Open position at the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics: We are looking for a Director of the Center of Pathogen Bioinformatics apply.refline.ch/499599/0346/... I am in the Center's steering board together with fantastic colleagues (Emma Hodcroft @firefoxx66.bsky.social, Richard Neher @neher.io, and

Go India! 😊

OTD in 1880, Charles Darwin published The Power of Movement in Plants. D believed that plants are active agents in the world: “A radicle may be compared with a burrowing animal such as a mole, which wishes to penetrate perpendicularly down into the ground.” 🧪🌱🐋 #philsci #HistSTM 🦋🦫

"So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause," – Me rewatching Star Wars before I tackle Andor.

The Green Algorithms Initiative is recruiting a Research Software Engineer! www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc... Check out www.green-algorithms.org for more info about the initiative and/or contact @loiclnlg.bsky.social if interested

Excellent #postdoc opportunity available in @sjorsscheres.bsky.social’ group, working on new image processing algorithms for #cryoEM structure determination in their #RELION open-source software. www.nature.com/naturecareer... Apply by 25 NOV #PostdocJobs #ScienceJobs

One part of WHO’s Pandemic Agreement is a pathogen* database. There have been major management issues with one – GISAID – that grew during the acute phase of COVID-19. High level governance 'glue' & financial and organisation support may help move away from GISAID management. One take on this ⬇️

Its taken a while, but a summary of our "enhanced surveillance" for HPAI that we undertook last spring is now on bioRxiv. Lots of cool LPAI viruses in arriving shorebirds, but no HPAI. 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#NZpol Bizarrely, ACT MP Parmjeet_Parmar tries to pin this ⬇️ on Te Triti obligations. “Blaming COVID won't cut it. If we keep pushing inward-looking, Te Tiriti-centric agendas, we’ll drive away international students and talent.”

Some great replies to this, too – fun browsing ⬇️

About 1 bear for every 16 people, in an area with an aging and declining human population -

Yes. It was the main high-level language used in my undergraduate computer science courses.* On campus it was on the department’s machine; at my flat it was UCSD Pascal on my Apple ][e clone 😊 I also learnt p-Code (for myself, not a uni course), and still have the official book for that.

The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.

Does anyone have access to this? It's paywalled and I can't get it through my channels.

For those of you who know my involvement in motorsport + caring for an impaired elder, I can’t underline this enough. Evaluation from the family doctor & if they lose their licence, you MUST remove their vehicle. Dm me if you struggle with this.

I do want to say, I actually don't think this is an *intended* consequence, in that it was a goal of the changes; I think the people who made this decision just don't *care* about these consequences. But they should.

#NZpol ⬇️

BWJones is being very polite. There’s some fascinating work in computational neuroscience and some excellent applied applications, including in my field, using techniques placed under the (IMO, misleading) term 'AI', but they’re not “how brains work” ⬇️

#NZpol Bizarrely, ACT MP Parmjeet_Parmar tries to pin this ⬇️ on Te Triti obligations. “Blaming COVID won't cut it. If we keep pushing inward-looking, Te Tiriti-centric agendas, we’ll drive away international students and talent.”

#NZpol So "we have no money", cancel those ferries, smash jobs, cut benefits and housing, trim hospital builds, axe chunks off the science sector, etc., but we can buy military helicopters (but not tied-in with Australia), and now "ooh" what about this frigate, and double-oooh that satellite? 😑

#NZ GEONET - M5.1, 15km west of Wellington Receipt! ⬇️😊 bsky.app/profile/laur...

it's quite a sight when 5 tonnes of tightly wound copper wire just… turns into a gas

And we have another open position, this time with a focus on Genome Biology! Join a great community in Vienna to bring your research to the next level!

Measles outbreak update No new measles cases today. Total confirmed cases remains at 17. All no longer infectious. The outbreak is still ongoing, and we are focused on stamping out further spread. An outbreak can only be declared over after 42 days with no new cases - so we’re not there yet.

