Dr Joshua S. Bamford

How many holes does the human body have? You might think that the human body has many holes, but that number shrinks when you stop to consider what counts as a hole.

Somehow it feels like this research exists purely to be a question for a pub quiz.
www.livescience.com/physics-math...

What role does music play in romantic relationships? We asked a bunch of people and the results are now published in Open Research Europe! 💙🎵

It was a really fun experience working with ORE, which is @ec.europa.eu's own journal for @erc.europa.eu funded research, using post-pub open peer review.

Master's Degree Programme in Music and Science The Master's Degree Programme in Music and Science at the University of Jyväskylä aims to help students understand the various functions of music in modern everyday life by examining music through a c...

Come study with us! We are excited to announce the international application period for our Master’s Degree in Music and Science is now open!

www.jyu.fi/en/study-wit...

You can apply until 21 January 2026. Please distribute to anyone interested!

One particular thing can instantly reveal a lot about your personality. And researchers think we should be much better at using it in our love lives A social signal can say something about who you are as a person and what matters to you in a split second. And according to two researchers, the factor can be an easy way to breathe life into a relati...

Looking forward to Valentine's day? Our researcher, Dr Joshua Bamford @js.bamford.id.au has some relationship advice, based upon recent studies into music and love. 🥰💘

Read it here: scienceillustrated.com/humans/one-p...

#MusicScience #MusicSky #ValentinesDay

Joshua Bamford joins the The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS) Joshua Bamford has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS). He says: I am a cognitive anthropologist, studying the evolutionary functions of music and dance in Homo s…

I am very pleased to announce that, after many years of hard work and brushing, I have been finally admitted to that most prestigious of academic societies: The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS).
improbable.com/2025/12/30/j...

Can Music Make You Fall in Love? How Music Shapes Romance, Attraction, and Heartbreak From the first song that sparks attraction to the tunes that help us heal after heartbreak, music profoundly influences how we experience…

Nice to see our MEL model mentioned here. Music is a really important part of many people's romantic lives! medium.com/illumination...

Cow Tools!

We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them

It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS

Here I describe our study

(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social

Is there an evolutionary reason for same-sex sexual behaviour?

Homosexual behaviour has sometimes been regarded as an evolutionary paradox, but a study looking at 59 primate species suggests it does in fact boost survival.

One particular thing can instantly reveal a lot about your personality. And researchers think we should be much better at using it in our love lives A social signal can say something about who you are as a person and what matters to you in a split second. And according to two researchers, the factor can be an easy way to breathe life into a relati...

Doctors hate this one trick...
scienceillustrated.com/humans/one-p...

Finns have an average of 11 friends, 4 close ones, survey finds Around four percent of men, and just under two percent of women, said they had no friends or companions at all.

Wonder how it compares with other countries? yle.fi/a/74-20197446

Organisers are doing the final touches to the #RPPW20 we look forward to welcoming our colleagues to Jyväskylä next week @coe-mmbb.bsky.social @uniofjyvaskyla.bsky.social

We are taking an exploratory approach to develop current
understandings of what activities and behaviours are involved in romantic relationships. If you're interested in participating, please follow this link for more information:
swanseachhs.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Is it known when humans or our ancestors first started to sing? As songs don't fossilise, this is a difficult task, point out our readers – but this doesn't stop them having a go

When did humans first begin to sing, and why?

I had a crack at answering this question as part of @newscientist.com's LastWord series. www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg2...

#musicscience @coe-mmbb.bsky.social

@octopus-ac.bsky.social is a new model for modular academic publishing. Anyone is welcome to respond to this article by posting either a peer review or a linked hypothesis.

Octopus Free, fast and fair: the global primary research record where researchers publish their work in full detail.

Why do we teach music? While debates about funding for the arts are ongoing, it's worth reflecting on what music does for society. In this short piece, we discuss some of the predominant theories about the role of music education.
doi.org/10.57874/nsy...

#musicscience

On the responsibilities of intellectuals and the rise of bullshit jobs in universities You may never have considered yourself to be one. Why would you? But if you’re reading this, there is more than a likelihood that you are one. If you’re a

Something for all of us in the higher education sector to think about. With every action, we should always be asking: how does this serve the core mission of the university?

academic.oup.com/brain/articl...

Maybe @rppw.bsky.social

I’ve been adding groups to this starter pack for #musicscience labs as I’ve found them.

If there are any that I’ve missed drop them in the comments!

go.bsky.app/Eao5vcf

New online study looking at how people rate a musical rehearsal between two singers. It just takes 5-10 minutes and it'd be great if you could have a listen:
oxfordanthropology.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Frontiers | Modeling dynamics on the dance floor with directional swarmalators

What do fireflies, fish schools, and dancers have in common? They self-organize—and now, science has a model to explain it! New study by Petri Toiviainen and colleagues uses swarmalators to reveal the hidden physics of the dance floor.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/beh...

Finally, AI can now model how people behave at a silent disco!
#musicscience

University of Oxford wishing Happy Lunar New Year, featuring an illustration of the Radcliffe Camera building against a red and gold background.

瑞蛇呈祥

Wishing everybody celebrating a happy, healthy and prosperous #LunarNewYear! 🐍 🎉

#ChineseNewYear | #YearOfTheSnake

🖋️ Signing a contract with no end date is also a strange new experience for me, and more stability than I ever hoped for in life. I'll always be an academic nomad at heart, though! 🗺️🌏

Sad to say that my time as a postdoc at @uniofjyvaskyla.bsky.social is coming to an end... because next week I'll be starting as a Senior Lecturer! Very excited to be stepping into a new role at this great university out in the middle of the forest, doing #musicscience. 🎶👨‍🎓🌲

Nice to see our work discussed here!

Music sounds better with you? How your listening habits affect your love life Psychologists say that singing, dancing and song preferences play a key role in the viability of romantic relationships

Some of our research from the Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain in The Guardian today!

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

We're hiring!
The University, in association with St Catherine's College, proposes to appoint an Associate Professor of Music with effect from 1 October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Molecular and morphological assessment of the Liopholis inornata (Rosén, 1905) species group (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae), with descriptions of two new species from northern Western Australia...

Nearly 20 years ago, I was on a family holiday/fieldtrip to the north-west coast of Australia, where we found a lizard that nobody could identify. It turned out to be an undescribed species and, finally, after all this time, it has now been described! Meet 𝐿𝑖𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎!
doi.org/10.11646/zoo...

The 'circles of friendship', as they're referred to here, is a direct update to Dunbar's Number. doi.org/10.1016/j.ti...

Dunbar's recent research considers precisely the social behaviours (e.g. gossiping, singing, laughing) that enable human groups to scale, depending upon their time efficiency. Different activities may enable different groups sizes, so he now has many "numbers".