Charvaka
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charvaka.bsky.social
Charvaka
@charvaka.bsky.social
480 followers 2.5K following 140 posts
I like: photography, bugs, bug photography, astronomy, physics, mathematics, nature and science in general, literature, poetry, sports.

https://alittlewild.blog bugs
https://anaturalslant.wordpress.com nature photos
https://edgeofthecircle.net writings
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Charvaka
chordbug.bsky.social
fixed your headline
A hit song on the Billboard 100 charts is termed *$k$-good* if it is _ever_ in a weekly top-$k$, and *$k$-immediate* if it _debuts_ in the top-$k$. An artist is *$(n,k)$-Olivian* if their $n$ first $k$-good hits are all also $k$-immediate. *Headline 1.* Olivia Rodrigo is the first $(10,10)$-Olivian woman.
June 24, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
philplait.bsky.social
A newly discovered comet might — MIGHT — get bright enough to put on an interesting show. Also, astronomers may have found evidence of the very first stars!

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/a-new-come...

[Thursday issues are for Premium subscribers, but you can become one! All the cool kids do it.]

🧪 🔭
A new comet to watch for, and more evidence for the very first stars
The comet may get very bright, but who knows?
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:12 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
www.quantamagazine.org/networks-hol...
Networks Hold the Key to a Decades-Old Problem About Waves | Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians are still trying to understand fundamental properties of the Fourier transform, one of their most ubiquitous and powerful tools. A new result marks an exciting advance toward that goal.
www.quantamagazine.org
January 29, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
sophiecarr.bsky.social
A few more reflections from a lunchtime wander - the patterns are just amazing!

#CanaryWharf #abstract #iphone15pro #reflections
Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly silver and green. Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly green. Lots of circular lines and patterns. Swirly patterns from reflections of buildings in slightly moving water. Mostly green. Lots of circular lines and patterns and squiggles. More water squiggle reflections. Zoomed in a bit.
January 21, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by Charvaka
inaturalist.bsky.social
You're currently looking at fungus (specifically Gibellula alata) emerging from a spider. Right now, there are only six observations of this species on iNaturalist!

📷 cajqld on iNaturalist
📍 Australia
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay
December 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
inaturalist.bsky.social
A diver saw something incredibly special at the ocean's surface: this juvenile King-of-the-salmon (Trachipterus altivelis), a kind of ribbonfish that spends the majority of its time in the deep.

📷 tedjudah on iNaturalist
📍 United States
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay
A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean. A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean. A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean. A silvery, long fish with a translucent dorsal fin and tail fin floats vertically at the surface of the ocean.
January 5, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
inaturalist.bsky.social
Consider your sign to stop and stare at logs a little more often because just LOOK at this glorious velvet mite! (Third photo is where it was spotted.)

📷 jeremyhegge on iNaturalist
📍 Australia
🔗: www.inaturalist.org/observations...
#ObservationOfTheDay
A fuzzy, bright red mite crawls along a log. A fuzzy, bright red mite crawls along a log. There is a fallen log surrounded by leaf litter and tall, slender trees.
January 6, 2026 at 3:01 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
eventhorizontelescope.org/news/2026/01...
Event Horizon Telescope maps twisting magnetic fields near the supermassive binary black hole candidate OJ287 | Event Horizon Telescope
eventhorizontelescope.org
January 21, 2026 at 7:40 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
snowflake caught in a spiderweb
January 21, 2026 at 7:39 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:37 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:36 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:36 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:36 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:36 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:35 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
One of my favorite photos from yesterday
January 21, 2026 at 7:35 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
Cold here, which makes for some good photos
January 21, 2026 at 7:34 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
www.sciencealert.com/chernobyl-fu...
Chernobyl Fungus Appears to Have Evolved an Incredible Ability
The Chernobyl exclusion zone may be off-limits to humans, but ever since the Unit Four reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded nearly 40 years ago, other forms of life have not only move...
www.sciencealert.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:50 AM
charvaka.bsky.social
esawebb.org/news/weic2522/
Webb witnesses a feasting supermassive black hole in the early Universe
Researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed an actively growing supermassive black hole within a galaxy just 570 million years after the Big Bang. Part of a class of s...
esawebb.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
swarmofthoughts.bsky.social
For the #fossilfriday here is one of my favorite #fossil species I ever described - a 38 MYA mantid fly from Baltic amber. Enjoy my CT reconstruction of the specimen! fr.pensoft.net/article/8013... 🦖⚒️
November 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Charvaka
carlzimmer.com
On the event of James Watson's death, I highly recommend this 2023 commentary from @matthewcobb.bsky.social and Nathaniel Comfort with crucial new insights into the discovery of the double helix. (And also check out Cobb's brand new biography of Francis Crick) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:25 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
What an utterly stunning spider!
nickybay.bsky.social Nicky Bay @nickybay.bsky.social · Oct 30
Been looking for a fresh specimen of Leucauge sarawakensis for a long time! Each time we found one, someone walked into its web. Hence, the ex situ shots.
October 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
Since the bug season is done for the year, here in northeast USA, here is a selection of my bug photo highlights from this past year

alittlewild.blog/best-insect-...
2025
Moose Hill, water mite (Hydrachnidia? Eylais?) Moose Hill, caddisfly larva Canoe River, 2025-05-26 Backswimmers, in a reflection of a powerline tower Ichneumonid Pseudomethoca velvet ant Grasshoppe…
alittlewild.blog
October 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Charvaka
alexwild.bsky.social
The thing about entomology is, there are always weirder bugs than anything you could imagine on your own.

Here's Cysteodemus wislizeni, a blister beetle from west Texas.
Photograph of a metallic blue/green beetle with a very spider-like body, a huge fake "abdomen" that is swollen and dented with even pits over its bulbous surface. It is otherwise ant-like, standing on a pure white stylized background.
July 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM
charvaka.bsky.social
Honey Hollow trail, Vermont
October 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM