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Megan Worsley

@sparrowweaver.bsky.social
72 followers 62 following 44 posts

PhD student in behavioural ecology @ U of St Andrews :-) 🪹🦜

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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Trying to find reviewers without a COI... Why are biologists all best friends with each other? Stop being so collaborative!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I was ctrl-Fing the behind the scenes episodes but couldn't find the bit where they mentioned all being shoved in a hallway for the S1 finale, this was the closest I could find!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
only the highest production quality
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
People got burned alive in cages. This was on the shelf in my year 4 (age 8-9) classroom 😭 Solid YA fantasy trilogy though
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
true, might be a bit of a teeny burger! Ah well.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Looks amazing! I had an amazing deep fried mushroom burger from a food truck recently, and I wonder if you could also make a good burger?
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
William McGonagall would have written a cracking poem about this one if he knew about it
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
If the person will always have an AI partner, maybe they didn't need those skills anyway, right? But I guess saying "who REALLY needs critical thinking anymore, we can outsource that to computers" sounds obviously stupid, so instead people say "AI is the future, get with it!" to gently imply it.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A lot of the things people ask AI to do for them, if you replace "AI" with another person, it becomes more clear that the person using AI is skipping the training. But if it's soo obvious that we'll all have rely on AI for everything in the future, then that judgement gets clouded...
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I have a bunch of reference photos of my college still saved from when I built it in minecraft
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
wow, wikipedia agrees on all counts!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I'm usually a "please could I get a refill" person, but if I run out and the only option truly is bottled water, sometimes I end up getting the smart water bottles (they're a nice size) and I feel the urge to hiss into my Smart Bottle like "I didn't fall for your stupid electrolytes, shut up"
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
locusmag.com/feature/comm... i really like this article, which sets out a specific and actionable solution to this exact problem. it's crazy that we put up with this!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
lol fair that is an odd choice. That said, parakeets are my problematic fave, I know they're invasive but seeing a parrot in london is hilariously jarring
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
what's controversial about the mute swan?
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
the son blood thing being a notable exception LOL
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I'd be very surprised if he caused this, the mad scientist image seems overhyped. From his website, it looks like most of what he does is following normal health advice to the letter, and obsessively collecting data. The rest is crank, but sounds like it would do nothing rather than injure you.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
sorry, to clarify, "not worried about owning a visa card". I am very worried for the people who will use this service
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
I'm not worried, sounds like "you can put your card into chatgpt" rather than "they put chatgpt into your card". but this snippet is hilarious, i love that for tech schemes they'll blatantly market their stuff to corporations in front of the consumers who are being fleeced loll
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
you say this but my previous dentist kept sending me email promotions asking me if I wanted to become more beautiful with the aid of fillers
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
I think the fact that video essays are wildly popular shows that there's a big appetite for nonfiction. Maybe people either prefer videos or they haven't yet realised that they can get their nonfiction fix from books
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
to use a technical term... doi.org/10.1007/s106...
doi.org
ChatGPT is bullshit - Ethics and Information Technology
Recently, there has been considerable interest in large language models: machine learning systems which produce human-like text and dialogue. Applications of these systems have been plagued by persist...
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Reposted by Megan Worsley
Tom Green (they/he) @animalsexpert.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Booty bumping is officially a scientific term!!!! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
Multispecies analysis of social effects on same-sex sexual behavior challenges mistaken identity hypotheses in insects | PNAS
Same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) in insects has historically been considered a byproduct of sex recognition failure, or “mistaken identity,” and cons...
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Natalie Pilakouta @nataliepilakouta.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
New paper from our lab showing that larvae exposed to thermal stress suffer higher mortality, but for those that survive, there are no long-term effects on reproduction later in life www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌡️🐞 Congrats to @jakobwiil.bsky.social on his first paper from his PhD! 🥳
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Oh dear. if Trivers is in the Epstein files, does that mean, Erdős number style, we all now have an Epstein number?
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Natalie Pilakouta @nataliepilakouta.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Hot off the press! New paper in Biology Letters (@royalsocietypublishing.org) showing that heatwaves impair female but not male fertility in burying beetles 🐞🌡️ Huge congratulations to Izzy (@izzygrieve.bsky.social) on her first first-authored paper! 🥳🙌 royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Sorry to be really boring and/or conspiracy theorising, but I think this is bait. There's an obviously profitable general use case (influencer promotions), but by pushing this hilariously pointless use case they've got everyone talking about it. Maybe people will even try it for the memes
