Brett Baker
@archaeal.bsky.social
📤 2250
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Professor of microbial ecology and evolution at Univ of Texas Austin.
schmidtocean.org/cruise/searc...
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Searching for the Asgard - Schmidt Ocean Institute
The Malvinas Current offshore of Argentina — a branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current — carries nutrients and cold water from the south, boosting primary productivity in the Southwest Atlantic Oc...
https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/searching-for-the-asgard/
19 days ago
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Metabolic capacity is maintained despite shifts in microbial diversity in estuary sediments
academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...
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Metabolic capacity is maintained despite shifts in microbial diversity in estuary sediments
Abstract. Estuaries are highly productive ecosystems where microbial communities drive nutrient and carbon cycling, supporting complex food webs. With inte
https://academic.oup.com/ismecommun/article/doi/10.1093/ismeco/ycaf182/8281944
28 days ago
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The 1st annual Southern Geobiology Symposium will be hosted at UTMSI in fall 2026 Please fill out this interest form (
forms.gle/znTuXQuxh9D2...
) Questions may be directed to co-chairs, Penny Demetriades (
[email protected]
) and John Hinkle (
[email protected]
)
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Southern Geobiology Symposium Interest Form
Please fill out this form to indicate interest in attending the Southern Geobiology Symposium, to be held at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (Port Aransas, TX) in October/November of ...
https://forms.gle/znTuXQuxh9D2kp7XA
about 1 month ago
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Baker Lab 2025 The container is our field gear for the research expedition for Uruguay.
sites.utexas.edu/baker-lab/sp..
.
about 2 months ago
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Nice work by
@wentsunghwang.bsky.social
and others!
www.proquest.com/docview/3246...
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Phylogenomic Analyses Reveal that Panguiarchaeum - ProQuest
Explore millions of resources from scholarly journals, books, newspapers, videos and more, on the ProQuest Platform.
https://www.proquest.com/docview/3246820567?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals
about 2 months ago
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Title: The phylogeny and metabolism underlying the global dominance of the freshwater Nanopelagicaceae lineage Short Talk Symposia: Hot Topics in Microbial Diversity and Systematics Session 6/21/2025 1:45- 3:45:00 403A Presentation Time: 3:15:00 PM
5 months ago
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Tomorrow at 12:45-1:30 in the EEB Track Hub in the poster hall
#ASMmicrobe
I am talking about microbial diversity including Asgard archaea, and an expanded tree of life from marine sediments.
5 months ago
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Today at ASM Microbe - Carbon Cycling & Methylotrophy In Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Sediments Presentation Number: 5699 Date: Friday June 20th Time - Poster (10:30-11:30am, 4-5pm) AND Rapid Fire Talk (11:45-12:30pm)
@emilyraehyde.bsky.social
5 months ago
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The Baker Lab is invading LA for
#ASMMicrobe
5 months ago
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An opinion in The Scientist by
@pedroleao.bsky.social
about Asgard archaeal immune systems.
www.the-scientist.com/science-thri...
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Science Thrives on Trust: Why Collaboration Is Our Greatest Strength
In a competitive academic world, building bridges instead of walls may be our most powerful tool to accelerate discovery and rebuild public trust in science.
https://www.the-scientist.com/science-thrives-on-trust-why-collaboration-is-our-greatest-strength-73062
5 months ago
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Texas Science
5 months ago
Andy Ellington of
@utaustin.bsky.social
was a project participant in this new release, which also features research from the lab of UT marine scientist Brett Baker
@archaeal.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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ASM
5 months ago
How did life begin & why does it matter? A new ASM report, supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, explores the origins of microbial life & how understanding it can help tackle some of humanity’s biggest questions around climate, biotech & more. Press release➡️
asm.org/press-releas...
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youtu.be/_wFy6VDLynM?...
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Tuned Out
YouTube video by Akins Film
https://youtu.be/_wFy6VDLynM?si=AdXCzjYuqNqF772_
6 months ago
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Jacquelyn Gill
6 months ago
We need you--every single one of you-- in the US to stand up, right now, and fight for NSF, NIH, USGS, NASA, USDA. Agencies Congress empowered to serve the public with impactful science and innovation. This is not a drill. This is our last stand. After this, there will be nothing left to fight for.
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Laura Eme
6 months ago
We must have been super lucky that contamination was all from different lineages to each Njord MAG and yet all from the same clade of unknown Asgard so that Njord form monophyletic groups within Asgards in individual gene trees.
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Cameron Thrash
6 months ago
Our latest led by former postdoc Brittany Bennett- this has microscopy, physiology, gene expression, mass-spec, and even heterologous expression! Polyhydroxybutyrate production by freshwater SAR11 (LD12)
academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...