I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪

O-FFS

We’re proud to announce that we have launched the design phase of the respiratory syncytial virus vaccination programme in collaboration with our global health partners. This is a critical step for turning the tide on the second leading cause of infant mortality after malaria: bit.ly/3XiV6B7

Anyway, I just left the plot with the protagonist standing on a table to avoid being eaten by alligators. I’m about to teach appointments in administrative law and the topics feel connected. 2/2

#GI2025 is about to start. I hope you'll enjoy this edition!

#NZpol And I imagine against the wishes of the large majority of NZers 😣 1/3

CNN broadcast premiere for “Prime Minister”, featuring Jacinda Ardern, Nov. 16 at 9pm ET/PT. A round table discussion is being broadcast after the film. cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/11/03/c...

I was living in Sarawak before I returned to NZ. They’ve been trying to end rabies cases there for years. This case is a reminder that not all cases are from bites, and that there can be a substantial time lag before infection progresses. Once infection is established, it’s essentially 100% fatal 😔

Missed the 2025 Next Generation Biophysics Symposium? Great news – you can now watch the fantastic talks on our YouTube channel! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... Don't miss these great discussions on how new and emerging technologies may be able to address challenging biological questions.

False balance is a hell of drug. Reporters seem obliged to present "both sides", but if one side so lacks substance it really has none, it ought not to be presented, certainly at least not presented as having equal merit, as "peers" or "equal alternatives". Nice take 😊⬇️

#NZpol So… I hope I have this right: NZ First’s fireworks bill first replaces their definition of a man and woman, then they put that back in, replacing their prostrate cancer bill. 😑

#NZ ICYMI last night -

One part of WHO’s Pandemic Agreement is a pathogen* database. There have been major management issues with one – GISAID – that grew during the acute phase of COVID-19. High level governance 'glue' & financial and organisation support may help move away from GISAID management. One take on this ⬇️

#NewResearch HKU25 clade MERS-related coronaviruses use ACE2 as a functional receptor #microsky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This means we'll have a funded PhD position upcoming in our Ōtautahi-Oxford interstellar objects group. Enquiries welcome (2026 start)

Hey, Kids, Stories! Clarkesworld # 230. Features my science fiction novella THE APOLOGISTS. Also stories by @kashinggiwa.bsky.social and @izom-chisom.bsky.social and others!

#NZ 😢 ‘Absolutely beautiful’ dog dies on first day of firework sales, family call for change www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

#NZpol So… I hope I have this right: NZ First’s fireworks bill first replaces their definition of a man and woman, then they put that back in, replacing their prostrate cancer bill. 😑

💻Online hui about #measles for Deaf and disabled people, their whānau, carers, support services, about the measles outbreak. Link to event details: facebook.com/share/1CJX5y15DT/ NZSL interpreters will be provided. 👍 Info on measles in alternate formats/NZSL: info.health.nz/measles#measles

Nineteen - musings on shrinking the number of amino acids in a proteome 🧬🖥️ omicsomics.blogspot.com/2025/11/nine...

Sarawak rabies update Sadly rabies continues there 😢 Now 80 deaths since 2017 “no record of any animal bite or scratch,“ but “handled the carcass of his pet dog in June” (CW: angry dog photo) 51-year-old man is Sarawak’s sixth rabies fatality for 2025 www.theborneopost.com/2025/10/28/5...

🏏 Shame there isn’t a bigger crowd at Eden Park. It is a big stadium to fill, but still… It’s also a pity TVNZ’s streaming is cutting out frequently tonight 🙄 OK, game on…

CNN broadcast premiere for “Prime Minister”, featuring Jacinda Ardern, Nov. 16 at 9pm ET/PT. A round table discussion is being broadcast after the film. cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2025/11/03/c...

Ok it's finally happening. My Calendar 2026 is now available for pre-order. Printing by end of the month to allow for international shipping. (sorry no international orders just yet, still setting that up). So happy I could cry. paullecomtephoto.nz/products/202...

#NZpol Can’t help noting two of the people in 1News segment of moving to Australia long-term were an ED nurse, and a police officer.