Peter Repetti
@monstera999.bsky.social
🌱 Biologist. I take 🐦 photos and vibecode, sometimes at the same time. Train your ear, know the birds: Learn @ https://chipnotes.app I also do fun guy 🍄 stuff @ cluegen.com
Hooded Mergansers can change the refractive properties of their eyes to hunt underwater by sight. Built-in goggles via their transparent nictitating membrane. These two males are sizing each other up topside, but the real action is below the surface. #HOME #DivingForFood #BirdOfTheDay
February 13, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Hooded Mergansers can change the refractive properties of their eyes to hunt underwater by sight. Built-in goggles via their transparent nictitating membrane. These two males are sizing each other up topside, but the real action is below the surface. #HOME #DivingForFood #BirdOfTheDay
Reposted by Peter Repetti
My #BirdOfTheDay offering is this male bluebird feeding his mate, a mating ritual seen regularly in the spring in middle Tennessee.
#birds #canonbirdphotography #wildlife #BirdOfTheDay #bluebird
#birds #canonbirdphotography #wildlife #BirdOfTheDay #bluebird
February 12, 2026 at 1:04 PM
My #BirdOfTheDay offering is this male bluebird feeding his mate, a mating ritual seen regularly in the spring in middle Tennessee.
#birds #canonbirdphotography #wildlife #BirdOfTheDay #bluebird
#birds #canonbirdphotography #wildlife #BirdOfTheDay #bluebird
Beak crammed with every squishy invertebrate it could find. Maximizing prey per trip, minimizing flight time to the nest. The bill-loading strategy: efficiency over elegance. Parents of all sorts will recognize this energy math. #AMRO #Birds&Bugs #BirdOfTheDay
February 12, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Beak crammed with every squishy invertebrate it could find. Maximizing prey per trip, minimizing flight time to the nest. The bill-loading strategy: efficiency over elegance. Parents of all sorts will recognize this energy math. #AMRO #Birds&Bugs #BirdOfTheDay
How do you find a gravity-sensing system nobody knew existed? First, knock out all 4 Arabidopsis LAZY genes so the plants can't stand up. Then, mutagenize thousands of those plants, and look for the one that pops back up! One aa change (S149F in SLQ1), and a whole new pathway emerges. #gravitropism
Plant Science Research Weekly -- The last one standing: A point mutation that suppresses the lazy quadruple mutant phenotype (PNAS) (Summary by Sophie Zoe Farkas @sophiezoe.bsky.social)
The last one standing: A point mutation that suppresses the lazy quadruple mutant phenotype | Plantae
Gravity is perceived by amyloplast sedimentation in gravity-sensing cells, a process relying on the relocalization of LAZY proteins from the amyloplast to the plasma membrane.
buff.ly
February 9, 2026 at 10:52 PM
How do you find a gravity-sensing system nobody knew existed? First, knock out all 4 Arabidopsis LAZY genes so the plants can't stand up. Then, mutagenize thousands of those plants, and look for the one that pops back up! One aa change (S149F in SLQ1), and a whole new pathway emerges. #gravitropism
The fungal immune system runs on the same protein families as your innate immunity: NLR sensors, TIR signaling, gasdermin pore-formers. The pathways cluster in 2-3 gene operons, echoing bacterial defense islands. Billion-year-old toolkit, still in production.
Regulated cell death in fungi from a comparative immunology perspective - Cell Death & Differentiation
Cell Death & Differentiation - Regulated cell death in fungi from a comparative immunology perspective
www.nature.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:39 PM
The fungal immune system runs on the same protein families as your innate immunity: NLR sensors, TIR signaling, gasdermin pore-formers. The pathways cluster in 2-3 gene operons, echoing bacterial defense islands. Billion-year-old toolkit, still in production.
