I am a #biologist, #acarologist (my research area), entomologist and #evolutionary biologist. Also nature #photographer and nature and #macro #filmmaker. I am interested in all aspects of biology, and I also have a great weakness for astronomy and perform pictorial arts. Here you can see a mite of the genus #Balaustium (Erythraeidae), but my research is on mites of the #Histiostomatidae (Astigmata). Both Acariformes. I only have this one Twitter profile. © Stefan F. Wirth 2023

Please watch and like my newest #sciencewriting blog #article about the #biology of the #rhinocerosbeetle on #YouTube, featuring #photos of an adult #male from #Berlin: youtube.com/post/UgkxWmvaAfO… This is just a summarization of the mote detailed information in my Youtube-channel The rhinoceros beetle #Oryctes #nasicornis (#Scarabaeidae) is a large #species that originally had the status of a so called #relictspecies. A relict species is defined as survivor of its lost original habitats. In case of the rhinoceros beetle the original habitat was #woodmold of extended old deciduous trees in European #primevalforests. But O. nasicornis was proving a good degree of #evolutionary #adaptability and managed to survive in #humanmade artificial #sawdust or even suitable #compost heaps. Survival in these habitats means that the beetle's #larvae, being adapted to digest #cellulose, live in decomposing wood #detritus. Due to this habitat, attractive for phoretic organisms, the adult beetle is a suitable carrier for the dispersal (transportation) of mites or nematodes (#phoresy or #phoresis). © #StefanFWirth, Berlin, June 2026 Please support my science writing, my scientific and my science art activities, as a freelancer, I urgently depend on your support: ko-fi.com/sfwirth Photos: Adult male of the rhinoceros beetle, from Berlin, early summer 2025, photos and video footage edited June 2026.

#Scissorlike #appendages in #Arthropoda indeed #evolved many times #independently, not only in #crustaceans, #insects, but also in #arachnids, in #mites for example, see attached one out of two #male-#morphs of the mite #Histiostoma #palustre (#Histiostomatidae, #Astigmata, #Sarcoptiformes, #Acariformes). This text #StefanFWirth Reference: Stefan F. Wirth (2002): scispace.com/pdf/das-stammar… #Photo: #SEM #photograph of legs of a #male of mite Histiostoma palustre, legs 2 are modified to scissor-like organs © Stefan F. Wirth, Berlin, SEM, 2002/2026

Hybrid solid−liquid optics enable scalable, high-resolution light-sheet microscopy across diverse immersion media go.nature.com/4xdDkQR

Plant-MAE: a self-supervised 3D point cloud segmentation framework for plant organ phenotyping. Achieves 92.08% precision, 84.03% IoU, and needs only 50% training data. #PlantPhenotyping #AI #Agriculture Details: doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphe.202…

Athens, Greece, at dusk This is an aerial photograph of the Acropolis of Athens, featuring the Parthenon temple at its summit and the Odeon of Herodes Atticus below Photographer: Dimitrios Pallis - @pallisd #Europe #travel

To mark my birthday today, I took my self portrait by the #Spree #River, from opposite of the #Friedrichshain district of #Berlin, in front of the famous #statue ensemble by American #artist #Jonathan #Borofsky. Erected in May 1999, the 30-meter-tall artwork appears lightweight, as if molded from paper, despite weighing around 45 tons. In reality, it is made of #aluminum and depicts three figures merging into one another. Through this work, the artist aims to express the idea that the goal of all creative and spiritual traditions is to find wholeness and #unity within the #world. This also alludes, of course, to the #reunification of #Germany, which brought about changes over the decades that are particularly evident from this vantage point (I am standing on the banks of the Spree in Berlin-#Treptow). The Berlin #skyline, clearly visible from here, has undergone significant transformation since the 1990s. © #StefanFWirth Berlin, June 10, 2026 #Photos: © S.F.Wirth

