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Bob Pellegrino

@kingfunk.bsky.social
128 followers 152 following 26 posts

Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University Human psychophysicist interested in all things smell and texture. 📸: @smellboi24_7

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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
The Onion @theonion.com · 24/08/2026
Guy Who Sucks At Being A Person Sees Huge Potential In AI theonion.com/guy-who-sucks-at-being…
Guy Who Sucks At Being A Person Sees Huge Potential In AI
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
One of the better discussions on how LLMs work and can be used to understand cognition.
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Prime cat content brought to you by Current Biology! www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Signatures of branched-chain fatty acids derived from a kidney reservoir confer stable chemical individuality on domestic cats
Ichizawa et al. show that cats maintain durable chemical individuality in urine through donor-specific branched-chain fatty acid (BFA) profiles stabilized by renal cortical lipid droplets. This kidney...
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Martin Hebart @martinhebart.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I have been meaning to write a post about a preprint that I'm pretty excited about: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... In neuroscience we often assume that we can learn something general about “the brain” using different species. But is this true? Do monkeys even see the world the way we do?
On the left, an image of a rhesus macaque looking towards its left, and on the right, an AI-generated zoomed-out rendering of a human in the same pose. Both are looking.
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Yeah I still keep up with the philly news
reddit.com
From the cheesesteak community on Reddit: I Ate A Cheesesteak Everyday For A Week Because We Got LeBron
Explore this post and more from the cheesesteak community
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Calle Börstell @cborstell.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The quote "Actually, Frankenstein is the doctor, the monster is Frankenstein's Monster" but crossed out and replaced with "Actually, ggplot is the function, the package is ggplot 2"
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Ethan Mollick @emollick.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I wrote a new post on what we need to keep human and what to hand over to AI, with forays into experiments in education, consulting, and the the latest controversy over literary prizes. www.oneusefulthing.org/p/choosing-t...
oneusefulthing.org
Choosing to Stay Human
If you go to your favorite social media site, you will find it full of posts that start to look suspiciously similar to each other:
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
20% of people have impaired smell. Almost no cookbooks account for that. #LongCOVID #anosmia Rediscovering Flavor, a new type of cookbook, changes that — science, practical guidance, and recipes co-created with smell loss patients. Preorder open now. 🧪 📖 🍽️
amazon.com
Rediscovering Flavor: A Practical Guide for Smell Loss
Rediscovering Flavor: A Practical Guide for Smell Loss: 9783032080554: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com
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Johan Lundstrom @odorjohan.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Hiring a postdoc to do something nobody has done: record oscillatory signals from the human olfactory epithelium in awake humans. PhD in neuroscience, biomedical engineering, or adjacent. Real electrophysiology experience: single-unit, intracranial, or peripheral. Olfactory background optional.
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Joel Mainland @jmainland.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Can we predict what a molecule smells like from its structure? A new exchange in @ChemSenses debates this question. 🧪 @kingfunk.bsky.social
The odor limonene feeding into a neural network to predict the odor.
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Howdy Y'all, I'm running a sensory lab now 👀 The lab focuses on smells (duh), textures (🤔), and their interactions using big data approaches to relate the physical to the perceptual. Lab manager posting linked here. Interested in a PhD? Just message me!
tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Lab Manager
Job TitleLab Manager Agency Texas A&M Agrilife Research Department Animal Science Proposed Minimum SalaryCommensurate Job LocationCollege Station, Texas Job TypeStaff Job Description About Texas A...
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Ben Young @benyoung.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Call for chapter proposals - The OUP Handbook of Smell edited by Jessica Freiherr, Andreas Keller, Kathrin Ohla, Laiquan Zou, & Benjamin Young and published by Oxford University Press (under contract). Full details here: philevents.org/event/show/1... Please share widely.
philevents.org
The OUP Handbook of Smell - Call for chapter proposals
Call for chapter proposals - The OUP Handbook of Smell We are seeking chapter proposals of The OUP Handbook of Smell. The handbook will be edited by Jessica Freiherr, Andreas Keller, Kathrin...
