Ecologist: #SavannaScience
Research: #WoodyPlants #PlantDefences #SecondaryMetabolites #Herbivory #TropicalGrassyBiomes #Rangelands
#SavannasMatter
The FAO's definition of "forest" (based on UNESCO's 1973 definition) only considers vegetation structure. It does not consider ecological functions. Many savanna areas have been misclassified as "forest", leading to mismanagement and degradation of savannas. Publications about global "forests" based on the FAO definition are fatally flawed.
SpaceX Starship 36 explodes during Flight 10 testing in Texas, producing yet another spectacular light show 🎆.
This RUD occurred last night during testing on the ground, not during flight. No injuries or fatalities reported.
We should not be mocking or making fun of engineering failures, but for elon musk, we can make an exception.
Look people, no matter how much we destroy the Earth by polluting it with CO₂, microplastics, PFAS, etc. everywhere, and even if AMOC shuts down and both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt, the Earth will still be infinitely more habitable than Mars. Mars is a shithole and we're not going.
Bluesky are openly welcoming, verifying and hosting accounts of prominent far right politicians. Trump's VP Vance is now on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/jd-vance-1.bsky.social
"We welcome the Vice President to the conversation on Bluesky" (Bluesky in their email to Fox News)
More 🚩: Bluesky is centralised, run by a for-profit corporation, its CEO has blockchain background, it is partly owned by VCs & Blockchain Capital.
Bluesky are going down exactly the same Nazi Bar path as Twitter.
(via @mastodonmigration)
"Somebdy did a stupid thing, and got called out on it, and has already backed down and cancelled the stupid thing so let's all get ready for 2 months of angry thinkpieces from big names who sound very informed and intelligent yet somehow missed that the story is already over"
-- a Mastodon story
‘Win-win’: new maps reveal best opportunities for global reforestation
New study shows regions with best potential to regrow trees and suck climate-heating CO2 from the air
#ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #IrreversibleOverheating #UpheavalClimate #GlobalBurning #ClimateDestruction #ClimateSuicide #MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate
There are parallels between climate change and the fascist takeover of the US. We talk about them as looming threats but they’re already here. It’s just that some people feel them more acutely than others, but they will affect us all. And of course the fascists will make climate change worse. We have to stop them both now.
Listen up Mastodonians, because this is important:
Right now we have a unique chance to rise up and hit back against Zuckerberg and Musk. Because italian filmmaker @_elena and her friends have made an OUTSTANDING short film, which explains why people should quit the fascist social networks and come join us in the fediverse.
Hit the fascists where it hurts — make this go viral by watching it and liking it on YouTube, then hit the share button and share it everywhere!
With/Without - and who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
-- Pink Floyd
Most US adults say Trump's military parade is not a good use of money, a new poll finds
https://apnews.com/article/trump-military-parade-army-poll-birthday-dc2352f07b77df2f56ca8b8084a4b4d2?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub
Posted into Politics @politics-AssociatedPress
If Will Bunch wrote it, you should read it.©
Will Bunch:
Trump's military moves - the political Fort Bragg speech, L.A. troop call-up, tanks in D.C. for a Kremlin-style parade - aren't 'a distraction'
It's the essence of his regime, and he's pulling a slow-motion coup to crush all dissent and take control
Trump's Fort Bragg speech was a Nuremberg Rally.
I just want to keep track of references. Why does it need AI? 😭
Google: "You have two options: Pay to remove YouTube ads, or watch youtube with ads. There's no scenario where you get away with an adblocker".
Me: Reads a book. Taken for free from the public library.
You can't win this game, google. Never underestimate someone who grew up without internet and suffering the worst TV ad breaks ever.
Peer review protip: even if you’re SURE the author made an elementary mistake, hedge your review
As a peer reviewer, sometimes you’ll find that the ms author(s) made an elementary mistake. Possibly, a mistake so elementary that, in your view, it really should not have been made in the first place.
