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Edward Collins

@ejpcollins.bsky.social
1.2K followers 937 following 145 posts

Historian of science in the Spanish & Portuguese empires at @ucddublin.bsky.social. Nautical science & technology, history of animals and creepy crawlies. Opinion-haver, sci-fi-enjoyer, cat-botherer.

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Reposted by Edward Collins
Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
A lot of excitement on here about the article in Science summarising the discoveries of @alistairsponsel.bsky.social and Brian Sutton, just published in the Journal of the History of Biology. Some people have asked, so here is what I think they show, and what are the implications:
link.springer.com
Photograph 49 is the Key to Understanding the History of Rosalind Franklin’s DNA Photograph 51 - Journal of the History of Biology
This essay, co-authored by a historian of science and an X-ray crystallographer, sheds new light on Rosalind Franklin’s Photograph 51. We refute the infamous claim that, unlike James Watson, Franklin ...
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 02/10/2026
Butterbutt. An older comic.
A four-panel comic titled "yellow-rumped warbler poem". In panel 1, a yellow-rumped warbler stands on a branch in a late autumn scene, and says "Fall is here." In panel 2, the warbler watches a brown leaf fall to the ground, and says "Winter's near." In panel 3, the warbler faces the viewer as brown leaves fall, and says "Need some cheer?" In panel 4, the warbler is showing its luminous yellow rump, and cheerfully says "See my rear."
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I’ll root it out and take photos of it in the next couple of days. It’s a really nice piece of work but the monolith shape is not exactly conducive to comfortable reading as you might imagine.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thanks Jen. Feeling a bit beaten up but not too bad overall. Hope you and the fam are all well.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Couldn’t agree more.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I got the Taschen edition of the making of 2001 back about 10 years ago. It’s wonderful and is shaped and coloured like the monolith. The photos are amazing.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thanks! Appreciate it.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Well, shit. Your regular reminder that Covid has never gone away, people. Stay up to date with your vaccinations and mask up if you can, especially this time of year. BTW, this is my first time ever testing positive. What a delight 😒
Positive Covid test
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Is the Harrison one good? I can never seem to warm to him
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I turned off the update notices but that wasn’t working so I googled and it said to enter a prompt into Terminal which seems to have worked. I stay safe, annoyed, and motivated to move to LibreOffice.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
You can enter a little command into terminal to stop it checking for updates. The latest version of word is incredibly invasive though. I can look for the command if you need it
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Congrats Chloe! Hope you’re well.
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Mark Faghy @profmarkfaghy.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our short animation to descirbe the results and findings.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Oh L’Atour
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Never felt more vindicated in my long-held conviction that Ed Sheeran makes music for people who eat their Weetabix with water
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
‘People in small towns have beliefs the way caves have bats’ — @ursulakleguin.com
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phoenixrising @mmcarthur.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
William Sanderson : Green Twilight, 1971 oil on canvas
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Val Nolan @vallescurarule.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Thread 👇
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Grim Reaper needs to work on his aim a little better
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
MERL continuing to have the best social media
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
A list of academics supporting “race realist” Nathan Cofnas - I would have avoided the few I know on this list anyway due to other things I’ve heard already johnarmstrongmaths.com/openletters/...
johnarmstrongmaths.com
As academics, we are concerned that Ghent University's disciplinary proceedings against Dr Cofnas appear to constitute retaliation, at least in part, for publicizing academic misconduct that occurred in British universities.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Neighbour’s cat making herself right at home in our garden
White kitty asleep in the sun
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This book has been side-eyeing me for 22 years because I was too lazy to read it for a module on my Culture and Colonialism MA. This TBR must be a personal record.
Zadie Smith’s White Teeth
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Amen!
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University College Dublin @ucddublin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
🐻🦴 Bear, boar or cattle? New research led by UCD School of Archaeology has revealed that "cattle bones" long thought to mark the beginning of farming in Ireland actually belong to bear and wild boar, rewriting a key chapter in Irish prehistory. 🧵 @ucdarchaeology.bsky.social @graemewarren.bsky.social
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Sam Wetherell @samwetherell.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Does anyone remember when, in 2023, Rachel Reeves, soon to become chancellor, was found to have plagiarised multiple parts of a book she published about economics from Wikipedia and it was barely a news story?
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Rachel Pope @prehistorian.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Read this by Priya Gopal who went through the same, for daring to have a voice whilst not white: zeteo.uk/p/the-jason-...
zeteo.uk
The Jason Arday Affair and the 'Oprahfication' of Antiracism