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Ambassador Frank Hull @frankiethull.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
i love data, me too meme
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Tobias Ackels @tobiasackels.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Postdoc position in systems neuroscience! Excited to recruit a postdoc for my lab at the University of Bonn. 🔬 In vivo physiology (Neuropixels, 2P/miniscope) 🐭 Head-fixed & freely moving behaviour 💡 Optogenetics/chemogenetics ⏳ Start: ASAP | Application deadline: 28.02.2026 More info below ⬇️
The research group “Sensory Dynamics and Behaviour” of Prof. Dr. Tobias Ackels at the Institute of Experimental Epilepsy and Cognition Research at the
University Hospital Bonn invites applications for a position as:
Postdoctoral Researcher (m/f/d)
The position is initially limited to three years (TV-L E13/100%),
starting from April 2026 or as soon as possible.
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Jeffrey Perkel (he/him) @jperkel.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
🚨Scientists 🚨: Tired of come-ons from journals & conferences that may or may not be predatory? A new tool called Aletheia-Probe could help. 🧪 By @silverjacket.bsky.social @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Is this journal legitimate? This tool can help you decide
Aletheia-Probe provides a one-stop shop to help you assess whether journals and conferences are trustworthy or predatory.
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Crawford Kilian @crof.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
A long, absolutely must-read article from Cory Doctorow: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
AI companies will fail. We can salvage something from the wreckage | Cory Doctorow
AI is asbestos in the walls of our tech society, stuffed there by monopolists run amok. A serious fight against it must strike at its roots
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bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
High-Fidelity Tuning of Olfactory Mixture Distances in the Perceptual Space of Smell Through a Community Effort www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Pablo Meyer @oldbap.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
And the latest from @dreamchallenges.bsky.social
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
1/3 The humble glass jar is a workhorse in olfactory research, but comes w/ hidden problems: - Unknown headspace concentration - Concentration dilution by ambient air These add noise to odor measurements. Our preprint introduces something new, something bag.🧪 @jmainland.bsky.social & Matt Andres
biorxiv.org
Odor Sampling Bags Enable Reliable Delivery of Controlled Odor Concentrations
Precise control of odorant concentration is essential for reliable olfactory research, yet existing odorant delivery methods often suffer from solvent interactions and dilution from ambient air, limiting stimulus consistency in olfactory research. We developed an odor sampling bag system using Nalophan plastic to create a closed headspace with air as the carrier medium, eliminating solvent-related variability and ambient air dilution. In two independent experiments, 15 trained panelists each rated the perceived intensity of seven concentrations of benzaldehyde and 2-heptanone using both gas-sampling bags and glass jars. Bags produced higher maximum perceptual intensities (p < 0.001) and greater test-retest reliability than jars (Experiment 1: r = 0.89 vs. 0.81, p < 0.001; Experiment 2: r = 0.86 vs. 0.72, p < 0.001). Notably, the two tested odorants showed different maximum intensities in bags (p < 0.001) but not jars (p = 0.85), suggesting bags better preserve odorant-specific concentration differences. Photoionization detector measurements confirmed stable headspace concentrations over time, comparable to industry-standard Tedlar bags. This cost-effective approach offers improved stimulus control for olfactory psychophysics research. ### Competing Interest Statement Joel D. Mainland serves on the scientific advisory board of Osmo Labs, PBC and receives compensation for these activities. National Institutes of Health, https://ror.org/01cwqze88, F32 DC020380, T32 DC000014, U19 NS112953, R01 DC017757, R01 DC021663
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Superior cf what? Full of ultraprocessed constituents. The relentless and inappropriate marketing of David protein bars Here's a roundup of facts about protein intake and unnecessary preoccupation erictopol.substack.com/p/our-preocc...
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
1/5 Odor intensity isn’t just about concentration! We have a new preprint to prove it: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... In cahoots with @jmainland.bsky.social, @alexkoulakov.bsky.social, Rick Gerkin, Khristina Samoilova and others not on bluesky. 🧪 Which of these molecules smells stronger?