My newest #Prelights #article is about #dementia-like #behaviors of the oldest known #rhesusmacaque, which for its unusual #age got even an entry into the #Guinnessbookofrecords. And it's about what we learn about #aging in #primates. #Behavior, #cognition #StefanFWirth 10 June 2026

#Understanding #Earth's #history is crucial for gaining insight into the multitude of #biotic, #geological, and #climatological phenomena that have shaped the #planet. Comprehending past processes is essential for contextualizing, and potentially predicting, processes occurring today and in the future. However, precisely #dating geological sediments to place them within a broader context remains challenging. Existing methods for dating sediments are not yet sufficiently refined; consequently, there is a need for more useful approaches to precise age determination in this field of #research. One promising strategy involves using new methods to determine the age of #fossils with the highest possible precision. Researchers R. T. Tucker et al. (2025) have directly dated (non avian) #dinosaureggs from two distinct sites, the Western Interior Basin in North America and Upper Cretaceous strata in Mongolia’s Gobi Basin, using novel LA-ICP-MS U-Pb #calcitedating and #elementalanalysis. This new #datingapproach places researchers in a previously unimaginable position: the ability to reconstruct temporal and ecological data, as well as environmental characteristics, from a single fossil. © Text by Stefan F. Wirth Reference: R. T. Tucker et al. (2025): doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-0… #Illustration: © Stefan F. Wirth; AI-assisted illustration based on a hand-drawn storyboard, manually edited; June 10, 2026, Berlin: Undefined dinosaur egg fossils in an arid environment in Argentina.

The #seabed remains the least #explored habitat on Earth. The #deepsea, in particular, continues to pose a major, and potentially hazardous, #challenge for crewed underwater operations. #Autonomous #underwaterrobots can play a vital role in this context. The more precisely they can #adapt their movement to #environmentalconditions, the more efficiently they can be deployed for a wide range of underwater #tasks. Their portability to the deployment site improves as their size and weight decrease. Compact dimensions also offer the advantage of greater flexibility in navigating for example in challenging deep-sea environments. Highly precise and versatile #sensorsystems are the essential foundation for enabling underwater robots to maneuver safely and autonomously. M. Park et al. (2026) have contributed to this field by developing a #bioinspired #flowsensor. The researchers present a "small, lightweight, #softmagnetic #hairlike flow sensor." In tests, this hydrodynamic sensing technology enabled the robots to precisely and efficiently determine flow direction, speed, and oscillation, thereby significantly enhancing the adaptability of the #submersible robots. © this text Stefan F. Wirth Reference: M. Park et al. (2026): doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aed28…

On the precise #mobility of the #trilobite #Olenoides #serratus based on three-dimensional reconstructions. Extinct trilobites were primeval #arthropods. Although the #fossil record for this group of animals is excellent across various deposits worldwide, #fossilized #legs are only very rarely preserved. This is because the softer #limbs are far more susceptible to decomposition processes than the trilobites' robust dorsal exoskeletons. However, there are exceptionally well-preserved specimens that allowed authors S. R. Losso et al. (2025) to reconstruct leg mobility through functional-#morphological and #quantitative #analysis. The findings indicate that O. serratus was an adept walker, climber, and swimmer. For comparison, the researchers examined the leg morphology and modes of locomotion of extant #horseshoecrabs. They concluded that, while the leg morphology and movement patterns of O. serratus were highly efficient, they differed from those of horseshoe crabs. © Text by Stefan F. Wirth, June 2026, Berlin Reference: S. R. Losso et al. (2025): doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-0…

The interesting approach proposed by authors S. Murray Sherman and W. Martin Usrey (2026) is based on the premise that the #cortex interacts with #evolutionarily #older #layers of the #brain and, therefore, does not constitute a system that operates in a more or less self-contained manner. In particular, the authors argue that #attention and #efferencecopy (a neuronal copy of a motor command sent to sensory areas to predict the consequences of a movement) should be understood in terms of a layered interaction with phylogenetically older #subcortical motor areas, a theory that challenges the "corticocentric view" otherwise widely prevalent in the scientific community. This text: Stefan F. Wirth, June 2026, Berlin Reference: S. Murray Sherman and W. Martin Usrey (2026): doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.02…

