Things I Have Learned Today

[ARNC]

I had no idea what birds get up to when they’re not flying around or decorating cars, or that this was the subject of academic research. I promise I didn’t go looking for this - it was being plugged on LinkedIn by an institution I attended!

Heys et al. 2026. “The Evolution of Masturbation in Birds.” Ecology and Evolution, Volume 16, Issue 6, e73693

[WhiskeySandwich]

Today I learned it is not tomorrow, which i thought it was when i woke up today thanks to my schedule this week. Don't you hate when you think tomorrow's friday, but it's not yet thursday? devastating.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@ARNC interesting, i guess this is why people birdwatch?

[goosehd]

@ARNC that put a smile on my face…ba dum tss.

[goosehd]

In all fairness, in one of my Ecology classes, the professor’s area of expertise was the reproductive habits of tidal zone aquatic life.

How one goes about deciding that is one’s lifelong passion is not quite clear…

[Stringthing75]

@goosehd a work colleague of mine has a list of academic qualifications a mile long but his doctoral thesis was on Gait Analysis of Chickens.
lifelong dedication to the subject ever since lol.

[ARNC]

@Stringthing75 I’m just imagining the conversation if your guy and one of the authors of the paper met at a party:

A: So, what do you do for a living?
B: I watch birds walk. And you?
A: Pretty much the same - just change one letter …

[goosehd]

@ARNC

[tody]

@goosehd i'm pretty confident he meant 'talk' 🥳

[goosehd]

@tody of course he did…that is the only logical answer. What were you thinking?

[Stringthing75]

@ARNC haha that is top quality. love it. yeah some pretty specialist stuff lol.