Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪
@nicoleackermans.com
Assistant prof neuroscientist studying TBI in headbutters 🐏🐂🐐🪶 at U of Alabama CVN lab. Accepting PhD students!
Science correspondent for DTNS.
I'll happily ID the random bone you found in the woods!
Science correspondent for DTNS.
I'll happily ID the random bone you found in the woods!
Pinned
Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪
@nicoleackermans.com
· Nov 13
Time for a reintroduction!
I'm an assistant professor at the U of Alabama. I run the Comparative Vertebrate Neurodegeneration Lab (the CoVeN to friends), where our main research focus is modeling chronic TBI in headbutting goats and woodpeckers. 1/...
🧪👩🔬🧠
I'm an assistant professor at the U of Alabama. I run the Comparative Vertebrate Neurodegeneration Lab (the CoVeN to friends), where our main research focus is modeling chronic TBI in headbutting goats and woodpeckers. 1/...
🧪👩🔬🧠
I really want to post for #FluoresenceFriday but my immunos keep failing 😅. My fellow non-model species researchers can commiserate.
November 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
I really want to post for #FluoresenceFriday but my immunos keep failing 😅. My fellow non-model species researchers can commiserate.
In an unlikely team-up, paleontologists worked with lichen and drones to find more dinos! 🧪
We discussed the bone drones on @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/b...
We discussed the bone drones on @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/b...
Bone Drones
In an unlikely team-up, paleontologists worked up with lichen and drones to find more dinos! A recent paper published in Current Biology used drones equipped with special sensors to help find dinos…
nicoleackermans.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:13 PM
In an unlikely team-up, paleontologists worked with lichen and drones to find more dinos! 🧪
We discussed the bone drones on @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/b...
We discussed the bone drones on @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/b...
A Farmer, a Designer and a Dating App Unite to Save Some ‘Gay Sheep’
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Congrats to Ananth on his new paper on croc evolution! 🧪
Our new paper in @royalsocietypublishing.org is out now
We show that modern crocodiles evolved flatter and weaker skulls from domed ancestors to adapt to life in water, trading skull strength for streamlining 🐊
Read here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
#Paleontology #Crocodiles #Evolution
We show that modern crocodiles evolved flatter and weaker skulls from domed ancestors to adapt to life in water, trading skull strength for streamlining 🐊
Read here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
#Paleontology #Crocodiles #Evolution
November 12, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Congrats to Ananth on his new paper on croc evolution! 🧪
My lab is performing a TBI biomarker study and needs local participants! Recruiting female athletes or non athletes between 18-35, bonus if you suspect you've had a concussion before. Get in touch! 🧠
November 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
My lab is performing a TBI biomarker study and needs local participants! Recruiting female athletes or non athletes between 18-35, bonus if you suspect you've had a concussion before. Get in touch! 🧠
Playing in the Yellowhammer Roller Rumble this weekend! Alabama's first state wide roller derby tournament! 🛼
November 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Playing in the Yellowhammer Roller Rumble this weekend! Alabama's first state wide roller derby tournament! 🛼
Ooh! A new paper on woodpecker anatomy states that the birds coordinate muscle contraction and airflow to be more efficient at pecking.
🧪
Imagining these little guys grunting to flex is sending me
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
🧪
Imagining these little guys grunting to flex is sending me
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
Neuromuscular coordination of movement and breathing forges a hammer-like mechanism for woodpecker drilling
Highlighted Article: Woodpeckers engage a broad suite of muscular recruitment in coordination with respiration to forge a hammer-like mechanism when performing their iconic drilling and tapping behavi...
doi.org
November 8, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Ooh! A new paper on woodpecker anatomy states that the birds coordinate muscle contraction and airflow to be more efficient at pecking.
🧪
Imagining these little guys grunting to flex is sending me
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
🧪
Imagining these little guys grunting to flex is sending me
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
Forget the 4k vs 8k debate, researchers created an e-ink screen that is the same resolution as your eye. One pixel per photoreceptor! Now that's h-eye resolution! 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
H-eye Resolution!
