The concept that STEM is reciprocal to TEM is easier to explain with a Nion Column

At one point, I even did electron microscopy in vacuum AND in air (we had an airSEM ... RIP).

Ha! just realized that not only and I bilingual in (transmission) electron microscopy (TEM/STEM), I'm also bilingual in TEMperatures (🤣🤣, RT and cryo), AND bilingual in scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

Our latest @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social: "Prion-like transmission of human tau strains in the mouse brain" 🥳 With Michel Goedert and Masato Hasegawa. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Now, even though I say funny things about STEM, I gotta tell you, it's is fun to do, beautiful to collect data in, and I love being able to be bilingual in electron microscopy 😝😝 (TEM and STEM).

Things I say when I'm explaining TEM vs STEM: well, you can think of STEM as reciprocal TEM (always makes people lol). And: oh yeah, because STEM folks don't call it beam, they call it probe, and they don't list the whole beam, just the angle, in mrad 😝

Took a little bit of franken-doing, but, I have two used but in very used condition racks in the old dishwasher. Not more rusted racks. There was blood shed (mine, ofc). But, I did it!

Don't get me wrong, I love biology. A lot. But sometimes I wonder, if I had believed in myself enough, if I couldn't cut it as a mechE. Not too long ago, one of our detectors was acting up. One of my colleagues and I decided to take it apart and check things out, see if anything obvious jumped out

Hitchhiker's guide to synchrotron and FEL light sources for quantum technology is now available - A listing of network of all Synchrotron Radiation and Free Electron Laser user facilities in Europe - Learn More zurl.co/KKmEi

when you keep old AF emails and can search, find, and share them with your labbies so they can get shizzle moving. I'm like my mom in that sense, except she keeps stuff and I keep messages 🤣

Thing I may have said to @davidamuller.bsky.social today: I didn't lick the board, just did a sniff test. But I did lick the copper. Because when you were trained in bio, you may lick or sniff things out of scientific curiosity 😆

Why have a red light, when your stage can have a blue light?

We have a misbehaving detector which has caused many of my hairs to turn grey. Well, my students know how to troubleshoot said detector. I was today years old when I learned I am known as ... THE NUCLEAR OPTION because I (try) to help said detector behave.

Are you a structural biologist pushing the boundaries of molecular science with an ambitious research programme? Join our Structural Studies Division as a tenure-track Group Leader, with core funding, world-leading facilities & enthusiastic colleagues. Apply by 16 MAR www.nature.com/naturecareer...

The most important #RNA conference of the year with lots of amazing science and a really friendly atmosphere. This year in beautiful Montreal 🇨🇦 ! www2.rnasociety.org

When you remember how to troubleshoot you first baby in the silliest of ways. But hey, it worked! Who am I to question my methods? 🤣🤣

Our department at Genentech is hiring. We're looking for a freshly-minted PhD (0-3 years) protein biochemist / structural biologist to join as a Sr Scientist. A rare opportunity to join our group leader job family at a more junior level than we usually hire.

Contractile Injection Systems - Hot Springs - cryoET: Read the final version of our paper here: academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc... #microsky #teamtomo

Awww. When guests come and bring goodies from our friendly neighbours upstairs. I miss the kindness of Canada. And I absolutely adore how excited they seem to be at the fact that Benito included them in the show.

Half joking. I'm. Toys r Us kid. I don't want to grow up. That, and the fact that the boss and sub-bosses always encourage curiosity and learning to troubleshoot like FSEs.

When you manage to fix an issue for a FSE in a couple of mins, without needing to restart a single thing. And the FSE says: that's very impressive. And I say, when I grow up I want to be like you 😁.

Happy Women in science day. On this day I am thinking of all my women science mentors and Rita Levi-Montalcini who did experiments in her bedroom in defiance of Mussolini’s ban on Jews in academic and professional careers while WWII raged around her.

About the only thing I feel like celebrating right now (well, along with doing a semi flawless cryo insertion)

Many congrats to our fearless leader @davidamuller.bsky.social www.nae.edu/19579/31222/...

