iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

What if you could eat your water bottle instead of recycling it?🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social shows how, using a bit of kitchen chemistry. Sodium alginate, a powder derived from seaweed, reacts with calcium lactate to form a gel wherever the two meet. #Chemistry #DIY #Science #STEM #ScienceExperiment

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Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

What happens if you put a carrot in the microwave? 🥕💥🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social demonstrates how metals in the microwave are dangerous, even the smaller ones in root vegetables like carrots! #Science #Biology #Carrots #STEM #ScienceExperiment

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Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

You can make a tower of hot ice with ingredients in your home! 🧊🔥🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social shows us how with sodium acetate, which you can make using baking soda and vinegar. #Science #DIY #Chemistry #STEM #ScienceExperiment

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Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

What are floating dots you see in your vision? 👁️🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social breaks down "eye floaters" using a simple demo: a baggie of aloe gel standing in for your eyeball, and raisins standing in for collagen clumps. #ScienceExperiment #HumanBody #Vision #Anatomy #Science

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

I've spent the past three months turning eggshells into leather so that I could make a leather jacket for an egg and then talk about dinosaurs. I'm really not sure what my job is some days. youtu.be/o7vcbvY1o9k?...

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

So there is some scientific literature looking into cayenne and its active spicy compound, capsaicin, as a topical pain reliever. And there can be "spicy receptors" (TRPV1 channels) in your skin that respond to these compounds too. But all these players are likely doing is making spicy gym socks.

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PacBio @pacbio.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

🚩 Short reads for big SVs 🚩 Long reads with tradeoffs 🟢 Tech with large variant detection, haplotyping, epigenetics + exceptional accuracy. See how to get green flags from the start...There's HiFi for That: bit.ly/3JminPa #PacBio #ScienceHumor #TheresHiFiForThat #HiFisequencing

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

I just received three separate AI notetaker summaries of a call I was in and y’all I do not want or need three different sets of badly taken notes.

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

What looks like a spinning window might just be your brain filling in the blanks. 🧠😵‍💫 In the Ames window illusion, @alexdainis.bsky.social builds a trapezoid “window” with shading that tricks your brain into seeing motion that’s not really there.

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Sometimes I really feel like I’ve messed up my “influencer” journey. I’m out here trying to convince people to use science for good in their lives when I’ve missed my true passion and calling of being a collab cookie reviewer.

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Clare Fieseler, PhD @fieseler.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Update: Our friend @alecluhn.bsky.social was found alive this morning! He is in good health with some injuries to his leg/foot. He is at a hospital in Bergen now. Thank you to the Norwegian helicopter team who found him and all the volunteers who searched in bad conditions. ❤️

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

The best news!!! 😍

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 05/08/2025

Alec Luhn, an American journalist, has been missing for days in Folgefonna National Park in Norway. He was last heard from on Thursday at the start of a solo hike.

nyti.ms

Search Underway for Alec Luhn, American Journalist Missing in Norway

A search was underway Tuesday for Alec Luhn, 38, who was last heard from five days ago at the start of a solo hike.

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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I NEED to tell you the story of Tae Heung “William” Kim. He's a graduate student at Texas A&M where he's working on a vaccine for Lyme disease. He's a *legal permanent resident* of the United States. And he's been in ICE detention for 12 days & counting, transferred Tuesday to South Texas.

From left to right, Dr. Albert Mulenga, William Tae Heung Kim, Dr. Thu Thuy Nguyen, Dr. Alex Kiarie Gaithuma, Dr Hassan Hakimi and Emily Bencosme Cuevas. Kim is a Texas A&M researcher who was detained in San Francisco last Monday despite being a permanent resident of the United States and a green card holder.

