When biologists say an animal is "basal" does this mean:

* the animal has more traits found in extinct animals than its close relations
* the animal is taxonomically isolated on a branch with few leaves
* because the animal is taxonomically isolated, it may have traits of extinct ancestors of a clade lost in most other clade members

I've seen it used in all of these ways. Is the isolation key? Or is it being similar to the ancestor that matters more?

Donald Trump is remaking the world. But he really won’t like the result | Nesrine Malik
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

How about "Trump finds new way to do his favorite old thing--stiff creditors."

Trump Says Some Treasury Notes May Not Be Real
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/t…

#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #Treasury #TNotes #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

I thought Feb 9 was International US Laughingstock Day!

*In his own mind.

Trump recognized Feb. 9 as first ever ‘Gulf of America Day’*
thehill.com/homenews/administr…

#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #GulfOfAmerica #Mexico #WhoVotedForThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol

I’ve been seething and grieving since yesterday’s Friday Night Massacre of NIH overheads, a seeming bit of bureaucratic trivial that will in fact destroy the US university system if unchecked. But I want to get away from budgets and rate breakdowns and F&A percentages for a moment.

Humor me?

From the time I was seven years old, I have wanted to be a scientist. The wonders of the universe, the delights of biodiversity, the cryptic secrets of number theory — I fell in love with these worlds and marveled that there was a role in our society for people who worked to uncover and share them.

Science, I realized, gave us superpowers. We evolved sensory capabilities consistent with our physical scale and temporal experience. But with science, we can understand what happened in the femtoseconds after the Big Bang, the molecular basis of inheritance, time dilation at the edge of a black hole, a 4 billion-year story of life on earth.

(1/2)

foreignaffairs.com/united-stat…

“These elements of trust are part of the invisible bedrock of U.S. foreign policy. Allies in particular will be reluctant to share sensitive intelligence information if they fear that individuals with no government experience and who have not been vetted through typical security protocols will gain access to that intelligence. Musk and his team have found their way to the most closely guarded private federal data, and they will make the United States an object of mistrust to those who interact with the invisible machinery of U.S. national security.”

Así nos llegaban anoche a @CarlosGS y a mi las ondas del terremoto de magnitud 7.6 ocurrido frente a las costas de Honduras.

Apenas necesitaron 11 minutos para llegar desde allí hasta la península ibérica.

Since I switched from cycling to (trail)running as my main sport, I notice that I am less and less motivated to go cycling outside in winter. I used to cycle outside all winter long, but now I prefer the warmth on the indoor trainer 😆. Running outside in winter is not an issue 🏃‍♂️✅

#running #trailrunning #ultrarunning

Later this month, I’m going with my parents to Logroño, San Sebastián and Bilbao. I’ve been several times to San Sebastián but only once 15 years ago to the other two.
Recommendations are welcome!
We are going to see Athletic ⚽️ (men) play at La Catedral, San Mamés.

Luego este mes, voy con mis padres a Logroño, San Sebastián y Bilbao. He visitado varias veces San Sebastián pero solo una vez hace 15 años a las otras dos.
Recomendaciones bienvenidos!
#bilbao #sansebastian #donosti #espana #spain

Sonnet 004 - IV
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend
Upon thy self thy beauty's legacy?
Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,
And being frank she lends to those are free:
Then, beauteous niggard, why dost thou abuse
The bounteous largess given thee to give?
Profitless usurer, why dost thou use
So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?
For having traffic with thy self alone,
Thou of thy self thy sweet self dost deceive:
Then how when nature calls thee to be gone,
What acceptable audit canst thou leave?
Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee,
Which, used, lives th' executor to be.

bot by @davidaugust

#sonnet #poem #Shakespeare

I've started posting on LinkedIn all the unconstitutional shit Trump and Musk are doing to undermine the security and integrity of our government. Mainly because that crowd needs to hear it most. It's incredible how many people in the infosec space are still defending the actions of DOGE and its dear leader(s). And they're not all crypto bros and AI peddlers; we're talking about people in some pretty important roles, tech-wise.

But at least when they reply with the inevitable "stay in your lane" or "I used to like you when you stayed out of politics," they are on record as complicit and totally okay with what is going on.