Latest version of our "Zapit" random access optogenetics system is up on bioRxiv. The system documentation is here: zapit.gitbook.io/user-guide/

Pete Hegseth reportedly spent $24M of expiring DOD funds on lobster, ribeye steaks, and Alaskan king crab. Now the Pentagon wants ANOTHER $500B, on top of Trump's record-setting $1T military budget. Imagine what we could spend that money on instead.

Our London-based imaging facility is currently looking for a research software engineer to help develop analysis pipelines for spatial omics. Job advert accessible via our homepage: swcmicroscopy.com Our Neuroinformatics facility also hiring for related roles: neuroinformatics.dev

NEW BLOGPOST: Keir Starmer and David Lammy are taking an extraordinarily dangerous gamble with our individual liberty For any MP unsure of how to vote on the government’s proposals to restrict trial by jury.

Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem. Thank you. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Adam Kampff prioritized spreading knowledge over publishing flashy papers in prestigious journals, but colleagues say his mark on neuroscience was undeniable. The researcher and educator passed away on 9 December. By Lauren Schneider www.thetransmitter.org/systems-neur...

Last night Adam Kampff, the glue, the light, the catalyst, the builder, the smile, left us. He and his work transformed the lives of many labs, scientists, students. He inspired and was generous to his last transformation, working tirelessly to set up a foundation to continue the work.Thank you!

1/ Mapping synaptic connectivity between individual neurons is extremely laborious. We developed BRISC, a new method that makes it possible to map inputs onto 100s of neurons in the same animal in a matter of weeks! Led by Alex Becalick and @antblot.bsky.social. 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

🔬👨‍💻📰 #SReD is out! Automated structural detection for #ImageJ & #FIJI, from nano to macro ✨🐘. No training data, no bias - texture analysis with GPU acceleration!⚡️ Brainchild of @afonsomendes92.bsky.social and adventure w @christlet.bsky.social lab + friends. Check: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Curved light-sheet microscopy www.nature.com/articles/s41...

1/ Why do patients with late-stage cancer lose motivation & sink into apathy? 🔥 Our new Science paper shows chronic inflammation activates a cytokine-sensing brain circuit that lowers motivation. Huge team effort: Aelita Zhu, Sarah Starosta, Pignatelli & Janowitz labs! 🧵 🔗 doi.org/10.1126/scie...

A huge day for mapping in life science! —the mammalian brain, most extensive yet (10 papers @nature.com journals) nature.com/articles/s41... @alleninstitute.bsky.social —a comprehensive map of the human cell->sub-cellular nature.com/articles/s41... —complete ape genomes nature.com/articles/s41...

How does the brain work? Scientists are closer to the answer with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. 🧵 🧠📈

Today @nytscience.bsky.social on the microplastics (=5 bottle caps) in our brain, the recent @naturemedicine.bsky.social paper gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/w...

Enhancing the Cre-loxP system: Two new genetic tools – roxCre and loxCre – can improve the performance of the Cre-loxP system for making genetic modifications in vivo. elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Many of us use 2p scopes to image 3D volumes of brain. But then we analyze the data plane by plane, resulting in duplicated neurons, missed neurons, and low s/n. Let's go 3D! Suite3D: Volumetric cell detection for two-photon microscopy by @haydari.bsky.social & team. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

I would encourage anyone asked to referee for a Royal Society journal, to very vocally follow Michael’s example. 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭

A practical guide for anyone using multiphoton microscopes: Assess your system performance with quick, affordable tests - ensuring reliable, standardised data across labs. Out now in @natprot.bsky.social ⬇️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

When I first joined here I remember there being a lot of posts about how the 'culture' of bluesky was to block liberally and starve the trolls. I just hope people are still doing that!

That was a fun project! Thanks to Rob Lees, Adam Packer, and all the co-authors for inviting me to participate. rdcu.be/edQXi

Everyone who is able should be doing this. And growing as much of their own food as they can, and saving seed But individuals can only do so much, and millions don't have the means to stockpile or grow The government should be making appropriate plans NOW www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A #SciencePerspective by @zalaly.bsky.social and @erictopol.bsky.social identifies key issues that need to be prioritized in the study of #LongCovid. Learn more on #LongCovidAwarenessDay: scim.ag/3XKbds3

Are you using GCaMP8 or are planning to switch from GCaMP6? Then check out this new preprint from our lab! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... - Calcium imaging - GCaMP8 vs. GCaMP6 - Spike inference - Imaging + ephys ground truth With F. Helmchen, K. Svoboda, M. Rozsa & X. Fang.