COURTESY OF TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

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micah @nemerevermore.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

I wish I could work on my book after work but unfortunately my brain only functions for five hours a day and my job takes seven of those

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

The NIH’s 2024 budget of just under $37B generated $95B in economic activity in 2024 alone. 99.4% of new pharmaceuticals approved from 2010-2019 came from NIH-funded research. I’m hard pressed to think of anything that generates as much direct economic benefit as our NIH did before they destroyed it

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Brooke Fitzwater, PhD (she/her) 🐟🪱🏳️‍🌈♾️ @oceanfilly.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Are you a PI in a biology field looking for postdocs? Here is a Starter Pack of early career biologists currently seeking postdoctoral positions! (Also if you are searching for a postdoc, let me know if you want to be added!) go.bsky.app/8zZNEGV

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Andy Luttrell @andyluttrell.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

A clip from this week's episode of SciComm Summer, featuring @alexdainis.bsky.social. Check out Opinion Science for the full episode. ( opinionsciencepodcast.com/episode/alex...)

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

We're hiring! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30219 The Cornell Department of Communication is hiring an Assistant Professor in Science, Environment, and Risk Communication! Applications received by September 15, 2025, will be given full consideration.

academicjobsonline.org

Cornell University, Department of Communication

Job #AJO30219, WDR-00053939 Assistant Professor in Science, Environment, and Risk Communication, Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, US

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SciComm Excellence @scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org · 14/07/2025

Check out @andyluttrell.bsky.social's interview with fellow #scicomm awardee @alexdainis.bsky.social for his SciComm Summer series of the Opinion Science podcast!

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Booms and plumes over LA tonight. (Don’t be alarmed if a sonic boom wakes you up.)

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Office of Mayor Michelle Wu 吳弭 @mayorwu.boston.gov · 13/07/2025

Today is a #BostonFamilyDay with free museum, zoo, and aquarium access for all school-age children and two guests! Here’s a list of our partners opening their doors to families today! 🧵 Museum of Fine Arts Institute of Contemporary Art Museum of Science Boston Children's Museum New England Aquarium

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Andrew Sobey @andrewsobey.com · 07/07/2025

@alexdainis.bsky.social wanted to make a video about stable isotope testing and wound up uncovering what looks like honey fraud at her local grocery store. Our latest Reactions episode at ACS 🧪

youtu.be

Exposing Fake Honey Using Carbon-13

YouTube video by Reactions

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I cannot emphasize enough how true & real this is. In almost anywhere on the political spectrum you ID with or major issue, there’s probably a bot/troll operation to encourage your rage and vitriol. And how/where that rage gets directed, esp understandable rage, is what they are out to influence.

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Very proud of this video on honey fraud that I worked on with the @acs.org Reactions team! I really really wanted to write a video about stable isotopes, and along the way we found honey that might not really be what it claims to be… youtu.be/rKvNp0fAaZ8

A YouTube thumbnail of Alex disappointedly pointing at a jar of honey with text that says “Jar of Lies”

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Outdoor Afro is offering scholarships to cover the costs of anyone, at any age, interested in learning how to swim: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

STAT @statnews.com · 20/06/2025

Nicole Verdun, director of the office that reviews cell and gene therapies at the Food and Drug Administration, and her deputy Rachael Anatol have been placed on administrative leave and escorted out of the agency. www.statnews.com/2025/06/18/t...

statnews.com

Top gene therapy regulator forced out at FDA

Nicole Verdun, top gene therapy regulator at the FDA, has been forced out of the agency.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025

If a human told you things that were correct 80% of the time but claimed, flat out, with absolute confidence, that they were correct 100% of the time, you would dislike them & never trust a word they say. All I'm really suggesting is for people to treat chatbots with that same distrust & antagonism.

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Bradley Busch @handle.invalid · 18/06/2025

New research from MIT found that those who used ChatGPT can’t remember any of the content of their essays. Key takeaway: the product doesn’t suffer, but the process does. And when it comes to essays, the process *is* how they learn. arxiv.org/pdf/2506.088...

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

People ask me for career advice sometimes, and my biggest piece of it is to tell everybody what you love and what you want to do, loudly and often. Sometimes, for me, that’s blimps 😂

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Thank you for this lovely snapshot of some of what I do in front of and behind the camera!!

