Reposted by J. Chris PiresRuha Benjamin @ruha9.bsky.social · 1h“Texas Tech’s censorship policy does not just affect the humanities. According to the AAUP lawsuit, medical students at the campus in El Paso are no longer permitted to learn about racial disparities in medical care or how to treat underserved populations.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1... 1295181
Reposted by J. Chris PiresCarl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1h“.. Since the final F-150 Lightning rolled off the assembly line in December, it has become one of the most coveted cars in America ..” @bloomberg.com $F www.bloomberg.com/news/article... 41443134
Reposted by J. Chris PiresDon Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1hOver the last decade, there were two hypotheses: H1: the political right genuinely cared about threats to speech from the left. H2: they were using campus speech wars to impose their values and silence dissent. Today, the answer is clear, but I can't find any of the H1 people admitting their error. 24814249
Reposted by J. Chris PiresUnited Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 14hWarrantless stops and violent roving patrols by masked federal agents across California, especially the Central Valley, have been terrorizing farm workers for the past 5 days. The chaos is escalating. full statement: www.dailykos.com/stories/2026... 241461767
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · 14hThat's so many giant tortoises I love it. Also it's fascinating that the only places giant tortoises live are tiny islandstheguardian.comScientists discover 180,000 giant tortoises on one Seychelles islandFree-roaming Aldabra population far exceeds human population of Seychelles after decades-long recovery programme 624541
Reposted by J. Chris PiresRon Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 13hThe Republican Party is on the side of Russia against Ukraine. It’s not me saying that, it’s their cult leader. bsky.app/profile/atru... 1803045955
Reposted by J. Chris PiresAnne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 13hUkraine has repeatedly offered cease fires and Russia has always refused 1421867574
Reposted by J. Chris PiresAaron Parnas @aaronparnas.bsky.social · 16hNEWS: Elon Musk begins election interference efforts in Colorado and Wisconsin. His PAC begins dumping money to trick voters nationwide. This is important. Trump and Putin have 'love' affair. Trump calls for regime change in Ukraine. Republicans rebuke him. Senate Republicans are in trouble.aaronparnas.substack.comNEWS: Musk Launches Election Interference Campaign, Trump Demands Regime Change in Ukraine, Senate Republicans in TroubleHey everyone, it’s Saturday evening and today might have been one of the most consequential days of this entire stretch. 17556264
Reposted by J. Chris PiresAaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 16hThe DOJ beclowns itself again. 28927142
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMax Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 16hLow-hanging fruit for reporters and Dem trackers: ask a Republican running for office, "what would you do if you were in a car with your child and men in hoodies charged at you with guns drawn?" Follow up with "do you think it's reasonable for a parent in that situation to use lethal force?" 261722395
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 16hKnew that Oklahoma kicker would nail it the second I looked up his headshot. Zero curvature in that smile. This kid has ice in his veins. 91154597
Reposted by J. Chris Pires🌈Dr. Frizzle @swilua.bsky.social · 19hA council has been called to determine the fate of humanity this fall 1840740
Reposted by J. Chris PiresScott Dworkin @dworkin.bsky.social · 19hYosemite has been protected since 1890. A Trump donor bought the ranch next door for $4 million and wants a private road through the park. Tell Congress the answer is no: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...actionnetwork.orgTell Congress: Stop Trump’s Yosemite GiveawayContact Congress today! 9308166
Reposted by J. Chris PiresNeugin @lostcitymagic.bsky.social · 19hThe great antlered giant prairie snail is rare, but an awesome inspiring sight to behold 0583125
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 18hI love taking the train between San Diego and Los Angeles since it's such a gorgeous view but there's just no way it'll still exist on the same track a generation from now. www.instagram.com/reels/DeSCAh... 1584223798
Reposted by J. Chris PiresAnnie Hatmaker, Ph.D. @annemakerofhats.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Come be my colleague!!! As a recent hire just 2 mos in, I have felt very supported by UGA so far, and there's a great group of fungal biologists here!! I am in an altogether different department, but please reach out if you have any questions about UGA and the Athens area! ❤️🖤 2109
Reposted by J. Chris PiresSAHASA 🐙🪸 @sculptedreef.com · 08/10/2026HAPPY WORLD OCTOPUS DAY Bsky!!! 🐙 🐡🦑 We're celebrating 🥳 🎉 with 5% to 20% off, auto applied in your cart: sculptedreef.com #BSNM #WorldOctopusDay 519759
