue butterfly, also known as Polyommatus atlantica, has been genetically confirmed as having the highest number of chromosomes out of all multicellular animals in the world.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
alittlewild.blog/2025/09/06/b...
alittlewild.blog
Borderland State Park
Great bug walk with Don and Kyla Bennett! The highlight was the samples from the lake, but I don’t have a ton of photos of that part. Hemiptera I’m not 100% confident this is even a bug…
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
alittlewild.blog/2025/09/06/b...
alittlewild.blog
Borderland State Park
Great bug walk with Don and Kyla Bennett! The highlight was the samples from the lake, but I don’t have a ton of photos of that part. Hemiptera I’m not 100% confident this is even a bug…
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
alittlewild.blog/2025/08/31/b...
alittlewild.blog
Barber Reservation, Sherborn
Urban Nature Walk, organized by Jef Taylor, with the amazing Sloan Tomlinson talking about wasps! (Some quick identifications now, more at leisure in a few days). Lepidoptera The black locust leaf …
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Reposted by Charvaka
Steve the vagabond @stevevagabond.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
nautil.us/a-rogue-new-...
nautil.us
A Rogue New Life Form
A tiny microbe discovered by accident challenges the definition of cellular life
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Bug photos from Hammond Pond, Brookline, MA. alittlewild.blog/2025/08/17/h...
alittlewild.blog
Hammond Pond
A wonderful bug walk, led by Jace Porter, of Global Entomology Coalition: Hammond Pond, near Chestnut Hill. I didn’t know we had these nice woods so close to town. Observations, with latest e…
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Reposted by Charvaka
Nature @nature.com · 31/07/2025
This surprisingly relaxing footage is from SIX MILES under the ocean – and it’s the deepest ecosystem yet discovered
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Urbana State Park, NY. Hands down the best bugwatching area I’ve ever encountered. This may be normal for some people, but it feels incredibly rich for me! The highlight had to be the three observations of scorpionflies within half an hour of each other. alittlewild.blog/2025/07/30/u...
alittlewild.blog
Urbana State Forest
Hands down the best bugwatching area I’ve ever encountered. This may be normal for some people, but it feels incredibly rich for me! Here are the observations, with updated identifications: Y…
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Reposted by Charvaka
Evelyndroid's Aperture Science and Bugge-Finding 🏳️‍⚧️🕷️ @apsciencebylyn.bsky.social · 29/08/2023
Any artists who like creating creatures and need inspiration from time to time, please feel free to peruse my bugs! I would be delighted. For the record, encyrtid wasps are perfect creatures, and you may not have heard of them, because they're tiny, and wasps. But LOOK 🖤 #InverteFest 🌿🐝🐡
Bright red chonky little wasp, with the tiniest wing stubs, false pupils staring. It doesn't look real. It very much is. Metaphycus species.Tetracnemus species: shiny brown little wasp with the notable feature of her wings being held straight up as she runs around.Slender wasp with full-body iridescence, long ovipositor, and giant iridescent purple antennae. Tetracnemus species.Cheiloneurus species. Tiny brown wasp, grooming her truly giant antennae (black with white tips). Her tiny "half" wings held up away from her body.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
www.noemamag.com/theres-life-...
noemamag.com
There’s Life Inside Earth’s Crust | NOEMA
Revelations about microbes living deep inside Earth’s crust are challenging scientists’ conceptions of life and how it evolves.
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Rare intermediate-mass black hole caught devouring star in distant galaxy phys.org/news/2025-07...
phys.org
Rare intermediate-mass black hole caught devouring star in distant galaxy
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have teamed up to identify a new possible example of a rare class of black holes. Called NGC 6099 HLX-1, this bright X-ray source see...
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
1) Lasioglossum, sub-genus Dialictus? 2) Ichneumonidae, I think Cryptinae. iNaturalist goes further and suggests Mesostenus 3) Damselfly, perhaps dancer 4) Damselfly that took off just as I was pressing the trigger :-)
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
www.scientificamerican.com/article/land...
scientificamerican.com
Mathematicians Just Cracked a Legendary Problem—Here’s Why It Matters
The Langlands program has inspired and befuddled mathematicians for more than 50 years. A major advance has now opened up new worlds for them to explore
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Charvaka @charvaka.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
phys.org/news/2025-07...
phys.org
LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detect most massive black hole merger to date
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration has detected the merger of the most massive black holes ever observed with gravitational waves using the LIGO observatories. The powerful merger produced a fin...
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Steven Van Belleghem @svbelleghem.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Excited to advertise a shared PhD position at KU Leuven (Belgium) and Mondsee (Austria) with @markusmoest.bsky.social on the genetic basis, plasticity and evolution of melanization in Daphnia from alpine lakes. Apply here: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...
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Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
"Be sure and tell them Large Barge sent ya!" <maniacal laughter>
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Michele Bannister @astrokiwi.bsky.social · 06/07/2025
3I/ATLAS now recovered back to May 22 (mag 20.5 in g) in ZTF imagery, thanks Quanzhi Ye. In the latest MPEC
minorplanetcenter.net
MPEC 2025-N51 : Comet 3I/ATLAS
We are the official body that deals with astrometric observations and orbits of minor planets (asteroids) and comets.
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