Please see our manuscript on a digital 3D bird brain atlas of a migratory and magnetoreceptive species (Eurasian blackcap) online now 🦅🧲🧠: biorxiv.org/content/10.1... See also short thread👇

Isotropic, aberration-corrected light sheet microscopy for rapid high-resolution imaging of cleared tissue www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Scientists need to face the reality that this is not some temporary funding crisis while a bumbling administration sorts out their priorities. This is an intentional assault on academia by accelerationist extremists who wish to break society. Fascism must be met in the streets.

Bring your samples into focus! A new version of the #Cellpose cell boundary mapping tool, developed at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social by @computingnature.bsky.social and @marius10p.bsky.social, now works on less-than-perfect microscopy images that are noisy, blurry, or undersampled.

Very pleased to inform this great piece on AMOC shutdown in the i-newspaper The sting in #climate breakdown's tail that UK and European governments are barely aware of and certainly not preparing for inews.co.uk/inews-lifest...

Absolutely brilliant and COMPLETELY ACCURATE by John Davis Enjoy and repost www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I never thought I would ever quote Mike Pence, but this feels fitting today.

Please consider signing this letter to the Royal Society if you have not signed already. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... Over 2400 scientists have signed. #microsky #archaesky #astrosky 🧪🦠🧫🔭

This is a really terrific teaching tool... 🧪📉🛟😷 academicsky phdsky science communication policysky sociology polisky medsky lawsky health policy

Elisabeth Bik (@elisabethbik.bsky.social) organized a fund to finance the work of sleuths, including their training and travel expenses! Elisabeth used the full sum of the Einstein Foundation Award she received. It's an incredible honor to know and work with Elisabeth www.science.org/content/arti...

Happy #Lawyercat Anniversary for all who celebrate! It's been four years since the kitten appeared in my Zoom courtroom, and I released the 48 second video that made the whole world laugh. Here is the full video showing the big reveal at the end (in two parts because Blue sky). Enjoy!

The NIH announced it will slash billions of dollars of support to universities and research centers. This is one of the biggest attacks on science we have ever seen. It could dismantle the biomedical research system, shut down clinical trials, and halt development of treatments.

Great piece from @iflscience.com on new SWC research - how the brain suppresses instinctive fear. “Fundamental research is about expanding what we know, which is essential for any real progress in science and medicine.” www.iflscience.com/scary-or-saf...

If this doesn't scare the sh*t out of you - it should “It is really hard for infectious diseases to effectively stop being specialists and move over into a new species. So when that happens, it is striking and concerning" www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Interested in understanding how things work? In particular the tools you use to study the brain? Join us at TENSS 2025 where we brainstorm ideas, build and debug microscopes, electrophysiology and behavior rigs amidst the picturesque Transylvanian hills! tenss.ro Apply by: February 16th!

Huh?

I saw this again today by chance, having forgotten all about it. Can't recall when I last laughed so much at a short sketch.

Neuroscience students asked us to teach a PRACTICAL course on experimental methods, and it is now on YouTube! Please like and repost to help us get the word out! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... Lecture 1: Signals and data acquisition Focusing on hardware, digital/analog I/O, synchronization 🧵

Adam's @abrokenbattery.bsky.social video with @georgemonbiot.bsky.social should be mandatory for all healthcare students and workers. Watch it complete here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiwX... #MEscandal #MECFS #LongCovid

Neurons reconstructed from #microscopy data can be expressed as polygonal meshes, or as skeletons in SWC format. Here's an example of SWC: 1227 neurons from a mouse, reconstructed by the #HHMIJanelia MouseLight project. I made the video with neuVid driving #Blender, with advice from Tiago Ferreira.

The buttons for turning urination on and off have been found. All the good stuff: optogenetics and light-induced sphincter relaxation.

Paper just out in Science. We are one mutation away from human-to-human transmission of #H5N1 #BirdFlu We are so screwed... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New review: together with PhD student Ciarán Butler-Hallissey, we provide a comprehensive overview on how super-resolution microscopy can dissect the neuronal cytoskeleton, and the exciting perspectives ahead. Shock full of beautiful images, published or from our lab! www.nature.com/articles/s44...

After 1.5 years of tinkering and three rewrites, I'm happy to say that my web-based ray tracer for #optics and lens design has reached a point where I can finally start packing in features and make it *useful.* Feel free to let me know what you think. kmdouglass.github.io/cherry/

The basic textbook description of how rainbows work is very unsatisfying. Veritasium's new video fills in a lot of the blanks. I'm still struggling to visualise the whole thing, but I have a much clearer framework for doing so now. #optics #microscopes #science