No Pizza Express birthday trip today then.

12th European Seminar in Virology, this time on “Navigating through DNA viruses – novel disease associations and common host manipulations”! Bertinoro, Italy, May 29-31, 2026 For more information and submission of your abstract, see: www.ceub.it/events/event...

The 2026 Barkley Marathons is over. There are no finishers. #BM100

The trick to the best mash spudders is 50% butter ratio and the electric whisk for efficiency.

Well at least the weekend wasn’t a complete loss. Hard fought win for the boys in white. Onto the 5th round! #ALAW

Piss poor performance.

Strange yellow ball in the sky means the #Bengal is back to her preferred life. #Caturday

After a brief memorial, laz lit the cigarette at 6:00am. The 2026 Barkley Marathons has begun. #BM100

4 points off Chelsea this season for the might whites. Lovely stuff. #ALAW

GOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!! OKKKKAAAAAFFFOOORRRRRR!!!!! 2-2

Chelsea winning and you can barely hear the home crowd. Been to livelier wakes.

The weather is grim and I’m over wearing full stalking attire (deer, not sutcliffe) to walk to the station everyday. Even the dogs are over it.

The downhill skiing at the Winter Olympics is insane. I’m also impressed with the drone camera operators. Unreal views.

That wasn’t a good advertisement for tier 1 rugby imo. Welsh RFU are are in a world of trouble and it’s showing in the national team badly (& has done for a couple of years now). Poor discipline by England in the 2nd half. But a good start nonetheless the less.

Arundell’s Cap-Try ratio is unreal. Glad he’s back from France!

Jerusalem should be the England national anthem for sport.

This should be a cracker. #ENGvWAL

Leeds winning under the lights on a Friday night. Lovely stuff. #ALAW

How it started How it's going

Well, if the next 14 games are like that, we’re in for a treat. #6Nations

The most wonderful time of year 🏉🏉🏉 #6Nations

Tonight, my eegit pointers decided they really wanted a walk in the driving sleet/rain miserableness. Something they’d normally avoid. Now I know what it’s like to be a spaniel owner. Blanket life has resumed. #GSP #Vizsla

I think Ian Chapman's focus throughout this process has been excessively PI-centred and ignores early career researchers and training. A big funding pause doesn't cause them to worry about their jobs. It causes them to lose their jobs. And to be unable to get new ones. Their careers will be ended.

Done, see you all there… some real science discussion from people who know stuff ( the novelty! )

What’s with the jobsworth’s that don’t let you on a train platform if it’s too busy. Delay repay will be going in if I miss my connection.

Or: Scientists are furious that they are learning of pauses to their main access to funding through press snippets rather than first hand dialogue with Uni research offices………..

Another few days with the cone of shame, but hopefully get to the summer now 🫡

Update on UKRI funding situation. Summary: it is mostly bad news, and with significant uncertainties around new funding model.

We’re recruiting for an RA @unibirmingham.bsky.social! Support our #microbiome research - lab work + sample/data organisation & coordination. Looking for an organised, proactive & great team player. 🗓️ Closes 04/02/26 . To Mar 2028 Apply via UoB portal: edzz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

I’m excited to recruit a postdoc to join my lab at NIAID (Rocky Mountain Labs). We study mucosal immunity and vaccine responses to respiratory viruses in a collaborative, supportive environment. Details & apply: www.training.nih.gov/jobs/pdf-miv... #Postdoc #Immunology #Virology #NIHJobs

First phone call from nursery to collect H.

First world crisis averted. Fixed the dishwasher.

“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment

Still leaving my OOO on, at least until Friday. It's been gloriously quiet.

Utterly inspirational Inaugural Lecture by Prof @jessicamablair.bsky.social. Thoroughly deserved. Awesome to call her a colleague and fellow GSP aficionado!

Interested in high containment work on viruses? We have an opening at the Pirbright Institute, working on high consequence viruses of livestock and humans in the core CL3 team. isw.changeworknow.co.uk/pirbright/vm...

A joke for the history buffs: Germany’s satirical newspaper @der-postillon.com titles: “Vienna Academy of the Arts offers Trump admission as a student — They don’t want to get blamed again“

Mud spray tan, would not recommend. But will do again tomorrow. #Canicross

Love microbes & omics? 🦠🧬 We’re hiring a Postdoc in Public Health Genomics at @unibirmingham.bsky.social Work on cutting-edge research with wonderful people! @wvschaik.bsky.social @halllab.bsky.social @pathogenomenick.bsky.social @scalene.bsky.social @alanmcn1.bsky.social 📅 Closes 4th Feb

Do you know who else was gifted a Nobel Prize medal? Joseph Goebbels. Seriously. thecritic.co.uk/issues/march...

Job alert! Assistant professor position in the Department of Molecular Genetics (University of Toronto). Amazing department and city. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... Please share.

I have a crawling 6 month old.

So it begins.

Jury duty letter through the door. Absolutely impeccable timing.

Did my best torvil and dean impression on the walk to the station.

'Despite all their difficulties, [UK] universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP' www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

🚨Last chance to apply for two PhD projects in my lab, applying structural biology and single molecule biophysics to investigate gene expression in RNA viruses: www.findaphd.com/phds/?Keywor...

Nancy sacked. Should’ve been gone after the plastic board came out pitch side.