The government is starving medical research in Australia and we risk losing talent. Thanks @mon4kooyong.bsky.social for asking questions of this government #SaveOzScience #MRFF #medicalresearch

Calling Australian #EMCR in health and medical research - anyone willing to speak to media and provide quotes about the impact of the MRFF underspend on researchers, on how tough it is in medical research? Please contact me! #NHMRC #MRFF #biomedicalscience #SaveOzScience #medicalresearch

The National Association of Research Fellows join the call for full disbursement of the #MRFF #DiscoveriesNeedDollars www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Given how stingy public research funding is overall, it's shocking that the #MRFF only spends 50% of what is allocated in the budget. This funds highly impactful, translational research focused fund that can DIRECTLY address the economic burdens of the healthcare system + improved patient outcomes

“It’s time to remove the arbitrary funding cap on MRFF disbursements so it can deliver what is has been designed & legislated to do: support medical research & innovation" - says Academy President Prof. Chennupati Jagadish, AC commenting on a story in Nine Newspapers lnkd.in/geu3QVba

The youthful immune system signature of centenarians vs controls with balance of natural killer and T cell adaptations, as seen by single-cell RNA sequencing www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

Prebiotics improve motor function, cognition and gut health in HD... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Congratulations Millicent Ekwudo, & all, on this new study! Ekwudo et al. have discovered @TheFlorey @unimelb that prebiotics have significant therapeutic effects in a preclinical model of HD!

Timeline cleanse 📷 🏞️

The way that housing co-ops work in Switzerland may seem foreign to many. But the central idea is simple: What if homeownership had no profit motive and no capital gains? Advocates say their model could reshape how the world thinks about affordable housing. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/r...

The last day of winter. Today’s @theage cartoon

My video about how LLMs are not search engines has led to many, MANY comments telling me that I should be using Perplexity. Some insisting that Perplexity does not hallucinate. Out of a list of 26 papers it just provided me (in "Research" mode) 4 were real. FOUR. 85% hallucination rate.

Are you planning to attend @sfn.org meeting this year? If yes, you will see this and other images of mine displayed at the San Diego Convention Center 🤓! I love seeing a blood vessel connected to the brain tissue! Markers used: astrocytes🟡, microglia🟣, neurons🟢, nuclei🔵 Happy #FluorescenceFriday!

if you're ever feeling overwhelmed I highly recommend sitting next to a kookaburra for a while

@spencrgreenberg.bsky.social grilled me on: 1. Why do humans live 80 years, instead of 20 or 300? 2. How has the understanding of death changed over time? 3. If someone walks into a teleporter, who comes out the other end? Was a great discussion! podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/276/...

The updated version of the database of PhD fellowships produced and maintained by my team can be downloaded by anyone here: research.jhu.edu/rdt/funding-... For each of the 187 fellowships, you will find a short description, deadline, $ amount, link, etc. Good luck!

People, I give you The Lagoon Nebula - M8. Imaged from Melbourne, Australia using a Seestar S50 Telescope. Enjoy!

Melbourne! Got a meat pie at the local bakery. Got a beer from the store. Walked to the beach. Watched the sunset. Peace.

Parting shot of this rock star from last week… Costa’s Hummingbird on cholla skeleton 🪶☀️🌵 (sunrise reflection in bird’s eye)

Congrats to Lizzie Kleeman on her PhD from the Florey Institute (Department) & UoM, 8th Aug! It has been a pleasure to co-supervise Lizzie, with Carol Gubert. Lizzie's key papers (e.g. Kleeman et al., 2022, TIG; Kleeman et al., 2023, BBI) have impact - stay tuned for next ‘Kleeman EA et al.’ paper!

The current system of peer review, am I right? 🧪

It is a pleasure to co-supervise the PhD of Beth Masson, with Carol Gubert. Beth delivered an outstanding Oration, at The Florey, Univ. Melb. Beth's research adventures with us have been Tolkienesque, including the epic Masson BA, et al., 2024, Brain Behav. Immun., with more to come! Well done Beth!

The Guy Who Shagged US @theage

Not only AMOC: “While the world is debating the potential collapse of the #AMOC in the North Atlantic, we’re seeing that the #SMOC is not just weakening, but has reversed. This could have unprecedented global climate impacts.”

“The world in which the kestrel moves, the world that it sees, is, and always will be, entirely beyond us.” 🪶 ~Mary Midgley

Summary Table of the massive defunding of biomedical research in the United States www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Can senolytics reverse or slow aging? Table of companies pursuing this goal. So far the results are questionable. @natbiotech.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This is not the third party you’re looking for.

Around 25% of U.S. infants lack detectable Bifidobacterium, regardless of birth or feeding method. This deficit could have implications for immune health and the trajectory of noncommunicable diseases, according to a study published in Communications Biology. go.nature.com/4lgA1ls 🧪

It was a pleasure to contribute to the Huntington's Victoria Community Conference & wonderful to catch up with Katie Elston (President) & Tam Gardner (CEO). Millicent Ekwudo, a Florey HD researcher mentored by myself & Carol Gubert, joined us. 'Science brings hope' & there has never been more hope!

People, I give you The Carina Nebula. One of the most amazing objects in the Southern Sky. Almost 2 hours of data for this image. Taken from suburban Melbourne with a Seestar S50 telescope.

Trump’s birthday parade. Today’s @theage @smh cartoon

US National Press Club president Mike Balsamo said journalists “were not caught in the crossfire – they were targeted”. www.theage.com.au/world/north-...

I wonder will Donald Trump pardon those arrested ″⁣unlawful demonstrators″⁣ in Los Angeles as he did the unlawful rioters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Rosie Elsass, Brighton East @theage letters

Flagging it. Today’s @theage cartoon.

“His goal is to eliminate incentives to develop vaccines.” www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...

Buyer’s remorse.. Today’s @smh @theage cartoon.

US court blocks Trump’s ‘liberation day’ tariffs.

The American thinker Today’s @theage @smh cartoon

The Big Beautiful Bromance Breakup.

Super Decibel scales.

US beef could be allowed into Australia for the first time in decades through a biosecurity rule review. www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

xx

Online Now! A new Review: Epigenetic effects of paternal environmental exposures and experiences on offspring phenotypes by Huan Liao, Anthony J. Hannan, and colleagues FREE access till July 23rd with this link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lCOvcQbJF...

Repeated damage from extreme heat over time seems to be a leading factor causing kidneys to fail https://go.nature.com/3Ze2sri

This study challenges the idea that spontaneous and evoked synaptic transmissions share the same site. It found the brain uses distinct sites for each, with different development and regulation. It helps explain how the brain balances stability and flexibility for learning and memory. #Neuroskyence