There is no blue pigment in this bird. The color comes from nanostructured keratin in the feather barbs, air channels that self-assemble and scatter light. We know the physics, but we are still working out the genetics that build the structures. #BirdOfTheDay #StareDown #EABL
February 9, 2026 at 2:05 PM
There is no blue pigment in this bird. The color comes from nanostructured keratin in the feather barbs, air channels that self-assemble and scatter light. We know the physics, but we are still working out the genetics that build the structures. #BirdOfTheDay #StareDown #EABL
Osprey are the only diurnal raptor with a reversible outer toe. When needed, they can do two forward, two back; a zygodactyl-like grip built for catching fish at speed. Also the only raptor in its own family (Pandionidae).
Not a hawk, not an eagle. Just Osprey.
#BirdOfTheDay #posted #OSPR
Not a hawk, not an eagle. Just Osprey.
#BirdOfTheDay #posted #OSPR
February 8, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Osprey are the only diurnal raptor with a reversible outer toe. When needed, they can do two forward, two back; a zygodactyl-like grip built for catching fish at speed. Also the only raptor in its own family (Pandionidae).
Not a hawk, not an eagle. Just Osprey.
#BirdOfTheDay #posted #OSPR
Not a hawk, not an eagle. Just Osprey.
#BirdOfTheDay #posted #OSPR
The squeak is back! After 100 years absent, Brown-headed Nuthatches are breeding in Missouri's Ozarks again. 102 birds translocated from AR in 2020-21, now raising Missouri-born young. A North American bird that regularly uses tools! #SmallBirdSaturday #BHNU #SqueakyToy 5/10/2025 Durham, NC
February 7, 2026 at 2:12 PM
The squeak is back! After 100 years absent, Brown-headed Nuthatches are breeding in Missouri's Ozarks again. 102 birds translocated from AR in 2020-21, now raising Missouri-born young. A North American bird that regularly uses tools! #SmallBirdSaturday #BHNU #SqueakyToy 5/10/2025 Durham, NC
Taiaroa Head is the only mainland royal albatross colony on 🌏. First 🥚 found in 1920 but years of breeding failed; eggs stolen, destroyed, eaten. In 1937, Lance Richdale camped beside a nest for months. That chick, "Sprog," fledged in 1938. This season: 44+ eggs, and 1,000 birds since Sprog!
And wonderful to see the staff at the albatross center taking such good care of them. Here, egg-weighing time. Which gives you a sense of scale for these massive, beautiful birds.
February 6, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Taiaroa Head is the only mainland royal albatross colony on 🌏. First 🥚 found in 1920 but years of breeding failed; eggs stolen, destroyed, eaten. In 1937, Lance Richdale camped beside a nest for months. That chick, "Sprog," fledged in 1938. This season: 44+ eggs, and 1,000 birds since Sprog!
Anhinga or palm tree? Wing-drying is the textbook explanation, but look at how the flight feathers disappear into the dead palm fronds. An ambush predator that hunts by stealth, a 2025 study noted we know "surprisingly little" about anhinga behavior. Maybe that includes this. #NotADeadPalmFrond
February 5, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Anhinga or palm tree? Wing-drying is the textbook explanation, but look at how the flight feathers disappear into the dead palm fronds. An ambush predator that hunts by stealth, a 2025 study noted we know "surprisingly little" about anhinga behavior. Maybe that includes this. #NotADeadPalmFrond
Lucas, the Leucistic Pileated Woodpecker - white where black should be, mohawk untouched. Leucism disrupts melanin deposition; carotenoids unaffected. Can lead to weaker feathers, camouflage issues, mate rejection. This guy has a gf and loves working a tree for an audience. 👅 #WoodpeckerWednesday
February 4, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Lucas, the Leucistic Pileated Woodpecker - white where black should be, mohawk untouched. Leucism disrupts melanin deposition; carotenoids unaffected. Can lead to weaker feathers, camouflage issues, mate rejection. This guy has a gf and loves working a tree for an audience. 👅 #WoodpeckerWednesday
Handwriting builds brain connectivity that typing doesn't. Same principle applies to learning bird sounds: Merlin telling you the answer isn't the same as training your ear. Passive ID vs. active recall. One gives you the name; the other builds the circuitry. #practicemakesperfect chipnotes.app
How learning handwriting trains the brain: the science behind the cursive wars
Handwriting requirements were cut from school curricula around the world. Now it’s looping back, riding on a wave of evidence.
