Chrome is reaching into users' machines and writing a 4 GB on-device AI model file to disk without asking. It is the weights for Gemini Nano, Google's on-device LLM. Chrome did not ask. Chrome does not surface it. If the user deletes it, Chrome re-downloads it. www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-...

Not sure I’ve seen better use of the periodic table

When I moved to UK, it took me a few years to realise the meaning of what the British say is very often the opposite of what they mean Some delicious examples below

We have an *extremely* important announcement to make. From Wednesday, we will be launching our puffin live cam, coming to you from the Farne Islands. So you can watch puffins all day long. In celebration, please enjoy this clip of puffins being really busy for 39 seconds straight.

Genome editing of phylogenetically distinct bacteria using cross-species retron-mediated recombineering www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Please share - full funded (UK students only) PhD studentship in the Duncan lab ‘intergrated ‘omics for accelerated antibtioic dicovery from abyssal actinomycetes’. Co-supervisors @thecopperdoctor.bsky.social, Marcel Jaspars, @zmaw.bsky.social- deadline 20th May www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

📢Out now: Na Jiao and colleagues present DeepSeMS, a framework for predicting secondary metabolite structures from biosynthetic gene cluster sequences. www.nature.com/articles/s43... #microbiome 🧫 🔓 rdcu.be/fgic0

Some useful public speaking tips from Freud here.

"By December, Cooper had quit as leader and been expelled from the party following allegations of racism. His replacement was also accused of racism and quit within days of being chosen." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Want to research the basis of how drug resistant bacteria interact with human immune cells? Fully funded 4-year PhD position available (UK home students). Come and join our amazing interdisciplinary team at the intersection of microbiology, immunity, metabolism and the clinic! Please spread the word

We have a PhD studentship open! (UK only sadly) but if you are or know a student keen to work on some *really* weird mycobacterial enzymes then get in touch! #glycotime Advert below www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

A political style defined by the glorification of violence and the rejection of reality does help create an atmosphere in which people will glorify violence and reject reality.

I'm in @theobserveruk.bsky.social today looking at why so many unis are in financial trouble and what the government needs to do to save HE. observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Weapons as building blocks: a dual-function microcin [antimicrobial & biofilm matrix component] in Acinetobacter www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Nature research paper: A pro-carcinogenic bacterial toxin binds claudin-4 to cleave E-cadherin go.nature.com/4cDKGUd

RFK Jr: "A Democratic senator claimed it's mathematically impossible to have a drug drop by 600%. I said, 'Well, if the drug was $100 and it raises to $600, that would be a 600% rise. If it drops from $600 to $100, that's a 600% savings.'" Trump: "Right"

My latest column for @chemistryworld.com is on a paper recently published in Science, about which one of the lead authors (Bob Tjian) contacted me out of the blue because of the relevance to what I say in my book How Life Works. 🧵 www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/coll...

Doing the periodic cleaning of used plasmid miniprep columns and realized in honor of Earth Day it may be worth reminding you molecular biologists: Plasmid miniprep columns can be cleaned and reused essentially indefinitely! Just add 1 M HCl, soak overnight and wash 3x w/ water. Save $ and plastic

A powerful electrical motor propels bacteria in virtually every gut and puddle on Earth. After 50 years, it has finally been understood. @nattyover.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/what-physica...

Last day to register to vote in the upcoming elections! www.gov.uk/register-to-...

Palantir @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social

“Take a moment to think before you dive in. That’s the best advice for Google Photos users, as the company confirms its latest update can scan all your photos to “use actual images of you and your loved ones” in AI image generation.” www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...

