Reposted by Erin PurcellClaire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 21hit’s also not NOT giving Moopsy which RED FLAG 020523
Reposted by Erin PurcellPrasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 29/09/20265 potatoes cubed is still 5 potatoes because potatoes are root vegetables 713049751
Reposted by Erin PurcellKevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026When they get back in power, Democrats need to go all-in on higher education. We need a campaign of reinvestment in public universities across the country that makes the Morrill Land-Grant Act look like nothing by comparison *and* a GI Bill of Rights-style program of tuition grants. 20452031402
Reposted by Erin PurcellAnna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026“I put the books back where I found them! Isn’t that great?” *library worker unhinges jaw, prepares to devour* 0141
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 24/09/2026'We have replaced the danger of mouth-pipetting with the danger of a generation of scientists spending their most productive years writing grants that will not be funded. This is its own form of danger, just slower and less honest than the phenol.' Onion-level satire with a side of 'oooof.' 074
Reposted by Erin PurcellKaren Fisher, PhD @fisherke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This just seems to have gone from bad to worse, with the image's creator either not understanding or admitting what is wrong and Nikon pretty much staying silent. I am glad (and hopeful) that that the vaast majority of the microscopy community seems united on how imaging should be handled/treated. 0151
Reposted by Erin PurcellJosh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The more we buy into the logic that academia needs to be more like "the real world"--the more we buy into the idea that all we're doing is training students to go out and be good workers--the less we are fulfilling any sort of distinct mission, and the less exciting our work is our students. 423145
Reposted by Erin PurcellJosh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026On the one hand, it's just dumb. Universities are, in fact, real, and they exist in the world. American universities employ about 3x as many people as there are active duty servicemembers, so if soldiers are "real," then so are academics. 328738
Reposted by Erin PurcellSenator Patty Murray @murray.senate.gov · 23/09/2026NIH funding doesn't belong to Donald Trump—it belongs to the patients and families waiting for the next medical breakthrough. We cannot let Trump politicize federal research grants and give right-wing extremists a veto over lifesaving work. SPEAK UP FOR SCIENCE. 619158
Reposted by Erin PurcellMark Histed @markhisted.org · 20/09/2026“The arrangement would give Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a direct role in determining how NIH distributes its $48 billion in congressionally-appropriated money.” Bypassing the many checks and balances at NIH on grant funding decisions. 8272193
Reposted by Erin PurcellStephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Very much enjoyed @mjrobbins.com conversation-paced rant about the supposed threat of so-called superintelligent AI. martinrobbins.substack.com/p/the-ai-apo... 257
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026This makes me very angry, because the show was so fun, and made me want Hannah Waddingham as Bond, and I know we can never have that. 021
Reposted by Erin PurcellPrankster Spiced Latte Or Whatever @prankster36.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Honestly wonder what evangelicals reading that book especially think when Aslan basically turns to the camera and goes "I made this world so why would I have a problem with people trying to understand the rules I set up" which obviously applies to science too 0132
Reposted by Erin PurcellAparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 19/09/2026LLMs seem to me a way, a shortcut, for some academics to build reputations (as "fast" reviewers, as "good" colleagues) rather than foundations of solid academic labor however difficult that labor is. This is about being seen to be doing the work rather than actually doing it 2121
Reposted by Erin PurcellAnnalee @flowerhorne.com · 19/09/2026This is why I think it's so important to push back against the personification of LLMs. If a person shoots someone while wearing a hand puppet, they can't claim the hand puppet did the murder. 21657504
Reposted by Erin PurcellPetra Levin @redrockcity.bsky.social · 19/09/20264 years (!) in the making, in this review Jade Wang and I detail the fundamental processes underlying growth, the cell autonomous nature of homeostatic control, and the contribution of stochasticity to both. TL;DR Bacteria are more like teenagers than you think. www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comBacterial growth rate in populations and single cells - Nature MicrobiologyIn this Perspective, Levin and Wang give a brief history of bacterial growth rate and discuss how it is connected to nutrient availability and macromolecule synthesis, with a focus on (p)ppGpp as a ce... 17428
