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Stephen Mulvey

@stephenmulvey.bsky.social
769 followers 2.7K following 219 posts

Freelance journalist, ex-mature student (Conservation MSc at UCL), treasurer of the London Bat Group and Fellow of the Linnean Society. In the distant past reported from Kyiv and Baku.

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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“I will undo all the hard work over the last 20 years and move to a mono crop with maize. It’s not a threat, it’s what I will do for my family. It will break our hearts but my children come first.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘We can’t ride this storm’: the English farmers facing uncertainty after sustainability funding runs dry
After the available money ran out after just six hours, some fear they will have to reverse efforts to boost nature
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“The really important thing about common species is that they are the ones that are doing the most of our ecosystem services.”
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
To celebrate Spooky Season, let's learn why this vampire bat is running on a treadmill. The three species of vampire bats are the only known mammals to be obligate hemophages: 100% of their calories come from blood. The Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus) prefers mammals... (📷: Giulia Rossi)
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Mika Rantanen @mikarantane.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Radar image of Tuesday's mass crane migration. A 100 km long line of migrating cranes was clearly visible on weather radar. It is estimated that around 10,000 (?) cranes were involved in that formation. The highest count observed was 26,000 migrating cranes on that day in Kangasala (near Tampere).
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
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Dave Hutton @davehutton1969.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Rosemary Beetle - Chrysolina americana (Nuneaton,Warks 23/9/26) Only my 2nd ever in the Garden this afternoon. #bugs #beetles
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“With the genetic information that we can find in bats, it could be used to develop therapeutics associated with zoonotic disease. And they could also be models to develop treatments for cancer.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Bats originated in Europe, rewriting mammals’ family tree, study reveals
Biggest study of its kind provides insights into bats’ evolution – a potential gamechanger for research into human virus and cancer treatment
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Anni Binet @annibinet.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Back in July I did some filming with ITV about my project and BluBat tags, it was finally aired today! Best bit is they used my Natterer's in flight photo as the banner, and it's mid wee 😂🫣 🦇 For those in the UK you can watch the feature here: www.itv.com/watch/news/n...
itv.com
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Maija Karala @maijakarala.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Where did our lost rhinos roam? Distribution charts based on bone finds (individual dots) and habitat suitability for the four fluffy rhinos of late Pleistocene. These are of course approximate and might not include all obscure finds. #Sciart
Illustration of extinct narrow-nosed rhino with a map in the background showing it lived in central and southern Europe, northern Africa and some way into western AsiaIllustration of ”Siberian unicorn” or Elasmotherium sibiricum with a map on the background showing it lived in Eastern Europe and central AsiaIllustration of a woolly rhinoceros with a map in the background showing it had a very wide distribution from southwestern Europe all the way through Europe and Russia to the Pacific coast and northern China.Illustration of a merck’s rhinoceros with a map in the background showing it lived in a large area from southwestern and central Europe to western Asia, parts of Siberia and northern and eastern China.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Startled to see a brown hairstreak butterfly on a plum tree in a suburban South London garden (SE13). They are increasing their range in Kent and London… but there will be barely any blackthorn (where females, like this one, lay their eggs) for miles. Really mysterious.
Brown hairstreak butterfly on plum treeBrown hairstreak butterfly on plum tree.
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Tim Holt-Wilson @timholtwilson.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Our Norfolk Ponds investigations are finding pingoid ponds in the Breckland with layers of Cannabis pollen in their mud.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
“But where this war really excelled in its stupidity was… in its response to the original setbacks. This reflects a feature of the Iran war: it has been waged by stupid people, not only Trump but also his Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth.” samf.substack.com/p/good-wars-...
samf.substack.com
Good Wars, Bad Wars, and Stupid Wars
Could the war in Iran do even more damage to the US than Iraq?
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Carl Sayer @carlsayer.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
So proud of my Dads self-seeded hay meadow covered so very brilliantly (huge thanks) by @patrickbarkham.bsky.social in the Guardian today. ‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself | Biodiversity | The Guardian share.google/rqDHUdpZBXuy...
share.google
‘I love it. It’s hope’: the mysterious self-willed wildflower meadow that seeded itself
Farmer Derek Sayer let a boggy field run wild and just one annual hay-cut has led to remarkable biodiversity
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Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Rare moth makes a comeback after more than 70 years! For decades, the only site where the Dark Bordered Beauty could be found in England was Strensall Common in Yorkshire. Now a second population has been rediscovered at the National Trust's Wallington estate, providing new hope for the species.
A Dark Bordered Beauty moth, with yellow and brown patterned wings, resting on a green leaf amongst grass
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
“Natural England, the government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, does not sound very enthusiastic about white stork releases, though it says they are not banned. It argues that neither white nor black storks were ever native breeding birds in England.”