Feels like this paper on protein-templated DNA synthesis by a natural enzyme warrants some comment. So here's a 🧵. /1 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

WAT www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Now out in its final form! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Clostridia (especially non-toxigenic perfringens) from preterm infants metabolize human milk oligosaccharides to suppress pathobionts and modulate intestinal function in organoids www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Even in prison, Belarusian dissident women haven’t given up. The future of the country may still be in their hands

BISMiS Live #53 @ 0700 GMT (😭) on 18th April 2026. Dr Teo Wee Fei Aaron presents "Notes on the description of novel prokaryotic taxa". www.bismis.net/bismislive.php

My main postdoc paper is now out in @natureportfolio.nature.com npj Antimicrobials and Resistance! www.nature.com/articles/s44.... Using flow cytometry, we show that the nucleoside analogues azidothymidine, didanosine, stavudine, and trifluridine reduced transfer of AMR plasmids pCT and pKpQIL (1/3)

This is incredible: Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here’s How to Use It. I knew some of these but not all, e.g. verbatim mode “returns results for exactly what you typed, stripped of personalization and synonym-swapping.” [cardcatalogforlife.substack.com]

Kennedy canceled $500 million in mRNA research and announced no new mRNA projects will ever be initiated—killing the technology that produced the fastest vaccine rollout in human history.

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

The real headline: crypto crook (who pleaded guilty to breaking US money laundering rules) plans to try and buy UK politics www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

You know I do think it's important to note that — if it is indeed over — this meaningless war killed: -Iranians: ~3,500 -Lebanese: ~1,500 -Iraqis: ~100 -Israelis: 39 -GCC residents: 31 -Americans: 15 -Palestinians: 14 -Syrians: 1 -French: 1

I hadn't seen this before. This is pretty remarkable. Earth and Moon in one NASA photo. ht @astrokatie.com

Afternoon in Watergate Forest Park, which was very peaceful & unexpectedly lovely. Followed by some amazing Georgian food in Byker.

At a time when everything seems bad, here’s a bit of good news. In 1991, lithium-ion batteries cost around $9,200 per kilowatt-hour — 33 years later, they cost just $78. This helps us move towards electrification of transport and energy storage in homes ourworldindata.org/battery-pric...

Awesome view from Artemis II this morning.

Are you excited by virology? Would you like to do a PhD? Three fantastic opportunities are available to do joint PhDs between @cvrinfo.bsky.social and @pirbrightinst.bsky.social Details in the thread below - please share! Deadline 8th May 2026, fully funded for UK Home students (1/4)

And the preprint is out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We compared plasmid conjugation in liquid and on solid across 13 AMR plasmids with different types of conjugative pili.

Decades of fire regulations have made British homes safer. Health and Safety works and this is the very stuff Reform in their many iterations have sought to roll back.

Unstable-looking stack at Ryhope Beach (spectacular views & usually not a soul about).

This is fantastic!! www.science.org/content/arti...

I think the clocks in UK go back tonight. Or forward. Not sure. Is it forward

There are two particularly remarkable things in this episode. 1) RFK Jr says that the stomach is microbiome is made up of plants. He specifically says "Your stomach microbiome is plants". It is not. I think he has been confused by the term "gut flora". He is the head of Health and Human Services.

CONSTANT CAVING Cool article + a ton of spectacular cave pictures/facts Beware headline—the deep dark microbes are resistant to almost all NATURAL antibiotics (e.g. daptomycin) from millions of years of competiting against one another, not to most man-made synthetic antibiotics they've never seen

It is a pleasure to announce the 4th UK MGE workshop will be in York on 23rd-24th June 2026! Registration is free and we are actively looking for contributors. Interested? If so, please register via the website and select the talk option www.ukmgeworkshop.org We look forward to seeing you in York!

Very provocative new paper in @natmicrobiol.nature.com As global temps rise, drought is becoming more frequent and prolonged across many regions Paper shows climate-driven drying of soils can fuel antimicrobial resistance at its ecological source, independent of clinical antibiotic use 🧵 (1 of 6)

Further details on the meningococcal genome and genomic epidemiology including data release info from the recent explosive Kent outbreak: www.gov.uk/government/p...