So, rah has obviously actually done her research here. (Read multiple peer reviewed papers, mapped out plausible mechanism, looked for follow up studies, etc.) If you didn't know that, or how to evaluate it, an important point here is the relative risks and benefits.

My department at UC Davis is hiring a mycologist, broadly interpreted. Please repost, share, and consider applying. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07339

I think it's important to keep in mind that what you think you've said and what the other person heard are not always the same thing. Even if you both have the exact same words involved. Simple example of how this works:

This is encouraging (to me, someone not competing for these grants). 2025 had been a huge outlier in grants awarded, but it's basically caught up (in this agency; others are different).

/ps If somehow twin studies never happened and we started here: among siblings, genes account for 10% of the variance at the most abstract level, and 2% on the ground, people would have shrugged and said, that sounds about right. The whole modern nature-nurture debate wouldn't have happened.

Remember the bit from scripture about how hard it is to get to Heaven as a rich man*, and give your money to a heathen (me!) today. *Something about camels and the eye of a needle? Look, not my fandom so not something I read often.

Postdoc job alert! We are hiring a NYU-based postdoc to work on our project on the social and environmental determinants of aging. The 3 year post will be based in James Higham's lab and will focus on endocrine, immune, and inflammatory aspects of aging. Please share! apply.interfolio.com/173938

I saw someone in a past year declare that all the anatomically inaccurate skeleton Halloween decor were really just the result of necromancers making pets out of leftover parts, and I heartily endorse this headcanon.

OK, I had fun last weekend doing a stream of commentary on the Jurassic World movies as I watched them. So, let's see if I do this with Robocop (1991). Obviously, spoilers.

So, at the risk of nightmare fuel for people: I once had to have a non-wisdom tooth extracted. The tooth's root had broken into my sinus cavity and got infected from above. It never hurt; it just crumbled one day. While I was eating a piece of naan, so not even anything high impact.

One part of our societal problem, in my opinion, is how utterly people have lost the plot on opinions. The number of deaths due to X is not an opinion*. How you feel about that number is. * Though there may be legitimate differences in opinion about appropriate methodology in counting them.

You guys, so many Romance girlies are reading "On Tyranny" that they've broken the Goodreads recommendations algorithm. 10/10; no notes. #romancelandia

Mike Wiser owns a fertilizer factory which manufactures happy greeting cards for plants.

the funny thing about the constant misappropriation of MLK is that the guy left a massive body of writing specifically aimed at explaining his views of those of the movement he represented to the broad public. it is extremely easy to know what the guy thought on a variety of subjects and yet

This is an interesting analysis I came across buried in a thread elsewhere. It compares median wealth by birth year vs expectations based on previous cohorts using a national US survey, all adjusted for inflation. That survey's been going on since 1989. www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-econo...

I started @tkingfisher.com ‘a latest novel tonight, and my first reaction is that even if I didn’t know it was hers, I’d still definitely assume it was hers.

My childhood media suggested that in the event my country became a hellscape of powerful multinational corporations and a government whining about accurate reporting of its absues, it would at least have magic and full sensory VR. We were promised ShadowRun, dammit. www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09...

Do you ever wonder if you've fallen into some nightmare alternate reality? Any member of the press who agrees to these stipulations is not acting as a reporter. They're acting as a press secretary. This is WILDLY against the entire concept of freedom of the press.

I've often found though that when I talk about the impact of plastics research on scientists and how we deal with it, the questions are rarely about that and more about the plastics which... is sort of the point I'm making (we rarely think of the scientists/artists doing the work)

How early is too early to start carving pumpkins? Asking for a me. (It's still warm enough that they'd rot way too fast, so not yet, but ... soon?)

I know scammers tend to get people to send them gift cards because those are so difficult to trace. But as someone who has received a couple of Visa gift cards, currently figuring out how to spend them is its own challenge.

so this h1b thing is not even an executive order but a presidential proclamation, and should "not have the force and effect of law" (as per the library of Congress) but that won't make any difference because we seem to be completely resigned to be living in a dictatorship, yes?

Are there no pathologists on Bluesky?? Ours is SWAMPED.

