iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

You know what's also interactive? Reading the paper. Talk to your colleagues about the paper you just read. Tell them why you loved it. Tell them why you hated it. And even better: invite the authors to talk about their paper 🧪

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Georg Restle @georgrestle.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Auch das eine Erkenntnis dieser Wahl: Wer eine rechtsextreme Partei normalisiert und ihr flächendeckend Bühnen bietet, stärkt sie am Ende. Es brauchte am Ende nur noch einen stets lächelnden Posterboy,der die hässliche Fratze des Rechtsextremismus selbstverhamloste, um die Partei zum Sieg zu führen.

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Jörg Enderlein @joergenderlein.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Fascism is returning to Germany. My only hope is that the remaining democratic German states can grant asylum to the thousands of doctors, nurses, teachers, scientists, artists and others who will be forced to flee persecution and life-threatening attacks.

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Do you work with microscopy images and segment to quantify or track? Do you study cell biology? development? Gather round! Let me tell you about FOCUS-3D, a segmentation algorithm that is fast, accurate and can be used on any model. We used it here to study zebrafish development. 🧪 (thread)

biorxiv.org

FOCUS‑3D: Robust, generalizable volumetric cell segmentation for three‑dimensional fluorescence microscopy

Understanding how cells establish spatial organization within tissues is a fundamental question in life sciences. While modern three-dimensional fluorescence microscopy captures large-volume tissue ar...

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Writing this was a lot of fun! Thanks to my co-authors Kawtar Cherkaoui and Robin Hiesinger as well as our reviewers for continuously improving this review! And thanks to the amazing AJ/collective cell migration field for all the inspiring work! Links to a few in the alt-text of the images. 11/10

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This opens up some exciting questions for future research: is such collective self-organization of growth cones the default or an exception in developing brains? Do mixed cell populations also grow and sort in similar ways? What about pioneer cells and their followers in time? 10/10

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

These neurons don't require their postsynaptic partner to sort correctly. Only through the interactions of their growth cone filopodia in a confined, quasi-2D plane, each growth cone "guides" its neighbours to their final destination. A self-organized visual map without an external organizer. 9/10

continuation of previous figure with top and side views of developing Drosophila visual map in lamina.

Panel B (pre 45h after pupa formation), shows the arrival of each growth cone from a specific angle (note: a very similar angle as it leaves the bundle it arrived from, see previous post). These growth cones re-sort collectively based on interactions with their neighbouring photoreceptor growth cones without requiring guidance signals from their future postsynaptic partner. (see Agi et al. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk3043.
N-Cadherin stabilizes the bond between the growth cone and its postsynaptic partner cells (L-cells).
Panel B shows a later timepoint (after 50h pupal development) where the sorting plane (lamina plexus) disassembles, and growth cones elongate along their postsynaptic partner cell where they form synaptic connections.

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

An example occurs in the developing visual map of Drosophila. Here, ca. 5000 growth cones (from the roughly 800 single eyes of a fly's compound eye) re-sort from a retinotopic (one eye = one subregion in the brain) to a visuotopic arrangement (one point in space = one subregion). 8/10

Early phase of Drosophila visual map formation. The image shows a side view and a top view of a developing lamina plexus (around 25h after pupa formation). The side view shows an individual bundle of six photoreceptor axons from one single-eye of the fly's compound eye. The neighbouring photoreceptors are linked by AJ components and sidekick (sdk), the neighbouring bundles by an adhesion-GPCR flamingo (Fmi), thereby preserving the arrangement of cell bodies in the eye to the arrangement of growth cones in the brain (as described by Kehribar et al. 2026, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2026.01.007). The regularly patterned structure in the fly eye thereby translates into a very similar pattern in the developing brain.

In the lamina plexus, each axon turns by 90° to continue extending in a quasi-2D plane where all neighbouring growth cones of the arriving photoreceptors interact.

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Is such collective migration also found in developing brains? We think so, but with some twists. Not only can cells bodies migrate collectively (e.g. during sorting of neuronal precursors into layers and nuclei in the spinal cord), but also some of their sub-compartments: growth cones! 7/10

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

In zebrafish embryos during polster cell migration, AJs coordinate which side of a cell can form filopodia. This way, so called follower cells bias where the cells in front of them grow - basically steering from the backseat. Local interactions enable the coordinated movement of a collective. 6/10

Three panels showing various zoom levels of the "guidance by followers" model as described by Boutillon et al. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2022.05.001
First panel showing the direction of polster cell migration in zebrafish embryo (upwards towards the animal pole, shaped somewhat like a mushroom.
Second panel zooms to the cellular level highlighting filopodia with adherens junctions at their tip predominantly protruding to the direction of migration. The third panel shows the described model by the authors where mechanoresponsive engagement of AJs at the rear of cells prevents the formation of filopodia. This biases filopodia-formation to the front, and thereby steers the cellular collective to migrate forward. Local interactions that seem similar to the movements of a flock of birds