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Reposted by Megan Worsley
The Onion @theonion.com · 26/08/2025
Hummingbird Feels Like Fucking Idiot After Seeing Other Bird Gliding theonion.com/hummingbird-feels-like…
Hummingbird Feels Like Fucking Idiot After Seeing Other Bird Gliding
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
I also like the "amid" that strongly suggests causality but is too cowardly to say it
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Yeah, I think of driving as a social skill, and I'm now wondering - is that not universal?
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
thanks @sheardcat.bsky.social for the photo and for the invite, and BES Macro for being lovely :-)
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Is this a bug or a feature? Like, did they roll out a new automatic reactions thing that's turned on by default or something else equally stupid, or is it not meant to behave like this?
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
No, but I cling to tradition so that I don't drown in endless possibilities! Here's an opposite hot take: I want MORE situational foods. UK schools do meat-free mondays, roast wednesdays, fish and chip fridays... And I also want to eat the food of every annual holiday I can reasonably remember
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
agree, but also, I raise you:
the above tweet, with some words blocked out so that it reads "Submitting to a... journal is all fun and games until revised manuscripts have to be submitted"
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
The authors care about how animals solve problems in their environment to survive, which I believe is interesting in its own right, whether or not it "counts". I don't think they aim to determine a hierarchy of intelligence with humans at the top.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I think similar colours of fabric/thread are important in that location too lol, in which case, you're buying new stuff so you may as well get the vinted jeans. I don't want to do a holier than thou climate thing, I just hate throwing out stuff that's MINE and ALMOST fine except for one rip.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Ahaha! I have a patch on the inside, sashiko on the outside situation on the butt of one pair of jeans, but it also has stitching on the pockets and knees, so that makes it less glaring. That's a tough one!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I mean, some stuff is kind of beyond saving anyway (RIP the extremely cosy pyjama shorts I've been desperately patching up for the last few years and somehow only managing to multiply the holes like hydras), but it can be a lot of fun for nice sturdy things like jeans!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
That's also a nice idea! (but also, if this happens often enough that it's a regular thing, have you attempted much mending? It's really empowering if you're a creature of habit and don't like letting go of your favourite things too soon!)
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
For shirts, you could probably look more broadly, tops intended for other outdoor sports are probably quite similar (unless you mean like collared shirts). For trousers, if you find any that have a decent rise (i.e. not 2000s britney spears), please pass it on!
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Seconding this: online second hand shopping is a total crapshoot with regards to fit, especially for trousers, but you can do the old "go to an outdoor shop, try things on, take a photo of the tags, and then filter by size and colour and brand to find the exact same item on vinted" strategy ;)
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
thanks! :)
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
He added: "Right from the first day when tea was traded in this country there has been nefarious practices around it. There's been smuggling, contraband tea, counterfeit tea." Need to find an excuse to quote this.... (greenwashed tea is a bit sad though! Makes me wonder what other scams remain)
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
I've never seen these before, and now I never want to see them again. But I'll add it to my 2025 bingo card
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I particularly like the way the violin plot distributions have regular bulges at every round number, almost as if the data consists of ratings on a 7 point scale, or something.
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Reposted by Megan Worsley
Melissa Ramsay @melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
I really enjoyed presenting some preliminary results from my PhD work at the St Andrews Biology PGR conference today! It was great to see all the cool work coming out of our community as well 🦀🐟🔊 (thanks to @mikemwebster.bsky.social and @lrendell.bsky.social as always)
A picture of me standing in front of my slide showing preliminary results from my first PhD studies.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Career milestone! Got my first predatory journal email 🥰🥰
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Reposted by Megan Worsley
Melissa Ramsay @melissa-e-ramsay.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Had a great time hosting our #Eastbio thematic meeting today - with fantastic talks by @nakedprimate.bsky.social, @sheardcat.bsky.social and Dave Shuker! @louisekandler.bsky.social @mzworsley.bsky.social Followed by some good old-fashioned rockpooling 🦀🐟
Six people walking across the rockpools covered in seaweed under a grey sky.Me presenting the rockpooling activity at the front of a seminar room.A black spotted sea hare under the water in a rockpool.
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
If you want to test this in your own study species, we also made a package for that! github.com/mzw22/kber
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Megan Worsley @sparrowweaver.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
My first paper just dropped 😳 We found that animal perception tends to follow Weber's law across a wide range of species and types of stimuli, although we saw a lot of variation too. With @jj255.bsky.social and Tanmay Dixit doi.org/10.1093/behe...
doi.org
How animals discriminate between stimulus magnitudes: a meta-analysis
Often, as the magnitude of a stimulus increases, it becomes harder to detect small changes in this stimulus (termed the magnitude effect). We investigated
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