Eye-pixels! They’re pixels for your eyes! Allow me to explain In a recent article in the journal Nature, researchers developed a new technology with the smallest pixels ever, in a screen that has t…
nicoleackermans.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Forget the 4k vs 8k debate, researchers created an e-ink screen that is the same resolution as your eye. One pixel per photoreceptor! Now that's h-eye resolution! 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/05/h...
This October the Nobel prizes were announced, I broke down the three science prizes in a bit more detail for @dtnsshow.bsky.social.
Do the prizes impact your lives? Do we really need them? 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/02/t...
Do the prizes impact your lives? Do we really need them? 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/02/t...
The 2025 Nobel prizes
This October the Nobel prizes were announced. These awards “confer the greatest benefit to human kind”. I broke down the three science prizes in a bit more detail. Physics Awarded to John Clarke, M…
nicoleackermans.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:31 PM
This October the Nobel prizes were announced, I broke down the three science prizes in a bit more detail for @dtnsshow.bsky.social.
Do the prizes impact your lives? Do we really need them? 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/02/t...
Do the prizes impact your lives? Do we really need them? 🧪
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/02/t...
Reposted by Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪
The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
Physically in gerrymandered AL, spiritually at the gay club with Mayor Mamdani
November 5, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Physically in gerrymandered AL, spiritually at the gay club with Mayor Mamdani
Reposted by Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪
Everyone is hope scrolling now
November 5, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Everyone is hope scrolling now
Oh man. I had forgotten what it felt like to hear good news in the US!
November 5, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Oh man. I had forgotten what it felt like to hear good news in the US!
At my local food bank, $1 can provide 5 meals. So I gave $10.
Help your local community out since the government won't!
Help your local community out since the government won't!
November 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
At my local food bank, $1 can provide 5 meals. So I gave $10.
Help your local community out since the government won't!
Help your local community out since the government won't!
I got to hang out with @frogpants.club Scott and Brian on TMS this morning to talk about sheep, woodpeckers, and my beef with engineers! 🎙️
youtube.com/clip/UgkxEvJ...
youtube.com/clip/UgkxEvJ...
YouTube
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November 4, 2025 at 6:18 PM
I got to hang out with @frogpants.club Scott and Brian on TMS this morning to talk about sheep, woodpeckers, and my beef with engineers! 🎙️
youtube.com/clip/UgkxEvJ...
youtube.com/clip/UgkxEvJ...
Did you know you can just request your doctors to email you your X-rays? Look at my teef!
November 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Did you know you can just request your doctors to email you your X-rays? Look at my teef!
This is how I found out that the creepy Annabelle doll is real and owned by... Matt Rife...? What!?
Another banger of an episode.
Another banger of an episode.
Serpopsychology(WHAT IS CREEPY?) 👻🤡
Dates that give you the willies, creepy clowns, haunted dolls, college goths, dark alleyways, evolutionary neurobio, what NOT to get Oprah, horror-comedy, phobia of balloons, flirty tips, and why you should replace your bathmat:
www.alieward.com/ologies/serp...
Dates that give you the willies, creepy clowns, haunted dolls, college goths, dark alleyways, evolutionary neurobio, what NOT to get Oprah, horror-comedy, phobia of balloons, flirty tips, and why you should replace your bathmat:
www.alieward.com/ologies/serp...
Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?) with Dr. Frank McAndrew — alie ward
Are you creepy? How would you know? What’s “creepy” as opposed to scary or eerie? We talk to the pioneer of this research, Serpopsychologist Dr. Frank McAndrew, a professor emeritus at Knox College. W...
www.alieward.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:59 PM
This is how I found out that the creepy Annabelle doll is real and owned by... Matt Rife...? What!?
Another banger of an episode.
Another banger of an episode.
Reposted by Dr. Headbutt 🌈🧪
“The data showed that some large-caliber civilian rifles delivered a blast wave that exceeds what the military says is safe for the brain, and firing smaller-caliber guns repeatedly could quickly add up… indoor shooting ranges designed to make shooting safe inadvertently make blast exposure worse”
How Gun Blasts From Indoor Shooting May Cause Brain Injuries
The Times tested the blast waves of several popular civilian guns at an indoor range and found that repeated firing could add up to potentially harmful exposure.
