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David Robinson

@davidrobinson58.bsky.social
154 followers 345 following 3 posts

Biology professor, retired. Airlie, Scotland. Previously Thatto Heath, Rusholme, Stockport, Chorlton, Broomhill, Pitsmoor, Crookesmoor, Toxteth, Banchory, Alyth, Sydney, Aberdeen.

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Reposted by David Robinson
Ada Loves Lace @adaloveslace.eurosky.social · 08/10/2026
Save 'You and Yours' and scrap 'Moral Maze'. #bbcWATO #wato #bbcPM
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The post on the Franklin DNA work by @matthewcobb.bsky.social is fantastic, though Matthew has understandably disabled comments, so mine are going here. The tl;dr is that history (including the history of science) is generally complicated and resists simple retrospective narratives (such as here...
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Tyron @tyron.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Just seen it's Wikipedia's 25th birthday. The greatest website online, and possibly the internet's greatest fruit
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Blue Note Records @bluenoterecords.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
John Coltrane was born 100 years ago today September 23, 1926. Trane was still near the start of his remarkable creative journey when he went into Rudy Van Gelder’s living room studio on September 15, 1957 and recorded his first great masterpiece: “Blue Train.” bluenote.lnk.to/JohnColtrane...
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mikea7719.bsky.social @mikea7719.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This playlist is superb, I always loved ‘Debris’ with Rod on backing vocals but the version on here is amazing.
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Plant Science Spotlight @plant-sci.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🌱🧬 Evidence challenges the idea of a root clock for lateral root priming. Limited oscillation domains and no phase memory suggest emergent tissue-level control—like phyllotaxis. New perspectives on root patterning. #plantscience @theplantcell.bsky.social academic.oup.com/plcell/artic...
academic.oup.com
The (un)likelihood of clock-driven lateral root priming; a modeling exploration
Abstract. Lateral root formation starts with priming, predisposing subsets of pericycle cells with the potential of future lateral root formation through s
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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I just published a brief account of Jim Watson’s life, aimed at students. It leans heavily on the insights of @nccomfort.bsky.social, whose biography of Watson will be out next year. Free link here: rdcu.be/M91CnnE3N4wa
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Journal of Experimental Botany @jxbotany.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
🌱📷 REVIEW 📷🌱 This review outlines available imaging platforms and analytical tools for root phenotyping and proposes crop-specific strategies for integrating root traits into breeding programmes for sustainable agriculture - Im et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
Fig. 2 (shortened, full legend in paper): Comparison of field-based, hybrid, and laboratory-based root phenotyping platforms. (A–C) Field-based methods. (A) Soil core sampling to quantify root biomass, (B) shovelomics for identifying and manual scoring of root architecture, and (C) electrical capacitance (EC) technique for estimating root biomass and surface area in situ. (D and E) Hybrid and versatile methods: (D) rhizotron system containing transparent acrylic panels for continuous observation of root development in soil and (E) minirhizotron imaging system for non-destructive temporal root monitoring using a transparent tube and camera probe. (F–K) Laboratory-based methods: (F) germination paper system for early-stage RSA analysis, (G) hydroponic culture system under controlled light and nutrient conditions, (H) root development in tissue culture or agar plates for precise visualization of root patterns, (I) rhizoslide or pouch platform for time-series imaging of roots.
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Shersingh Joseph Tumber-Dávila @josephtumber.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
New post by postdoc Thomas Muratore "Exudation without foraging: What root economics gets wrong about carbon leaving the root" Highlighting his recent work published in @newphyt.bsky.social plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com/2026/07/22/e...
plantlifebelowground.wordpress.com
Exudation without foraging: What root economics gets wrong about carbon leaving the root
New Research by Thomas Muratore from Dartmouth College. The image above is a scanned fine-root system showing branching architecture, with numerous absorptive root tips extending from larger transp…
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Temporal delays in branch development contribute to vegetative meristem maintenance in perennial grasses Hjertaas et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/KJDZ2N...
Branch age and flowering probability in annual–perennial core Pooideae species pairs.
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Pete Paphides @petepaphides.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
In memory of Brian. There'll never be another.
patreon.com
“Despite my protestations to the contrary, he followed me round the house simulating the hiss of Max Roach’s hi-hat. Tsk, tsk, tsk!” Brian Case (1937-2026) | Pete Paphides
“The lives of jazzmen and journalists are poles apart, the player operating on a short, ecstatic curve, the writer laboriously tweezing toge
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James Bailey @drjamesbailey.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Hello, I’ve an event for my Muriel Spark biography next Weds (15th) at Waterstones Liverpool. We’ve sold barely any tickets, however, and it might be cancelled as a result. Please get a ticket if you’re nearby - it’ll be a lot of fun, and I’ll bring badges! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/waterstone...