www.nature.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Handwriting builds brain connectivity that typing doesn't. Same principle applies to learning bird sounds: Merlin telling you the answer isn't the same as training your ear. Passive ID vs. active recall. One gives you the name; the other builds the circuitry. #practicemakesperfect chipnotes.app
February in NorCal meant hunting the redwood shadows for wet dog/dirty sponge-smelling fetid adder's tongues (Scoliopus bigelovii) - a fleeting ephemeral pollinated by fungus gnats, seeds dispersed by ants, and gone by summer. Far Reaches has it 4 sale. Tempting for those of us who moved away.
February 4, 2026 at 4:25 PM
February in NorCal meant hunting the redwood shadows for wet dog/dirty sponge-smelling fetid adder's tongues (Scoliopus bigelovii) - a fleeting ephemeral pollinated by fungus gnats, seeds dispersed by ants, and gone by summer. Far Reaches has it 4 sale. Tempting for those of us who moved away.
A Tufted Titmouse caught in the act of taking a walnut "to go" for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BackyardBirds. #TUTI #peterpeterpeter
February 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM
A Tufted Titmouse caught in the act of taking a walnut "to go" for today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme of #BackyardBirds. #TUTI #peterpeterpeter
Domestication gave us big fruits and higher yields - and quietly deleted genes for stress tolerance, adaptation, and who knows what else. Breeders can introgress traits from wild relatives, but now, super-pangenomes map where to look across entire genera. #pangenome
Happy to share our🆕invited #OpenAccess article "From the #genome to super- #pangenome🧬: a new paradigm for accelerated #crop improvement🌾🌿🪴" is out in 𝙣𝙥𝙟 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 @natureportfolio.nature.com🤩🎉
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#PlantScience @tpg-sssa.bsky.social @planteditors.bsky.social
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
#PlantScience @tpg-sssa.bsky.social @planteditors.bsky.social
February 4, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Domestication gave us big fruits and higher yields - and quietly deleted genes for stress tolerance, adaptation, and who knows what else. Breeders can introgress traits from wild relatives, but now, super-pangenomes map where to look across entire genera. #pangenome
For AlphaGenome to predict gene function from DNA sequence "alone," it needed training on thousands of human datasets (ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, matched multi-omics). For fungi, we have (some) genomes, but I'm not sure we can just infer the "beef." Seems like a wet lab problem, right? #SaveTheStrains
February 4, 2026 at 3:03 AM
For AlphaGenome to predict gene function from DNA sequence "alone," it needed training on thousands of human datasets (ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, matched multi-omics). For fungi, we have (some) genomes, but I'm not sure we can just infer the "beef." Seems like a wet lab problem, right? #SaveTheStrains
I do love a good Cistus. I saw this one in 2019 when I was on a multi-day walk in Portugal. Like you do.
February 3, 2026 at 11:55 PM
I do love a good Cistus. I saw this one in 2019 when I was on a multi-day walk in Portugal. Like you do.