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This enables a tissue-scale function: during wound closure, AJs move into opposite directions on the opposing fronts of epithelia (cells migrate forward by treadmilling F-actin). When the fronts meet, treadmilling strengthens AJ-binding (& seals the wound) and treadmilling & migration stops. 5/10

Reciprocal effects of adherens junctions (AJ) and cortical F-actin flow as described by Noordstra et al. 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2023.06.011.

top part shows an AJ coupled to treadmilling F-actin. The AJ moves the same direction as the F-actin it is attached to.

bottom panel: AJs bound transcellularly as well as bound to treadmilling F-actin intracellularly. Given F-actin treadmilling on these cells pulls the AJs into opposite directions, they experience mechanical force, strengthen their binding and accumulate at the interface. This transcellular bond gets so strong, that F-actin can't treadmill any further, and the cells do not move further. In effect the same mechanism that closes the wound tightly (extracellular binding & mechanoresponsive strengthening of AJs), also stops the migration of the cells.

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Another cool feature: they can be moved around both from within (by treadmilling of the connected F-actin), and from without (if interacting AJs on other cells move). The localization and function of AJs on individual cells can only be fully understood when also looking at its neighbours! 4/10

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

One cool molecular feature: they adapt their binding strength to mechanical stress they experience. This way, connected cells can buffer acute forces to not tear apart. But at the same time, the reduced adhesion of AJs in the absence of mechanical stress allows for remodelling within tissues. 3/10

Mechanoresponsive strengthening of adherens junctions. With increasing tension, both extracellular binding strength increases (by switching the type of bond from a catch-bond to a slip-bond, and by recruiting more cadherins), as well as the binding to the intracellular actin cytoskeleton (by unfolding of alpha-catenin to link to F-actin, by additionally binding and unfolding Vinculin, and by recruiting afadin as a further linker of AJs to F-actin).
reviewed in much more detail in Campàs et al. 2024 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41580-023-00688-7) ; Eckert et al. 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceb.2025.102536); James et al. 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.264055); Pinheiro and Bellaïche 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2018.09.014)

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Adherens Junctions (AJs) are cellular contact sites established by adhesive transmembrane proteins of the cadherin and nectin-family, and intracellular scaffold proteins. They link cells to each other not just by gluing their membranes, but also by connecting to the cytoskeleton. 2/10

Core adherens junction. Extracellular domains of Nectins & Cadherins interact transcellularly and bind to intracellular scaffold proteins Afadin, beta-catenin, alpha-catenin and p120-catenin. The intracellular scaffold proteins bind to the actin cytoskeleton.

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Joachim Fuchs @joachimfuchs.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

How do molecular features of protein complexes allow cells to behave collectively? And what can we learn from collective cell migration in epithelial and mesenchymal cells to understand brain development? These questions motivated our recent review: doi.org/10.1515/hsz-... 🧪🔬🧠 1/10

Adherens junctions balance stability and motility: from cell morphogenesis to neural tissue patterning

Joachim Fuchs, Kawtar Cherkaoui and P. Robin Hiesinger

Published/Copyright: April 8, 2026

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Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I'm all in for the Bjork X Golgi apparatus crossover

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Tilo Jung @tilojung.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Queerfeindliche Regierungspolitik vs. CSD-Solidarität: Wie passen Worte und die Taten der letzten Monate der Bundesregierung eigentlich zusammen? Ich fragte heute nach...

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Klaus Lederer @klauslederer.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Wir sind einfach unfassbar verletzlich. Es ist krass, dieser Moment, wo das wieder so deutlich wird. Einmal mehr: die Frage, wie es hierzulande weitergeht, hängt auch am Umgang mit uns. Wir sind die Kanarienvögel im Grubenschacht der Demokratie. Ich hoffe gerade sehr für alle, die betroffen sind. 😢

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Der Volksverpetzer @volksverpetzer.de · 20/07/2026

Danger Dan wurde vom ZDF ausgeladen, weil es keine "angemessen kritische Einordnung und Distanzierung von den problematischen Inhalten in der Sendung und in angemessener Länge" gäbe, trotz 7 Minuten dafür. Beim Sommerinterview mit Rechtsextremistin Weidel gibt es immer noch keine Live-Faktenchecks

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Kristin Eichhorn @drkeichhorn.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Länger arbeiten, früher sterben. Reformpaket der Bundesregierung.

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Don't use slop. Someone's trying to make money out of you and your colleagues and your friends. Do yourself a favor and read 100% human-crated content in @prelights.bsky.social Upload preprints. Read preprints. Cite preprints. Fuck AI 🧪

prelights.biologists.com

Homepage - preLights

Welcome to preLights, the preprint highlights service run by the biological community and supported by The Company of Biologists. Here, a team of scientists regularly review, highlight and comment on ...

