Looks like a great issue to dig into!!!

The number of papers I've been asked to review in the past week is getting ridiculous....I guess everyone is submitting things before Christmas...Pretty sure I can't review 7 papers, plus teach my course, plus write a grant by Feb. plus edit a thesis plus committee work plus run a lab.

This blog post nails it: donmoynihan.substack.com/p/democrats-...

Just on time for the holidays! Happy to share the published version of the discovery of leptophytes, a new deep-branching and widespread group of microalgae based on plastid MAGs (ptMAGs). Now with additional support from a mitochondrial MAG (mtMAG) of leptophytes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is a good point.

Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA? Well, wonder no more! (Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social) "No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I agree. Without accompanying billion dollar plans to increase the Tri-Council funding of open competitions, this just means that, after a few years, these new recruits will be applying to the same small pool of money as the rest of us meaning less money on average for everyone.

This looks like something to dig into...Not simple to understand but it looks very powerful!!!!

#phylo #phylogenetics

Those interested in performing maximum likelihood phylogenomic analysis on data sets made up of eukaryotic nuclear genes using site heterogeneous mixture models like C60, I suggest you use the ELM model in IQ-TREE instead of the LG model /1

Report: How to Prevent University Trustee Overreach https://bit.ly/4pc1mqF #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Here we go! Another new paper on the sponges vs. ctenophores dispute!!!! Buy your storm chips or popcorn now! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Reposting the finding of a Heimdallarchaeon with internal membrane vesicles. Those of us who thought this was a likely possibility -- and there were many of us -- can now safely ignore the dogmatic claims that "Asgards don't have endomembrane systems" that were made based on very limited data.

Whaaatttt?

Is it a flagellate? A tiny ball with tentacles? Contamination in my ciliate culture? NEW SUPERGROUP OF EUKARYOTES? Yes to all 4! Meet Solarion - just out in #Nature doi.org/10.1038/s415... Huge congrats to Marek Valt, Cepicka Lab & the star team! Very happy to be part of this project. #ProtistsOnSky

Come join the Workshop on Phylogenomics in Cesky Krumlov, Czechia, from January 25 through February 7, 2026! Applications close November 15! #phylogenetics #evolution #genomics #ai evomics.org/apply-worksh...

Interested in the @evojlinnsoc.bsky.social special issue on phylogenomic discordance? tinyurl.com/v2eces3s 🧪 Three more summaries added below! We'll return when more articles come live. Again, all and any oversimplications are entirely my fault!

We have wondered what a complex archaeal cell might look like ever since 2014. It’s been a long road (and the journey is far from over), but it’s a good time to pause for breath and look. These Asgard archaeal cells are a surprise! And that is the joy of being a cell biologist.

An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#APSPM2026 is open to anyone curious about combining protein structure and evolution. Learn where to start in our workshops and discover how structure meets phylogenetics. Feb 15 - 18, 2026 Brisbane, Australia Register here: biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/reg... (in-person only)

We just received an email from the Provost about a potential CUPE strike that mentioned: "our academic community is still navigating the impacts of the recent DFA labour disruption." I'm confused, wasn't it the Dalhousie Board that locked us out? @dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social

New week, new tool: Find our Protein Domain Designer tool to generate publication-ready protein domain diagrams here: domaindesigner.farnunglab.com

I am extremely happy to see that our review on fossil tip-dating is out in early view in Systematic Biology! A huge thanks to all the authors of this massive project (@heckeberg.bsky.social, @basantakhakurel.bsky.social, Gustavo Darlim, and @hoehna.bsky.social)! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

Massive investment in science in the upcoming Canadian budget would send a strong message that rationality and reason should lead the world, not charlatanism. People will return to science-based policies and health measures, and countries that have not given up will have a strong economic lead!

This is really interesting work!!

Sounds familiar. Is this the same playbook used by the Dal BoG in the current labour dispute with @dalfaculty.bsky.social Dalhousie faculty members? What's the role of the NS govt? @keepdalstrong.bsky.social

I've written a short follow up to this post, addressing the possibility that Dalhousie is, in fact, hiding money from operations in the capital budget. I hope someone shows me I'm wrong.

A very interesting post discussing: "Is Dalhousie diverting investment income to capital spending?" @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalfaculty.bsky.social mchugh-russell.ca/2025/09/15/i...

Here is a detailed and truthful account of what is going on with the Dalhousie labour dispute. @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalfaculty.bsky.social #keepdalstrong www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/...

