We have 526 scientists signed up for spring semester. We try to get that to about 1000 scientists before unleashing the teachers on the database. Wanna connect a class of kids with science this spring? Sign up!

Big news: I am hiring! We're looking for a Senior Project Coordinator to join the Strategic Transit Planning team at the MBTA and work on regional coordination, long-range strategy, change management, and multimodal planning. www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mbta...

I am beyond excited to announce that the Bisson Lab has a new home!!! Starting January 2026, I will join the Biology Department at Indiana University Bloomington as Associate Professor with tenure. I am actively recruiting scientists across all levels. More in our website: bissonlab.com/join [1/4]

Hear ye! Hear ye! 🇨🇦 Canada’s universities have new money to recruit international scholars. Here is McMaster’s call for applications: research.mcmaster.ca/home/support...

A new amoeba species called Incendiamoeba cascadensis that lives & reproduces at the highest temperature ever described for a eukaryote, earning the title of “fire amoeba”. asm.org/podcasts/tin... A big welcome to Tiny Living Beings (@couchmicroscopy.bsky.social) as the newest ASM Podcast partner!

Reminder - a great job opportunity at @ucdavis.bsky.social Dean, College of Biological Sciences jobs.sciencecareers.org/job/676649/d...

End-of-year preprint dump! A collaboration with @messorensen.bsky.social and German and Korean colleagues: "The phylogenetic context for the origin of a unique purple-green photosymbiosis " doi.org/10.64898/202...

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/n... #WaterQuality in the news

Sweeping science cuts in 2025 halted clinical trials, erased public health data and forced researchers into impossible choices. “This year nearly broke me as a scientist,” one writes. Six researchers share their stories: buff.ly/u2MHIQo 🧪

The CDC grant to study hepatitis B vaccines in Guinea-Bissau "reeks of a modern day resurrection of Tuskegee, complete with additional corruption and cronyism," @gorskon.bsky.social writes. sciencebasedmedicine.org/every-accusa...

We’re looking for a Summer Intern to generate microscopy videos of bacteria bursting in response to administering antibiotics as part of a public education video on the uses of antibiotics and risks of misuse 🔬 🗓️ Apply by 5 January ➡️ buff.ly/YlUQUho

Delighted to see the main work from my PhD finally published in @mbio.bsky.social! It all started with the observation that deleting the cutRS two-component system in S. venezuelae caused this amazing explorer phenotype in the presence of glucose. But what was going on?! (1/n)

Submit your abstracts for ASM Microbe 2026! As a member of the Scientific Program Committee, I can vouch for great science with something for everyone! @asm.org asm.org/events/asm-m...

Abstract portal is open for ASM Microbe 2026. New meeting format, same great science. Hope to see you in DC!

Manchester Institute of Biotechnology is looking for a new Professor. There are a few priority areas including microbial engineering (broadly defined, from pathways to cells to microbiomes). Closing 12 Jan. Join us in the best city in the UK 😜 www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Just in time for the holidays, the newest issue of JB is out! We have reviews on cobamide synthesis and QS, and Thermococcales as a model system. Check out articles on methanogenic archaea, C. trachomatis, Peudomonads, Staph, C. diff & more! journals.asm.org/toc/jb/207/12 @asm.org #JBacteriology

Late job posting: My department is hiring a tenure-track faculty member in microbiology! Please share with anyone interested in working at a PUI. We have a preference for someone who can teach Medical Microbiology, but other than that the focus is open-ended. Happy to answer qs.

in 2013, Elio was so fascinated by the 'heterologous multicellularity' of 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘮 that he chose a cross-section to celebrate STC's 10th anniversary 🙂 👉 smallthingsconsidered.blog/schaechter/2... #MicroSky

The CDC just announced a new study on hepatitis B vaccination on newborns in Guinea-Bissau – a move that researchers call “highly unethical” and “extremely risky”. Happy to team up with @katlay.bsky.social on this story: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The 2025 #BacDive 🦠 release is now online. 🎉🥳 The database now contains information on more than 100,000 strains 🧫. For this update, new data provided by @leibniz-dsmz.bsky.social and information on type strains of newly described species from the #LPSN database were added.

"A newly identified amoeba can survive at the temperature of a medium-well done steak" lol @scifri.bsky.social an apt comparison a hadn't previously considered... A pleasure chatting about our research led by @hbrappap.bsky.social & with a wonderful team of colleagues.

🚨 Postdoctoral Opportunity for Female Scientists🚨 The University of Vienna is awarding at least 20 fully funded 4 year postdoctoral positions to outstanding female scientists Interested? Get in touch via direct message careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e... #MicroSky 🧪 #PostDoc @univie.ac.at

Today, AG Letitia James of New York responded to the Trump administration's new rule attempting to ban trans youth care in hospitals nationwide. "I will not let the administration come for you." Read the latest from our writer, S. Baum here. www.erininthemorning.com/p/i-will-not...

