Liana Gertzer
@lgertzer.bsky.social
Science teacher, insect enthusiast
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
"Who Moved My Cheese" is a book about people who tell their saddest stories to a wheel of cheddar, to find out who can provoke the most overwhelming emotional reaction
November 24, 2025 at 7:08 PM
"Who Moved My Cheese" is a book about people who tell their saddest stories to a wheel of cheddar, to find out who can provoke the most overwhelming emotional reaction
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
The paradox of providing students with precise rubrics for writing assignments like a traditional paper is that the rubric becomes a perfect prompt for LLMs. But if you don't give a detailed rubric, they can claim they weren't sure what to do or not do. #philtech #philsky
November 23, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
![Steve Hogarty @misterbrilliant
[gets olympic tickets to 100m butterfly] Oh my god this will be great. [sees the huge stadium] Oh wow that must be where they keep it.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:k5zurjvwdwxqwpvd4ggk3w76/bafkreihzgag5tcnviy6ohpnaokdl6jbyus6lufcrxk27xbskrzjusvybxu@jpeg)
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Part of the problem is the way We have treated scientific discovery as if it is made by brilliant men.
All science is built on the science that came before. It is collaborative in multiple ways.
All attempts to credit a single scientist with THE crucial discovery are flawed.
All science is built on the science that came before. It is collaborative in multiple ways.
All attempts to credit a single scientist with THE crucial discovery are flawed.
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Part of the problem is the way We have treated scientific discovery as if it is made by brilliant men.
All science is built on the science that came before. It is collaborative in multiple ways.
All attempts to credit a single scientist with THE crucial discovery are flawed.
All science is built on the science that came before. It is collaborative in multiple ways.
All attempts to credit a single scientist with THE crucial discovery are flawed.
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Crowding more proteins per cytoplasm unit volume would hamper processes such as diffusion, which is already about ten fold slower inside the cell than in pure water.
Source: book.bionumbers.org/what-is-the-...
Source: book.bionumbers.org/what-is-the-...
» What is the macromolecular composition of the cell?Cell Biology by the Numbers
Vignettes that reveal how numbers serve as a sixth sense to understanding our cells
book.bionumbers.org
November 10, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Crowding more proteins per cytoplasm unit volume would hamper processes such as diffusion, which is already about ten fold slower inside the cell than in pure water.
Source: book.bionumbers.org/what-is-the-...
Source: book.bionumbers.org/what-is-the-...
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Does your ecology journal even lift, bro?
October 23, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Does your ecology journal even lift, bro?
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
4) “the complexity of biological phenomena is an argument for the use of mathematical methods rather than against it. In the case of a simple phenomenon we may hope to understand it without the use of mathematics, by simple inspection. But in a complex case we are left hopeless without mathematics.”
October 16, 2025 at 12:30 PM
4) “the complexity of biological phenomena is an argument for the use of mathematical methods rather than against it. In the case of a simple phenomenon we may hope to understand it without the use of mathematics, by simple inspection. But in a complex case we are left hopeless without mathematics.”
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
When we hear about a lone scientist who made groundbreaking discoveries on their own, it’s usually erasing the truth that science is a team sport, and field research builds on the local knowledge and expertise of the people that live there (8/10)
October 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
When we hear about a lone scientist who made groundbreaking discoveries on their own, it’s usually erasing the truth that science is a team sport, and field research builds on the local knowledge and expertise of the people that live there (8/10)
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
If termites are eating your home don't get mad. Get even! Become termitophagous! Who is mad about what's for dinner NOW?
(follow me for more rational advice about insects)
(follow me for more rational advice about insects)
October 6, 2025 at 11:06 AM
If termites are eating your home don't get mad. Get even! Become termitophagous! Who is mad about what's for dinner NOW?
