Cool animal that I didn't know existed: this is a crab spider that I saw on a hike in Brittany, strategically positioned amidst the densest group of butterflies that I had seen on the trail

These observations overall point to a beautiful and complex spatiotemporal pattern to these biological waves, namely that of a highly excitable system. It's exciting to think about connections to other excitable signaling systems, such as neuronal or electrochemical systems in plants!

Bierbach et al. quantified the predator-prey interactions, and observed that these excitations cause noticeable changes in the birds' hunting abilities! Top row shows time until first attack, while bottom time between attacks after beginning. The more waves, the longer both these times are!

These fish are densely packed at the surface of shallow water, with ~1000 fish per square meter. Upon visual cues signaling predators to the fish, they reliably swim rapidly downwards, forming a wave that propagates.

🧵 Watch closely the waves on the surface as a bird moves through the water! This is one of my favorite videos that I've seen recently - dense collections of fish using collective escape waves that confuse birds 🌊

Great new paper by David Bierbach et al. : royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

So excited for the week ahead at Les Houches!

Went to the wonderful Groote Museum yesterday! Highly recommend for those interested in biology/life sciences and happen to visit the Amsterdam area

Proud to win the @apsphysics.bsky.social DBIO Image contest for my tomato leaf trichome photo! Trichomes break on contact with insects, defending against predation 🐛🌿🔬🧪

Congrats to my co-winners, including labmate @nicoschramma.bsky.social for his stunning chloroplast networks in Pyrocystis Lunula!

"Einstein has once again expressed himself publicly on quantum mechanics...As is well known, this is a catastrophe every time it happens"

- Wolfgang Pauli to Werner Heisenberg after the now-famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper of 1935

A recent microscopy image of mine showing trichomes on the surface of a tomato leaf (S. Habrochaites). These hair-like structures are powerful defense systems against insects! 🌿🐛

It's finally oliebollen season in Amsterdam!