A picture of me, accompanied by the text: JAMES BAILEY
IN CONVERSATION WITH JESS WHITE AT WATERSTONES LIVERPOOL
WEDNESDAY 15 JULY 6.30PM
The Nine Lives of Muriel Spork
5 cat-shaped badges, with text reading Muriel Spark Fan Club, pinned to a shirt
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Plant Systems Biology @psb-vib.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
EPAPER from @rootdevelopment.bsky.social in @currentbiology.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Evolution of root systems in land plants
In this review, Lakehal et al. chart the evolution of root systems, discussing key innovations in root morphology and the regulatory mechanisms that enabled land plants to adapt. They argue that crop ...
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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Ecology is complicated. Geoengineers beware.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
“Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wicked of men will do the most wicked of things for the greatest good of everyone." - John Maynard Keynes
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Stephen Heard @stephenbheard.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Currently amused by an Acknowledgements section that thanks "critics, invited and uninvited, who commented on earlier drafts". I feel you, brother. 🧪
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T'Other Simon @tothersimon.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
On a recent Adam Buxton podcast, he recommended a book called The Big Midweek, written by Steve Hanley - detailing his time as a member of The Fall. I'm about 2 hours from the end of the audiobook (read by Stewart Lee) and, honestly, I just don't want it to end.
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Dean Frey @dean.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Howlin' Wolf with his band at the Newport Folk Festival, July 1966 Sam Jones, Andrew McMahon, Hubert Sumlin & Howlin' Wolf. 📷 David Gahr youtube.com/watch?v=Oreu...
The band lined up on stage:
Saxophone, guitar, bass & Wolf singing at the microphone
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 24/04/2026
‘The fact that one of my academic colleagues is an atheist and not a Hizbullah-loving Shia didn’t save his house and its large library from Israeli bombs.’ Charles Glass reports from Beirut, now and in the 1970s. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Charles Glass · Diary: Beirut, Now and Then
Lebanon’s civil war did not end in 1990. It assumed new forms and it isn’t over yet. Like my colleagues, I returned...
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Irish artist, Katie Holten created a Tree Alphabet #womensart
Images of individual trees in black against a white background with the name of the tree under each, featured alphabetically
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Mike Kaspari @mikekaspari.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This MS's title is misleading—they did not measure plant nutrients. Species lists were tallied over time, each species was categorized as "N-loving" or not, and they show such species are now more common in some, less common in other habitats. *Individual plants* of a spp vary widely in nitrogen.
Title: 60 years of plant community change in Europe indicate a shift toward nutrient-richer and denser vegetation
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The Republican Party, like the Conservative Party, exists to make sure the rich stay in power & can make money. That’s why the Republicans are not standing up to or removing Trump. He’s doing exactly what the Party exists to do. They’d rather he didn’t expose the truth of the Party. But that’s all.
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Mike Kaspari @mikekaspari.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
When you think of valuable elements, you think silver, gold, platinum. But you cannot eat silver, gold, platinum. What you can eat *is* grown with nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and a host of micronutrients. These are in abundance in good soils. But good soils are rare and growing rarer.
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David Quantick @quantick.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
The greatest duo in the world: www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
theguardian.com
‘Barbara Windsor smacked our bottoms!’ Pet Shop Boys on showstopping visuals, horrified bosses – and snubbing the queen
As a 600-page doorstopper celebrates their groundbreaking costumes, gigs, sleeves and videos, the duo talk about ‘side-stepping the pop-star thing’ – and the naked trampolinist EMI had to censor
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 05/04/2026
‘Bliss doesn’t quite say it, but Banting may have accelerated the discovery of insulin precisely because of his sloppiness and egotism.’ Liam Shaw on diabetes, dogs and the discovery of insulin. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Liam Shaw · Bring me bimagrumab: Insulin Wars
As biochemical methods became more precise, the eventual identification of the magical substance, insulin, was...
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John Bistline @bistline.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
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Tom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
It’s Sidney Lumet’s birthday. Love how he frames Pacino in long & medium shots in Dog Day Afternoon, allowing him to use all of his body to show his coiled, agitated energy. He knew that it’s not just about close ups, which is increasingly the norm now. The business with the potted plant is great.
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Carsten Timmermann @ctimmermann.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Great little book, this. Very useful.
Photo of a book by Andrew S. Reynolds, Understanding Metaphors in the Life Sciences.
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Acquisitive root exploration strategies help maintain higher peak sap flux rates during summer drought, but more root biomass does not Tran et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Soil water content with mild drought periods and intensifying drought periods identified in years 2019, 2020, and 2021.
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Tom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Nick Lowe is 77. Here he is distilling Steely Dan & Thin Lizzy to create 2.39m of pop perfection along with Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner & Terry Williams aka Rockpile. Love his Riddler jacket. youtu.be/YEpr8kaczck?...
youtu.be
Nick Lowe - “So It Goes” (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Yep Roc Records
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Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Note from my notebook (2017).