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Cc @bdtaylor-su.bsky.social
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Photographer Varun Aditya spent three straight nights in a hide with no flash to capture this pride of Asiatic lions, one of only 600 left in the wild, all confined to India's Gir Forest.
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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
It's actually even more of a coincidence because this is only currently true - in the distant past the moon was much closer to Earth, making eclipses fully block the sun and in the future it will be much further away, making total eclipses impossible
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Funny how no one asked russia to halt strikes on Ukrainian civilians.
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Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Revealed: just 20 out of of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation, as UK burns in fifth heatwave of this summer - FOI request by me @andyburnham.bsky.social needs to level with the country about the climate crisis & set out radical plan to tackle it 🧵 www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Just 20 of 6,600 Defra staff working on climate adaptation amid drought and wildfires
Exclusive: England ‘desperately unprepared’ for effects of crisis including water shortages and heatwaves
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Can anyone help ID this moth (in a bathroom, SE London)? Willow beauty perhaps? #teammoth
Moth on lumpy glass window
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
L-album Wainscot moth (Mythimna l-album) in SE London bathroom, in the early hours of the morning. There are supposed to be two generations, July and September-October, so is this a late July moth or an early September one? @joebeale.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social
Wainscot moth with brown, fawn and white markings.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Here’s the personal robbery data that @shashj.bsky.social refers to
Chart showing incidence of personal robbery involving use of force, over time, in Paris, London and Chicago (which have the worst record of the six selected cities) Berlin, New York and LA.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
These 20-25mm-long stinging flies generally avoid humans, apparently, and make a loud buzzing noise as they fly.
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 02/07/2026
Did you know? Renewables have just overtaken coal as the world's largest source of electricity 34% – global renewable share, up 2x in 20yrs 48% – EU 37% – China 26% – US 24% – India
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Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Aurora Australis from the International Space Station
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Wolfgang Cramer @cramer-bondeau.fr · 30/06/2026
Just in case Europeans think that the air here is hotter than usual, do not forget that the sea surface of the entire planet is warmer than it has ever been in late June (since records began). pulse.climate.copernicus.eu
screenshot from copernicus, indicating 0.54°C temperature anomaly (relative to 1991-2020 average) on June 28, 2026
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@macro_action @birdzandbees.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
The sweetest thing, don’t you think? These very fast and very loud Green eyed flower bees (Anthopora bimaculta) are also very cute. @nikoneurope Z9 and Z105mm macro SS1/4000 F11 ISO3200 natural light #bee #bees #cuteanimal #cute #macro
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Grantham Research Institute at LSE @granthamlse.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
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Will Clennell @birdbeard.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Two gorgeous Greens. Scarce Silver-lines and Green Silver-lines. Both nfy in VC27, Old Catton. #teammoth #norfolkmoths
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Wendy English @whitbybotanist.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Bryophytes have taken advantage of the bare burnt ground after the Fylingdales wildfire, creating a multicolour carpet. @northyorkmoors.org.uk
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Carl Sayer @carlsayer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Sayer's Old Meadow is covered in wildflowers 21 yrs post-arable. The soil must have healed & every 2 paces there are oak or other tree saplings. If we did not mow it would rapidly be trees. So do we really have to plant trees to get forest on former farmland? Or just patience & trusting in nature?
Oak saplings in a meadowA srunning species rich wildflower meadow full of orchids. No seeding has taken place to achieve it. Just annual mowing.
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Norfolk Ponds Project @norfolkponds.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
#Ghostpond restoration is rocket fuelled conservation! Over 4-5 years we have seen 100s of wet-loving plants return to 30 resurrected ice age ponds in Norfolk, England. This year's surveys saw us find more scarce species: Marsh Pennywort, Marsh Speedwell & Fringed Heartwort. So Thrilled!!!
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iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Some spectacular parasitic fungus for your feed: Ophiocordyceps curculionum!
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Marsh Tits calling, Chaffinches singing, and brave people having their lives ripped apart by an invading army of Russian imperialists. The Sumy oak forests they're defending are some of the best in Eastern Europe. But this testimony is unimaginable. She's not yet 30, and is on the frontlines.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
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Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
‼️HISTORIC EVENT :+15c IN ANTARCTIC WINTER Absolutely insane what we are witnessing: 15.4C/60F Esperanza 🇦🇷Minimum +6.0 ! HOTTEST WINTER DAY AND NIGHT IN ANTARCTICA HISTORY MORE RECORDS SHATTERED 11.8 Marambio🇦🇷 9.3 Palmer🇺🇸 8.1 San Martin🇦🇷 7.8 Juan Carlos🇪🇸 4.6 Arturo Prat🇨🇱
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Zelenskyy wrote an open letter to Putin‼️ ​"Whatever you say about NATO, geopolitics, and the russian language, this war is your personal choice—a war with no real reason. That is exactly how history will remember it."
