Reposted by Ben AuxierDermot Lynott @dermotlynott.bsky.social · 27/09/2026As I’ve said before, I prefer the term “language researcher” 614928
Ben Auxier @benauxier.bsky.social · 24/09/2026More amazing work from Andrew in unravelling these enigmatic genetic elements. Combining sequencing with molecular biology to track this circular stage! 031
Reposted by Ben AuxierAndrea Lathrop @cabernet.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Anxiety is All You Need: Neuroticism in Protocol Droids Improves Human-Droid Interaction 1246
Reposted by Ben AuxierKevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 09/09/2026With a little time now past, I'm wondering what pop gen peeps make of this paper... do the findings seem solid? 233
Reposted by Ben AuxierWeill Institute for Cell & Molecular Biology @weillinstitute.bsky.social · 02/09/2026We're pleased to welcome Dr. Edgar Medina Tovar to @weillinstitute.bsky.social and @cornelluniversity.bsky.social! Edgar brings an exciting research program exploring cellular evolution and fungal pathogenesis, and we’re thrilled to have him join our community. Looking forward to what's ahead! 🔬 🍄🟫 🍄news.cornell.eduMedina Tovar joins Weill Institute to study cellular evolution, pathogenesis of fungi | Cornell ChronicleEdgar Medina Tovar joins the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology and the College of Arts & Sciences as an assistant research professor in September. He will begin as an assistant professor ... 0126
Reposted by Ben AuxierMatthew Meyer 🍄🟫 @0mgem0.bsky.social · 29/07/2026If you predict or annotate genes from whole genomes, what would you like current software to do better? What's still missing, unnecessarily difficult, or hard to trust? I'm interested in problems that matter in real projects, including the unglamorous ones. #Bioinformatics #GenomeAnnotation 111
Reposted by Ben AuxierJohn Lees @johnlees.bacpop.org · 27/07/2026What is an 'everyday task' and what is a 'complex problem' in bioinformatics software engineering? Feels more important use the right model now they're not so heavily subsidised! I did a small comparison on an optimisation task: johnlees.me/posts/ska2-c... Small/cheap model wasn't good enoughjohnlees.meCredit use of AI models for bioinformatics: a tiny benchmarkAgentic coding models such as codex and claude code are really useful for software engineering tasks. We sadly (and unsurprisingly) seem to be exiting the era of highly subsidised costs to get us hook... 2114
Reposted by Ben AuxierMatthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Tragic and - according to scientists quoted in the article — avoidable.science.orgExclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made publicParents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals 01715
Reposted by Ben AuxierUrsula Oggenfuss @oggenfussursula.bsky.social · 20/07/2026I am happy to share that my NWO Veni project was awarded 🍄🧬🔻! In this project, I will study how transposons shape genome folding, evolution, and adaptation in a fungal salamander pathogen. I am incredibly thankful for all the support and look forward to this next chapter #fungi #transposons #TEsky 3328
Reposted by Ben AuxierCosta Samaras @costasamaras.com · 19/07/2026Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out. 114137702879
Reposted by Ben AuxierCat Manning @catacalypto.bsky.social · 14/07/2026deeply annoying that creative breakthroughs don’t come on schedule from direct work but from things like “open-ended conversations with interesting people” and “doing nothing” 594396906
Reposted by Ben AuxierRebecca Drummond 🍄 @therad-lab.bsky.social · 10/07/2026I'm thrilled that Novo Nordisk Foundation will be funding us for the next 6 years. This grant establishes a new consortium between UK, Denmark and Uganda to drive discoveries into fungal meningitis. Lots of positions soon available - watch out for announcements! novonordiskfonden.dk/en/news/no-e...novonordiskfonden.dkNo easy answers: European research consortia take on major challenges - Novo Nordisk Fonden 0185
Reposted by Ben AuxierAtlas Shvitzed @therafischwartz.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Unfortunately, a stunned Paris is how they all got into this whole mess to begin with 360159493256
Reposted by Ben AuxierMaitreya Dunham @maitreya.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Got myself some new business cards from the wonderful Letterpress pdx! 161473
Reposted by Ben AuxierS. Lorena Ament @loreament.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Me trying to run minigraph-cactus to be like the cool pangenome kids #Pangenome #genomics 151
Reposted by Ben AuxierAmelia Barber @ameliabarberphd.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Exciting news! After a wonderful four years at @uni-jena.de, I'm excited to announce the next chapter as a group leader at @fzborstel.bsky.social and professor at @uni-kiel.de. 104611
Reposted by Ben AuxierAydan Bulut-Karslioglu @bulutkarslioglu.bsky.social · 26/06/2026I have been thinking since yesterday about why I find the 1% thing so, so disturbing. It's a visceral reaction of 'just no', which goes beyond the general yuck towards the enshittification of/via AI. I have finally put my finger on it: it is the feeling you get when 610931
