iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr Sjúrður Hammer

Journal of Vertebrate Biology @jvertbiol.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🏝️ How do island species persist despite small populations? A recent synthesis shows that purging, genetic drift and ecological buffering can act together, yet genomic erosion may still leave populations vulnerable to environmental change. 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.tr... @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social

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Rory Blank @roryblank.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I think this is the best shirt design I've done all year roryblank.bigcartel.com (I am reposting this because the previous version included a typo, but I am also not deleting that post lol)

A cute drawing of a tiger wearing a little hat and trousers and a shirt, fishing on a small island, with text saying "I don't actually have to do anything at all
I am perfectly contended living without purpose"

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Caleb Scoville @calebscoville.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

a student journalist asked me for a comment on “viewpoint diversity.” rather than answer their specific questions, I offered the following comment about one reason I find the terms of the debate to be frustrating and insufficient.

As a sociologist who studies partisanship in the USA, I think the terms of this debate are largely backwards. Yes, universities and campuses are mostly populated by left-of-center individuals. But I do not think it makes a lot of sense to focus this conversation exclusively on how universities have changed without asking the same question about the political parties. The partisan coalitions have transformed significantly over the past several decades, with college graduates increasingly leaving the Republican Party and sorting into the Democratic Party

It is an empirical question, but my guess is that changes in the partisan coalitions do much more to explain the political lean of university populations today than anything universities have done in particular. Do we really think that people decide if they’re going to go to college based on politics? Or is it more likely that the kinds of people who are more likely to go to college are increasingly the kinds of people who identify as Democrats/liberals? What universities should do about this is a valid question, but we should not treat “liberal” and “conservative” as fixed or sacred identities worthy of equal representation in the academy as such. They are dynamic categories that have become increasingly associated with educational attainment in the first place. I happen to think education polarization produces bad politics (e.g., the current attacks on the public funding for science), but I am less concerned about its direct effects on education and research per se. Disagreement is alive and well in academia, even when it does not line up with the national partisan divide.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

But I certainly agree that blind adherence to old traditions is not appropriate

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

of this hunt being extremely wasteful ecologically.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I think we agree on this point! But I don't think the ethical legitimacy of a hunt only hinges on making the death as quick and humane as possible. That is one of many considerations. In the instance of faroese pilot whale killing, the improvements that have been made have not tackled the core issue

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yes certainly, but there are many more examples of animal welfare considerations taking priority over what is best for the ecosystem and in the case of the Hebrides the human-nature relationships. See target 9 in Kunming-Montreal for example.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oppositely, I agree with the philosopher Holmes Rolston who said something to the effect: that one cannot both be an environmentalist and an animal rightist. And Kunming-Montreal largely agrees with this stance

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Yes they breed in Orkney. They now breed as far south as N Ireland and as far east as Russia

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

And yes they cooperate to kill bigger birds

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Historically they bred only in the Faroes and iceland, but maybe that could be expected of the southern hemisphere skuas

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Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I’ve been reporting on the CDC for years, and have written about many of its troubles over the past year. I was still shocked by the extent of the staff losses and political interference I found when reporting this one. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...

nytimes.com

‘Zombified’ C.D.C., Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission (Gift Article)

The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and associates have tightened control.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Most predators will attack something where there is a very big size or other kind of advantage

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

themselves, but that is something I found to be not quite true, but it's interesting that someone at least had that impression in the 19th century. And you're right to ask, because I think it's very unusual in the wild for predators to have that kind of feistyness.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I totally get it, I'm not all about brute force and violence. I once read an interesting perspective of great skuas (in a second hand bookshop in Edinburgh - but unfortunately don't remember the book) that they are so honerable or respectable predators to only attack prey as big or bigger than

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Yes they are subtly badass. It is still mysterious to me why the gannets and puffins get all the attention (just ask @thelabandfield.bsky.social) Sure, they're pretty, but great skuas have them for breakfast

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

They're also the great skuas favorite 😈 but seriously, that is nothing. Great skuas will attack and kill gannets and greylag geese if they are available locally. They have no issue with attacking birds bigger than themselves. And they're not too proud to eat a snipe or wheatear if the opportunity