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Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

This, emphatically, shouldn't have been done, and shouldn't be used. You'd think we'd have learned that someone else's contextless algorithmic division of science outputs into "the best" and "not the best" is a disaster. Doesn't matter whether AI or Elsevier does it. the-one-percent.qedscience.com

the-one-percent.qedscience.com

QED — The most compelling preprints of 2025

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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Motion to collectively call this the Slop Factor 🧪

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Pedro Beltrao @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

@qedscience.bsky.social has come up with a really controversial idea - an AI score for scientific impact. This trained score correlates with the impact factor of published preprints and the binning of papers into discrete quality bins accessed by independent scientists. Backlash in 3, 2, 1... (more)

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Jeff Lewis @lewislab.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I think qed wants to position itself as the ‘neutral’ arbiter of paper and grant review. Which is somewhat problematic when it comes to assessing technical issues, but is hugely problematic for assessing impact for the reasons Pedro mentions. Biased inputs = biased outputs.

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jordan @jordan.matelsky.com · 15/06/2026

so I just realized I forgot to #skeetprint my Contactomes paper... (is that what we're calling it?) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @kordinglab.bsky.social @dacolon.bsky.social smithneurallab.weebly.com @jhuapl.bsky.social #academicsky #preprint #neuroscience

a single dendritic spine with a handful of synaptic partners but a HUGE number of contact partners

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Omas gegen Rechts Berlin @omasgr.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

"Das Land braucht junge Menschen, die sich kritisch mit dem drohenden Faschismus auseinandersetzen. Sie darin bestmöglich zu unterstützen, ist heute die Pflicht aller Demokrat:innen." !!!!! Antifaschistischer Kongress in Berlin: Der Schaden ist angerichtet taz.de/Antifaschist...

taz.de

Antifaschistischer Kongress in Berlin: Der Schaden ist angerichtet

Ein linker studentischer Kongress hat sich erfolgreich dagegen gewehrt, von der AfD verhindert zu werden. Die Technische Universität macht dabei aber keine gute Figur.

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Margarete Stokowski @margaowski.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

glaub berlin ist wirtschaftlich nur deswegen nich so produktiv wie süddeutschland weil wir einfach 20% unserer zeit irgendwelche geräte entkalken müssen

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Subhojit Roy MD, PhD @roylab-ucsd.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

"No matter how much we tell ourselves AI is like spell-check, it isn’t. When we use AI to flesh out ideas, we lose the most important part of the writing process: thinking...the effort and the hang-ups are a feature of the human thought process, not a bug" www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

theatlantic.com

The Biggest Tell That Something Was Written by AI

Look closely and you’ll see that every part of the text is not quite right.

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Kollektiv ZSH e.V. @kollektivzsh.eurosky.social · 02/05/2026

Heute Abend - 20 Uhr Ob Premieren- oder Trauerfeier? Make it fabulous. Wenn wir schon untergehen, dann bitte mit Lippenstift, Sekt und Applaus. 💋 MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD SUPERSTAR - Drag Musical Heute Abend in der Bar zum schmutzigen Hobby. Foto: www.instagram.com/lamprecht_ph...

Werbeplakat für ein Berlinder Drag Musical: "Magnus Hirschfeld Superstar." 3 Dragsqueens im 20er Jahre Outfit stoßen mit einem Glas Sekt über einem Sarg an. Auf dem Sarg ist ein pinkes Glitzerkreuz und eine Rose.

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Robert Fietzke @robertfietzke.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

"Kein Bundeskanzler vor mir hat so etwas ertragen müssen" ist für mich klassische Täter-Opfer-Umkehr.

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Andrea Geier / Bademeisterin der Debattenkultur @andreageier.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Verbote in der Lehre & Ankündigungen von der Texas Tech University (TTU): „Das Memorandum kündigt die schrittweise Abschaffung aller Kurse an, die sich mit SOGI (‚Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity‘) in Bachelor-, Master- und Zertifikatsstudiengängen befassen.“ #Wissenschaftsfreiheit USA

forschung-und-lehre.de

Keine freie Inhaltswahl mehr in der Hochschullehre, bei Master und Dissertation

Die akademische Freiheit ist an weiteren fünf US-Universitäten stark eingeschränkt. Neue Verbote betreffen einen großen Teil der Fächer.

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joni ⚾️ 🍉 @dschthan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

mich beschleicht so langsam das ungute gefühl dass politik hauptsächlich für die reichen unternehmer gemacht wird

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Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 23/04/2026

1. In a draconian new policy, Texas Tech is banning writing about LGBTQ+ topics. The ban is the first don't say gay or trans policy to apply to students themselves. It applies to any thesis/dissertation moving forward. They are using AI to scan everything. Subscribe to support our journalism.

erininthemorning.com

Texas Tech Issues Ban On Students Writing On LGBTQ+ Topics

The ban applies to theses and dissertations, and is expected to begin going into effect on a rolling basis.