Chemical structure of acetophenone and 2-heptanone
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Ralph Emilio Peterson @ralphpeterson.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
New preprint!

 tl;dr — We ran around late at night to record wild rats in NYC and figured out how to quantify their behavior and environment. 🧵 w/ Dima Batenkov, @zamakany.bsky.social, Emily Mackevicius www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Computational Urban Ecology of New York City Rats
Urban rats are highly adaptable, thriving in the dynamic and often inhospitable conditions of modern cities. Despite substantial mitigation efforts, they remain an enduring presence in urban environme...
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Sometimes I forget that Todd Rundgren doesn't want to work but just wants to bang on the drum all day.
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Nature Reviews Psychology @natrevpsychol.nature.com · 18/06/2025
Distinguishing performance gains from learning when using generative AI Comment by Lixiang Yan, Samuel Greiff, Jason M. Lodge & Dragan Gašević go.nature.com/3FJqTq3
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Large language models (LLMs) can mirror human thinking in vision and language, but can they smell and taste? New study with @rbrainengineer.bsky.social show stochastic LLMs rate creative flavor pairings like humans, prioritizing novelty over taste. #AI #creativity #foodscience
sciencedirect.com
Automating chemosensory creativity assessment with large language models
Chemosensory creativity, the ability to innovate using taste and smell, is a crucial yet understudied aspect of human ingenuity. This study explores t…
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
ACOG @acog.org · 27/05/2025
ACOG is deeply disappointed by HHS’s move to drop COVID-19 vaccine recommendations in pregnancy. The science is clear: COVID-19 remains dangerous in pregnancy and vaccination protects both patients and newborns. The vaccine is safe and protects families. Read our full statement: buff.ly/OGue7sO
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Steve Munger @stevenmunger.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Regular smell and taste testing could aid early detection of impairments that negatively impact health, safety, and quality of life, and could also reveal underlying disease. But how do we get there? This new whitepaper is out today:
doi.org
Towards Universal Chemosensory Testing: Needs, Barriers and Opportunities
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 10/05/2025
One of the few bands I’ve been listening to since the 90s and still putting out great stuff
m.youtube.com
Lust For Gold
YouTube video by Starflyer 59 - Topic
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Reposted by Bob Pellegrino
Joel Mainland @jmainland.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
With a contemporary smartphone, capturing, transmitting, and replicating sounds and visuals is a breeze, yet replicating scents remains elusive. If you want to change this, consider joining the 2025 DREAM Olfaction Challenge at www.synapse.org/Synapse:syn6.... @oldbap.bsky.social
synapse.org
DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025
'DREAM Olfactory Mixtures Prediction Challenge 2025' (Synapse ID: syn64743570) is a project on Synapse. Synapse is a platform for supporting scientific collaborations centered around shared biomed...
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Most people haven’t heard of this test, which is available in the US. It accurately predicts Alzheimer’s (not just if there’s a risk, but when). It is modulated by exercise and likely other lifestyle factors. Here’s (almost) everything we know about it erictopol.substack.com/p/the-breakt...
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Kadjita Asumbisa @kasumbisa.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Excited to share the sequel to our 2022 paper! In this follow-up, we show that the stable head direction (HD) signals we reported in blind mice rely on stereo olfaction—that is, the comparison of odor info. between the two nostrils. Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧵highlights below
nature.com
Stereo olfaction underlies stable coding of head direction in blind mice - Nature Communications
Stereo olfaction involves comparing odor differences between the two nostrils. Here, using neuronal recordings and a behavioral test, the authors demonstrate that blind mice use stereo olfaction to fo...
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Patrick Forcelli @paf1984.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Very proud of this paper, which spans three decades of work. (1/17) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Piriform cortex is an ictogenic trigger zone in the primate brain
Objective Area tempestas, a functionally defined region in the anterior piriform cortex, was identified as a crucial ictogenic trigger zone in the rat brain in the 1980s. However, whether the primat...
