Mark Ikeda
@mikeda56.bsky.social
Retired Biology Prof., San Bernardino Valley College - Go myrmecology!
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
An article about a former lab tech in my lab, Kim Ballare, in the new NYTimes "Lost Science" series about impacts of federal cuts. Thanks to @carlzimmer.com for doing this!
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
She Studied How Logging Affects Pollinators
www.nytimes.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:00 PM
An article about a former lab tech in my lab, Kim Ballare, in the new NYTimes "Lost Science" series about impacts of federal cuts. Thanks to @carlzimmer.com for doing this!
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
The blind destruction of American scientific research by the Trump Administration seems to indicate a lack of understanding about the true origin of many modern technological innovations.
Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project
www.nytimes.com
August 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
The blind destruction of American scientific research by the Trump Administration seems to indicate a lack of understanding about the true origin of many modern technological innovations.
Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Trump Is Squandering the Greatest Gift of the Manhattan Project www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
My project this evening was this composite photograph showing caste in Texas turtle ants: soldier, queen, and worker. This is one of those twig-nesting ants whose soldiers serve as living guard doors, using that massive head to block the entrance.
August 5, 2025 at 3:30 AM
My project this evening was this composite photograph showing caste in Texas turtle ants: soldier, queen, and worker. This is one of those twig-nesting ants whose soldiers serve as living guard doors, using that massive head to block the entrance.
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Happy birthday Rosalind Franklin (25 July 1920)
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer, Franklin’s work illuminated structures of RNA, DNA, coal, graphite, and viruses.
#WomenInStem
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer, Franklin’s work illuminated structures of RNA, DNA, coal, graphite, and viruses.
#WomenInStem
July 25, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Happy birthday Rosalind Franklin (25 July 1920)
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer, Franklin’s work illuminated structures of RNA, DNA, coal, graphite, and viruses.
#WomenInStem
Chemist and X-ray crystallographer, Franklin’s work illuminated structures of RNA, DNA, coal, graphite, and viruses.
#WomenInStem
Color me flabbergasted!
New paper out on an important issue — monitoring insects requires preserving the specimens. We explored this issue using data from the Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab, which has systematically destroyed most of their specimens for decades. A 🧵(1/10)
doi.org/10.1093/aesa...
doi.org/10.1093/aesa...
Big data, changing taxonomy, and ghost records: permanent preservation of collected specimens is essential for insect monitoring
Abstract. Successful long-term biodiversity monitoring requires consistent identification of all specimens, both those newly collected and those collected
doi.org
July 15, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Color me flabbergasted!
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Lovely to see.
The reason there is no official merch is that Watterson refused to license it. Said he’d quit drawing the strip if the syndicate insisted. They gave in.
The central character is a *stuffed animal.* He could have been Charles Schulz level rich.
The reason there is no official merch is that Watterson refused to license it. Said he’d quit drawing the strip if the syndicate insisted. They gave in.
The central character is a *stuffed animal.* He could have been Charles Schulz level rich.
It’s Calvin & Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson’s birthday today. When I was a kid I was so obsessed with Calvin & Hobbes that I carried around a stuffed bear and called it Hobbes. There’s no official merch (which I love), so my grandma painstakingly crafted this for me. Pic of him from my mom today
July 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Lovely to see.
The reason there is no official merch is that Watterson refused to license it. Said he’d quit drawing the strip if the syndicate insisted. They gave in.
The central character is a *stuffed animal.* He could have been Charles Schulz level rich.
The reason there is no official merch is that Watterson refused to license it. Said he’d quit drawing the strip if the syndicate insisted. They gave in.
The central character is a *stuffed animal.* He could have been Charles Schulz level rich.
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
It's been a bit since I've done a meteorological deep dive, but the devastating flash #flood in central Texas this July 4th/5th deserve a closer look. #TXwx
Yes remnants of #Barry were involved helping enhance moisture. A remnant MCV from Mexico on 3 July also played a role.
Full evolution below ⤵️
Yes remnants of #Barry were involved helping enhance moisture. A remnant MCV from Mexico on 3 July also played a role.
Full evolution below ⤵️
July 5, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...
As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas
www.nytimes.com
July 6, 2025 at 4:04 AM
As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
we worked so hard on this, nights and weekends, trying our best to do a good job for the American people
BREAKING: A source tells me that the Trump administration has shut down public access to every single National Climate Assessment, the Congressionally-mandated quadrennial report assessing how climate change is affecting the U.S.