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Simon Hammann @simonhammann.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Don'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.

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Real Al Bundy @realalbundy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Seit ich mich mit Politik beschäftige, kann ich mich an keine bösartigere Regierung erinnern. Es wird nach und nach immer deutlicher, dass hier mit Vorsatz und Präzision, schwerer Schaden an Demokratie, Rechtstaatlichkeit, unserer Gesellschaft und der Zerstörung unser aller Zukunft gearbeitet wird.

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Kollektiv ZSH e.V. @kollektivzsh.eurosky.social · 14/04/2026

"Magnus Hirschfeld Superstar" - ein Drag Musical Freunde und des berühmten Sexualwissenschaftlers finden sich zur Beerdigung ein. Mit großem Tamtam, riesigen Hüten und ihren noch aufgetakelteren Erinnerungen lassen sie das Leben ihres Mentors, Liebhabers und Zeitgenossen Revue passieren.

Collage aus Ausschnitten des Drag Musicals: "Magnus Hirschfeld Superstar". Darüber als Text: Erinnerung, Provokation, Befreiung, Wahrheit, Karikatur, Nachtleben, Akzeptanz, Sehnsucht, Abschied, Gemeinschaft.

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Robert Fietzke @robertfietzke.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

American leadership by threatening to wipe out an entire civilization – what a perverted understanding of "freedom".

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René Rusch @renerusch.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Israel hat an einem Tag über 250 Menschen im Libanon getötet. Im Libanon gibt es keine israelischen Geiseln, der Libanon hat kein Atomprogramm. Es wird nicht einmal der Versuch einer Erklärung gemacht. Wieso lassen wir das geschehen?

theguardian.com

At least 254 killed after Israel hits Lebanon with massive wave of airstrikes

‘Largest coordinated strike’ against Hezbollah since war began prompts warnings Iran could pull out of ceasefire

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Cihan Çelik @cihancelik.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Es ist ein Unterschied zwischen „Das Ministerium will bei der Genehmigungspflicht Ausnahmen per Verwaltungsvorschrift einführen“ und „Es gibt keine Genehmigungspflicht“. Ein Grundrecht ist nun ohne hinreichenden demokratischen Prozess vom Ermessen eines Ministeriums abhängig.

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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Wise words from Spain's Prime Minister: “The momentary relief cannot make us forget the chaos, the destruction, and the lives lost. The govt of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket. What is needed now: diplomacy, international law and PEACE.”

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Robert Haase @haesleinhuepf.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Please help completing this slide! I'm searching for EU-hosted, privacy-preserving, national and international, free-for-academics LLM service providers, ChatGPT alternatives etc. I only know about DE,FR,CZ options. There should be more! Please comment links to similar services below. Thanks! 🙏

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Markus Reuter @markus.reuter.netzpolitik.org · 07/04/2026

Der Sicherheitsbegriff ist viel zu sehr auf Kriminalität ausgerichtet. Ich fühle mich z.B. in diesem Land nicht sicher, weil die Regierung weder Energiewende, digitale Unabhängigkeit noch soziale Gerechtigkeit auf die Kette bekommt und gleichzeitig versagt, die Demokratie vor Faschismus zu schützen.

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Matthijs Dorst @mattneuro.dorst-lab.org · 06/04/2026

(In the spirit of the weekend, I hid a little Easter egg in the video. One internet point for whoever spots it first!)

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Bita Moghaddam @bita137.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Sharif University in Tehran was just bombed Founded in 1965, it is one the most elite science and engineering institutions in the world. Alumni include the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani, first woman to win the Fields Medal Here is the list of other alumni en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

en.wikipedia.org

List of Sharif University of Technology people - Wikipedia

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Annika Brockschmidt @ardenthistorian.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Das ist vieles, aber kein Journalismus.

Tagesschau: Blockade der Straße von Hormus
Trump gibt Iran Zeit bis Dienstag
Stand: 05.04.2026 • 21:45 Uhr
US-Präsident Trump will die Öffnung der Straße von Hormus. Zweimal hatte er ein Ultimatum dafür verschoben.
Jetzt lässt er Iran offenbar noch mal etwas mehr Zeit. Um

Donald J. Trump * O
Donald J. Trump × • @realDonaldTrump • 20m
Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP

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Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Glad to see this out in the open! Preprint from Anna Brachet and colleagues from @iins-bordeaux.bsky.social looking at the relative organization and roles of ßII-/ßIII-spectrin in the dendritic membrane-associated periodic skeleton (MPS), including cool MINFLUX data: doi.org/10.64898/202...

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