Evolution's not a tidy family tree. New work from @davetoews.bsky.social in @plosbiology.org found warblers sharing genes for yellow plumage across species lines for millions of yrs. But some, like this Prothonotary Warbler, took their own path to gold. Durham, NC. #PROW #genomics #ornithology
February 3, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Evolution's not a tidy family tree. New work from @davetoews.bsky.social in @plosbiology.org found warblers sharing genes for yellow plumage across species lines for millions of yrs. But some, like this Prothonotary Warbler, took their own path to gold. Durham, NC. #PROW #genomics #ornithology
2018 Trans-NZ. Five days blasting through South Island beech forests while bellbirds made R2-D2 sounds overhead. The korimako makes otherworldly calls - mechanical, liquid, layered harmonics. A soundtrack 4 trying not to crash. Hear them in the NZ bird pack on chipnotes.app #birding #mtb #korimako
February 3, 2026 at 3:23 PM
2018 Trans-NZ. Five days blasting through South Island beech forests while bellbirds made R2-D2 sounds overhead. The korimako makes otherworldly calls - mechanical, liquid, layered harmonics. A soundtrack 4 trying not to crash. Hear them in the NZ bird pack on chipnotes.app #birding #mtb #korimako
While Durham tries to thaw, it's hard not to think about our sleeping garden. Last year, mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) was one of the busiest spots in the yard - carpenter bees, thread-waisted wasps, skippers - fascinating to watch. #SpringIsComing #NativePlants #pollinators #Pycnanthemum
February 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
While Durham tries to thaw, it's hard not to think about our sleeping garden. Last year, mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) was one of the busiest spots in the yard - carpenter bees, thread-waisted wasps, skippers - fascinating to watch. #SpringIsComing #NativePlants #pollinators #Pycnanthemum
Fungi can become drug-resistant without changing their DNA. They just... turn off the gene. And turn it back on when the drug's gone. This is wild and concerning for treating infections like mucormycosis (50-90% mortality). From Joe Heitman's group at @duke-university.bsky.social.
#Antifungal resistance is a global threat, but epigenetic mechanisms drive rapid, reversible adaptation in fungi. This study shows that #RNAi or #heterochromatin driven #epimutations transiently silence the gene fkbA to confer FK506 #tacrolimus resistance in #Mucor @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4qdttWc
February 3, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Fungi can become drug-resistant without changing their DNA. They just... turn off the gene. And turn it back on when the drug's gone. This is wild and concerning for treating infections like mucormycosis (50-90% mortality). From Joe Heitman's group at @duke-university.bsky.social.
Did the #vibecoders just break GitHub?
February 2, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Did the #vibecoders just break GitHub?
If #Tetris & Guitar Hero made a baby while on an @aba.org birding trip in Costa Rica, ChipNotes! might be what hatches out of the egg. Spectrograms flutter down, birds call in your left or right ear, you tap the match b4 time runs out. Free/open source! chipnotes.app #birding #birdingbyear
February 2, 2026 at 8:58 PM
If #Tetris & Guitar Hero made a baby while on an @aba.org birding trip in Costa Rica, ChipNotes! might be what hatches out of the egg. Spectrograms flutter down, birds call in your left or right ear, you tap the match b4 time runs out. Free/open source! chipnotes.app #birding #birdingbyear
Synchronized swimming tryouts are going well. Apparently, a stormwater reclamation lake on Duke's campus is the hottest lunch spot in town (at least when everything else is frozen). Mallards at Duke Pond, Durham, NC. #duckbutts #mallards
@dukeenvironment.bsky.social
@dukeenvironment.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Synchronized swimming tryouts are going well. Apparently, a stormwater reclamation lake on Duke's campus is the hottest lunch spot in town (at least when everything else is frozen). Mallards at Duke Pond, Durham, NC. #duckbutts #mallards
@dukeenvironment.bsky.social
@dukeenvironment.bsky.social
Reposted by Peter Repetti
We need help keeping the world’s largest living library of mycorrhizal fungi alive. The INVAM mycorrhizal culture collection is at risk due to federal funding cuts. Its loss would be catastrophic.
Link to donate:
🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate
Read @theguardian.com article:
🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu
Link to donate:
🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate
Read @theguardian.com article:
🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu
January 13, 2026 at 1:36 PM
We need help keeping the world’s largest living library of mycorrhizal fungi alive. The INVAM mycorrhizal culture collection is at risk due to federal funding cuts. Its loss would be catastrophic.
Link to donate:
🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate
Read @theguardian.com article:
🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu
Link to donate:
🔗 invam.ku.edu/donate
Read @theguardian.com article:
🔗 buff.ly/hkEGXgu