Simon Benson

UG Botany & MSc Biodiversity & Conservation.
Zoology PhD candidate studying Kelp in TCD.
Interests in: Plants. Fungi. Algae. Soil. Genetics. Eco. Evo
🏳️‍🌈🌿🧬

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

I had a blast competing at the #BUC2023 semifinals for @tcddublin! I also had some great kelpy conversations at my poster and had an excuse to draw some really weird Ceropegia flowers for the creative competition. Thanks to everyone at @BUCBotany for all the hard work 👏🌿

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@CarlowWeather Another similar heat dome up from Africa you think?

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@marcjushm Oh dear, this looks like someone dumped a terrapin there. Not great because they can suffer in our climate and also hurt the local native wildlife

@collieennis you seen this?

[Sinéad O’Sullivan @SineadOS1]

The protests in Ireland are not about just fuel! They are about the distance between Ireland on this graph and every other modern and developed economy. Ireland is second wealthiest but gets waaaaay less than any other country for that wealth. By a golden mile.

That visual gap in this graph? That’s what people are protesting. It’s a lack of infrastructure and the everyday enshittification of services, the economy, and the additional difficulty of trying to live, relative to peers in any other country. It also highlights why people don’t get uniformly listened to! - because there is no government architecture to engage meaningfully across this huge gap.

That gap is a three hour drive to work in traffic, a 14 month wait for an MRI, buses that don’t arrive, trains that don’t exist, schools that have no places for your kids, houses that are unaffordable, pubs that close before midnight, €12 sandwiches, expensive fuel.

People feel this gap, even if they can’t explain it precisely. And that builds into resentment, and ultimately protest. Fuel just happened to be the next thing that could be pointed to, today.

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

If the workers under a specific academic are consistently struggling, they're a prime target for other forms of misconduct imo

People who understand and adhere to best practice in research should know better; it's a great litmus.

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

Unsurprisingly, the dipshit who wanted his postgraduate workers to go hungry so he could exploit them more effectively also has poor conduct surrounding his own rigour and approach to the scientific method.

https://t.co/P8tilNI4Im

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@Grimezsz Happy to give more advice, as a lot of people will probably tell you to start a good forest or permaculture plot (which is great, but NOT a great starting point)

Let me know if you've any more questions

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@Grimezsz You can look into hydroponics/aeroponics setups if indoors, but they require some technical knowledge.

Leaves generally are easy to grow, roots are intermediate, and fruits are hard. Growing a mixed salad with lettuce, radishes, spring onions, and herbs would be a great intro

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@sam_niac Water caltrop (Traps bicornis)

An aquatic edible plant grown in parts of Asia and used similar to the more commonly recognised water chestnut

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@LegoLostAtSea Hmm, maybe an eel spine? Certainly looks like it would be a decent match

Was it soft or calcified? The vertebrae look a bit odd, so likely a spine of some sort of fish, and the fact that there's so many of them indicates to me that it's from a pretty elongated organism

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@ATinyGreenCell I never really thought about it, but Ceropegia sandersonii is definitely a contender. Some crazy pollination ecology to go with this freaky beauty

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@PopCrave They literally have both male and female parts, one word for which is "bisexual" in botanical terminology

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@ATinyGreenCell Single celled or filamentous green?

Any idea what markers you'll use or sequencing approach? You could probably get a species ID by using trnL or ITs and reduce sequence costs

[Muslim Sisters of Eire @Msoe_Dublin]

Tonight was one of those nights where we were left speechless. Six 6-foot tables that were filled with food were emptied after 45 minutes. We handed out 260 meals and still had around fifty people without food. This is the second week that this has happened and we don’t understand what’s going on. There’s been a huge increase in our soup run and we need to start thinking strategically for future soup runs.

It is absolutely heartbreaking for someone to be at the end of the queue and know that there’s not a hot meal for that person. For the people that were left, we handed out fruit and goodies but that was still not a proper meal. Tonight we have no words, we feel defeated. We need to plan properly for next week to ensure that we have enough meals - this week 300 was not enough. If you would like to sponsor a hot meal, it’s €3 per person. If any restaurants would like to sponsor hot meals, please contact us.

If you would like to help us or donate, please visit https://t.co/txexZXW91y.

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@collieennis Oh 👀

A few months work in an Aquarium would be a nice break and give me an opportunity to flex my aquascaping muscles 🤔🤔

[The Ditch @wereontheditch]

🚨

[Simon Benson @BotanyBenson]

@thorogoodchris1 Orobanchaceae have some explaining to do