Paul Manning
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paulypod.bsky.social
Paul Manning
@paulypod.bsky.social
250 followers 180 following 44 posts
Assistant Prof at Dalhousie University – Faculty of Agriculture. Researching the importance of insect biodiversity for ecosystem health. Here - bugs, science, art, running, and the occasional book.
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Reposted by Paul Manning
xkcd.com
Fifteen Years

xkcd.com/3172/
Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
matthewcobb.bsky.social
Terrific new paper by @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social and others on dragonfly wings, in particular the hydrocarbons which act in multiple ways - structurally, pheromonally and in terms of water resistance. Wish I were still teaching, I'd use this as a great example. of multiple adaptations.
The secrets of the extreme durability of odonata wings
Abstract. Essential properties considered in the design, fabrication, and application of contemporary bio/nanomaterials have been modeled on adaptations of
academic.oup.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
canadianpaintings.bsky.social
No Longer Feel Alone
Mike Gough
2025
November 26, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Reposted by Paul Manning
derek.bike
when we say we want more streets to be pedestrianized, this is what we mean
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
punkrockscience.bsky.social
Today’s xkcd made me cry.

In a good way.

xkcd.com/3172/
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
nnedi.bsky.social
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.

This is who it was:
A male Anna’s hummingbird at the door. So nosy! 🤣
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Reposted by Paul Manning
jacquelyngill.bsky.social
ChatGPT’s signature writing style is everywhere now, and I hate it. It reminds me of when we tried mixing all the beverages at the soda fountain in middle school. We didn’t actually create the perfect drink, we just made a cloying monstrosity that lost everything good about its constituent parts.
November 19, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
inaturalist.bsky.social
There are over a million insect species (that currently have scientific descriptions, at least), and they're *everywhere* ... under rocks, on flowers, around lights at night, in tree bark, and more.
Close-up photograph of a praying mantis on autumn leaves with wings spread. White text reads "GO FIND SOME INSECTS" Close-up photograph of an orange insect with metallic purple-pink eyes. White text reads "There are over one million described insect species on the planet (so far)! You can look for insects anywhere — whether it's right where you live, at a local park, or anywhere you might travel — and you don't need any equipment to get started." Close-up photograph of an orange insect on a green leaf. Gray text box reads "START SEARCHING FOR INSECTS... • Under rocks, logs, and leaf litter • On (or inside) flowers • Around outdoor lights at night • In garden areas or compost piles • Nestled into tree bark or branches • Near water sources like ponds, streams, wetlands, or even fountains and bird baths • Even sidewalk cracks can host cool insects!" White text at bottom reads "PLEASE CAREFULLY PUT BACK ANYTHING YOU DISTURB!"
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
alexwild.bsky.social
Screen cap of the xkcd cartoon, "Welcome to the Biology Department. It has been three days since we discovered something existentially horrifying about bugs that makes you question your whole reality."
November 17, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
ajcann.bsky.social
Trioza urticae.

#Bugs #Hemiptera #VC55 #Triozidae #macrophotography #macro #OMSystem
Trioza urticae
November 16, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
minibubbly.bsky.social
Salt marsh on Dorchester Cape to be protected by First Nation #NewBrunswick

Land deemed valuable for its climate role and sacred medicine

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
First Nation to protect salt marsh on Dorchester Cape | CBC News
A Mi'kmaw land trust has purchased a southeastern New Brunswick salt marsh near Dorchester for protection and conservation by Amlamgog, or Fort Folly First Nation.
www.cbc.ca
November 14, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
csee-scee.bsky.social
🍃📣Upcoming CSEE Event! Join us online on Nov. 26th for a panel discussion Q&A on faculty positions. CSEE members will receive the link in their mailbox. (Event in English) #CSEE #online #paneldiscussion #eeb
November 13, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
sheardcat.bsky.social
Aberdeen, Scotland, 57.2°N, 1:45 AM local time. Taken with a sufficiently ancient & cheap camera that it basically looked like this to the naked eye, no joke.
A dark red aurora over a beach, with oil rig lights in the distance
November 12, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Paul Manning
jessicalwarelab.bsky.social
Congrats again to @pkuper.bsky.social on his scientific communications award from the Entomological Society of America!
November 12, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
americanbeetles.bsky.social
Listening respectfully but internally chanting “SNOOTS SNOOTS SNOOTS;” hooting and hollering
Michael Charles and Duane McKenna’s talk on the SURVIVAL of the presumed-extinct greater chestnut weevil
November 10, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
luriethereal.bsky.social
“New York Times conducts hostile interview with children’s education influencer questioning her recognition of comprehensively documented war crimes” is not a sentence I could have imagined a few years ago
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
pigeonpost.shop
“Indoor cats live longer!” Bumper stickers available now! pigeonpost.cafe/products/ind...
Bumper sticker that reads "Indoor Cats Live Longer!"
November 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
paulypod.bsky.social
Really pleased with this new paper! We asked campus stakeholders to rate photorealistic images of no-mow landscapes. We found:

At least 70% preferred no-mow over turfgrass.

Support for now-mow was highest in less-familiar areas.

Designs with mown paths always win!
Stakeholder feedback on perspective renderings indicate broad support for no-mow management of campus greenspaces
No-mow management of greenspaces is becoming a popular intervention to conserve biodiversity and balance other human functions (e.g. aesthetic qualiti…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
maria-duynisveld.bsky.social
Fall on the farm - just two weeks until I go chase another summer
October 1, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
colinpurrington.bsky.social
Male and female chalcids that emerged from redbud seedpods. Both are in the genus Eurytoma and are possibly the same species but further identification is beyond my skill set. I can't find any mention of them being recorded as parasitoids of redbud bruchids. 🌿 #wasps #hymenoptera #insects #bruchidae
Two photographs of black wasps that look roughly the same except that top one has hairy antennae with large gaps in between the segments, while the bottom one has more beadlike antennae. The lower one also has an ovipositor. Their legs are partly orange and their head and thorax have pits and short white hairs.
October 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
dalfaculty.bsky.social
History-changing day for labour relations at @dalhousieu.bsky.social. Lockout of faculty could begin as early as Wed morning. Rest assured, DFA members are ready for what is about to happen. #keepdalstrong @cupe3912.bsky.social @nsgeu.bsky.social @ansut.bsky.social @caut.bsky.social
August 18, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
davidho.bsky.social
WTF? I was quoted in this story but I have never spoken to the reporter nor would I have said those things. Is everything just generated by LLMs these days?

cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans...
To whom it may concern, and it should concern the editor: I was quoted in your publication: https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/oceans/can-we-engineer-our-way-out-of-ocean-acidification/ Still, others aren't convinced that good intentions are enough. Dr. David Ho, Professor of Oceanography at University of Hawaii at Manoa, a cofounder and the Chief Science Officer of |C|Worthy, a non-profit that works on verifying ocean-based carbon dioxide removal, believes carbon removal efforts like ocean alkalinity enhancement shouldn't be left solely in the hands of private companies. "They have no way to prove that what they're doing is effective - that's a big problem," Dr Ho said. The crux of the dilemma, he explains, is that we are fighting a planetary-scale problem, but are doing it with tools that are still being built and tested. Geoengineering is not inherently good or bad, but it is inherently powerful. And power, especially when exercised in ecosystems as complex and fragile as the ocean, must be handled with caution. However, I have never spoken to your reporter, nor would I have said those things. I would like you to remove my quote from your story, and issue a public correction and apology. Furthermore, you should look into whether the other parts of the article are also factually correct. Thanks. d.
July 29, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
biolumijeffence.bsky.social
Wrapped up another series of super-fun radio interviews about the cool critters you might find on our Atlantic Canadian shorelines! 🌊🐚🦪🪼🐙🦑🦀🦞🦐

Keep your ears tuned for "A Shore Thing" on CBC Radio this summer!
June 25, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Paul Manning
cataranea.bsky.social
Today I learned there is a ChatGPT "spider ID assistant."

Please do not use ChatGPT or any other generative 'AI' to identify spiders (or anything else for that matter). A model trained on the current quagmire of misinformation and misidentified images online cannot be effective.
June 25, 2025 at 10:45 AM