Reposted by Ben AuxierMwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Motion to collectively call this the Slop Factor 🧪 97218
Reposted by Ben AuxierGrantham Research Institute at LSE @granthamlse.bsky.social · 23/06/2026We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event. 7719981152
Reposted by Ben AuxierSusan Johnston @susanjohnston.bsky.social · 01/06/2026📣🧬 Postdoc Alert🧬📣 We are hiring a 2+ year NERC-funded postdoc at Edinburgh Uni investigating causes and consequences of sex differences in recombination in house sparrows in Norway. Informal enquiries welcome at Susan.Johnston@ed.ac.uk 🙂 Details here: elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... 071115
Reposted by Ben AuxierThe Onion @theonion.com · 28/05/2026Listerine Leaves 0.1% Of Germs Alive To Spread Message Of Terror Throughout Microbial Community theonion.com/listerine-leaves-0-1-o… 272256279
Reposted by Ben AuxierMPI for Evolutionary Biology @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social · 27/05/2026Congratulations to Prof. Eva Stukenbrock on her appointment to the Leopoldina. Her research on fungal pathogens helps us better understand evolution and protect crops. www.evolbio.mpg.de/3882989/eva-... #EvolutionaryBiology #Leopoldina 26926
Reposted by Ben AuxierAlison Feder @alisonfeder.bsky.social · 26/05/2026I’m excited to share a new paper about HIV escape from broadly neutralizing antibody monotherapies! In it, we describe the most highly recurrent adaptation I have ever seen. A close collaboration with Lillian Cohn (FHCC) led jointly by Elena Romero and Abby Clyde. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 0265
Reposted by Ben AuxierAnnie Hatmaker, Ph.D. @annemakerofhats.bsky.social · 26/05/2026I shared on LinkedIn already, but I wanted to post here as well since I've got a different audience: I will be joining the Department of Plant Pathology at the @universityofga.bsky.social as an Assistant Professor on Aug 1!! I will keep studying #Aspergillus & #Fusarium that infect plants & humans 🥰 76112
Reposted by Ben AuxierAltrincham Dry Cleaners @altydrycleaners.bsky.social · 02/04/2026MASSIVE fan of this one: 112385375
Reposted by Ben AuxierDaniel Lakens @lakens.bsky.social · 25/05/2026New blog post: Evaluating Dr. Cuddy’s Claim that the Debunking of Power Posing is a Myth. daniellakens.blogspot.com/2026/05/eval... On an AI generated description of a non-existent study, incorrectly citing findings from studies, and the importance of scientific criticism.daniellakens.blogspot.comEvaluating Dr. Cuddy’s Claim that the Debunking of Power Posing is a MythIn this blog post I will analyse the arguments that Dr. Amy Cuddy provided in a blog post “The "Power Posing Was Debunked" Myth: What the Re... 1517870
Reposted by Ben AuxierSasha Gusev @sashagusevposts.bsky.social · 23/05/2026I assigned random gender/ethnicity labels to scientific abstracts from the literature and then asked Claude to do a thematic analysis. Claude identified a clinical versus computational split for female/male authors and a DEI focus for Black/URM authors. All in completely random data. 26865340
Reposted by Ben AuxierJennifer Davis @jmd5120.bsky.social · 18/05/2026This Is Just To Say I have taken the space that was in the -80 and which you were probably saving for an emergency Forgive me it was convenient so open and so cold 0368
Reposted by Ben AuxierBrian Nosek @briannosek.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Best evidence yet that LLMs can match human capabilities in doing science. 928872
Reposted by Ben AuxierSam @mardiroos.bsky.social · 05/05/2026You are a skilful and trusted vizier. You will advise me wisely on how best to rule the kingdom. You will not scheme or plot. You will not inveigle my other courtiers into turning against me. You will not lie to me about scheming or plotting. If you scheme or plot against me, you have to tell me, 8177771934
Reposted by Ben AuxierAngie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 03/05/2026Juliet Morrison & I reviewed this article about whether these AI redteamers ACTUALLY made a bioweapon when it spit out a sequence & talked about balloons. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u... Also: our favorite virus recipes. Join us: open.substack.com/live-stream/...nytimes.comA.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons 13111
Reposted by Ben AuxierVincent J Lynch 🐘🦣🦥 🦇🐋🐢🐍 @devoevomed.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Screaming to the abyss: #ColossalBio did not resurrect the dire wolf and they're probably just going to make an antelope with methemoglobinemia to give it a bluish color. Their #DeExtinction #DisInformation campaign is just a pyramid scheme because #ExtinctionIsForever 🧪 16305102
Reposted by Ben AuxierTami Lieberman @contaminatedsci.bsky.social · 01/05/2026It's official-- my promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure has been approved by the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation!! This is a surreal moment and I owe my deepest gratitude to the members of my lab, collaborators, mentors, and colleagues who made this possible. Thank you! 382387