Ancient European humans ate bugs—but it was likely by accident—according to a new examination of dental plaque. scim.ag/3SieO0A

🧵1/5 Astronomers have found strong new evidence that some hot giant #exoplanets have magnetic fields similar in strength to those in our own Solar System. The result comes from studying how fast winds blow across seven ultra-hot Jupiters. eso.org/public/unitedkingdom… #astronomy #universe

Please check out my latest #YouTube #video, a #slowmotion #documentary featuring bumblebees pollinating flowers, and give it a like: youtu.be/B47TfFUjb-M?is=Jki6… Featuring the #bumblebee #species #Bombus #pascuorum and Bombus #pratorum, the #footage, shown at various slow-motion speeds, illustrates how these #insects contribute to #pollination while collecting pollen and nectar from the blossoms of the #Rhododendron #ponticum plant. I recorded these bumblebee sequences at #framerates of 240 and 960 frames per second. Using Adobe Premiere, I digitally slowed down several sequences even further to more clearly highlight the interactions between the bumblebees and the #flowers' #stamens and #pistils. The video clearly demonstrates why bumblebees rank among the most important pollinators of the rhododendron. The positioning of the stamens, as well as the placement and shape of the carpels and pistils, appears to be perfectly "aligned" due to #coevolution for pollinators the size of a bumblebee. The pistil seems to almost tentatively seek out the bumblebee's abdomen and hind legs in order to make contact with the pollen adhering there. In the process, particularly as the bumblebee crawls back out from the depths of the flower after foraging for nectar, it triggers a rapid flexible mechanism within the entire carpel structure; this action flings pollen formerly adhering to the bumblebee into the air, thereby potentially further increasing the likelihood of successful #pollination. I filmed this footage in early summer 2025 at a cemetery in #Berlin, and edited and cut the video in May 2025. #Urban #greenspaces serve as important #ecosystems, as they can help mitigate air pollution and reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in an era of #anthropogenic #globalwarming. However, an ecosystem functions effectively only when it is endowed with a biodiversity suited to it. This naturally includes pollinators, without which plants would be unable to reproduce. I created the film soundtrack and individual sound effects, with the assistance of Adobe Firefly AI, in accordance with my artistic storyboard. © #StefanFWirth, June 2026, Berlin #Photos Bumblebee Bombus pascuorum visiting the blossoms of Rhododendron ponticum. #Videoframes (not separate photographs), © Stefan F. Wirth, June 2026, Berlin