Truths About Writing
Most people will ignore what you write
Someone dead did it better than you
You will be misunderstood 
That's all ok
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
Soil phosphorus drives subcontinental patterns of carbon-isotope discrimination across Australia Alam et al. @awcheesman.bsky.social @mdekauwe.bsky.social @ianjwright.bsky.social @lucascernusak.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Sampling site locations and transects across Australia included in this study.
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Ivy isn't a 'parasite', and it doesn't 'strangle' trees. Instead, it's a massively important natural part of forest ecosystems, providing food and shelter to a great range of animal inhabitants. But also, it's *beautiful*.
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William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
How does holly become more prickly when grazed? The amazing world of epigenetics. youtu.be/6vtn54E-sdc?...
youtu.be
Environmental adaptation and phenotypic plasticity of holly
YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts
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charles-spillane.bsky.social @charles-spillane.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Individual variability in plants: From intra- to inter-individual variability and its response to the environment
Individual variability refers to the differences observed among genetically identical plants or cells grown in the same environment. Phenotypic and tr…
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Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Should biology put complexity first? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... - excellent essay by @philipcball.bsky.social. I would add epistasis to polygenicity and pleiotropy as a ubiquitous and fundamental phenomenon, not some optional complication that we can try to account for afterwards
sciencedirect.com
Should biology put complexity first?
The dictum “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler” poses a problem for biology. How simply can it be told without doing dama…
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Stephen Heard @stephenbheard.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
If there is one soap box I'd like to endorse with all my writing soul, IT'S THIS ONE.
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James Kenney @jfkenney.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
I promise, I deliver: as deep a dive as you're going to get on Peter Yates' brilliant BREAKING AWAY, w photos, script excerpts and making-of info. tremblesighwonder.com/2026/01/28/n...
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The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 29/01/2026
So weird how standing up to a would-be authoritarian bully is really popular. Almost like voters respond to competence, backbone, and not treating them like idiots. I can think of a few politicians in the UK who should be taking notes from Mr Carney.
The Celegraph
Mark Carney's popularity surges following showdown with Trump
Canadian PM's 'inspirational' Davos speech lifts his domestic approval rating to 60pc
MOOLO
KORONIC
ORL NOI ORUI
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Markonthemaps (Mark Ovenden) @markonthemaps.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Enough said:
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David McArdle @davemcardle.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Blindingly simple and bleedingly obvious.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 08/12/2025
‘The wind turbine and the Catapult building advertise Blyth’s centrality to the carbon-free economy of the future. They advertise it, but I don’t quite believe it, and neither, judging by the local popularity of Reform, does Blyth.’ @jamesmeek.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
James Meek · Ten-Foot Chopsticks: The North-East Transition
The ghost of the industrial revolution haunts Britain. The language of today’s politicians, of unlocking and...
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Jeremy (Harpsichord Enjoyer) @gogdog.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Good on Penn Jillette. Having to come to terms with your entire political identity and philosophy being wrong is not easy and most people could never do it.
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Annals of Botany @annbot.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
What do people usually get wrong about plants? “I think many people do not realize how dynamic plants are throughout their lifetimes. As plants growth up, they undergo tremendous shifts in form and function…” (8/9)
What do people usually get wrong about plants?
I think many people do not realize how dynamic plants are throughout their lifetimes. As plants growth up, they undergo tremendous shifts in form and function, and this process is not unlike the metamorphosis which butterflies and frogs pass through. Yet, for plants, these changes are not always so obvious. They may occur via internal anatomical shifts, or changes in architecture. Without careful observation, they may be missed altogether! And sometimes, the ontogenetic shifts are very apparent and so dramatic that it seems impossible that the juveniles and adult stages are the same species. In addition to these developmental dynamics, plants are able to adjust their morphology, anatomy, and physiology in response to environmental cues, such as the amount of water or light, via phenotypic plasticity. Thus, although plants do not “behave” in the same sense as animals, they do alter their phenotypes in a kind of analogous way. Although not all ontogenetic and plastic shifts in plant phenotypes are adaptive, many of them are, enabling plants to improve their performance in an unpredictable and changing environment.
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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 02/12/2025
Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard
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Douglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
I am the ghost of Christmas Future Perfect Subjunctive; I will show you what would have happened were you not to have changed your ways.
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Douglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Just got back from the doctor's. The bad news is that tests have revealed I have Onomatopoeia. Naturally concerned, I asked, 'What's that?' 'I'm afraid,' he replied, looking up from his notes with a serious expression. 'It's exactly what it sounds like.'
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 16/11/2025
‘Liverpool went from having a single slave ship in 1709 to more than a hundred six decades later. By 1795 it controlled almost half of the European slave trade.’ John Kerrigan on Atlantic slavery: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
John Kerrigan · No Illusions: Syntax of Slavery
Slavery was accepted across most of the early modern world. No one wanted to be a slave, except when the alternative was...
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