#jcampubs
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Polyhydroxybutyrate production by freshwater SAR11 (LD12)
Abstract. SAR11 bacteria (order Pelagibacterales) are oligotrophs and often the most abundant bacterioplankton in aquatic environments. A subset of sequenc
https://academic.oup.com/ismej/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ismejo/wraf087/8123332?rss=1&login=false
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Astra Demertzi
8 months ago
Loki’s ever the trickster, but thankfully Thor knows how to put him in his place
#ArchaeaSky
#Asgard
#comics
#comedy
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Work can get boring, reviewing, emailing, etc. Then every now and then I get time to do research and find something exciting, and I'm reminded how much I love what I do. Today was a good day.
8 months ago
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WIRED
8 months ago
NEW SCOOP: Some staffers at Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing robust taxpayer-funded salaries from the federal agencies they are slashing and burning, WIRED has learned. ⬇️ Here's how much they're making:
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Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries
Engineers and executives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are drawing healthy taxpayer-funded salaries—sometimes from the very agencies they are cutting.
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-government-salaries-elon-musk
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Dr. Dawn Wright
8 months ago
NIH scientists are "individuals of extraordinary intellect + integrity, selfless + hard-working, generous + compassionate. They personify excellence in every way, & they deserve the utmost respect & support of all Americans." -- Former NIH Director Francis Collins
www.science.org/content/arti...
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Former NIH Director Francis Collins retires suddenly, makes plea to protect agency staff
Geneticist abruptly announced his resignation over the weekend
https://www.science.org/content/article/former-nih-director-francis-collins-retires-suddenly-makes-plea-protect-agency-staff
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Brett Baker
ACLU
8 months ago
BREAKING: We're sending an open letter to universities across the country, offering support and urging them to reject pressure to punish international students and faculty for exercising their First Amendment rights. Schools must hold firm against the Trump administration's censorship attempts.
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Hank Green
8 months ago
We are experiencing an assault on science unparalleled by anything I’ve seen in my life. It’s not one issue or another anymore, the entire institution is under attack by the most powerful individuals in the country. This Friday, where will you be?
standupforscience2025.org
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Dr. Sarah Fortner
8 months ago
Here are the three goals of the March 7th
#standupforscience
as information is altered & removed, funding changed in ways that penalize scientists, & needed expansion in participation replaced with opportunities for less.
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Fucking fascists took down NCBI
8 months ago
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youtu.be/-C4hX5cM3TY
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Jasmine Crockett to Elon Musk: F*** Off! #news #politics #elonmusk
YouTube video by MoveOn
https://youtu.be/-C4hX5cM3TY
8 months ago
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Jed Fuhrman
8 months ago
Just out - The first global ocean 3-Domain microbial survey where all organisms can be directly compared quantitatively. Unfractionated and amplified from just 2 primers (vetted with mock communities and metagenomics), so all with the same denominator.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
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Senator Patty Murray
9 months ago
Gregg is a former Marine and Forest Service ranger. He's saved the lives of hikers dangling off a cliff or going through cardiac arrest, and he's bravely fought forest fires to save small rural towns. 100% of his salary is paid by WA state. Elon fired him. Share his story.
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Mike Fainzilber
9 months ago
www.themarginalian.org/2025/02/19/e...
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Edward Abbey on How to Live and How to Die: Immortal Wisdom from the Park Ranger Who Inspired Generations
The summer after graduating high school, knowing he would face conscription into the military as soon as his eighteenth birthday arrived, Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927–March 14, 1989) set ou…
https://www.themarginalian.org/2025/02/19/edward-abbey-live-die/
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9 months ago
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Pete Buttigieg
9 months ago
Incompetence in Washington puts every American at risk, no matter how you voted. No one should be happy that the DOGE team - the same folks who randomly published classified U.S. security information online today - wants access to your bank account & Social Security numbers.
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪
9 months ago
The courts alone will not save us. Musk is attacking the courts, and the Supreme Court is packed with ideologues who support Trump. Don't sit back and wait for the courts to fix things. This is a moment where we all need to step up and speak out. 🧪
bsky.app/profile/kyl...
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Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social)
JUST IN: Judge Bates (who Musk has been relentlessly attacking on X since he ordered CDC to restore deleted health websites) just sided with DOGE and rejected an emergency effort to bar Musk allies from accessing systems at Labor, HHS and CFPB.
https://bsky.app/profile/kyledcheney.bsky.social/post/3li6nfnugd22v
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www.channel3000.com/madison-maga...
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Lake Mendota reveals revolutionary findings about bacteria evolution
A 20-year-old archive of water samples from Lake Mendota in Madison contributed to a “game-changing” study at The University of Texas at Austin.
https://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/lake-mendota-reveals-revolutionary-findings-about-bacteria-evolution/article_f3e098f0-e7f5-11ef-b071-3fc857ec60c3.html
9 months ago
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Is it time for civil disobedience?
