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Scifi Art @scifiart.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Reposted by Renato Santos

Chris Moore was a giant of book cover art. Perhaps a bit less well known than the other Chris (Foss), Moore’s covers dominated the sci-fi section of bookshops while I was growing up in the 70s and 80’s

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Rewatching this video on drop culture as related to fashion &, once more, I can't help but think about the time I've spent with Magic: The Gathering. I do like the gameplay, the art but the whole incentive structure attached to it, initially to balance it, isn't something I'm hurrying to return to.

Supreme | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix

YouTube video by Netflix Is A Joke

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I loathe to give it to Michael Crichton, merchant of doubt that he was, but this is certainly a corollary to the Gell-Mann amnesia effect (gist: you're more likely to spot issues in news copy about a subject you're an expert in; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael... ).

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Spooky season continues: Let's meet the undertaker of the prairie, the American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus). They quickly inhume corpses they find, to... uh... keep them SAFE... for... uh, later. Protecting a dead bird or rodent or larger so they'll have enough food for their babies.💀🍽️

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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I wish all science teams who advertise their work with GenAI a very pleasant emergency meeting to mitigate the damage to public trust.

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

I was reminded of this exemplary interstitial done for RTP's news channel. Done in the context of Trump's first term, Syria's turmoil & sundry saber rattling, the sentiment seems relevant today. Towards the end you hear Pope Francis say "I'm ashamed." For all our differences, I feel him.

Estórias Que Contam - Tóxico

YouTube video by RTP Promos

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In things I learned today, the Stenus genus of rove beetle hunts springtails with a mouthpart not unlike a chameleon's tongue.

This beetle hunts with a sticky harpoon!

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Walter Molino: Master of Disaster

I was just made aware of Walter Molino's opus as a 20th century Italian illustrator (1915-1997) and it's... I'm not sure if 'glorious' is the right word but it most likely met and perhaps even exceeded most of the briefs he was given. Proceed with care.

70s-sci-fi-art.ghost.io

The action-packed pulp art of Italian artist Walter Molino (1915-1997) is unmistakable, catastrophic. Rubber-necker heaven. Trapped in a Molino illustration? The first thing to know is that modern co...

Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 06/09/2023

Reposted by Renato Santos

Advertise your account with one image #paleoart #SciArt A 2006 classic, www.deviantart.com/dracontes/ar... . My most misused artwork, as in youthful rashness, I uploaded a version to Wikipedia, not quite aware of how lazy the average folks are to just to copy and paste text.

Head shot of the proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid Guanlong wucaii: a sleek wedge-shaped head topped by an extravagant blade-like crest.
At the time (2006), I chose to cover most of the animal in simple feathers, while having the front of the snout sheathed in thicker keratin. I'd probably choose differently nowadays. Done in pencil.

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"Well, I never-" I suppose they all can't be winners, and reptiles did get short-shrifted back then, more than they are now.

Screenshot of the quote-reposted video showing a medieval marginalia illustration of a greenish lizard, spread flat on a surface and with a coiling tail.
The legible text reads:

Lizard
You're bloodthirsty and foul-smelling

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It's been a while since I've listened to Tom Lehrer. We've certainly been farther from the scenario this song satirizes. Here's hoping, definitely against hope, that we can fix our messes with no fallout.* * read "we" as "the ruling class" and "our" as "their."

Tom Lehrer - So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III) - with intro - widescreen

YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel

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Fun times being out and about at night, looking to the horizon and seeing something that looks like what's reported for UFOs: a bright, perhaps reddish, triangular shape moving and splitting. The frisson is unavoidable until after a while watching I realize it's a crescent Moon behind cloud cover.

Tim Gaedke @timgaedke.com · 26/09/2026

Reposted by Renato Santos

talent is a lie

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

One of the reasons why I've bristled at the concept of a dinosaur or paleontology fandom as opposed to a community of interest. I do concede that some people, who shall not be named because I prefer to ignore them, are behaving like it is one. Good way to burn yourself out I reckon.