ADD YOUR THOUGHTS ON LIMITING STUDENT VISA TO FOUR YEARS Comment period ends September 29th www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... 1/2

It's Saturday morning, I can only look at the horrors of the news for so long. But I'm teaching a course that includes intro level genetics, so a short thread: Could my cats -- brothers from the same litter -- have the same father? And, if so, what would that father look like?

Any academic folks on H1B visas (even with stamps in passports) please get legal advice from your University attorneys before leaving the US.

@dieworkwear.bsky.social 's What Not To Wear

"Assistant Professor - Plant Resilience to Climate Change at University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA *Application Deadline: 11/1/2025" Read more here: https://arabidopsis.org/news/jobs/view?file=20250919_UCB.pdf #PlantSciJobs

In early Covid, I tried to keep my cats out of the room while teaching because it felt more professional. I forgot to close my office door one class, and ended up teaching with a cat on my lap poking his head up on camera. I apologized to the class. The chat was filled with cat pic requests.

What's a fact that took you way too long to realize? For me: I thought obsidian was called a volcanic glass solely because it wasn't crystalline, but amorphous. It IS amorphous, but that's not all of it. Obsidian is predominantly made of silicon dioxide, the main ingredient in glass.

UPDATE: The 2025-2026 list of faculty and postdoc positions in ecology and evolutionary biology is out! Be sure to check out this active and helpful community run resources! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

As someone who routinely teaches a science lab course, I cannot wait for fashion to change such that students stop showing up with bare midriffs or giant holes in their pants. There is the further bane of shirts that just barely reach the waist if someone stands stock still; those don't work in lab.

I have recently gotten my best friend into a series of novels I quite enjoy. It's a lot of fun watching him react to various parts. And then posing the continuity questions to him that I've wondered about.

Just reminding you all that this meme exists and you'll probably have many applications for it under our current regime.

Come one come all! Our new #BINHM exhibit is up at the #AMNH! @blackinnhms.bsky.social www.amnh.org/exhibitions/...

What's a fact that took you way too long to realize? For me: I thought obsidian was called a volcanic glass solely because it wasn't crystalline, but amorphous. It IS amorphous, but that's not all of it. Obsidian is predominantly made of silicon dioxide, the main ingredient in glass.

On the one hand, with everything else that's going on this feels really small. On the other, moments of joy are important in bad times, so: Despite the lack of traditional marketing, I've read and subsequently recommended to others books from more than a dozen authors solely due to BlueSky.

All lecture courses I teach are active learning environments. The ones this term involve the students submitting what they worked on each day. I remind them at the end of each class to submit before they leave the room, I will stick around to help with any tech problems, the box closes in 20 min.

My Disney Plus subscription would have renewed next week. For now, I've paused it for a couple of months while I decide how much value there is in actually canceling it or if it's just to make myself feel better for doing something. In any event, they're not getting my money for at least a while.

Today in class, a student noticed the Steam icon on my computer and asked what games I played. They seemed unsurprised to learn that I enjoy Civ V.

Student: Why do you normally wear a mask? Me: COVID is still a thing, and infection rates are pretty high right now. I have ~300 students I see each week. Student: But you took it off after class? Me: There are 5 people in this room right now. That’s very different than the 150 10 minutes ago.

I spend rather more time than I anticipated in my professional life trying to find various ways to rephrase "Please read and follow the posted instructions"

Jerry Greenfield said Ben & Jerry's parent company wouldn't let him defend "the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community."

The Midwest newsroom at @propublica.org is amazing. Fantastically talented, hard-working, good-hearted people who do this work for all the right reasons. And so much fun to be around. I love being part of it. Come join us! This is a **solid-gold journalism job opportunity.**

Laundry baskets are prime feline real estate

About to see a new to me specialist for an ongoing health thing and trying to calibrate to the right level of expressing “I know you personally are not responsible” and “it’s a problem that people have been not taking this seriously for 8+ years”. Let’s see if I thread that needle!

Along a similar line, one of the possible risk factors listed is "former smoker". Had a single cigarette at some point in your life, perhaps as a rebellious teen? Sounds like a former smoker to me.

I'm not live reacting to it like I did with the Jurassic World movies. But I'm midway through KPop Demon Hunters, and I Have Thoughts.

Join us at the Plant Science Research Institute of the University of Montreal to develop your research group in Plant Molecular Genetics: www.nature.com/naturecareer...