Reposted by J. Chris PiresSigrid Neuhauser @sigridneuhauser.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Happy World Octopus day to all who celebrate! 0204
Reposted by J. Chris PiresSeána Duggan @seanaduggan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Really looking forward to this meeting and line-up! @mrccmm.bsky.social 021
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Olm @mattolm.bsky.social · 06/08/2026I may have Apple fan-boyed a little too hard on the office setup 271
Reposted by J. Chris PiresAlex Crits-Christoph @acritschristoph.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Many people are obviously interested in this report in the context of Claude's capabilities. Given that it was guided by experts, and that another human team had already made more progress on a similar system, I think this case study does not say much about Claude's current independent capabilities 1154
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Olm @mattolm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026This is an interesting paper! Starting with a really big screen to look for GPCR activation by microbes, and ending with a convincing story by which microbes make acetylcholine in the gut to promote IgA production, ultimately leading to better colonization. www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comCommensal-derived acetylcholine enhances mucosal immune education - NatureA diet–microbiome–host axis strengthens mucosal immune defences and reinforces host–microbiota mutualism. 1219
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Olm @mattolm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Sharable link: rdcu.be/9D1PAYzgMhea Coverage from NYT: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/s... Coverage from NPR: www.npr.org/2026/10/07/n... Coverage from Stanford: med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...nytimes.comWas the Human Gut Healthier in Ancient Times? (Gift Article)The microbiome isn’t what it used to be in many parts of the world. The shift may be affecting the well-being of people in industrialized countries. 064
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Olm @mattolm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026An amazing collaboration between the Sonnenburg lab and Good lab at Stanford, the Tsimane Health and Life History Project (tsimane.anth.ucsb.edu), and the Tsimane and Hadza communities who made this possible.tsimane.anth.ucsb.eduThe UNM-UCSB Tsimane Health and Life History ProjectThe UNM-Tsimane Health and Life History Project 161
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMatt Olm @mattolm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026My final postdoc project is out today in Nature! We show microbes co-migrated with humans out of Africa; three independent methods agree, and timing matches archaeological / genetic evidence (Fig. 4c). Seeing Fig. 4c for 1st time was one of my most memorable "eureka" moments! doi.org/10.1038/s415...doi.orgPrehistoric global migration of vanishing gut microbes with humans - NatureMicrobial species disappearing from industrialized populations have evolved with humans over millennia and migrated worldwide with them—this may have consequences for human health. 311648
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I had a lot of fun writing this paper- and especially want to thank Ozan and Kai for making such nice figures! 0151
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The big open question: simple multicellularity is ancient and common, yet complex multicellularity arose in just five eukaryotic lineages. Why? We sketch how life cycle structure, Neoproterozoic environments and genome architecture may have shaped which lineages became complex. 1172
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Coordinated development may have deep roots as well: the ichthyosporean Chromosphaera perkinsii shows animal-like embryonic cleavage, and the archaeon Haloferax volcanii forms tissue-like sheets under compression. 1121
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Challenge 3: functional integration. Rather than always inventing new genetic programs, nascent organisms often co-opt ancestral modules, turning environmentally induced cell states into spatially deployed cell types (e.g., Volvox regA, derived from a stress-response gene). 1183
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Heritability comes for free too. Cells packed into groups have emergent traits arising from well-understood physical principles, so mutations that only change the traits of cells can produce novel group-level traits that are even more heritable than the cell-level traits underlying them. 1171
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Challenge 2: the Darwinian threshold. Groups need a life cycle before they can evolve one, a classic chicken-and-egg problem. The way out: life cycles can be scaffolded "for free," either by the environment (e.g., floods dispersing cells) or by physics (packing stress fracturing snowflake yeast). 1204
