Norbert Holstein
@dr-norb.bsky.social
#Iamataxonomist and #IamaBotanist. 🧐🌿Senior Curator-in-Charge (from pines 🌲 to vines 🍇) at NHM London. Views are my own.
The harmonious regularity of the inflorescence of this #Earina valida #orchid from #NewCaledonia is beautiful, even in a #herbarium specimen. The plant must look spectacular in nature. #HerbariumLife #CuratorLife
October 22, 2025 at 3:17 PM
The harmonious regularity of the inflorescence of this #Earina valida #orchid from #NewCaledonia is beautiful, even in a #herbarium specimen. The plant must look spectacular in nature. #HerbariumLife #CuratorLife
The #herbaria at the NHM London are currently busy preparing several large projects that shape the future of the collections. After around 10 years, we have a new physical Index to our General #Herbarium collections reflecting updates from recuration based on research and visitors' annotations.
October 6, 2025 at 10:03 AM
The #herbaria at the NHM London are currently busy preparing several large projects that shape the future of the collections. After around 10 years, we have a new physical Index to our General #Herbarium collections reflecting updates from recuration based on research and visitors' annotations.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
📢 We have a rare and exciting opportunity to become the Curator of Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders.
This is a key role responsible for the overall vision, management, and presentation of the Garden.
Find more details and apply: rbge.cc/Jobs
Please share with your networks!
This is a key role responsible for the overall vision, management, and presentation of the Garden.
Find more details and apply: rbge.cc/Jobs
Please share with your networks!
July 14, 2025 at 11:04 AM
📢 We have a rare and exciting opportunity to become the Curator of Dawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders.
This is a key role responsible for the overall vision, management, and presentation of the Garden.
Find more details and apply: rbge.cc/Jobs
Please share with your networks!
This is a key role responsible for the overall vision, management, and presentation of the Garden.
Find more details and apply: rbge.cc/Jobs
Please share with your networks!
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Adesmia ephedroides, a newly discovered species in the legume family (Fabaceae), was identified in a restricted, mountainous area of Valparaíso Region, Chile. 🇨🇱
The species has been provisionally classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria.
doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
The species has been provisionally classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria.
doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
July 14, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Adesmia ephedroides, a newly discovered species in the legume family (Fabaceae), was identified in a restricted, mountainous area of Valparaíso Region, Chile. 🇨🇱
The species has been provisionally classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria.
doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
The species has been provisionally classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria.
doi.org/10.3897/phyt...
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
July 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Springer Nature--pioneering the new world of science where facts can be made up and citations generated to support them
July 3, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Springer Nature--pioneering the new world of science where facts can be made up and citations generated to support them
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Aesop's Fables were written over 2500 years ago. Many of them provide a great way to teach about humanist ethics and how we might live well together. We've provided some suggestions for where to start. understandinghumanism.org.uk/articles/hum...
Humanism and Aesop's Fables
How do the ancient Greek stories link to humanist ethics today?
understandinghumanism.org.uk
June 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Aesop's Fables were written over 2500 years ago. Many of them provide a great way to teach about humanist ethics and how we might live well together. We've provided some suggestions for where to start. understandinghumanism.org.uk/articles/hum...
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
To use a highly technical term, this is dodgy as f**k. Publication ethics matter--without them the scientific literature ceases to be reliable.
So I wrote to the editor, who replied fairly quickly to say that they agreed with my concerns (0/32 citations were real, 18 had dead DOI links, 14 to other articles), but added that they personally knew the authors and vouched for their integrity, which seems a bit off.
FUCK FUCK FUCK
A tectonic uplift/subsidence dataset (published 2025) I used as part of my last chapter appears to have cited papers that (1) do not exist (2) have DOIs that link to completely unrelated papers.
Thankfully the data doesn't affect my study region, but yeesh.
A tectonic uplift/subsidence dataset (published 2025) I used as part of my last chapter appears to have cited papers that (1) do not exist (2) have DOIs that link to completely unrelated papers.
Thankfully the data doesn't affect my study region, but yeesh.
June 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
To use a highly technical term, this is dodgy as f**k. Publication ethics matter--without them the scientific literature ceases to be reliable.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Job Opportunity: Collections Manager, Lepidoptera 🦋🐛🔎🔬🌍 www.anhrt.org.uk/african-natu...
Job Opportunity: Collections Manager, Lepidoptera
Job title: Collections Manager, Lepidoptera Deadline: Friday 27 th June 2025 Employer: African Natural History Research Trust, Leominster, UK Contract Dura...
www.anhrt.org.uk
June 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Job Opportunity: Collections Manager, Lepidoptera 🦋🐛🔎🔬🌍 www.anhrt.org.uk/african-natu...
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
How many carpenter bees can fit into a squash flower? Three. I count three bee butts.
Happy World Bee Day! We need bees (and not just honeybees)!
#bees #WorldBeeDay #beeday #Cucurbitaceae
Happy World Bee Day! We need bees (and not just honeybees)!
#bees #WorldBeeDay #beeday #Cucurbitaceae
May 20, 2025 at 11:00 AM
How many carpenter bees can fit into a squash flower? Three. I count three bee butts.
Happy World Bee Day! We need bees (and not just honeybees)!
#bees #WorldBeeDay #beeday #Cucurbitaceae
Happy World Bee Day! We need bees (and not just honeybees)!
#bees #WorldBeeDay #beeday #Cucurbitaceae
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Foreign adversaries are pumping disinformation into our social media networks, but we know very little about the consequences let alone how to ameliorate them.