This is what you get when you try to access them online
This is what you get when you try to access them online
June 30, 2025 at 10:43 PM
we worked so hard on this, nights and weekends, trying our best to do a good job for the American people
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
🚨New paper alert!🚨
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology
Supplemental Feeding as a Driver of Population Expansion and Morphological Change in Anna's Hummingbirds
Bird beaks are highly adaptable, with the potential to undergo rapid morphological shifts in response to environmental change such as climatic variation or food availability. Anna's Hummingbirds (Cal...
dx.doi.org
May 21, 2025 at 1:20 PM
🚨New paper alert!🚨
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology
We show that hummingbird beaks have changed in shape & size since around WWII, driven by the rise of commercialized feeders! 🧵
📄 Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb....
#ornithology #evolution #GlobalChangeBiology
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
UCLA's Daniel Swain has harsh words about the dismantling of the National Climate Assessment and plans for a "sham report" with false claims on "the benefits that melting ice sheets and increasingly severe wildfires and severe heat waves bring to the American people.” www.youtube.com/live/k87f1-e...
Weather & climate office hour 04/29/2025: Western weather & snowpack conditions (& federal update)
YouTube video by Weather West
www.youtube.com
April 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
UCLA's Daniel Swain has harsh words about the dismantling of the National Climate Assessment and plans for a "sham report" with false claims on "the benefits that melting ice sheets and increasingly severe wildfires and severe heat waves bring to the American people.” www.youtube.com/live/k87f1-e...
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨
We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely!
airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely!
airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
April 19, 2025 at 12:11 AM
🚨Report your NSF grant terminations! 🚨
We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely!
airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
We are starting to collect information on NSF grant terminations to create a shared resource as we have for NIH. The more information we collect, the more we can organize, advocate, and fight back! Please share widely!
airtable.com/appGKlSVeXni...
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Here’s a second, ridiculous litter monster ant (Myrmoteras sp.) from leaf litter samples in a secondary forest in Borneo, this time a much better photo. It has eyes which look like they might cry any time soon…
April 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Here’s a second, ridiculous litter monster ant (Myrmoteras sp.) from leaf litter samples in a secondary forest in Borneo, this time a much better photo. It has eyes which look like they might cry any time soon…
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Spending time in nature reduces stress, improves mental health, boosts the immune system, and enhances overall well-being. That’s the scientific version.
On nights like this though, I just say that it restores my soul ☀️
On nights like this though, I just say that it restores my soul ☀️
March 7, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Spending time in nature reduces stress, improves mental health, boosts the immune system, and enhances overall well-being. That’s the scientific version.
On nights like this though, I just say that it restores my soul ☀️
On nights like this though, I just say that it restores my soul ☀️
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
This undescribed #tephritidae induced gall (www.jstor.org/stable/42871...) is easily my favorite #gall on rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa). It's uncommon in my experience, having only encountered it twice.
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera
February 25, 2025 at 3:42 AM
This undescribed #tephritidae induced gall (www.jstor.org/stable/42871...) is easily my favorite #gall on rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa). It's uncommon in my experience, having only encountered it twice.
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera
#bugsky #entomology #naturephotography #diptera
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
This new genus of sunflower 😍🌻🤯
Very excited to introduce the newest genus of wild sunflowers, a tiny desert annual covered in dense wool and heads with just two small ray florets.
Ovicula biradiata, a new Composite from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos Texas doi.org/10.3897/phyt... via @phytokeys.pensoft.net
Ovicula biradiata, a new Composite from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos Texas doi.org/10.3897/phyt... via @phytokeys.pensoft.net
February 23, 2025 at 1:38 AM
This new genus of sunflower 😍🌻🤯
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Here is a sign-on letter for individual scientists and other experts to speak out and protect NOAA. I signed it and I encourage you to sign it as well.
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote... 🌎🧪🦑🐠
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote... 🌎🧪🦑🐠
Science at Risk: Protect NOAA
Scientists & experts: Add your name to this open letter calling on Congress and the Trump administration to ensure that NOAA and its sub-agencies remain fully funded and staffed, and that the independ...
secure.ucsusa.org
February 21, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Here is a sign-on letter for individual scientists and other experts to speak out and protect NOAA. I signed it and I encourage you to sign it as well.