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Challenge 1: forming groups. Across yeast, algae, bacteria and holozoans, lab evolution shows group formation arises fast (within 100–750 generations) and convergently, often through simple mutations like loss of ACE2 in snowflake yeast. 1204
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Feel free to use this video summary in your teaching, etc, I would love for it to find use. For those who are curious how we put it together: we used Claude Opus 5.5 to render ~9,000 animation frames in python, and I recorded the audio on a Yeti Blue mic, post-processing with Adobe Podcast. 2241
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Multicellularity has evolved at least 45 times in eukaryotes alone, plus additional origins in bacteria and archaea. But how does it actually happen? We organize the paper around three perceived challenges: group formation, becoming a Darwinian individual, and functional integration. 2327
Reposted by J. Chris PiresWill Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below. 11354156
Reposted by J. Chris PiresJeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · 21hSignup link, new home on the community website, and new email list for those who don’t live on slack all coming soon. In the meantime, schedule and zoom link still here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...docs.google.comZeavolution signup 11311
Reposted by J. Chris PiresPLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 23hVisualizing #RNA dynamics in living plant cells at single transcript resolution is limited by high background fluorescence. This study develops a high signal-to-noise imaging platform that overcomes this barrier, revealing mRNA trafficking dynamics. 🧪 #AcademicSky #imaging #plants plos.io/4ARoa5k 0207
Reposted by J. Chris PiresInnsmouth Looksmaxxing @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 09/10/2026This debate performance is really going to help Ossoff stand out in the 2028 pack specifically because "does not eat shit in a debate" is going to be a top qualification for so many Democratic voters 01100106
Reposted by J. Chris PiresNiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 07/10/2026"History offers few precedents for the alarming scales and speeds of today’s anthropogenic ecological changes. These comparisons may be informative, but they are rarely comforting." - @malentendre.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2025/07/05/s... #envhist #cdnhist #wildfires #smokeseason #torontoniche-canada.orgSmoke and Mirrors: Medieval Drama Through the SmogOn June 7, 2025, Toronto hosted outdoor medieval plays amid wildfire smoke, blending ecological crisis with theatrical reflection. 053
Reposted by J. Chris PiresNew Scientist @newscientist.com · 08/10/2026An analysis of lake sediments in south-eastern Australia has revealed that the expulsion of Indigenous communities in the 19th century resulted in an explosion of tree cover and more devastating wildfires. Read more: www.newscientist.com/articl... 0138
Reposted by J. Chris PiresErin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 09/10/2026This framing is so f***ed up I don't even know where to begin criticizing it. #edusky #academicsky (gift link)nytimes.comA College-by-College Guide to Which Majors Pay Off — or Don’t (Gift Article)College is one of the biggest investments you’ll ever make. We built a tool to compare the earnings of all available majors in a federal data set at nearly every school. 0111
Reposted by J. Chris PiresTom Rooney @tomrooney.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Kate McFarland examines how human activity corrupts the unseen sensory landscapes of wild animals, exploring phenomena from disrupted magnetoreception to olfactory noise. A great read on breaking past our anthropocentric biases in conservation: rewilding.org/beyond-the-h...rewilding.orgBeyond the Human Umwelt: Silent and Invisible Sensory PollutionWe must not be deaf and blind to the importance of animal senses outside of hearing and vision and, correspondingly, sensory pollution beyond noise and light. 142
Reposted by J. Chris PiresBrad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 09/10/2026We’re sick of ICE terrorizing our neighbors. Sick of it. Like the brave people of Minneapolis, we have zero tolerance for federal agents lawlessly unleashing violence on our streets. 5933145
Reposted by J. Chris PiresMichelle Momany @mcmomany.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Join us in UGA Fungal Group! Dept of Microbiology is hiring tenure track Associate or Full prof in Medical Mycology pursuing translational and/or fundamental understanding of human fungal pathogens using any experimental or computational system. www.ugajobsearch.com/postings/508... 03427
Reposted by J. Chris PiresPawel Burkhardt @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social · 07/10/2026From bioRxiv to PNAS! 🎉 Very happy to see our paper “Diversity and spatial segregation of TRP channels in the closest relatives of animals” now published in @pnas.org. Another piece in the puzzle of how animal cell signalling evolved. 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... 36017