The data is in: the NIH goalposts have shifted. What were once almost certain fundable scores have become coin flips and what used to be likely grants have become aspirational, leading to fewer awards. Another manifestation of how HHS policies have led to fewer awards and less science.

indeed, Bluesky's inherent overall hostility to AI means that the AI enthusiasts still willing to hang out here are usually far smarter and more thoughtful than the absolute dribbling freakshow AI cultists who dominate Twitter/X

Mood

Here's my first edit on the March 3rd Lunar Eclipse. 15 moon shots, 1 foreground. Taken over a 3 hourish period.

Biochem tricks are one thing... I've got mentors who were some of the earliest recombinant DNA psuhers but they remind me that there were never "good old days" just lots of logging counts and screening clones Being fluent in your current assembly and expression system, now that takes time and years

"'Paper mill Hairball" Original link: pubpeer.com/publications...

In 2025, GISAID cut off access to many critical SARS-CoV-2 resources, incl. our outbreak.info. A month ago, GISAID leveled accusations against us, Cov-Spectrum, Nextstrain, and members of COG-UK, which are false and misrepresent known facts. Our joint response: blog.outbreak.info/joint-respon...

Scientists have seen Asgard archaea crawling for the first time. When it comes to the origin of eukaryotes, this is like seeing a feathered dinosaur in the wild. (Video courtesy of Philipp Ralder)

JFC I didn't realise it was that bad.

Solidly good science from @merz.bsky.social et al... and the guy obviously appreciates the Canadian Clusterfolk genre, so that's a plus.

There are 13 authors on this paper, including 4 undergrads, 3 grad students, research scientists… I have never had more difficulty assigning author order. But most importantly of all: this was an equal effort between my lab and Courtney Ellison's lab at U. Georgia. ellisonlab.org 19/

I mean we bothered to lay all that track to “build a nation”, displaced Indigenous people and trashed their heritage and outlawed everyone’s future free enjoyment of rail corridors and waterfronts from the Rockies to the Pacific, the very least we can have rn is decent transport. Who’s on this

🦖 Berlin friends, join us for a Plasmidsaurus Happy Hour this Thursday, 6PM! Enjoy a laid-back hangout with great company and chat about all things DNA & RNA - along with an open bar, delicious bites, and exclusive merch. See you there!

#apaperaday TREAT-NMD conference themed still, with a review by Loboda et al from @moltherapy.bsky.social Nucleic Acids on genetic strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy anticipating tomorrow’s challenges of gene therapy session and today’s keynote Terry Flotte. Doi 10.1016/j.omtn.2025.102759

No wonder the right wing was so obsessed with woke-scolding.

Just made Excel self aware. This is going to spawn 3,000 articles from terrified journalists about AGI

#ProtistsOnSky no 'swimming' by 𝘝𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, definitively no 'staying still'. just a relaxed walk towards the lunch...

Necessary/sufficient, guitar fixing edition - hope y'all get to play this weekend. Be well, guitar friends! 🎸 @slewzeus.bsky.social @benoitbruneau.bsky.social @docdellaire.bsky.social @wbderry.bsky.social @fish4walking.bsky.social @thelovelylab.bsky.social @lucksmith.bsky.social

Seeing HKers go out of their way to communicate lessons learned in a much more aggressive surveillance state where civil rights were already much more curtailed is both warming and cold sobering at the same time. I hope Americans are paying attention.

youtu.be/X4kR70jFG_8 Just some Canadian hipsters in a field. obligatory tagging of @jasnah.bsky.social

TFW you dial in the chemistry and automation _just_ right and the process objectively looks better than the past iteration.

Timeline Cleanse: Please enjoy this photo of a praying mantis that was sitting on top of my car windshield, but the angling and lighting were so weird it looks like a giant praying mantis wandering a corn field in Iowa.

This might play a role in your unhappiness:

Happy New Year #disappointingaffirmations

Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over

Remember this from the 90s? No??? That's because I woke up with a splitting migraine today, and my malfunctioning synapses invented this abomination. I hyperfixated on it for several terrifying minutes while immobilized in bed. It haunted me all day, so here's my rendition of it.