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote... 🌎🧪🦑🐠
secure.ucsusa.org/a/2025-prote... 🌎🧪🦑🐠
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Fantastic thread on how efficiency might be smarter than buckets of $$ & energy. The upshot (spoiler alert):
"...now that [DeepSeek] has upended the assumptions of the dominant AI paradigm, we should reject [that paradigm's] costly trade-offs and seek new ways to develop AI without so many harms."
"...now that [DeepSeek] has upended the assumptions of the dominant AI paradigm, we should reject [that paradigm's] costly trade-offs and seek new ways to develop AI without so many harms."
As someone who has reported on AI for 7 years and covered China tech as well, I think the biggest lesson to be drawn from DeepSeek is the huge cracks it illustrates with the current dominant paradigm of AI development. A long thread. 1/
January 27, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Fantastic thread on how efficiency might be smarter than buckets of $$ & energy. The upshot (spoiler alert):
"...now that [DeepSeek] has upended the assumptions of the dominant AI paradigm, we should reject [that paradigm's] costly trade-offs and seek new ways to develop AI without so many harms."
"...now that [DeepSeek] has upended the assumptions of the dominant AI paradigm, we should reject [that paradigm's] costly trade-offs and seek new ways to develop AI without so many harms."
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
We get data *from* the WHO. Without this, we're flying blind with data regarding evolution of infectious agents globally, putting us behind if we need to develop vaccines & treatments, just for one aspect. This puts the whole country at risk.
ATLANTA (AP) — US public health officials have been told to stop working with the World Health Organization, effective immediately.
January 27, 2025 at 8:57 PM
We get data *from* the WHO. Without this, we're flying blind with data regarding evolution of infectious agents globally, putting us behind if we need to develop vaccines & treatments, just for one aspect. This puts the whole country at risk.
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
Happy New Year! Here's a random selection of #sciart/#medart projects I worked on this year.
Each has unique challenges,solutions, and even styles. I look forward to what 2025 may bring. Get in touch if you need some visual assistance! 😀
#illustration #scientificillustration #medicalillustration
Each has unique challenges,solutions, and even styles. I look forward to what 2025 may bring. Get in touch if you need some visual assistance! 😀
#illustration #scientificillustration #medicalillustration
January 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Happy New Year! Here's a random selection of #sciart/#medart projects I worked on this year.
Each has unique challenges,solutions, and even styles. I look forward to what 2025 may bring. Get in touch if you need some visual assistance! 😀
#illustration #scientificillustration #medicalillustration
Each has unique challenges,solutions, and even styles. I look forward to what 2025 may bring. Get in touch if you need some visual assistance! 😀
#illustration #scientificillustration #medicalillustration
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
The armored dwarf spider, Floricomus ornatulus, was found in southern Texas (Edinburg, Harlingen, and San Juan) 90 years ago and was never seen again.
It's about 1.2mm in length, males have a little horn and an orange shield on its back. It lives near the ground in tiny webs. Anyone in the area?
It's about 1.2mm in length, males have a little horn and an orange shield on its back. It lives near the ground in tiny webs. Anyone in the area?
November 21, 2024 at 9:59 PM
The armored dwarf spider, Floricomus ornatulus, was found in southern Texas (Edinburg, Harlingen, and San Juan) 90 years ago and was never seen again.
It's about 1.2mm in length, males have a little horn and an orange shield on its back. It lives near the ground in tiny webs. Anyone in the area?
It's about 1.2mm in length, males have a little horn and an orange shield on its back. It lives near the ground in tiny webs. Anyone in the area?
Reposted by Mark Ikeda
A strong, prolonged, very moist, and relatively warm #AtmosphericRiver event, in conjunction with rapidly-strengthening #BombCyclone (yes, that's the term!), will bring major rain (and, locally, wind) impacts to OR/NorCal this week. Flooding is likely. #CAwx #ORwx #CAwater [1/6]
November 18, 2024 at 7:35 PM
A strong, prolonged, very moist, and relatively warm #AtmosphericRiver event, in conjunction with rapidly-strengthening #BombCyclone (yes, that's the term!), will bring major rain (and, locally, wind) impacts to OR/NorCal this week. Flooding is likely. #CAwx #ORwx #CAwater [1/6]