"Here we are, with a legally-trained President once again electing to violate the duty to bargain in good faith as a tactic". Every member of the @dalfaculty.bsky.social wants to work. Stop this nonsense @dalhousie.bsky.social & bargain in good faith! #KeepDalStrong www.reddit.com/r/Dalhousie/...

I teach phylogenetics in my BIOC 4010/5010 "Bioinformatics" course to students in the basic biomedical sciences. For those who wonder about the relevance of these 'evolutionary' techniques to medical research, this excellent seminar showcases their application in public health settings.

I’m hopeful this will finally be resolved, but am increasingly frustrated by the lose-lose position faculty are in. In addition to the institutional damage, which impacts us all, every week delay means we’ll have to work twice as hard to cover the required material in fall term. #KeepDalStrong

With several grant deadlines coming up in the next few days, @dalfaculty.bsky.social researchers remain locked out by @dalhousieu.bsky.social and won’t be able to submit. #keepdalstrong

Another day of #DalLockout2025 means another day of research lost. @dalfaculty.bsky.social members want to get back to work asap. @noreenkamal.bsky.social shares the impacts of the lockout on her research program and long term consequences that @dalhousieu.bsky.social faces #keepdalstrong

Global segment focusing on the impact of the @dalhousieu.bsky.social lockout on nursing. #keepdalstrong

It’s disappointing that some of these so called leaders are in the health care industry. Yet their failure to negotiate & faculty lockout has crippled our ability to advance biomedical research & educating health care professionals. They are causing lasting damage to @dalhousie.bsky.social

📢 MIG Seminar: Models and Truth in Phylogenomics 🗓️ Fri, Sep 19 | ⏰ 12 - 1 pm AEST 📍 Ian Potter Auditorium (G52), Kenneth Myer Building (144) 🎙️ Prof. Rob Lanfear (ANU) 💻 Zoom available #Phylogenetics #Evolution #Bioinformatics #MIGseminar

Dalhousie leadership has made it clear that they want more precarious employment, even though it will make it very difficult to recruit and retain the outstanding highly-motivated teachers and researchers that do the heavy lifting of our academic mission. #KeepDalStrong @dalfaculty.bsky.social

I’m incensed. The lockout is crippling my research programme; a project over 2 decades in the making. Laying waste to the aggregate of our scientific expertise and research opportunities to fund the lab. They are reckless. If Dal doesn’t support my expertise, another university might.

Ren Thomas has a nice blog discussing Nous Group and Dalhousie @dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social : renthomas.ca/theres-a-nou...

And munaca.com/open-letter-...

Want to know more about Nous Group activities @dalfaculty.bsky.social @dalhousieu.bsky.social #keepdalstrong? The Queens Coalition Against Austerity has a nice summary: qcaa.ca/resources/no...

As soon as the senate reconvenes, we need a motion to investigate Nous contracting & cost, followed by a mechanism to review activities by the leadership that has harmed the academic mission of the university.

Hey, @dalhousie.bsky.social, are you listening to your faculty? They are the ones who teach the courses, supervise the research, and keep Dal running. How are they supposed to do their work properly if they're feeling exploited and unsupported? My supervisor, Dr. Mita Dasog, deserves better.

Take it from over 1,000 health care professionals: RFK Jr. is a threat to your health, your family's health, and the health of our country.  Innocent people will die at the hands of his incompetence. He must resign. www.axios.com/2025/09/03/r...

Ever heard of the Nous Group? A consulting firm that desperate universities hire to help with cost-saving and restructuring? Turns out they are actually vampires who parasitize tertiary education: drive.google.com/file/d/1_1Fk...

Why has the Dalhousie Board @dalhousieu.bsky.social been using such strange and disrespectful tactics in this labour dispute @dalfaculty.bsky.social ? Is the playbook coming from Nous Group, the consulting company that brought us "Uniforum" and presides over cost-cutting at universities worldwide?

Dalhousie @dalhousieu.bsky.social has already contracted Nous Group to do surveys...One wonders if the "crisis narrative" of the upper level admin (i.e. the "deficit crisis") and the strange behaviour of the board is somehow related. Please read on: circles.eduvation.ca/posts/inviti...

Chris Algar, Assoc Prof, Oceanography @dalhousieu.bsky.social Lessons in solidarity from the picket lines. This isn’t just a fight to #KeepDalStrong; it’s a fight against employer greed. @ansut.bsky.social @caut.bsky.social