Reposted by Erin PurcellTyler King @tyleraking.com · 17/09/2026“A senior executive at Microsoft said A.I. systems built on the work of others will be seen as ‘an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions’ and possibly the greatest robbery of labor in human history, according to court documents unredacted Thursday in an ongoing Manhattan lawsuit.”orlandosentinel.comDocs in A.I. copyright suit reveal startling admission by Microsoft exec over ‘astonishing theft’The admission appeared in a newly unredacted filing in the landmark copyright infringement legal battle playing out between newspapers like the Orlando Sentinel and tech companies Microsoft and OpenAI... 9555422155
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Very cool story! The interplay between stress response and metabolism is SO complex! 140
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026My kids were lucky that reading came pretty easily & they already viewed it as a source of fun by 1st grade, bc the required edutech programs make it a chore & breaking pieces into chunks to gameify finishing them robs everything of meaning. Heartbroken for kids whose schools ruined reading for them 000
Reposted by Erin PurcellAparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 16/09/2026"stores and tracks faculty CVs and productivity" in the hands of private equity can't go wrong can it 46527
Reposted by Erin PurcellTobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I would not like an AI summary, I would not like it on a boat, I would not like the email bloat, I do not like it on a chair, I would not like it anywhere! I do not like them on a phone, I do not like them in my home, I do not want them on a search, I do not like them in a church 227470
Reposted by Erin Purcellashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 12/09/2026i am incredibly excited to share our research about how paying people’s rent through mutual aid made an impact on minnesota this year we accidentally collected more data than anyone ever has for an effort like this, and can very seriously say we prevented an eviction bubble that everyone expected 3030991151
Reposted by Erin PurcellNaomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 12/09/2026"People are really mad and however mad you are, it’s not enough. Because there is something so profound about no longer believing in the future, about seeing no value in our shared home, in the natural world. They’re traitors to creation.” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...theguardian.comNaomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui... 6539011323
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Kid picked Gremlins 2 for movie night... I'm sure plenty of people have realized this before, but Gizmo is a tribble. That's why they let him back into their lives despite knowing better-- the hypnotic trilling! 011
Reposted by Erin PurcellChise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 11/09/2026GOOD NEWS! A personalized mRNA vaccine has SUCCEEDED in keeping melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, from returning. Phase III trial results in MORE THAN 1,100 patients shows the vaccine SIGNIFICANTLY extended the time patients lived without their melanoma returning AND reduced the risk of metastasis.statnews.comModerna and Merck say mRNA cancer vaccine succeeded in late-stage melanoma trialA personalized mRNA cancer vaccine succeeded in a late-stage melanoma study, results that could herald a new, powerful approach in oncology. 4753101865
Reposted by Erin PurcellU.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission @cpsc.gov · 10/09/2026Good morning. It's Baby Safety Month and you've got things to learn. 22650107
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I want a 'fight enshittification' political platform. 'Phones will be small and solid! We'll stop changing the clocks twice a year! You can buy software once instead of subscribing forever! Clothing will be made of durable materials! Senders of fundraising texts gets ants released in their homes!' 241
Reposted by Erin PurcellDr. Katharine Dickson @metaomicsnerd.bsky.social · 09/08/2025What I would like to remind everyone talking about Sam Altman talking about the “PhD level intelligence” of the new ChatGPT is that Sam Altman dropped out of college so he… has no experiential construct for what grad school even is. 17950188
Reposted by Erin PurcellOdd Future Wolfgang Pauli @ofwp.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Every new "innovation" in teaching amounts to teachers doing twice as much work to track something that has nothing to do with their job and won't improve student learning 023143
Reposted by Erin PurcellHaider Manzer @haidermanzer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Is asymptomatic colonization with Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) early in life truly “silent?” In my first publication from the Zackular Lab, out today in @science.org, I teamed up with my amazing lab-mate, Alexa Semon, to find the answer. Link here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgEarly-life colonization with Clostridioides difficile remodels the developing gutClostridioides difficile causes severe disease in adults but commonly colonizes infants asymptomatically. The consequences of early-life colonization on host development remain unknown. In a neonatal ... 33711
Reposted by Erin PurcellFunranium (AKA Phil Broughton) @funranium.bsky.social · 04/09/2026It pleased me to no end to have a student tell me “Edgelords do not belong on the chemistry bench.” This combined with the Ethics in Engineering requirement gives me hope for the research community of tomorrow. 11249