If this happens, you will probably be annoyed at the author(s). How dare they make you, the reviewer, do their work for them by catching elementary mistakes they should’ve caught themselves before they submitted?! You might well be tempted to express your annoyance in your review.
If so, here’s my advice: hedge your review.
That is, don’t write something like “There is an elementary mistake on line 194.” Instead, write something like, “There appears to be an elementary mistake on line 194. Apologies if I’ve misunderstood, but if I have then I suggest that the text be clarified, so that readers don’t misunderstand as well.”
The reason to write this way is simple: no matter how sure you are that it’s the authors who made the elementary mistake, it might be you who’s making the elementary mistake. Hedging your review saves you from embarrassment if it turns out you’re actually the one who made the mistake. Hedging your review also is a sign of professional respect for the author(s). It increases the likelihood that the authors will take your comment to heart and revise appropriately.
None of us is infallible. Don’t write your reviews as if you are.
Check your privilege!
"our study shows that individuals with high SES are hesitant to addressing climate change when it requires a direct change in their behaviours or lifestyles, either through voluntary changes or through policy that would affect everyone.
And before you explain to me that there's 50 tons of meteoroids burning up in Earth's atmosphere every day, remember that meteoroids mostly rocks, not metal, and have an extremely low fraction of aluminum (~0.3 tons aluminum "naturally" burning up per day). Satellites are ~50% aluminum by mass, and Starlink satellites are several hundred kg to ~1200 kg in mass. Yes, it's bad.
Updating talk slides so you all get to be horrified along with me at the current Starlink numbers.
There are now 7,652 Starlink satellites in orbit (>500 more than there were in February, when I last updated these particular slides).
2-3 Starlinks per day are burning up in the atmosphere. That's a lot of weird metal in the atmosphere (and undoubtedly lots of random bits getting to the ground too).
Starlink is a stupidly wasteful and dangerous way to use orbit.
This toot finalises the #Gauteng #Mastodon #meetup.
We will meet at the Irene Farm on Sunday 2025-06-01 at 14:00.
I suggest we meet on The Deck restaurant: the top one nearer the car park, beside the shop. Everyone is welcome, please bring non-Mastodon people, they will be welcome with pleasure. Please pay for yourself.
You don't have to reply to this, just rock up.
The meetup is for #beer and #chat, we are not going to take over the world. At least, not yet...
https://maps.app.goo.gl/aAh8zy24wsUAhL5x8
@uastronomer @mensrea @scogings @michaelgraaf@kolektiva.social @swartkoffie @ysb33r @yakubah @Sozhami @FootlooseNomad @onegreenparker @thecontinent @leoncowle @duckwabbit @anagnostes @Gord1i @governorkeagan @nemo @patrickvine @carnun @kalia @weblearning @dtabb73 @anban @setha @gavin @Mzi @sibu @grant_h @mvniekerk @BigG @BenjaminKlein @confluency @RainBow @Green_Kalahari_Guesthouse @junglegeorge @GrahamDowns @karyn @tinyplayerss @announcements @roblaing @GavinChait @jans @claymore @Estrella @Dakspyker @sigstart @george @bigfoot @darrenolivier @Zumbador @phillipdewet @MongeziBiya @bedfordviewmc @pee @kaasbaas @kaasbaas@social.oevents.co.za @jmopp @kimvanwyk @flipsideza @LeYayJay @pyconza @roughiain @Freever @OldManZack @adrian @astrolabe_cat @phyrexian @GinevraCat @mattduplessis @michaelmoss @AEM @ettysh @michaelgraaf@campaign.openworlds.info @wjv @martinbckr @danie10 @hnygd @wogan
@ct_bergstrom and Jevin T. West have made this excellent resource available called
MODERN-DAY ORACLES
or BULLSHIT MACHINES?
How to thrive in a ChatGPT world
https://thebullshitmachines.com/
Text, slides, videos, even short exercises
THANK YOU for making this usable for free in educational settings and for self-study, this is much needed!