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 04/06/2026
11. Addendum: here are the words characteristic of LLMs. Notice anything? It reads like an email from our upper administration.
Table S1. List of 228 Focal Words disproportionately associated with LLM outputs.3
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achieves contextualize exacerbates integrates oversight showcasing
achieving contextually exacerbating integrating oversimplify signifying
acknowledges cornerstone exceeding intensifies paving situates
adaptable crucial excelled intensifying pinpointing situating
addressing culminating excelling interpretability pivotal sourced
adept delineates excels interpretable poised strategically
adeptly delve exemplifies intricacies posits streamline
adjustments delved exhibits intricacy practicality streamlined
adjusts delves facilitating intricate preserving streamlining
advancements delving featuring intricately primarily strengthens
advancing dependencies formidable introduces prioritise struggle
advocating diminishes fortifying juncture prioritize stylistic
aiding discernible fostering leverage prioritizes surpasses
align downturns fosters leverages prioritizing surpassing
aligning dynamically foundational leveraging promise symbolizing
aligns elucidates frameworks meticulous prowess synthesizes
alongside elucidating garnered meticulously reaffirming thereby
amidst emphasising garnering mitigate realm thoroughness
amplifies emphasizes grappling mitigates redefines thoughtfully
avenues emphasizing groundbreaking mitigating refine thrives
boasting employs harnessing multifaceted refines timelines
boasts enabling heighten navigates refining transcends
bolster encapsulates heightened navigating reflecting transitioning
bolstering encompass heightening necessitate reinforces underexplored
bolsters encompassed heightens necessitates reliance undermines
broader encompasses highlighting necessitating renowned underperform
capitalizes encompassing highlights notable reshapes underperformed
captivating endeavors hinges notably reshaping underpins
captures enhance imperatives nuanced revolutionize underscore
capturing enhancements inadequately nuances revolutionizing underscored
categorizes enhance…
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 25/05/2026
Today has been the hottest day in May on record with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 34.8°C - exceeding the previous highest May temperature in the UK by a full 2 degrees Celsius🌡️ This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May📈
A map of the UK showing a temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius, recorded in Kew Gardens, London on Monday 25 May 2026
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Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
EXTRAORDINARY HEAT WAVE IN CHINA Insane and unprecedented heat with records smashed allover East Asia every single day of the month. Today 127 more stations in China smashed their May Highest Minimums records. Putian and Yunan had their hottest May day ever Much hotter tomorrow!
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
The word “precarity“ feels all wrong to me. Why? It’s new, according to Google’s Ngram viewer. But around 2017 it became more widely used than “precariousness”. So I will have to get used to it.
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Keir Giles @keirgiles.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
It's 9th May. When I first posted this over on "the other place" in 2020, I was vilified and castigated by trolls, vatniks, genuine Russophiles and actual Russians in pretty much universally the same terms. It was fascinating to watch the reaction change over time each year I reposted it.
Post commemorating Russian victory day and how it marks final success in conquering eastern Europe in spite of the Nazis rather than in cooperation with them.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Who is the Mozart of the world of snooker? Important thread here by someone with enviable knowledge of both disciplines.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
“Italy’s wolves might be close to a point of no return that experts call ‘genetic swamping’, in which the wolves’ original gene pool is irreversibly replaced by the hybrids’.” www.biographic.com/nearly-half-...
biographic.com
Nearly Half of Italy’s Wolves Are Part Dog Now. Is That a Problem? - bioGraphic
Wolf-dog hybrids are taking over Italy, raising scientists’ concerns for the future of the country’s wolves.
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Ruth Siddall @pavementgeology.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
The newly restored church of St Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. An interior of Portland and Bath Stone with an altar of Tivoli Travertine by Henry Moore #urbangeology #london
The interior of the church with a dome and a lantern through which light enters the buildings, however there are also lots of windows. The alter is below the centre of the dome and there are three Corinthian columns in each corner. The altar of the church is sculpted from a single block of Tivoli Travertine from near Rome.
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Stephen Mulvey @stephenmulvey.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Stunning 30m-year-old emperor. “In the fossil of Apaturoides monikae from Céreste, most of the right wing and large parts of the left wing are preserved with complete wing venation and clearly recognizable wing patterns, including eye spots.” phys.org/news/2026-04...
phys.org
Researchers present first fossilized 'emperor' butterfly
Butterfly fossils are rare, and finds that preserve fine anatomical details and wing patterns are an absolute exception. An international research team from Sweden, the U.S., and Germany, led by Dr. H...
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Richard K Broughton @richardkbroughton.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Ash dieback is having some odd disturbance effects in ancient woodland. The extra light under dying ash canopy is allowing these wild roses to go crazy, scrambling up the tree trunks to heights of 7 m, forming these funky columns.
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