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:21 PM
“The data showed that some large-caliber civilian rifles delivered a blast wave that exceeds what the military says is safe for the brain, and firing smaller-caliber guns repeatedly could quickly add up… indoor shooting ranges designed to make shooting safe inadvertently make blast exposure worse”
You think Ologies can't get any better and then you learn cockroaches give each other golden showers.
It really do be ✨the more you know✨
It really do be ✨the more you know✨
WE GOT COCKROACHES.
Learn to love them -- I promise -- with #Blattodeologist Dr. Dominic Evangelista.
STUNNING emerald green ones, glowing roaches, teeny ones that ride flying ants, clean-up helpers, and medical mysteries.
They just want love & garbage. 🖤
www.alieward.com/ologies/blat...
Learn to love them -- I promise -- with #Blattodeologist Dr. Dominic Evangelista.
STUNNING emerald green ones, glowing roaches, teeny ones that ride flying ants, clean-up helpers, and medical mysteries.
They just want love & garbage. 🖤
www.alieward.com/ologies/blat...
Blattodeology (YES, COCKROACHES) with Dr. Dominic Evangelista — alie ward
Dazzling colors. Remote habitats. Gentle parenting. Fantastic genitalia. And yeah, swimming through sewers to surprise you. It’s cockroaches and I promise you will find something to love about them in...
www.alieward.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
You think Ologies can't get any better and then you learn cockroaches give each other golden showers.
It really do be ✨the more you know✨
It really do be ✨the more you know✨
One thing I love about America is Halloween. Everyone has an unspoken agreement to dress up, even at work. It's just so joyful! I saw a guy walking his dog in the middle of nowhere with a shark head on! You know what, hell yeah. 🎃
November 2, 2025 at 1:10 AM
One thing I love about America is Halloween. Everyone has an unspoken agreement to dress up, even at work. It's just so joyful! I saw a guy walking his dog in the middle of nowhere with a shark head on! You know what, hell yeah. 🎃
Does designing a drone around the woodpecker's anatomy make it crash proof? As a woodpecker researcher, I have opinions. 🧪
I discussed them on @dtnsshow.bsky.social and on my sci comm blog:
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/01/w...
I discussed them on @dtnsshow.bsky.social and on my sci comm blog:
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/01/w...
Woodpecker drone
An allegedly crash-proof drone that attributes its inspiration to woodpeckers has been in the news. I specialize in woodpecker skulls and have a lot of skepticism around woodpecker biomimicry. Let&…
nicoleackermans.com
November 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Does designing a drone around the woodpecker's anatomy make it crash proof? As a woodpecker researcher, I have opinions. 🧪
I discussed them on @dtnsshow.bsky.social and on my sci comm blog:
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/01/w...
I discussed them on @dtnsshow.bsky.social and on my sci comm blog:
nicoleackermans.com/2025/11/01/w...
A vet saw her cat's hairball and thought "I can do science with that!" and then covered it in gold dust. Why? The results were surprisingly interesting (to me!) 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/31/g...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/31/g...
Gold-plated hairballs
If your cat (or dog) has coughed up a hairball recently, it may have been for science! This recent publication from the Journal of Veterinary Behavior explores why cats and dogs eat grass just to t…
nicoleackermans.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A vet saw her cat's hairball and thought "I can do science with that!" and then covered it in gold dust. Why? The results were surprisingly interesting (to me!) 🧪
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/31/g...
Covered for @dtnsshow.bsky.social
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/31/g...
I posted my coverage of the 2025 IgNobel prizes on my SciComm blog. The Italian physicist's article about the perfect cacio e pepe may be one of the best papers I've ever read!
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/30/t...
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/30/t...
October 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I posted my coverage of the 2025 IgNobel prizes on my SciComm blog. The Italian physicist's article about the perfect cacio e pepe may be one of the best papers I've ever read!
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/30/t...
nicoleackermans.com/2025/10/30/t...
This is incredible! Has anyone ever seen felids butt heads like this before? What the heck is going on? WOAH 🧪
October 30, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This is incredible! Has anyone ever seen felids butt heads like this before? What the heck is going on? WOAH 🧪
My cat is ever suspicious of her surveillance camera
October 30, 2025 at 3:14 PM
My cat is ever suspicious of her surveillance camera