Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on. (Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

Canada has lost its measles elimination status...a sad milestone. Now is the time to double down on lowering barriers to routine childhood immunizations and ensuring Canadians have access to credible, science-based information. Link: tinyurl.com/c8nfxvk3

It’s officially potluck season withoffice parties galore. 🦃🥘 If, like me, you harbor an irrational fear of food poisoning, I’ve got you covered. Here’s your ID doctor–approved guide to surviving the season’s buffets w/out ending up in the ER. 🧤🍽️💀 open.substack.com/pub/bktitanj...

NEWS — FDA announces 13 cases of infant botulism across 10 states after babies were given ByHeart powder formula from two specific lots.

Yes, some people's legacies are complicated. For example, Watson. After all, though he was racist, don't forget his other traits. For example, he was also sexist. And also anti-semitic. And a data / idea thief. So let's not forget all the different facets.

This is actually teaching me language that my 15 yr old refuses to

In case anyone is wondering if Watson was really THAT bad, @lpachter.bsky.social compiled a list of quotes that are absolutely not for the faint of heart. liorpachter.wordpress.com/2018/05/18/j...

OVER A MILLION USERS DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT EVERY *WEEK* what the fuck are we DOING here

Let this sink in. The President of the United States is now appealing a court order forcing him to feed starving children.

🆕 Vacancy! We're looking for a Research Scientist to work on novel platforms for sustainable myco-food production and precision fermentation. 💷 £37,500 to £40,240 🗓️ Apply by 30 November 2025 ➡️ buff.ly/6LKIB1y

A #Micronaut in a prior #microbiology #Bio350 course at @univpugetsound.bsky.social made this for me a couple of years ago. I will miss working with students very much. @asmicrobiology @microbe.tv

Today @TheNewYorker released our short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” online. It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

And importantly, while a few years to settle out might seem no biggie, it sure as heck is a big deal to those PIs who have been on the job for just a few years and are looking at the tenure decision looming ahead.

Microbial eukaryote folks, you've got two more weeks to apply for this TT job: apply.interfolio.com/174456. We're a supportive department with a great breadth of interests, with really sharp students, in a very livable city with the nation's best park system. Come join us!

If you work in healthcare and aren’t constantly appalled by the suffering people endure over something as stupid and unnecessary as people going without food or proper nutrition (or housing or medicine etc) in the wealthiest country in the history of the world then why are you working in healthcare?

So pleased to see the mRNA platform being used to develop new vaccines against tuberculosis!!! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An update on my column: Parliamentary committee drops most contentious parts of its demand for data on research funding. It now wants aggregated, not disaggregated data. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Not sure this has received sufficient attention in Canada.

Join us next Wednesday, Nov 12 for the 3-Minute Thesis Practice Competition! Share your research in 3 minutes or less and you could win some great prizes! Whether you're planning on competing this year or just want some practice and feedback, apply to be a presenter by Friday: ow.ly/TST750XnwyP

It got drowned out in all the good news from last night, but Boston Mayor Michelle Wu became the youngest person to be reelected in the city's history. She ran unopposed because her opponent--Patriots owner Bob Kraft's son--withdrew a few months ago after realizing he had no hope of winning.

AbbVie is accepting applications for internships in analytical chemistry: polymers careers.abbvie.com/en/job/2026-... analytical chemistry: automation and spectroscopy careers.abbvie.com/en/job/2026-... chromatography: careers.abbvie.com/en/job/2026-... #chemsky

Is there a hashtag for STEM internships? Merck is accepting applications for internships in cell biology and assay development, immunogenicity, protein metabolism, biostatistics, vaccine communications, DMPK, and discovery and process chemistry.

Statistical thinking is a core part of solid biological results. However, many studies still include insufficient sample sizes, have poor experimental design, or select incorrect statistical tests. Here, the authors present ten statistical tips for cell biology www.nature.com/articles/s41...

As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵

I have apparently entered into the part of the semester where I am staring at calendar entries title "New Event" with absolutely no information other than the time and cannot recall what event it's supposed to be...