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Fun times discovering what has become of the "Antarctic hypsilophodont" mentioned in DK's The Great Dinosaur Atlas (1991; p. 53). According to Lamanna et al. (2019) still in the works, though apparently that didn't stop some people from giving NHMUK PV R 36760 an informal name (pp. 240-241).

aps.chinare.org.cn

Late Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from the James Ross Basin, Antarctica: description of new material, updated synthesis, biostratigraphy, and paleobiogeography

Although the fossil record of non-avian dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of Antarctica is the poorest of any continent, fossils representing at least five major taxonomic groups (Ankylosauria, early-dive...

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Kingfisher & Wombat @tkingfisher.com · 26/09/2026

I have decided that if I will be hated, it will be for a GOOD reason, dammit! *clears throat* I don’t care that Pluto isn’t a planet. It was always Charon erasure anyway.

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

To wit, I started using content blockers after hearing Google ads served on DeviantArt were delivering viruses way back in late 2000s. Slow Internet connections & outfits that do nothing about malicious paying customers later, I'm not changing my tack. My recs are uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger.

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Reposted by Renato Santos

Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

A handshake across the eons and the ages. To reiterate: - Paleontologists deal with fossils of ancient (non-technological) life in general. - Archeologists deal (so far) with humans (in the wider sense) when their activities result in material remains (art, tools).

The Epic Handshake meme, a chalk drawing reproducing a frame from the movie The Predator (1987). It's a detail shot of the shoulders and arms of two muscular men locked in an arm-wrestle handshake, the one on the left, wearing a white shirt and black-skinned, the one on the right, wearing a red shirt and lightly tanned. The black-skinned arm is labelled "Archeologists", the lightly tanned arm is labelled "Paleontologists", and the text over the clasped hands reads "Getting confused for each other."

More context for the meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/epic-handshake
Template source: https://www.deviantart.com/miloslavvonranda/art/EPIC-handshake-by-Dillon-and-Dutch-325709082

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I was reminded of this bird, the striped cuckoo (Tapera naevia), that would likely have been derided as unserious if presented as a speculative evolution concept, what with its little jazz-hand shuffle in the undergrowth, apparently done to flush prey out.

Ave dançando....Saci (Tapera naevia) / Ave de quatro asas

YouTube video by Ede Modesto Aves & Detectorismo

Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I tried with Smaugust and life just had to happen to me. Probably best to save any of those challenges I take a fancy to to do at my own leisure.

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Have you ever tried to read a scientific journal article and been told “you don’t have access, pay to download this article?” Did you know that the author of that article gets $0 if you pay? Instead, you can email the author and ask for a free copy! I’d be delighted to help and answer questions!

Screenshot of a scientific journal paywall

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

www.curioustaxonomy.net A neat site that's always entertaining to catch up on, as it collects some of the many peculiarities of biological nomenclature. As a teaser, here's some arachnological shade 😉

Screenshot of an entry on https://www.curioustaxonomy.net/etym/otheretym.html . it reads:

Pecado Hormiga & Scharff, 2005 (linyphiid spider) "Derived from the Spanish word 'pecado' (sin) in reference to widespread practice of erecting monotypic genera, especially in the Linyphiidae, in absence of a phylogenetic justification." (Pecado itself is a monotypic genus, but the authors provide phylogenetic justification.)

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Amazing. No notes. --- Well, for those needing context: - www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzGq... (humorous summary) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mdi... , www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXpj... (extended chronicle, drier wit)

The Dumbest Russian Voyage Nobody Talks About

YouTube video by BlueJay

Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Not likely it'll happen at this rate, academia on the whole being what it is, but since we're sharing, I'd rather participate in the name selection process & being acknowledged for that. Not all that fond of patronyms. Or, if you must, just be clever about it: do more than standard suffixing.