(follow me for more rational advice about insects)
(follow me for more rational advice about insects)
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
I didn't think it was any big achievement, but my doctor says I haven't used my muscles in so long I'm getting a trophy! 🏆
September 26, 2025 at 7:20 AM
I didn't think it was any big achievement, but my doctor says I haven't used my muscles in so long I'm getting a trophy! 🏆
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
After the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, they replaced much of the original wood framing with iron. So now, it has apse of steel
September 25, 2025 at 12:44 PM
After the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, they replaced much of the original wood framing with iron. So now, it has apse of steel
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
major traffic incident
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
major traffic incident
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
I think my dice are broken
September 25, 2025 at 2:02 AM
I think my dice are broken
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
my favorite subgenre of Halloween decoration is “skeleton of things that absolutely do not have skeletons”
September 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
my favorite subgenre of Halloween decoration is “skeleton of things that absolutely do not have skeletons”
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
One, if by land
Two, if by sea
Three, if by air
Four, if by subterranean tunnel
Five, if by orbital drop
Six, if by folding space
Seven, if by time machine
Eight, if by dimensional gate
Nine, if by arcane summoning
Ten, if by rewriting of reality
Two, if by sea
Three, if by air
Four, if by subterranean tunnel
Five, if by orbital drop
Six, if by folding space
Seven, if by time machine
Eight, if by dimensional gate
Nine, if by arcane summoning
Ten, if by rewriting of reality
September 21, 2025 at 7:34 PM
One, if by land
Two, if by sea
Three, if by air
Four, if by subterranean tunnel
Five, if by orbital drop
Six, if by folding space
Seven, if by time machine
Eight, if by dimensional gate
Nine, if by arcane summoning
Ten, if by rewriting of reality
Two, if by sea
Three, if by air
Four, if by subterranean tunnel
Five, if by orbital drop
Six, if by folding space
Seven, if by time machine
Eight, if by dimensional gate
Nine, if by arcane summoning
Ten, if by rewriting of reality
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Many songbirds have regional dialects that mean their calls have measurable differences across populations. We must then conclude that ducks have quaccents
September 16, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Many songbirds have regional dialects that mean their calls have measurable differences across populations. We must then conclude that ducks have quaccents
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Stephen Jay Gould was born OTD in 1941.
“Organisms are not billiard balls, propelled by simple and measurable external forces to predictable new positions on life's pool table.... Organisms have a history that constrains their future in myriad, subtle ways.”
🦫🦋🐋🌱🧠🗃️🧪#HistSTM #PhilSci #EvoBio
“Organisms are not billiard balls, propelled by simple and measurable external forces to predictable new positions on life's pool table.... Organisms have a history that constrains their future in myriad, subtle ways.”
🦫🦋🐋🌱🧠🗃️🧪#HistSTM #PhilSci #EvoBio
September 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
I drove myself crazy picking citations for this sentence. After spending a whole night hunting for which Greek philosopher might have said it first, I realized I didn’t want to spend another night figuring out how to format an Aristotle citation to comply with Nature’s guidelines.
September 4, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I drove myself crazy picking citations for this sentence. After spending a whole night hunting for which Greek philosopher might have said it first, I realized I didn’t want to spend another night figuring out how to format an Aristotle citation to comply with Nature’s guidelines.
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
I love the idea of brainstorming which papers to cite for the sentence: "Living organisms are assumed to produce same-species offspring." (they went with Darwin and Mayr)
September 3, 2025 at 9:31 PM
I love the idea of brainstorming which papers to cite for the sentence: "Living organisms are assumed to produce same-species offspring." (they went with Darwin and Mayr)
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
When I was a kid, adults asked me "What are you going to be when you grow up?" & I said "An entomologist!", which always elicited bemused replies. Did I become one? No, but studies like this—of a queen ant stealing sperm from another ant species to make hybrids—reaffirm why I still love insects. 🧪🐜
Look at this crazy thing!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
One mother for two species via obligate cross-species cloning in ants - Nature
In a case of obligate cross-species cloning, female ants of Messor ibericus need to clone males of Messor structor to obtain sperm for producing the worker caste, resulting in males from the same moth...
www.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 1:13 PM
When I was a kid, adults asked me "What are you going to be when you grow up?" & I said "An entomologist!", which always elicited bemused replies. Did I become one? No, but studies like this—of a queen ant stealing sperm from another ant species to make hybrids—reaffirm why I still love insects. 🧪🐜
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
Reposted by Liana Gertzer
🧪 Public Service Announcement:
This is your reminder to never pour bleach on maggots. Maggots produce ammonia. A lot of maggots produce quite a bit of ammonia. Bleach and ammonia is a bad combo (chloramines).
Please do not gas yourself with maggots, friends. It’s an embarrassing way to go.
This is your reminder to never pour bleach on maggots. Maggots produce ammonia. A lot of maggots produce quite a bit of ammonia. Bleach and ammonia is a bad combo (chloramines).
Please do not gas yourself with maggots, friends. It’s an embarrassing way to go.
June 9, 2025 at 7:36 PM
🧪 Public Service Announcement:
This is your reminder to never pour bleach on maggots. Maggots produce ammonia. A lot of maggots produce quite a bit of ammonia. Bleach and ammonia is a bad combo (chloramines).
Please do not gas yourself with maggots, friends. It’s an embarrassing way to go.
This is your reminder to never pour bleach on maggots. Maggots produce ammonia. A lot of maggots produce quite a bit of ammonia. Bleach and ammonia is a bad combo (chloramines).
Please do not gas yourself with maggots, friends. It’s an embarrassing way to go.
Hooray! I took Dr. Pierce's Animal Behavior course ~30 years ago, and I still quote it all the time! A well deserved award.
Congratulations to the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Dr. Naomi Pierce! www.evolutionsociety.org/news/display...
June 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Hooray! I took Dr. Pierce's Animal Behavior course ~30 years ago, and I still quote it all the time! A well deserved award.