The more deep learning I do, the more I like logistic regression

At a recent World Health Summit panel, CARB-X Executive Director Kevin Outterson discussed improving data collection and usage for impactful and accountable AMR policy implementation, including the potential of AI and real-time hospital data. 🧪 #IDSky #WHS2025 🔗 bit.ly/3JauCyw#IDSky

PathogenSurveillance: an automated pipeline for population genomic analyses and pathogen identification www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Code: github.com/nf-core/path... Nextflow nf-core pipeline: nf-co.re/pathogensurv...

harvard medical school got bombed yesterday and it barely made news

When ChatGPT was asked to rate 40,000 résumés, it ranked the older male candidates as better quality than the younger female applicants.

This week's @nature.com cover highlights a report of A.I.- mediated distortion When #ChatGPT was asked to rate 40,000 résumés, it ranked the older male candidates as better quality than the younger female applicants nature.com/articles/s41...

Some charts for those who don't know the extent of the US public (and private) investment in research (particularly in biomedical research) compared to other countries and institutions. The destruction of the US' scientific institutions has global implications.

This October I’m drawing 1 molecule a day inspired by proteins in pdb @rcsbpdb.bsky.social Day 20/31 Prompt RIVALS Pdb: 8V27 & 8G6S Two rival histone modifications on a nucleosome. Ubiquitination of H2BK120 activates genes while H2AK119 represses them. Next: BLAST Suggestions?

North American kids deserve better Canada is likely to lose its measles elimination status. The U.S. could be next. www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

Traffic fatalities for kids rise on Halloween. Drive carefully. Study of 42 years of Halloweens and 1 ,580,608 traffic crashes reveals relative risk of a pedestrian fatality is 43% higher on Halloween compared with control evenings. A typical Halloween results in 4 additional pedestrian deaths.

After 13 years in the US, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave. Having packed up everything and rethought about priorities, rather painstakingly, while I’m sad to leave the life I’ve made here, I’m also relieved that I won’t have to plan my life around immigration policies anymore.

Paul Nurse describing the main job of a PI (From ‘The Thinking Game’, 2024)

The report from Sudan is beyond sickening. Yale researchers said that it's the worst mass killing since Rwanda and that blood can be seen from the satellite. Please drop everything and give it a read. It's such a hopeless situation considering the UAE just invested $2 BILLION in Trump's crypto biz.

The key thing re. Moderna and other companies in the same situation - when the next pandemic hits, which it will, they won't be there to save us. The same will be true for scientists and other responders who immediately stood up in the face of a devastating pandemic - they too will be gone.

Halloween from Down Under I love Kangaroos Just had to share (sound up) 🎃🤣

Aid cuts are devastating health services in Africa The sudden dismantling of USAID has led to more death and disease www.economist.com/middle-east-...

A Nature poll found that 75% of U.S. researchers are considering leaving the country. Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢

The real harm to #LongCovid patients isn’t coming from most doctors or scientists; it’s coming from activists spreading false claims about COVID-19, twisting science, and vilifying experts. Misrepresentation doesn’t help patients; it isolates them from real care. 1/10

This online crusade against experts has consequences. It undermines trust in medicine, deters patients from rehabilitation, and floods social media with fake hope and false despair. That’s not advocacy; it’s harm disguised as activism. 5/10

Inside the Data Centers That Train A.I. and Drain the Electrical Grid www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Zara Weinberg passed away earlier this week. She joined my lab earlier this year when her postdoc lab formally closed. She was a brilliant scientist, supportive mentor, dear friend, avid music fan, rabid believer in public transit, open science champion, and above all just an amazing human.

Sad day for the folks who staked their reputations on lab leak conspiracy theories. www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

LeDNA: a cut-and-build toolkit to democratize CRISPR gene editing technology education go.nature.com/3Wybiyb

happy halloween from samwise gamgee and frodo baggins! cloaks vests and shirts handmade by grandma, lembas bread by fig newtons corporation

The global return of childhood vaccine-preventable infectious diseases Truly outrageous that we are failing children everywhere in this day and age! www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/vacc...