David Barrie
@cuttlefisher.bsky.social
Author of SEXTANT (Wm Collins); and INCREDIBLE JOURNEYS (UK Hodder) - SUPERNAVIGATORS (US The Experiment): Sunday Times Nature Book of the Year. Fellow, Royal Institute of Navigation. Website: davidbarrieauthor.org
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/s...
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:02 PM
A New Way to Flirt: Dazzle Potential Mates With Patterns Invisible to Humans www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/s...
I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Open letter calling for a televised emergency briefing. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
Open letter calling for a televised emergency briefing
It's time the Government briefed the nation on the threats presented by climate and nature breakdown, like British Governments have in previous crises. Urgent action will deliver real benefits for the...
actionnetwork.org
January 29, 2026 at 11:58 AM
I just signed a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social petition: Open letter calling for a televised emergency briefing. Sign here: actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...
This plan is appalling. Please support this petition. #darkskies #lightpollution #outer-space darksky.org/news/organiz...
DarkSky International opposes Reflect Orbital’s proposed orbital illumination system
DarkSky International recently released an organizational statement in response to Reflect Orbital’s proposal to use in-space mirrors to reflect sunlight to…
darksky.org
January 9, 2026 at 8:29 AM
This plan is appalling. Please support this petition. #darkskies #lightpollution #outer-space darksky.org/news/organiz...
In Pursuit of the Monarch’s Magnetic Sense -exciting new experiments! www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/s...
In Pursuit of the Monarch’s Magnetic Sense
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
In Pursuit of the Monarch’s Magnetic Sense -exciting new experiments! www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/s...
Embodiment and consciousness … theconversation.com/why-our-phys...
Why our physical bodies may be a core part of conscious experience – new research
The brain’s sense of “this is my body” is tightly bound to conscious awareness – far more than many theories assume.
theconversation.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Embodiment and consciousness … theconversation.com/why-our-phys...
An astonishing discovery! www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Incredible’ carved canoe dates back to first settlement of islands near New Zealand
Fibers found on waka in Chatham Islands roughly align in age with earliest known human arrival
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
An astonishing discovery! www.science.org/content/arti...
A Voyage Into the Art of Finding One’s Way at Sea www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
A Voyage Into the Art of Finding One’s Way at Sea
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
A Voyage Into the Art of Finding One’s Way at Sea www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/s...
Humans have an internal lunar clock – but light pollution is disrupting it
theconversation.com/humans-have-...
theconversation.com/humans-have-...
Humans have an internal lunar clock – but light pollution is disrupting it
Many animals synchronise their behaviour to the phases of the Moon.
theconversation.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Humans have an internal lunar clock – but light pollution is disrupting it
theconversation.com/humans-have-...
theconversation.com/humans-have-...
Bumble bee emotions! www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - Positive affective contagion in bumble bees
We have all likely experienced moments when the joy or sadness of someone close to us quickly becomes our own emotion.
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
October 24, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Bumble bee emotions! www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Fascinating www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - Seeking ghosts
One day when Kenji Suetsugu was 4 or 5 years old, he went for a walk with his parents through the Kasugayama Primeval Forest near their home in Nara, one of Japan’s ancient capitals.
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
October 10, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Fascinating www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
How to make your home ‘night-friendly’ #lightpollution #animalwelfare #health darksky.org/get-involved...
DarkSky’s Home Outdoor Lighting Assessment
Protecting the night starts at your front door.
darksky.org
October 10, 2025 at 8:57 AM
How to make your home ‘night-friendly’ #lightpollution #animalwelfare #health darksky.org/get-involved...
Faced with ‘the #Anti-Christ’ and ‘Armageddon’, the Christian ‘prays for new miracles, new technologies, and strange new possibilities.’ What exactly is #PeterThiel trying to tell us?https://firstthings.com/voyages-to-the-end-of-the-world/
Voyages to the End of the World - First Things
Francis Bacon dreamed of abolishing disease, natural disasters, and chance itself. He also dreamed of abolishing God.
firstthings.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Faced with ‘the #Anti-Christ’ and ‘Armageddon’, the Christian ‘prays for new miracles, new technologies, and strange new possibilities.’ What exactly is #PeterThiel trying to tell us?https://firstthings.com/voyages-to-the-end-of-the-world/
‘What American democracy needs now is grand experiments like those of a century ago...’ A stimulating piece with relevance beyobd the US. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...
Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 11:34 AM
‘What American democracy needs now is grand experiments like those of a century ago...’ A stimulating piece with relevance beyobd the US. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...
What the High Seas Treaty means insideclimatenews.org/news/2709202...
A Turning Point for the Ocean: What the High Seas Treaty Means - Inside Climate News
With more than 60 countries on board, the new international law will soon enter into force, ushering in the world’s first framework to conserve biodiversity across two-thirds of the ocean.
insideclimatenews.org
October 3, 2025 at 11:24 AM
What the High Seas Treaty means insideclimatenews.org/news/2709202...
Moody tortoises…new evidence that reptiles have feelings pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Evidence of mood states in reptiles
There is increasing evidence that non-human animals experience ‘free-floating’ mood states, but such evidence is lacking in reptiles, hindering the debate as to their affective capacity and with subse...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 20, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Moody tortoises…new evidence that reptiles have feelings pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
And so are birds! | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Categorical and semantic perception of the meaning of call types in zebra finches
Vocal communication in social animals involves the production and perception of various calls that ethologists categorize into call types based on their acoustical structure and behavioral context. Wh...
www.science.org
September 20, 2025 at 11:41 AM
And so are birds! | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Dogs are clever! Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Dogs extend verbal labels for functional classification of objects
Fugazza et al. show that Gifted Word Learner dogs extend verbal labels to functionally
similar objects, even without perceptual similarity, during playful interactions with
their human families. Funct...
www.cell.com
September 20, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Dogs are clever! Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
No, I’m not on Desert Island Discs! Recording session for BBC RADIO 4 Rare Earth on animal #migration with @willleohawkes.bsky.social @tomheap.bsky.social and @helenczerski.bsky.social Airs on Friday 19 September at 1200 GMT
September 15, 2025 at 9:46 AM
No, I’m not on Desert Island Discs! Recording session for BBC RADIO 4 Rare Earth on animal #migration with @willleohawkes.bsky.social @tomheap.bsky.social and @helenczerski.bsky.social Airs on Friday 19 September at 1200 GMT
Me too!
Very happy to be asked on Radio 4's Rare Earth today to talk all about animal (especially insect) migration alongside such great people.
The episode airs 19th September!
@tomheap.bsky.social @helenczerski.bsky.social @cuttlefisher.bsky.social
The episode airs 19th September!
@tomheap.bsky.social @helenczerski.bsky.social @cuttlefisher.bsky.social
September 9, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Me too!
Octopuses fall for the ‘rubber arm’ illusion, just like us | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Octopuses fall for the ‘rubber arm’ illusion, just like us
Experiment shows octopuses feel body ownership, a trait previously seen only in mammals
www.science.org
July 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Octopuses fall for the ‘rubber arm’ illusion, just like us | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis
An experimental voyage suggested the presence of functional boats and advanced navigational skills in the Paleolithic.
www.science.org
July 9, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis
An experimental voyage suggested the presence of functional boats and advanced navigational skills in the Paleolithic.
www.science.org
June 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Paleolithic seafaring in East Asia: An experimental test of the dugout canoe hypothesis | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Something lovely on show today at the #BritishMuseum
June 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Something lovely on show today at the #BritishMuseum