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Vincent Ledvina @vincentledvina.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

The auroral oval seen from space during the early morning on June 1 - captured by the NOAA-21 satellite flying over North America

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

The Spencer Foundation normally hears from 500 scholars applying for grants. This year, it got 2,000. Philanthropies are facing a surge in demand in the wake of cuts to federal research subsidies. But they can't be a full replacement. @mkhaw.bsky.social reports: www.chronicle.com/article/as-t...

chronicle.com

As the Nation’s Research-Funding Model Ruptures, Private Money Becomes a Band-Aid

Some foundations are offering much-needed stopgaps for researchers. But that’s not a permanent fix, scientists and advocates say.

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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Good God, vaccine hesitancy has gone from 12% to 26% among Republican parents in the last four years. www.kff.org/health-infor...

Percent of Republican parents who say they have ever delayed or skipped childhood vaccines for their children: 26%

Percent of Democratic parents who say they have ever delayed or skipped childhood vaccines for their children: 5%

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Emily Graslie @ehmee.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Thanks to @clurelise.bsky.social for taking the time to listen & share my story, clearly putting into words the uncertainty and anxiety many of us have about our professional futures.

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Just a reminder that over at @acs.org Reactions we made a video all about fluoride research (and what it means to “do your own research”) youtu.be/5zyvNYaUFq8?...

youtu.be

What the Research Actually Says About Fluoride in Drinking Water

YouTube video by Reactions

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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

#SciArt Job Alert! The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is offering an opportunity for an illustrator to join the Bartels Science Illustration Program for a visiting artist residency. This is a full-time, paid temporary appointment that lasts up to one year. cornell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Cornel...

cornell.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Temporary Science Illustrator - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Are you an early career artist who appreciates and understands the relationship between art and nature, and have an interest in birds? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is offering an opportunity to an I...

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Lisa Will @dustchick.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Once again begging media reports to get the math right. For example, cutting a $5M five-year grant in year 4 isn't saving $1M, but it is wasting the $4M already spent. Stop letting this administration get away with so many lies.

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Reposted by Alex Dainis PhD 🧬

Charles Logan @charleswlogan.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

FYI: The Spencer Foundation, Kapor Foundation, The William T. Grant Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation have collaborated to offer $25K rapid response grants. "This rapid response bridge funding opportunity is for scholars and teams whose grants have recently been cancelled by NSF."

spencer.org

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program

In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

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Rob Pilkington @robpilk.com · 19/04/2025

#comics friends 🚨 i’m looking to collaborate with an artist on a holiday-themed horror short for an upcoming anthology - page rate available - five-page story - set in Victorian London - art due in Oct looking for bold, splotchy inks and a cinematic sensibility — hit me with those portfolios

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Jackie Flynn Mogensen @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

I’m proud to say Mother Jones is reinforcing its fact-checking operations! As part of that, my colleagues are looking for smart and curious early-career journalists to join the newsroom for a yearlong crash course in fact-checking investigative journalism: www.motherjones.com/careers/fell...

motherjones.com

The Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program

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Joshua Eaton @joshuaeaton.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

broke: They brought back the dire wolf! woke: They did not bring back the dire wolf. bespoke: In 2025, everything is dire.

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Time to throw up a bat signal for a specific skillset for @skypeascientist.bsky.social We have a classroom that is looking for a scientist who can do a session with them in ASL. Do we know any scientists who would be willing to do a Q&A with a deaf classroom in ASL?

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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Colossal Bioscience did not revive dire wolves, despite a sensationalist Time Magazine cover story. Making genetically modified animals that are cosplaying as extinct species is not de-extinction.

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Alex Dainis PhD 🧬 @alexdainis.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

This this this. These are not dire wolves!!

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Nature @nature.com · 06/04/2025

Mosquitoes die after drinking the blood of people taking a drug for metabolic disorders — a discovery that could help to prevent the spread of malaria go.nature.com/4cl6dQP

go.nature.com

What if human blood were toxic to mosquitoes? A drug can make it so

Nature - A single dose of the drug nitisinone could render a person’s blood lethal to mosquitoes for five days, modelling suggests.

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Spooky Back From The Dead Lazarus @jlazarus.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Apropos of the today's executive order, here's my class slide which summarizes the results of vote audits over the past decade or so. To a pretty close approximation, individual-level voting fraud doesn't exist in this country.

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