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 12/02/2025
Welcome to the Bluesky account for Stand Up for Science 2025! Keep an eye on this space for updates, event information, and ways to get involved. We can't wait to see everyone #standupforscience2025 on March 7th, both in DC and locations nationwide! #scienceforall #sciencenotsilence
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
New video tracking suite for social behavior + large dataset to benchmark other tracking suites.
cell.com
Mapping the landscape of social behavior
Computer vision and machine learning approaches map a multi-scale social behavioral landscape, revealing ASD signatures and establishing an atlas of rodent sociality.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Today's @usatoday.com front page First US death from measles in 10 years First child to die from measles in 22 years in the US All of this fully preventable
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Ben Young @benyoung.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
One more day to get your paper in.
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Learning the language of life with A.I. @science.org In today's essay, I review the phenomenal progress in foundation models of DNA, RNA, proteins, ligands, cells, their interactions, the Virtual Lab, and the aspiration for the Virtual Cell www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Learning the language of life with AI
In 2021, a year before ChatGPT took the world by storm amid the excitement about generative artificial intelligence (AI), AlphaFold 2 cracked the 50-year-old protein-folding problem, predicting three-...
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Dinu F Albeanu @dinanthos.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Interested in understanding how things work? In particular the tools you use to study the brain? Join us at TENSS 2025 where we brainstorm ideas, build and debug microscopes, electrophysiology and behavior rigs amidst the picturesque Transylvanian hills! tenss.ro Apply by: February 16th!
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
Alexander Fjaeldstad and I have a new chapter in the book Smell, Taste, Eat: The Role of the Chemical Senses in Eating Behaviour, edited by @LorenzoDStafford. Lots of great insights here. From our chapter, it’s clear that smell loss and its impact on ingestion remain vastly underexplored."
link.springer.com
The Effect of Olfactory Disorder (and Other Chemosensory Disorders) on Perception, Acceptance, and Consumption of Food
People with changes in the overall sensory experience of food often complain of taste disturbances, although the problem is normally caused by the loss of aroma in the food (thus an olfactory disorder...
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Johnston Lab @inchinn.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
We have a fresh new paper! The PhD project of the talented Mark Conway. A learning-induced change in the sensitivity of olfactory receptor neurons enables consistent perception of an odor. #olfaction #neuroscience www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Perceptual constancy for an odor is acquired through changes in primary sensory neurons
Learning-induced changes in primary sensory neurons support concentration-invariant perception of an odor.
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Paul Feinstein @paulfeinstein-phd.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
www.nature.com/collections/... @achems.bsky.social @olfalabs.bsky.social
nature.com
Olfaction and taste
This Collection welcomes original research articles that investigate the senses of olfaction and taste. Animal studies as well as clinical studies that report ...
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Jonas Olofsson @jokriolo.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘The Forgotten Sense’ Review: What the Nose Knows
The human sense of smell is more powerful than we realize. It often works best in subtle collaboration with our other senses.
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The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Sniffing out the mysteries of olfaction with Dmitry Rinberg. By Lina Zeldovich www.thetransmitter.org/olfaction/sn...
thetransmitter.org
Sniffing out the mysteries of olfaction
A background in physics, and his own curiosity, have helped Dmitry Rinberg tackle the complexities of the neuroscience of smell.
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
sciencedirect.com
Opinion note: Digitalization in sensory and consumer science – Summary perspectives from presentations at the 15th Pangborn sensory science symposium
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Johan Lundstrom @odorjohan.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
If you have 2 minutes to spare, please help us out by telling us what odors come to mind (and share this). We are mostly looking for people living in Sweden, but happy to get all of the world redcap.ki.se/redcap/surve... No payment I'm afraid, but you get a gold star if you do it and/or spread it!
redcap.ki.se
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Bob Pellegrino @kingfunk.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
link.springer.com/article/10.3...
link.springer.com
Smells like … no evidence that odors influence the attentional blink - Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
The attentional blink (AB) paradigm is frequently used to investigate temporal attention. Essentially, rapid serial visual streams of several distractors and two targets are presented. The accuracy in...
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