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Reposted by Renato Santos

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 23/09/2026

Excited to reflect, absorb, and emit light EXTRA WELL today ✨💃⚡️ #BiVisibilityDay

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Reposted by Renato Santos

Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

FUNDRAISING IS LIVE Donate at the link below to support the organizing efforts of the Save the Academy coalition Any and all extra money raised goes directly to the care of the Academy collections and exhibits opencollective.com/save-the-aca...

opencollective.com

Save the Academy Coalition - Open Collective

Help us amp up our efforts. We are raising funds to use toward saving the Academy of Natural Sciences.

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Certainly a reason why, on principle, chances willing, I'd lead with "I'm gay at first approximation." People like their false dichotomies. I'd rather let the trash take itself out. As this is an UK study, I did oblige my curiosity as to how things are for Southern Europe: just about the same.

link.springer.com

Behind Monosexual Norms: A Scoping Review of Bisexual Experiences in Southern Europe - Sexuality & Culture

Bisexual individuals remain significantly underrepresented in research, practice, and policy, particularly beyond Anglophone contexts. This scoping review aims to map and synthesize empirical studies ...

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Reposted by Renato Santos

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Your daily reminder that some birds have eyelashes made of tiny modified feathers. They're found in at least one species of 28 families of birds (out of 205). An example of convergent evolution. Examples: ostriches, secretarybirds, hornbills & hummingbirds. (📷: Nicolas Reusens Photography)

$Captured by @nicolasreusens, these close-ups show the eye and eyelid margin of a hummingbird at roughly 3 to 3.5x magnification. What look like lashes are modified feathers, not hairs, and researchers have proposed that they may help protect the eye from airborne particles during flight. Eyelash-like feather structures have only been documented in a fraction of the bird families surveyed so far. These photographs were taken at the Catia Hummingbird Sanctuary in Mexico.$ $Captured by @nicolasreusens, these close-ups show the eye and eyelid margin of a hummingbird at roughly 3 to 3.5x magnification. What look like lashes are modified feathers, not hairs, and researchers have proposed that they may help protect the eye from airborne particles during flight. Eyelash-like feather structures have only been documented in a fraction of the bird families surveyed so far. These photographs were taken at the Catia Hummingbird Sanctuary in Mexico.$

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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 22/09/2026

Before Alien, The Last Starfighter, Total Recall, Aliens, Titan AE and many more, Ron Cobb was a talented cartoonist, already on target more than 50 years ago.

LET YOUR FAITH LIGHT THE WORLD (with a big explosion)
Cartoon by Ron Cobb

A child in bed is surrounded by nuclear bombs

Cartoon by Ron Cobb

A man in a devastated neighborhood is looking for an electrical outlet for his broken TV.
Cartoon by Ron Cobb

“What is ecology?” one man asks another, as they perch on top of a car in a swamp full of rats.

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Reposted by Renato Santos

apparition of arden👻 @wakingnaturally.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

really good post that i really need everyone to absorb

tumblr text post by spiribia: I think it's fine if somebody describes a piece of media as life changing and earth shattering and bone shaking and it doesn't do much for you. I don't think the person who said that owes you an apology or anything. that's just the nature of people being different people

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Renato Santos @dracontes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Fun times in undergrad Mineralogy and Crystallography class using a petrographic microscope to identify minerals with polarizing filters. Still pretty. I can't say that twenty years hence I remember much of it.

A thin section viewed through a petrographic microscope with stage rotation

YouTube video by IKOIKO504

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Emily Thomas 🦤🏳️‍🌈 @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Every single time, the amount of time spent correcting AI output so that it’s actually usable far exceeds the time you’d spend doing the thing yourself. I cannot wait for this bubble to pop

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Emily Thomas 🦤🏳️‍🌈 @zhejiang0pterus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

“Always verify within the article” Oh ok so this is a completely unnecessary step and to ensure it’s not wrong we still have to read the paper. Literally adding work for no tangible benefit. I bet like ten people are ever gonna actually use this

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Asher HELLbein @asherelbein.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

An incredibly lovely and evocative animated short. I *highly* recommend taking the 3 or so minutes to watch this