iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jessica Foley

Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026

We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/

a cartoon of three fieldworkers. One has a small trans flag. The logos of the university of leeds, research england, and canopy robin are shown, as well as the URL: InclusiveFieldwork (dot) Leeds (dot) AC (dot) UK (slash) trans

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

come join us at the Promislow lab, I promise we are all very nice! 🪰

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Reposted by Jessica Foley

Edward R. Ivimey-Cook @eivimeycook.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Introducing disappR. The shiny app made by @krishsanghvi11.bsky.social and I to help diagnose and model selective [dis]appearance!! github.com/EIvimeyCook/... Please do try it out and let us know how you get on! (and if you spot any bugs!).

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Max needs you!! and he'll be a wonderful supervisor doing exciting research!

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

episode 3 of Inside Geroscience out now - with the Academy's very own President, Prof. Nir Barzilai!

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

for those interested in insect neuro-evo-devo - I can guarantee that Max is one of the best and kindest in the biz! an amazing opportunity to be part of building what is sure to be a brilliant new lab 🦋🧠

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Episode 2 of Inside Geroscience is out now! tune in for our discussion with Dr. Luigi Ferrucci of the National Institute on Aging about his recent paper on epigenetic clocks, the dream of geroscience, and much more - available on all major podcast platforms. open.spotify.com/episode/1BOX...

open.spotify.com

Biological Clocks with Luigi Ferrucci

Inside Geroscience · Episode

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Thanks for sharing - glad you enjoyed!

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Reposted by Jessica Foley

Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

More of the fantastic @jessicafoley14.bsky.social 's cool butterfly pollen munching and strength research in the news! ( She fails to mention, though, how a Coati ate a bunch of the pollen and gained superintelligence as well though)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

thanks Andy! saving the story of Cocopop for my memoir, I think...

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

have realised I had the privacy settings messed up but have now corrected that if you want your Gamboa forest sounds fix, promise it wasn't a John Cage-esque silence fake-out haha

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

as a fun bonus for anyone who made it this far, this publication also motivated me to dig through my old Tascam field recordings of the incredible sounds of Gamboa (Panama). Finally uploaded here, FFO nature sounds, tropical rain, Enya (probably): soundcloud.com/j_fole/sets/... (10/10)

soundcloud.com

SoundCloud - Hear the world’s sounds

Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

and of course, a huge thank-you to all my wonderful co-authors for their varied and tireless contributions – this paper was very much a team effort! I am also very grateful to my funders @gw4biomeddtp.bsky.social for their support. (9/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Considering the wealth of genomic tools and ecological knowledge available in Heliconius, we think these results present this genus as an exciting new model for studying the evolutionary and mechanistic basis of long life. Move aside, Ming the clam…. (8/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

While the shorter-lived, closely-related Dryas iulia shows a decline in grip strength with age, we found no impact of age on performance in Heliconius hecale – either with the pollen or without. So not only do Heliconius live longer, they also show evidence of delayed physiological ageing. (7/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

We next wanted to know – how might physiological ageing differ in these long-lived butterflies? With help from @dinalab.bsky.social, we built a device called "The Pullinator" to measure butterfly “grip strength” across the lifespan. (6/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

But results from pollen-deprivation experiments show that this lifespan extension is not purely down to the plastic nutritional benefits of pollen. Even without it, Heliconius live nearly twice as long as some of their close relatives – indicating evolved, heritable mechanisms of longevity. (5/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Moving beyond maximum lifespan (a notoriously problematic metric), we also show evidence for longer median lifespans, reduced baseline mortality, and slowed rates of ageing in Heliconius, associated with their transition to a pollen-feeding behaviour. (4/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

We collate data from the literature, commercial butterfly houses, and our own insectary experiments to reveal maximum lifespans of up to 348 days in Heliconius hewitsoni, representing a 25-fold lifespan extension over some of their closest Heliconiini relatives. (3/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Heliconius biologists have known about their lengthy lives for decades, often citing a maximum lifespan of around 6 months – but this remarkable longevity has received surprisingly little scientific attention. Distracted by those dazzling wing patterns, no doubt… Photo by @eahodge.bsky.social (2/10)

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Very excited to finally have this out in the world! The first paper from my PhD (and my first first-author publication) makes the case for a new entrant to the world of long-lived animal models: Heliconius butterflies. Out now in @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41... (1/10)

nature.com

Evolution of increased longevity and slowed ageing in a genus of tropical butterfly - Nature Communications

Studying long-lived species across the animal kingdom could provide insights into healthy ageing in humans. This study reveals long lifespans and slowed ageing in Heliconius butterflies, identifying t...

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Reposted by Jessica Foley

Morgan M. Oberweiser @mmoberweiser.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

📄New Paper!📄 Multimodal courtship in Nursery web spiders involves a nuptial gift AND vibrations. Do males adjust their investment in the vibratory signal based on how nice their nuptial gift is? Out now in @behavecol.bsky.social academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

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Reposted by Jessica Foley

Benito Wainwright @benitoexplains.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Leaf-mimicking katydids don’t just use their funky camouflage to survive, they’re using it to find love too! 🥰🍃💘 New paper out now in #ProcB @royalsocietypublishing.org (Photo cred: Christian Ziegler): doi.org/10.1098/rspb... 1/n

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Can confirm they are indeed very nice 🦋

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

don't worry Max, a few episodes and we'll sort you out

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Jessica Foley @jessicafoley14.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Finally answered the "should we start a podcast" call that waits for us all... Episode 1 of Inside Geroscience is out now! Tune in for conversations about the biology of ageing with leading scientists in the field. Brought to you by the Academy of Geroscience, available on all podcast platforms.

open.spotify.com

Nature vs. Nurture with Uri Alon

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