Culture warriors blame 'woke' Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies for the scandal surrounding the Cambridge professor. The real problem is that EDI has been rendered symbolic and superficial.
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Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
This is a complete distraction. Ireland cannot build a nuclear power plant fast enough to matter. Making a decision to do so would excuse punting on all the wind and solar things it can and must do. This is a lobby project of the tech industry to have something to say when building data centres.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Jeez. You make one major investment in the East India Company and all those lib students are trying to cancel you. Bring back the days when you could just accept bonuses from the Royal Mint without being accused of profiting from slavery, I say!
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Holy fuck. He was the one who encouraged me to apply for a PhD in NUIG with Nicholas Canny back in 2005 just before his departure to Cambridge. I had no idea about any of this.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
At least with the adobe software, you could export the file to Calibre and remove the DRM. This one not so much.
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
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Screamer Jim @screamerjim.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
If only there was some plot device that would have permitted Dickens to explore Scrooge’s earlier life
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UCD Library @ucdlibrary.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Did you know that UCD Library has access to Oxford Academic? Through UCD OneSearch you can access Oxford Bibliographies Online for Anthropology, Childhood Studies, Education, Psychology, and Social Work, (1/2)
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Ken Jennings @kenjennings.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Why didn't the eagles just fly Odysseus straight to Ithaca
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Spanish flag
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Yours in negritude, Ryan K. Smith @mewefree.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Two people tried to enter a screening of The Odyssey without buying tickets after hiding inside a miniature model of the Trojan Horse. 😂😂😂
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Jack Grimes @jackapedia.design · 16/07/2026
Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley
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Rachel Hope Cleves @rachelcleves.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
An open letter, to readers, about Charity and Sylvia. I am very pained to feel the need to write this. #queerhistory #pride
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I’ve gotten a lot of ‘we would love you to submit your work for publication’ from various materials science journals over the years. I’m a historian. It’s almost endearing these days compared to the more sophisticated stuff coming in now.
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Patrick McKelvey @pmckelveyphd.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
it is my distinct pleasure and honor to wish a Happy Father's Day to the father of all fathers, the entity that made me the person I am today. I speak, of course, of the American Kennel Club, which first recognized whippets as a breed in 1888.
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
static.klipy.com
Ba Dum Tss Rimshot Pun
ALT: Ba Dum Tss Rimshot Pun
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Ireland against Fascism @irlagainstfascism.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
These are the real people of Belfast. Thousands of anti-fascists rally against the far-right at Belfast City Hall today. They sent a clear message that racism is not wanted in their city. Things you love to see ✊❤
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Can confirm
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Andrea Sommese @asommese.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
What do we mean by calling an animal "wild"? A zoo tiger? A city fox? A feral cat? Nobody agrees 😅 We asked 358 wildlife experts, and "wild" isn't just one thing 🐾 It isn't just the opposite of "domestic," but exists along a spectrum with multiple dimensions. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
Addressing the Elephant in the Room: A Quantitative Approach to Understanding 'Wild'
When applied to non-human animals,'wild' is a poorly defined concept despite its central role in conservation, wildlife management, and environmental policy. Numerous attempts have been made to define...
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
static.klipy.com
David Rose from Schitt's Creek
Alt: David Rose from Schitt's Creek signifying disapproval
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Yep yep yep. You should want to know the foundation for the history you’re being sold. Might just be a story. Footnotes and etc are about accountability, transparency and information integrity! #footnotesfordemocracy
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Edward Collins @ejpcollins.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
‘Idaho health officials are investigating how nearly 60 people got sick after drinking raw milk in the past two weeks.’ Man who hit himself on the head with hammer wondering why his head hurts.
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Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I don’t know what to tell you, man. I’m a medieval historian, and, in my field, if you don’t check your sources (and your sources’ sources) you are just asking to be taken for a ride by some bored 19th C. aristocratic English antiquarian with a penchant for inventing history.
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Alan Dunne @aldunne.eurosky.social · 10/05/2026
fair play to Martin, using RIP dot ie the way the lord intended #speirgorm
Joan my deepest sympathy to you on your moth-ers death RIP. You were my girlfriend years ago when you were in Feely's Academy school in Roscommon town. I was dating you in Carrick too. We met in Kitty O'Shea's night club in Roscommon town. I often thought of you after to see how you got on no mobile phones that time. I think it could have been late 80s or early 90s. I think we were too young ti settle down but I'd like to get in contact with you again. 087 XXX XXXX.

Re-Martin XXXX Co. Roscommon
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