9 months ago
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Brett Baker
New, very exciting preprint where we identify polycyclic triterpenoids lipids in archaea (Asgards) for the first time. This was a wonderful collaboration with Paula Welander’s lab..… a thread… //www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.07.637177v1
@valdeanda.bsky.social
and Hanon McShea
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Archaeal lineages related to eukaryotes encode functional diterpenoid cyclases
The first eukaryotic cell originated through the union of an archaeon (Asgardarchaeota) and a bacterium (Alphaproteobacteria). Little is known about the molecular basis of eukaryogenesis, but it is li...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.07.637177v1
9 months ago
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Matt Barber
9 months ago
Executive wants to frame the NIH indirects cut as $4B in savings. But given that NIH returns $2.5 on every $1 investment, this would actually cost US economy a net $6 BILLION (per year!). Not to mention the human costs of wrecking education and research sectors and the communities they serve.
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Direct Economic Contributions
NIH directly supports the economy through investments in research institutions and job formation.
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/impact-nih-research/serving-society/direct-economic-contributions
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Mia Farrow
9 months ago
NIH has cut billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately The move halts a large slice of money for most universities and research institutions virtually overnight, imperiling vital research in everything from cancer to heart disease.
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
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NIH cuts billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately
The move halts a large slice of money for most universities and research institutions virtually overnight, imperiling vital research in everything from cancer to heart disease.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/02/08/nih-cuts-billions-dollars-biomedical-funding-effective-immediately/
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New, very exciting preprint where we identify polycyclic triterpenoids lipids in archaea (Asgards) for the first time. This was a wonderful collaboration with Paula Welander’s lab..… a thread… //www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.07.637177v1
@valdeanda.bsky.social
and Hanon McShea
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Archaeal lineages related to eukaryotes encode functional diterpenoid cyclases
The first eukaryotic cell originated through the union of an archaeon (Asgardarchaeota) and a bacterium (Alphaproteobacteria). Little is known about the molecular basis of eukaryogenesis, but it is li...
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.07.637177v1
9 months ago
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪
9 months ago
What can we do? Scientists are on our own. University leaders at big schools are not going to help us. Do what you can to connect with your colleagues. Plan local actions. If you can speak out to the media about what's happening to science, you're critical right now, please do speak out. /end
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Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪
9 months ago
But just a few days ago, Republicans introduced a bill in Congress to impose a 21% tax on university endowments. That would be devastating. /5
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Republicans Propose 21% Tax on University Endowments | BestColleges
The Endowment Tax Fairness Act seeks to levy a 21% tax on the endowments of wealthy universities, such as those in the Ivy League.
https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/republicans-propose-21-percent-tax-on-university-endowments/
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Kristen DeAngelis 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🍉
9 months ago
I am teaching microbial diversity and social equity of the microbiome 🤷🏻♀️
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Brett Baker
Bayliss Wagner
9 months ago
Anti-Trump, anti-Musk protest growing in size at Texas Capitol, with chants of “no more Musk, stop the coup” among others
#txlege
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STCmicrobeblog
9 months ago
@stevestuwill.bsky.social
you posted on 𝕏 on Dec 5, 2020 this stunning video - why not repeat on 🔵bsky ? (sorry, I did)... "Time-lapse footage of a vampire amoeba: a microscopic organism that feeds on algal cells by breaking through their cell walls and sucking out their insides."
#ProtistsOnSky
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Prof Richard Betts
9 months ago
Although NOAA's page on atmospheric CO2 levels has vanished, you can still get this vital information from Ralph Keeling's team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
keelingcurve.ucsd.edu
Please follow
bsky.app/profile/keel...
for updates and share Don't let science be hidden
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David Ho
9 months ago
The most iconic figure in the environmental sciences is the Keeling Curve, the CO₂ record from Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
@noaa.gov
had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
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blog.limnology.wisc.edu/2025/01/06/l...
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Lake Loop: Bacteria in Lake Mendota Repeat A Cycle of Evolution Year After Year
Like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day, bacteria species in a Wisconsin lake are in a kind of endless loop that they can’t seem to shake. Except in this case, it’s more like Groundhog …
https://blog.limnology.wisc.edu/2025/01/06/lake-loop-bacteria-in-lake-mendota-repeat-a-cycle-of-evolution-year-after-year/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=wordpress_insideuw&utm_campaign=facstaff_comms&utm_content=2025_02_04
9 months ago
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Aaron Rupar
9 months ago
Raskin: "Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payments systems of the Treasury, but you don't control the money of the American people. The US Congress does that under Article 1 of the Constitution ... we don't have a fourth branch of government called 'Elon Musk'"
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Congressman Greg Casar
9 months ago
Fire Elon Musk. Use every legislative, judicial, and public pressure tactic at our disposal until we get it done.
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Brett Baker
Roland Hatzenpichler
9 months ago
Email the leadership of the ASM to protest their decision to obey in advance and pulling DEI related, previously published content and papers from their website. I personally would threaten leaving ASM, avoiding ASM meetings, and refuse reviewing for them.
@vscooper.micropopbio.org
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Science is neither red nor blue | Science
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Science is neither red nor blue
Long before the 5 November US presidential election, I had become ever more concerned that science has fallen victim to the same political divisiveness tearing at the seams of American society. This i...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu4907
9 months ago
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