Why a #molecularecological #process, triggered by a #plant for its own protection, initiates an #interaction involving the plant, its #insectpests, and the #predators of those pests. #Floweringplants and #insects share a long, intertwined #evolutionaryhistory. This history has yielded many benefits; specifically, flowers have adapted to be #pollinated by insects. Reciprocally, highly specialized interactions, sometimes unique to particular plant and insect species, have evolved. However, these interactions encompass more than just, for instance, flowers that are morphologically adapted to attract very specific pollinators. From the insects' perspective, it was a "logical step" to visit plants not merely to feed themselves, but also to utilize them as #hostplants for their offspring. We have thus arrived at the subject of #parasitism. While this arrangement benefits the insect, the plant suffers a reduction in fitness due to the damage caused by insect #herbivory. To counteract this disadvantage, plants have evolved various mechanisms to limit the damage inflicted by plant parasites. Authors N. Guayazán Palacios et al. (2026) have characterized a so-called #tritrophic interaction using the common #bean, #Phaseolus #vulgaris (#Fabaceae). In this interaction, leaf #immunereceptors detect #molecularpatterns present in #caterpillar saliva; in response, the plant both accelerates #woundhealing and releases a volatile compound that attracts #predatory #wasps. These wasps then rid the host plant of its parasites. The existence of such #trophicinteractions between plants and multiple animal species has already longer been known. However, the precise mechanisms and ecological consequences of chemical communication among plants, pests, and beneficial organisms remained poorly understood under natural field conditions. Consequently, the researchers incorporated #fieldstudies, conducted in #Mexico, into their project alongside their laboratory investigations. The specific triggers to which the immune receptors on the leaf surface respond are known as herbivore-associated molecular patterns (#HAMPs). The studies involved the examination of, among others, caterpillars of the corn borer and the beet armyworm #Spodoptera exigua, as well as #predatorywasps belonging to the species #Polybia sp. and Mischocyttarus sp. In their discussion, the authors emphasize that the efficacy of this tritrophic reaction cascade is also contingent upon its ecological and #evolutionarycontext. In this regard, they cite the well-documented interaction, known from existing literature, between the wild tobacco plant Nicotiana attenuata and the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. In that specific system, the plant's defensive responses appear to be even more complex: in addition to attracting predators that prey on the larvae, the plant also actively inhibits the moth's egg-laying behavior. The researchers anticipate that future studies utilizing the common bean system will further investigate intraspecific and interspecific competition among herbivores regarding host plant selection, as well as the interactions occurring between parasitoids and predators. © #StefanFWirth, June 2026, Berlin Please support my science writing work with a small donation. As a freelancer I depend on support. ko-fi.com/sfwirth Reference: N. Guayazán Palacios et al. (2026): doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aec32… #Illustrations: © Stefan F. Wirth, AI assisted artistic illustrations showing the common bean in a field, based on my handdrawn storyboard sketch, manually edited, June 2026

On #immortal #tissue #explants, and why such #research can be of fundamental applied interest. Typically, #aging and the accompanying death of tissue are natural processes of mortality, particularly within the #Deuterostomia, the animal phylum to which we ourselves belong. The capacity for #regeneration is generally poorly developed among deuterostomes, especially in #vertebrates. There are few exceptions—such as feather stars (Echinodermata) or lizards (Lacertidae, Squamata), which are able to regrow tails shed when under threat. Nevertheless, researchers have long been conducting experiments aimed at the indefinite preservation of extracted tissue. To date, however, this has only been successfully achieved using specialized culture media. Yet, the #tissues maintained in such environments exhibit only limited signs of full #functionality. Moreover, they generally lack regenerative capacity and, until now, could only be successfully isolated from embryonic tissue. This type of research is, however, of significant importance, for instance, for the in vitro cultivation of human organs or tissue components, a capability that holds particular relevance for the field of transplant biology. Based on their study of #seacucumbers, authors S. Jobson et al. (2026) have established that the tissues of a specific species remain viable in seawater without the addition of specific cultivar nutrients. The researchers explanted epidermal, connective, nervous, and muscle tissues from the #seacucumber #Psolus #fabricii (#Holothuroidea: #Echinodermata). They designated the explants derived from this sea cucumber species as "#LiPfes" (living, immortal P. fabricii explants). A remarkable feature of this phenomenon is that the tissue remains in an #activestate of #life; it exhibits cell division activity, #woundhealing (regeneration), tissue differentiation, #immuneactivity, and the uptake of dissolved amino acids. These tissue characters are a unique feature of the species P. fabricii; this phenomenon is observed neither in closely related sea cucumber species nor is it known to occur in any other sea cucumbers. Consequently, this sea cucumber #species serves as a significant model organism for the study of aging phenomena and for #tissueengineering. © #StefanFWirth, May 2026, Berlin Please support my work as freelancer in science communication, science writing, scientific research and art, as freelancer, I depend on your donations, thanks so much: ko-fi.com/sfwirth Reference: S. Jobson et al. (2026) : doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aeb13… Illustrations: © Stefan F. Wirth, May 2026, Berlin, AI assisted artistic illustrations, based on my hand-drawn sketches, manually edited: 1) Diver and three undefined sea cucumber species 2) diver and undefined sea cucumber isolated 3) illustration of Psolus fabricii