For years, Republicans have harassed us for studying this. Now, NSF has canceled all funding. It’s a profound lapse in national security.
For years, Republicans have harassed us for studying this. Now, NSF has canceled all funding. It’s a profound lapse in national security.
Trump Administration Cancels Scores of Grants to Study Online Misinformation
www.nytimes.com
May 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Foreign adversaries are pumping disinformation into our social media networks, but we know very little about the consequences let alone how to ameliorate them.
For years, Republicans have harassed us for studying this. Now, NSF has canceled all funding. It’s a profound lapse in national security.
For years, Republicans have harassed us for studying this. Now, NSF has canceled all funding. It’s a profound lapse in national security.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Great opportunity for an 18 month bryophyte trainee position at RBGE (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) - working with the excellent bryologists there.
www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/job...
www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/job...
Vacancies | Working Here | What We Do
www.rbge.org.uk
May 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Great opportunity for an 18 month bryophyte trainee position at RBGE (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) - working with the excellent bryologists there.
www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/job...
www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/job...
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
NEW INVESTIGATION: A private equity-fueled for-profit chain slashed patient care for years while its executives got rich. So we scraped every malpractice, personal injury, and wrongful death case tied to Steward hospitals.
And we found how mothers, newborns, and others paid the ultimate price.
And we found how mothers, newborns, and others paid the ultimate price.
May 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
NEW INVESTIGATION: A private equity-fueled for-profit chain slashed patient care for years while its executives got rich. So we scraped every malpractice, personal injury, and wrongful death case tied to Steward hospitals.
And we found how mothers, newborns, and others paid the ultimate price.
And we found how mothers, newborns, and others paid the ultimate price.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
May 13, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Garden Mousetail Myosurus minimus. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Garden Mousetail Myosurus minimus. @bsbibotany.bsky.social
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
#AI can be extremely powerful but as it looks like, it's going to be our new #coal/#oil/#plastic/#internet event: the massive expansion of its use will come at a high cost for #nature. We haven't solved the issues with clean energy sourcing, yet we head into the next level of energy consumption.
May 9, 2025 at 12:39 PM
#AI can be extremely powerful but as it looks like, it's going to be our new #coal/#oil/#plastic/#internet event: the massive expansion of its use will come at a high cost for #nature. We haven't solved the issues with clean energy sourcing, yet we head into the next level of energy consumption.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Reproduction in trees is wildly complicated. Here are two maples, red and sugar, with similar samaras. Red maple drops samaras in spring, seeds have no dormancy and must germinate immediately. Sugar maple drops samaras in autumn, seeds are dormant through winter, and germinate the following spring.
May 7, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reproduction in trees is wildly complicated. Here are two maples, red and sugar, with similar samaras. Red maple drops samaras in spring, seeds have no dormancy and must germinate immediately. Sugar maple drops samaras in autumn, seeds are dormant through winter, and germinate the following spring.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
What scientists know as "mites" is almost certainly an artificial taxonomic group, according to recent phylogenetic analyses and studies using advanced microscopic techniques.
Mites Are a Made-Up Taxon: New Analysis Further Debunks Long-Held Classification
What scientists know as "mites" is almost certainly an artificial taxonomic group, according to recent phylogenetic analyses and studies using advanced microscopic techniques.
entomologytoday.org
May 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
What scientists know as "mites" is almost certainly an artificial taxonomic group, according to recent phylogenetic analyses and studies using advanced microscopic techniques.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Brian Cox ~ The purpose of life?
May 7, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Brian Cox ~ The purpose of life?
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Dwarf ginseng. Warren Woods Ecol Field Station, Monday.
May 7, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Dwarf ginseng. Warren Woods Ecol Field Station, Monday.
#InfoPost: If you #cook with #alcohol-containing ingredients, even after 30 min of #cooking, 35% of the alcohol is still left (5% after 2 hours). This a very relevant for children, pregnant women, and dry alcoholics. Your red wine sauce or deglazing with liquor can have a big impact on their health.
Kocht Ihr gerne mit Alkohol ? Lasst es sein, wenn Kinder, Schwangere oder trockene Alkoholiker am Tisch dabei sind. Nach einer halben Stunde Kochzeit sind im Schnitt noch ca. 35 Prozent des ursprünglichen Alkoholgehalts enthalten nach zweieinhalb Stunden immerhin noch 5 Prozent.
May 7, 2025 at 10:37 AM
#InfoPost: If you #cook with #alcohol-containing ingredients, even after 30 min of #cooking, 35% of the alcohol is still left (5% after 2 hours). This a very relevant for children, pregnant women, and dry alcoholics. Your red wine sauce or deglazing with liquor can have a big impact on their health.
Reposted by Norbert Holstein
Seaweeds - the greatest friend you never knew you had!
From construction to food, and industry to medicines, these algae are an integral part of their lives. But unfortunately, they're under threat.
Find out how we can turn things around 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
From construction to food, and industry to medicines, these algae are an integral part of their lives. But unfortunately, they're under threat.
Find out how we can turn things around 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
The State of the World’s Seaweeds: Our algal allies are under threat | Natural History Museum
A new initiative aims to change the fate of seaweeds for the better.
www.nhm.ac.uk
May 6, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Seaweeds - the greatest friend you never knew you had!
From construction to food, and industry to medicines, these algae are an integral part of their lives. But unfortunately, they're under threat.
Find out how we can turn things around 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
From construction to food, and industry to medicines, these algae are an integral part of their lives. But unfortunately, they're under threat.
Find out how we can turn things around 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...