Reposted by Erin PurcellHarmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 05/09/2026The current NIH Director’s animus against NIAID to sign away much needed research funds so we can continue bombing another country is… a staggering betrayal of Congressional intentions and authority. Not surprising but still staggering. 5466116
Reposted by Erin PurcellMgindmv @mgindmv.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Please share AND respond to this one-question survey, should Virginia ban ALPRs? Thank you!! #deFlock #Fairfax12onyourside.comVirginia lawmakers consider ban on Flock camerasThere’s a growing chorus from members inside the Virginia General Assembly to make those flock cameras illegal in every part of the commonwealth. 133
Reposted by Erin PurcellFreya Harrison @friendlymicrobe.bsky.social · 03/09/2026It's taken 12 years and a lot of work from many fantastic people, but we have published an analysis of how our reconstruction of Bald's eyesalve kills bacteria. This was driven by @tosinorababa.bsky.social & Jess Furner-Pardoe through their PhD work #MicroSky journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... [1/n] 65217
Reposted by Erin PurcellDrew McKevitt @drewmckevitt.bsky.social · 31/08/2026This is a good thread! There are legit thoughtful uses for AI among trained and experienced professionals. Almost none of these uses apply to the classroom or (undergraduate) students. 312927
Reposted by Erin PurcellItai Yanai @itaiyanai.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Advice for new PhD students: choose a mentor who is committed to your training, not just your project. The most important product of your PhD - even more important than the science - is YOU, a newly trained scientist. 517240
Reposted by Erin PurcellEmily Nussbaum @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 29/08/2026COFFEE RULEZ, ANTI-CAFFEINE BIASES DROOL www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...scientificamerican.comHow healthy is coffee, really?Doctors used to warn coffee drinkers. Now research reassures them 6973
Erin Purcell @erinpurcell.bsky.social · 28/08/2026I'm getting used to the grungy songs of my youth showing up as easy listening covers, but it still cracked me up when a mellow bossa nova cover of I'm Only Happy When It Rains started playing at the ramen shop. I had to play the original for my kid when we got home so he'd get why I was laughing. 010
Reposted by Erin PurcellJoey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Official monthly data is in today, and US solar power generation hit a new record high, up 20% compared to this time last year! 161507292
Reposted by Erin PurcellSTCmicrobeblog @stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · 27/08/2026the vibrios are setting off fireworks for you, bonnie, and your well-deserved copley medal 0244
Reposted by Erin PurcellDr. Fim @fim.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Ansel Adams on assignment for IBM - one of my favourite shots. Not the usual landscape but the skill of a woman weaving magnetic core memory. The beat up nails captures total “woman in STEM” vibes. 242934873
Reposted by Erin PurcellErin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 21/08/2026(AI actually has been used in science and medicine for decades and is incredibly good at doing things like finding cancer that can’t be seen with the human eye but that is a completely different type of AI then we’re all angry about it and we shouldn’t discuss them in the same conversations TBH) 252356492
Reposted by Erin PurcellAAMC @aamc.org · 20/08/2026NIH funding equates to $138 per American per year. And the return on investment is millions of lives saved. Read more about the extraordinary medical progress NIH funding supports: bit.ly/4i1ewX9usatoday.comHow Biomedical Research Moves From a Lab Into Patient CarePhysicians work on both the research side and at the patient bedside, translating questions raised in clinical practice into rigorous scientific investigations and bringing those discoveries back to p... 02321
Reposted by Erin PurcellMichael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 20/08/2026It's true that *at an individual level* you should be kind. Don't scream at your anti-vaxx neighbors or whatever. But when it comes to *public discourse* the most important message is that vaccines save lives and anti-vaxx beliefs kill children. If they feel attacked by that, it's not my problem. 352288347
Reposted by Erin PurcellCharles Louis Richter @richterscale.bsky.social · 18/08/2026John Enders, who discovered a method to culture poliovirus, allowing vaccines to be developed, said there was a clear lesson to be learned from the failure: “We must never again allow decisions about essentially scientific matters to be made for us by people without training or insight.” 2/2 1323
Reposted by Erin PurcellDan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I‘m far from an AI doomer, but it is amazing how many serious voices — on LinkedIn, no less! — are sharing stories about how AI slop is quickly becoming one of the top problems they see in academic writing and research “AI will 10x our research!” doesn’t seem to be surviving encounters with reality 51537435