About #ecosystems and how ecological conditions of two adjacent #ecosystems shifted following the #disappearance of an #keypredator. An ecosystem fundamentally consists of two components: the #biotope, characterized by physical and chemical factors such as #soil composition, #water quality, or #climate, and the #biocoenosis, which encompasses all the #organisms interconnected within that biotope. The biocoenosis consists essentially of #producers, which build #biomass through photosynthesis, and #consumers, which feed on this biomass. Through the mechanism known as the #trophiccascade, the species composition and their population size can be regulated in different ways: from the #topdown, or from the #bottomup. The specific nature of this regulation depends on who acts as the producers, who as the primary consumers, and who as the predators. Top-down control of an ecosystem occurs when apex predators dominate the conditions within that system. The converse is termed bottom-up control, which prevails when factors such as soil #nutrients, #sunlight, or plant growth act as the primary #regulators. The inherent complexity of these contexts, still requires basic research on specific, concrete ecosystems. Authors J. G. Smith et al. (2025) examined two adjacent ecosystems, demonstrating the extent to which they influenced one another and the reasons behind this interaction. The studies were conducted on the #Monterey Peninsula in #California, USA. The focus of the investigations lay on two marine ecosystems, rocky #intertidalzones and #kelpforests, which frequently coexist in this region. While rocky intertidal zones require no further explanation, kelp forests do: these are areas densely vegetated with large, substrate-attached (#benthic) algae. The authors explain that the two ecosystems under study constitute top-down controlled biological communities, originally regulated by two #keypredators: the #seaotter #Enhydra #lutris (kelp forest) and the #seastar #Pisaster #ochraceus (intertidal zone). The primary food source for the sea star was the California #mussel #Mytilus #californianus. An abrupt #decline in #seastar density occurred in 2013 as a result of an #epidemic that originated along the North American Pacific coast and wiped out billions of individual sea stars based on the bacterium #Vibrio #pectenicida. The aforementioned authors demonstrated that the loss of one key #mesopredator (the sea star) led to an increase in the mussel population within the study area, causing the mussels to expand their range remarkably towards the lower intertidal zone. Furthermore, the mussels exhibited a distinct increase in size. Both of these factors rendered the mussels a particularly attractive and thus preferred #preysource for the sea otters, a predator primarily associated with kelp forests, resulting in a noticeable increase of the local seaotter population. This was also supported by another context, a marine heatwave that negatively impacted kelp productivity from 2014 to 2016 and led to an increase in the density of the purple #seaurchin #Strongylocentrotus #purpuratus, even before the mass proliferation of mussels occurred (time shifted since 2016). According to the researchers, both events, the increase in mussels and sea urchins, resulted in an "increase in #preyabundance driven by #demographic (mussels) and behavioral (sea urchins) #changes," which in turn led "to a #restructuring of the #biologicalcommunity." ©Text Stefan F. Wirth, May 2026 Reference J. G. Smith et al. (2025): doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu10… #Figure Mussel expansion and sea otter foraging. In (A) distribution of mussels before the sea star wasting event at Stillwater cove, California. In (B), mussel cover expands lower in the rocky intertidal. Photo credits: [(A) and (B)], Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network at University of California; [(C) and (D)], © Monterey Bay Aquarium.