A quantified explanation for why women make up more than 50% of biomedical graduate student cohorts but occupy only about 1/3 of faculty positions 🧪

Very honored that the UD Women's Caucus has recognized me for my efforts in supporting women and equality on campus: www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/...

Live thread of the NSF biology virtual office hour: 🧵

"The time to get vaccinated is now," the CDC says. The first child has died from flu in the U.S. this year, and the CDC is closely tracking a variant that might not be well-matched to the vaccine - but so far, it looks like the shot is still protective. My latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Applications for the ASM Career Development Grant for Postdoctoral Women are due February 17! A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this grant renewed my confidence in my career and helped me launch my predatory bacteria research program. How might it help you? asm.org/fellowships/...

Please repost! The LOC Lab @UCSB is recruiting a #PostdoctoralScholar in forest ecology and data science to develop data-driven models of forest resilience to compound disturbances (e.g., fire, drought, insects). 🌱🍁🌏🧪🌐 Applications due Feb 5 Apply here: www.landscapesofchangelab.com/were-hiring-1

Born #OnThisDay in 1922, Esther Lederberg was the first to isolate the lambda phage in 1951. She characterised the lysogenic phase, whereby the phage are able to integrate into the bacterial genome, staying dormant. This discovery made them a model tool of study, leading to many more breakthroughs.

Tunable light-focusing behavior of engineered bacterial microlenses with controllable shapes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.17.694918v1

U Wisconsin summarizes the new US travel bans: iss.wisc.edu/dec-16-2025-... If your institution hasn’t done the same, make sure folks potentially affected know about it. I worry that some international offices might not be on top of this given breaks, yet many people are traveling #AcademicSky

THIS

Are you a long-time fan of Archaea, an extremophile-phile, or are you simply curious? Either way, we have good news. We’re delighted to announce the 2026 EMBO Workshop on Archaea, 6–10 July. Sign up: meetings.embo.org/event/26-arc... We look forward to seeing you in Cambridge, UK. Please repost!

This is an amazing position, DCI Lausanne is looking for a new director! It is one of the best cryoEM centers out there, with an fantastic infrastructure and some of the most exceptional experts in microscopy that I ever had the chance to work with! careers.epfl.ch/job/Lausanne...

From my own niche: institutions of higher education should stop chasing trends, work internally to assert a set of values, and then build curriculum around those values.

Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH. And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you. A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n

Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.

Sharing a leadership opportunity from our colleagues at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). ORNL is seeking a Division Director for Environmental Sciences to lead a superb research organization addressing critical environmental challenges. Learn more and apply: jobs.ornl.gov/job/Oak-Ridg...

This is a disaster. I would not be where I am today without the constructive (and yes, sometimes frustrating) reviews my NSF proposals received as a young investigator. This feedback didn't come from the POs but rather the peer reviewers and panelists who saw how I was trying to enter the field

🧪 Dr. Emily Aguirre's final dissertation chapter is published! She isolated a putative bacterial symbiont then cocultured it with axenic algal symbionts to ask how it impacted growth and gene expression - results were unexpected but do support a beneficial relationship - read more here rdcu.be/eUKQz

#ecology job alert 🎓 two group leader positions at WSL in Switzerland 🇨🇭 apply.refline.ch/273855/1813/... (conservation biology) apply.refline.ch/273855/1817/... (soil community ecology) Switzerland is one of the best places in the world, both for living and for doing research! 🧪

New opportunity to join our #EvoMPMI group @johninnescentre.bsky.social as a Postdoctoral Researcher working on the mechanistic basis of immunity in diverse plants. Please spread the word, reach out by email, and/or apply if interested! More details here: www.jic.ac.uk/vacancies/po...

Ditto, ditto, ditto! We are thrilled this is now available in @plosbiology.org 🎉🎉🎉 Our analysis of metabolic diversity in #klebsiella pneumoniae, showing clone specific metabolism. 🦠 Fantastic work by @bananabenana.bsky.social, summarised beautifully below. 🤩

this thread is sharp.

@isme-microbes.bsky.social offers a great opportunity to publish uncultured microbes via #SeqCode using #genomes as type material. A fantastic step toward embracing the true diversity of microbes! But isolates are also welcome 🧫🔬🦠😁 @seqcode.bsky.social

💾 Prokka 1.15.6 is released! This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to. #bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics github.com/tseemann/pro...

DOE's Office of Science is making a big push into AI, and that includes our work at the @jgi.doe.gov . We want to hear your thoughts (+ and -) on AI-enabled biological data. Consider joining one of our interviews or focus groups by filling out this form! 🧪🧬🦠🖥️ #secmet jointgeno.me/PortalStorie...

New Perspective: "Integrating microbial siderophores into concepts of plant iron nutrition" rdcu.be/eUKyI Beyond rhizosphere iron reduction and secretion of phytosiderophores: the importance of microbial siderophores for plant iron nutrition.

People should take a page out of New School faculty's book and start doing forensic accounting for their own institutions using public documents