As is Traditon: Frederick Forsyth's "The Shepherd" as read by the CBC's late host "Fireside" Al Maitland www.cbc.ca/radio/asitha...

This paper is such an incredible read, with beautiful microscopy: -- rare purple sulfur bacterial symbionts in a eukaryotic ciliate (which also has a green algae symbiont) -- a close relative with a 4-way symbiosis with a green algae and 2 nonphotosynthetic gammaproteobacteria

Not that long ago, in vivo mouse enhancer design was a dream. Today, it's a reality! Using transfer deep learning to design de novo synthetic embryonic enhancers active in the heart, limb, and CNS. Great collab with @alex-stark.bsky.social lab! @ucibiosci.bsky.social @impvienna.bsky.social

Fine, whatever, this random cat is your new god of the winter solstice

The French (French Canadian?) term for egg nog (= “chicken milk”) is such a delight.

May I recommend a subscription to @theonion.com print edition as a holiday gift, because their ads continue to rule

Same. I'm glad I got to know some truly awesome people and make some internet friends.

Guys it's only been 5 years. I really don't want another once-in-a-century event again this decade.

For #ArtAdventCalendar day 13, one from my 2018 Turbulent Skies Project. I Can See It…With My Imagination 44x60 112×152cm Oil on Canvas 2018

This giant pinecone belongs to the coulter pine! It can be found in California & Mexico. Nicknamed “the widowmaker,” it produces some of the world's largest pinecones—which can weigh ~11 lbs (5 kg) & plummet to the ground with deadly force! Photo: damontighe, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Last year it was discovered that a single bacterial NLR-like protein can recognize multiple, structurally unrelated phage proteins (Béchon et al, Kibby et al) Now, a new study shows the same for a plant NLR. Another example how principles of immunity remain conserved from bacteria to eukaryotes

The UCP government has invoked time allocation and on a bill removing Albertans' Charter rights. And they're using the notwithstanding clause to do it. Here's why that is a dangerous precedent. And why real conservatives need to stand up against it. open.substack.com/pub/drjaredw...

Today in accidental data art: selecting the wrong chart type.

If someone wants to write a new article on this, and highlight how current genetics tools have opened the door for many more, I'd be happy to consider it for CSH Protocols.

does anybody know a good history of medicine that covers the era when laboratory tests became more common? specifically i’m looking for something that would cover/go into detail about how reference ranges for “normal” lab results were determined.

🗣Stand with Canada🇨🇦! 🟢Sign📝 the #ForeverCanadian petition to keep Alberta strong✊️, united🫂, and free🕊 from foreign influence. 👍 ✅️Together, we protect🛡 our democracy🕊, our #CharterOfRights📜 & our freedoms.❤️✊ #cdnpoli #cndpoli #CanadaStrong #abpoli #Alberta www.forever-canadian.ca/sign-the-pet...

Erica Lord, the Codes We Carry, beaded DNA #sciart for Indigenous Peoples Day ericalord.com

Thanksgiving in Canada has nothing to do with Columbus! We are a colonial country with a million things to atone for but Thanksgiving is not one of them. Our Thanksgiving is timed with the harvest and it's literally just "Be grateful for harvest" US Imperialism has brain rotted too many of you.

A student on TikTok has been documenting her journey with a professor who “wrote” the anatomy textbook and it’s all a bunch of AI hallucinations. She’s saying that, understandably, the students are doing super poorly! Behold what we’re teaching the healthcare professionals of tomorrow:

Disease prevalence in US states before & after vaccine introduction 🧪 From Edward Tufte & graphics.wsj.com/infectious-d...

In all seriousness, the "LLMs are people and you're racist if you don't like them" shit is the natural endpoint of a consumerist society in which consuming and fandom are the only modes of identity-building many people understand. Finally, a product no one can tell you not to love.

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important