About #diversity in #Berlin, exemplified by the #CarnivalofCultures, an annual #event held around the time of Pentecost since 1996. While in the 21st century we hear talk everywhere of #borders that must be kept closed, while a backward-looking fixation on #nationalpride grows ever more popular, and while the multitude of the less gifted focus their energies on #exclusion and #violence, there also exist the "#globalized." They are distinguished by their higher #education, #lifeexperience, #intellect, and curiosity; by a fascination with every form of #difference; and by a sense of belonging to the entire world. And it is with this world that they communicate - daily - or through which they travel, crossing all borders, both national and cultural, without hesitation. Berlin celebrates this diversity. Not merely at the #Carnival of #Cultures, but as a matter of #principle, every single day, and almost everywhere. In this context, it is entirely irrelevant who encounters whom, whether Africans, Arabic people, Asians, Jews, Eastern Europeans, Southern Europeans, or Germans - or what erotic preferences, #lifestyles, gender identities, or spiritual inclinations any individual may hold. #Peaceful exchange, travel, multilingualism, conversation, shared laughter and dance, an appetite for diversity, #mutuallearning, intellectual #discourse, #trade, and #geneticintermingling, as well as the constructive handling of conflict, have always been the most vital #drivingforces of #humanevolution. Anything else can achieve nothing other than bringing about the exact opposite. The exact opposite of human evolution is human extinction! © #Stefan F. Wirth, May 2026, Berlin #Friedrichshain #Photos: © S.F.Wirth, May 2026 Photos: Karneval der Kulturen street procession, Frankfurter Allee, Friedrichshain, © Stefan F. Wirth, 2026

Why #species adapted to life in the #mountains are more #resilient to increasing #humaninduced #globalwarming, and what #future prospects a review paper predicts for mountain species in #temperatezones compared to those in #tropicalregions. With the exception of extreme high-alpine elevations, #mountainranges are characterized by #highbiodiversity, consisting predominantly of plant and animal species (and fungal species or lichens) that are exceptionally well-#adapted to rather harsh and #fluctuating #environmentalconditions. This corresponds to the diversity of #habitats found in mountainous landscapes, which, due to the complex surface #topography, often occur in close #proximity to one another. Furthermore, an elevation difference of just a few meters can sometimes result in drastically different ecological conditions. Moreover, while some habitats may be largely exposed and unprotected against the elements, #depressions, small #valleys, water-carved ravines, or #caves can serve as sheltered refuges. #Wetlands are found here just as frequently as #forest habitats. #Meadowlandscapes constitute complex habitats whose species composition can vary significantly depending on the elevation. Seasonal climatic shifts pose major challenges for these species. Another characteristic feature of mountainous landscapes is that #weatherchanges can occur quite abruptly. Animal species living beyond the high-alpine treeline must, in addition to all the factors mentioned above, also cope with reduced atmospheric oxygen partial pressure. But how well do mountain-dwelling species in temperate climate zones cope with increasing global warming, and how is this likely to unfold in the future? The biodiversity of mountain ranges, such as the #Alps, can leverage specific advantages to avoid falling victim to the consequences of accelerating #climatechange. To reach #ecologicalconditions better suited for survival, species in temperate latitudes need only traverse #shortdistances. A mere few meters in elevation are often sufficient to enter entirely different #microclimates. Since this has occurred repeatedly throughout the evolutionary history of these organisms, the genetic and biological foundations for such #flexibility are already in place. In their review article, B. G. Freeman et al. (2026) highlight that mountain species have successfully weathered past warm phases of the #Quaternary period; consequently, they #forecast tendencially favorable #survivalprospects for these species in the face of current #anthropogenic global warming. According to the researchers, however, the situation is different for mountain species in the #tropics, which face a heightened risk of extinction. One key reason for this is that in tropical mountain ranges, organisms must cover excessively long distances to reach different ecological conditions and microclimatic zones. Consequently, the #geneticmakeup of these organisms is adapted for stability rather than flexibility. Furthermore, in the tropics, there is an increased threat posed by species #migrating upward from the lowlands into the mountains, whereas, for instance, in the Alps, many lowland species are unable, or find it at least difficult, to cross the mountain boundary. © Text: Stefan F. Wirth, May 2026, Berlin Reference B. G. Freeman et al. (2026): doi.org/10.1038/s44358-026-0… #Illustrations © Stefan F. Wirth, #AI assisted #artistic illustrations, based on my hand-drawn storyboards, manually edited, May 2026 Berlin: #Landscapes of the Alps showing ecological diversity and depicting strict mountain species and given the example of the #firesalamander a species that appears from the lowland up to mountainous areas.