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The best thing about studying great skua diet is that you end up studying other seabirds too. It suits my undiagnosed magpiebrain very well! #seabirds 🧪🌍

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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Absolutely horrific: Thanks to a false intelligence "generated with the help of artificial intelligence," the US military nearly carried out an operation aboard a Chinese ship because the incorrect intelligence said it was carrying nukes, according to @cnn.com. edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...

edition.cnn.com

Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics

The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war

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thatgirlinsb @34thparallel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Protesters at the Irish Open. shitler’s international golf links and hotel Doonbeg, Ireland. Thank you, Doonbeg!

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Malena-PRO-CHOICE 🌊 🟦🟧Fighting Tyranny! @malena.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS 🦋 Approximately 6,000 undocumented immigrants were taken to ground zero to clean up the rubble. Many are suffering from cancer/other health issues because of the work they did & are now being targeted by #ICE.

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Frank Amari @frankamari.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Today's cartoon by Dennis Goris:

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

@iwriteok.bsky.social hey, listened to BTB for ages, and this is my first chance to correct you on something - Erasmus Darwin was not Charles' father but grandfather

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Sitting on a corn flake @grrlscientist.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

love birds (and insects)? then TURN OUT YOUR LIGHTS

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Very interesting! Even Celtic - West Nordic alliance

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Wild. It's the same in the Faroes. There's not a single politician in the faroese parliament who even questions if it smart to keep killing and eating pilot whales despite being massively polluted and considered inappropriate for human cinsumption

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

That is excaxtly what happened to me too this summer!

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Miranda Yaver @mirandayaver.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Prioritizing erectile dysfunction research over addressing infant mortality, cancer screenings, and suicide prevention tells you basically everything you need to know about this administration's health priorities.

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Yeah it helps most of the time for me too

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Gillian @ferbiemum25.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

#menieres disease

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Glad to see your post, but sorry for your condition. I have Menieres too and am going through an unusually long period of vertigo/dizzyness

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Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Hello, this is very out of the blue. But I have Menieres, and would very much like to volunteer for research into the disease. Do you have any idea where I could turn?

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

""What did he study? “Philosophy and theology. A teacher in high school said, there’s no money in that, and I said: ‘Sir, that’s disrespectful. That’s insulting, because not everybody’s about money.’" he's one of us!

theguardian.com

‘I don’t chase the dollar. I never did’: the astonishing hidden life of Mr T

He grew up in the ghetto, became a global superstar – then gave it all up. Why did he step away from the spotlight?

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I’ve been thinking a lot about the sunk cost fallacy lately. Science friends, how do you decide when a research project or paper that you’ve been working on for a while and have invested a lot of time in just isn’t worth it and should be abandoned? 🧪

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 01/09/2026

Free newsletter: We have entered an era of technological hypernormalization, where the tech industry does everything it can to twist our sense of reality to make us ignore the very simple economic problems they're unable to solve. www.wheresyoured.at/hyperscale-n...

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Jay Kuo @nycjayjay.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Don’t cry for Thiel, Argentina. Video: bsky.app/profile/noth...

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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

| Research which lawmakers have been consistent ocean and climate champions and which candidates plausibly promise better policies for our public seas. | (These days, you can safely say “vote for Democrats and not Republicans.” That didn’t used to be true.)

latimes.com

Contributor: To stop Trump's pillaging, 'vote the ocean' this fall

Research which lawmakers have been consistent ocean and climate champions and which candidates plausibly promise better policies for our public seas.

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Anders Puck Nielsen @anderspucknielsen.dk · 31/08/2026

I'm not sure it's helpful for Ukraine if Fedorov goes around conducting his own foreign policy on behalf of the country.

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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Jack White paid tribute to Dolly Parton at his Hammersmith show in London, performing a cover of 'Jolene' just hours after news broke of the country icon's death.

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Philip Amies @philipamies.eurosky.social · 25/08/2026

My own thinking which inevitably due to education is biological has with age given greater importance to culture, humans are animals with a difference. I do think some people deny biology too much as regards humans, but others take a simplistic (biased) stance which is often bad biology.

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