I still got it. Doing a cryo insertion for the first time this year and it went beautifully. 22yrs and it's still there *chef's kiss.*

Use RCSB PDB's Pairwise Structure Alignment tool to compare existing PDB structures or Computed Structure Models (or upload a local file) #LoveDataWeek www.rcsb.org/alignment

For those unaware about the significance of the light poles during the song El Apagón it’s because of the Puerto Rican power system and the constant black outs. There have been a lot of protests on the island over this.

It's not even midnight and we're already at "Deport Elmo."

Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...

I identify more with Gen X and I agree with this message

Like any good puertorrican, I've spent Bad Bunny eve cleaning the house, mopping floors, and threatening my family with hell if they step on said freshly mopped floor 😬

Lastly, this one is for all of my fellow microscopists. Of all realms/modalities. A friend of mine wrote this a decade ago. She's a magnificent microscopist and I love her to pieces.

When one of your students asks that you keep an eye out for something and, so that you don't forget, send pics of when and where you found the something. Then they see you down the hallway and say thanks for finding the thing 😊

Honoring immigrants in research www.science.org/content/arti...

On a lighter note, since Our Lady of Perpetual Stigmation was permanently relocated to Duffield Hall, we have a new Mary in the basement. For protection of the scopes, detectors and operators 😝

On happier or perhaps sillier notes, the Boss and my office mate (and a few coworkers) have survived my baking!! If funds for microscopy ever go poof, I may open a bakery 😝😝👩🏻‍🍳🍪🍞

And you know, the coolest part is that she didn't lie. She said the reason the scope was naked was because things would be coming off and on a lot (they did). That it would set records (it did). That it was hella high res (yup). And that wonderful things would be discovered (yes, again).

When I started working at the center, I remember being both surprised and a bit in disbelief about some of the things being proposed. Not because I didn't think the bosses in charge couldn't do them, but because I knew they'd be difficult, cutting edge, and would challenge our understanding

WEBINAR: Dr. Danielle Grotjahn, Scripps Research discusses how #cryoET shapes our understanding of cellular architecture, and analyzing data to extract quantitative insights: 10 Feb, 5 PM CET | 11 Feb, 5 AM CET Register here: ter.li/zfiv48 #CellBiology #StructuralBiology #ElectronMicroscopy

Also random: sometimes I question my worth as a scientist. Not because people are mean or nasty. But because I'm not always doing mega cutting edge stuff. I train people, assist them when things go kaput, and discuss and propose solutions.

When you realize that the vision she had over a decade ago is finally being adopted by fellow scientists.

Bhattacharya testified that he's taking this issue seriously, but I just spoke with a researcher who had completed all the screening and was disinvited from NIAID's council *today*. NIAID's council is set to run out of voting members in October. No grants can be funded without Council.

Given the weather today, it’s time to repost my favorite phase diagram: Nakaya’s snow crystal morphology. We are towards the bottom right today. 🧪 ⚛️ #cryoEM

We are running the cryo-ET image processing workshop again this year! Come learn everything tomo: STA, segmentation, heterogeneity analysis from @baradlab.com @williamnwan.bsky.social and others! Apply!

When we start posting pictures of the auroras, and @davidamuller.bsky.social helpfully calls it Plasma Cleaner Time 😝😝. Seriously, I never thought physics would/could be so enjoyable until I met the fine people I work with.

@davidamuller.bsky.social I spot the EMPAD right up there.

When you're absent-minded AF, and happen to put a GIANT sticker on a holder that the admin folks are looking for. Then one of your bosses joins you, you suspect you find the right thing, then all the admins praise you and the boss for saving the day. It's my first day back at work.

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me: 11 pipers piping, 10 lords-a-leaping, 9 ladies dancing, 8 maids-a-milking, 7 swans-a-swimming, 6 geese-a-laying, 5 GOLD RINGS, 4 calling birds, 3 French hens, 2 turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. 38 people watched me devour 23 birds.

This is so precious!!