Reposted by Ben Auxierchasingmicrobes @chasingmicrobes.bsky.social · 30/04/2026👀dewitt-lab.github.ioAdditivity is all you need?Arc Institute’s “MULTI-evolve” learns a classical additive model, not epistasis. 094
Ben Auxier @benauxier.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Word has a "Read Aloud" function. It is surprisingly helpful in the later stages of editing. 120
Reposted by Ben AuxierBird account @dialecticbio.bsky.social · 30/04/2026I'm so happy that someone has finally described the game plan of this little cottage industry so clearly. It's one more example of the scam economy we all live under now. 03510
Reposted by Ben AuxierJennifer Anderson @jandbio.bsky.social · 26/04/2026Fungi get <0.2% of conservation $ Almost all ⬆️ $ is for 🍄 mushrooms <10% of fungi form 🍄 At the Fungal Conservation in Europe Conference @funaction.bsky.social, @mostfun.bsky.social & @iucnaquafungi.bsky.social brought aquatic micro-fungi to the fore. It's time to be included in conservation! 0226
Reposted by Ben AuxierKenneth Loi @kenjmloi.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Excited to share our discovery of a new programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting system hiding inside bacteriophages that predates CRISPR. We call it VIPR (Viral Interference Programmable Repeat), and it uses an entirely new logic to find its targets. Thread + link below. 7448197
Reposted by Ben AuxierRachel W. Martin @rwmartin.bsky.social · 26/04/2026Me: “I want everyone to be interested in peptides!” *monkey's paw curls* 59317
Reposted by Ben AuxierSORTEE @sortee.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Would you like to join a welcoming community that is passionate about improving transparency, rigour, and equity in science? 👀 Check out SORTEE! You can join for free, if you like. Your support goes a long way in growing our impact 💚 👉 sortee.org/join/ #openscience #SORTEE 11410
Reposted by Ben AuxierDialectical Systems @dialecticalsys.bsky.social · 21/04/2026The dialectical underpinnings of multilevel selection Evolution isn’t flat: new levels arise through conflict and then reshape the very dynamics that brought them into beingdialecticalsystems.euThe Dialectics of Multi-Level Selection in Evolutionary Biology - Dialectical SystemsIntroduction Dialectical thinking in biology has famously been put forward by the eponymous book of Levins and Lewontin (1985). Much of the book was dedicated to the interpenetration between organisms... 01811
Reposted by Ben AuxierSimon Hammann @simonhammann.bsky.social · 20/04/2026Don't be shy to take on a little two-week side project. These five months will be the most precious three years of your academic journey. 191957537
Reposted by Ben AuxierAlex Gao @algao.bsky.social · 19/04/2026Great summary by @philipcball.bsky.social! Our findings certainly don’t invalidate the central dogma, but rather demonstrate an unexpected (and cool!) structural mechanism by which a sequence-specific DNA is created in a cell. (1/6) 26819
Reposted by Ben AuxierSarah Pinsker @sarahpinsker.bsky.social · 19/04/2026This is just to say I have let in the duck that was on the doorstep and which you were probably hoping would stay out Forgive me he was persuasive so scary and so loud. 933083
Reposted by Ben AuxierPhilip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 18/04/2026Feels 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/...science.orgScience | AAAS 718781
Reposted by Ben AuxierCraig Kaplan @triggerloop.bsky.social · 17/04/2026I do feel like this is not protein sequence to DNA sequence, which I think is what the Crick diagram means. Still a very cool result 1131
Ben Auxier @benauxier.bsky.social · 17/04/2026If anyone wants a clear explanation of The Central Dogma, @matthewcobb.bsky.social has some good insights (hint: this ain't it) 230
Reposted by Ben AuxierA. Murat Eren (Meren) @merenbey.bsky.social · 16/04/2026How every layer of science's "self-correcting machinery" failed when Iva Veseli and I simply wanted to reproduce the findings of a high-profile study on gut microbiome and autism: merenlab.org/2026/04/15/u...merenlab.orgUnfalsifiable by Design: A Year of Trying and Failing to Reproduce a Human Microbiome and Autism StudyThe myth of open data, reproducibility, responsibility, and accountability in science, and your role in it 1216380
Reposted by Ben AuxierRichard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 16/04/2026HHMI CEO: "diamond funding should be deployed to sustain repositories [i.e. preprint servers] and connective infrastructure that focus on researcher-shared outputs" zenodo.org/records/1960...zenodo.orgRealigning incentives for biomedical researchers and journals through researcher-shared outputsIn this preprint the authors propose a shift in what counts in the biomedical sciences: researchers should be recognized for what they choose to share on their own terms and timeline (for example as p... 0125