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Merkel lab

@merkellab.bsky.social
458 followers 444 following 30 posts

Group Leader, theoretical soft matter & biophysics CNRS, Center for Theoretical Physics, Marseille www.merkellab.net Opinions are my own.

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Reposted by Merkel lab
Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
LLMs are cognitive viruses that can depress collective cognitive competence. But by the same token, immunization is possible. arxiv.org/abs/2609.03344
arxiv.org
Large-Language Models as a Cognitive Virus
Large-language models (LLMs) are rapidly becoming part of human culture, reshaping how information is produced, transmitted, and used. Here we propose that their diffusion can be understood through a ...
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Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Kids are told AI is 'inevitable' and acting accordingly. This is harming their cognitive development and foreclosing their life opportunities. Generative AI is cognitive cancer and we are doing next to nothing to stop it from spreading."
buildcognitiveresonance.substack.com
The 50 Percent Problem
Empirical evidence of the educational harm of generative AI
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
www.ted.com/talks/bill_m...
ted.com
Our last, best chance to cool the Earth
We're living through oil wars, wildfire smoke and extreme weather driven by a warming planet. But environmentalist Bill McKibben says one thing is finally going right: the price of clean energy has pl...
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Reposted by Merkel lab
Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 28/07/2026
Fires in France have now burned over 91,000 acres, by far the most of any year since the satellite record started in 2006. Current area burned is about 34x larger than this date in a typical (median) year:
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 09/02/2026
I've created a new dashboard for The Climate Brink that is updated daily with ERA5 global mean surface temperature data. It includes daily anomalies, monthly and annual forecasts, and a bunch of interactive data visualizations: dashboard.theclimate...
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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 24/07/2026
Renewables are now the world's largest source of electricity – and the main source of new supplies
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Greenpeace International 🌍 @greenpeace.org · 16/07/2026
"Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it."
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Reese Richardson @reeserichardson.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
@johanduchene.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social Spent the last hour looking, found ten more apparently manipulated Western blots in Thermo Fisher's antibody verification data (across eight different catalogued products). Thread below. www.thermofisher.com/antibody/pro...
Apparent manipulation in the antibody verification data in Thermo Fisher's online catalog
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
📣 We are organising the workshop "Phases of Collective Cellular Behavior: Rheology, Order & Feedback" from 5.-9. October 2026 at the MPI-PKS in Dresden, Germany. This workshop at the interface between physics and biology is about the collective behaviour of cells. More info: www.pks.mpg.de/colcel26
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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Another fascinating - and totally serendipitous - example of how human biological sex isn't always binary, despite executive orders that it is. In this case an XX/XY mosaic individual was a fertile female. Other XX/XY mosaics can be phenotypically male.
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
How likely is an #AMOC shutdown? Here's our latest study based on 768 runs with 38 standard climate models (the CMIP6 models). Note these do not include any meltwater from Greenland mass loss, so might underestimate the risk a bit. 2/2 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
Collapse of key Atlantic current could bring extreme drought to Europe for centuries, study finds. @swinda.bsky.social That's an under-appreciated impact of #AMOC shutdown, of particular concern given the recent results showing much higher likelihood of this. 1/2 www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
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Michael Lühmann @herrluehmann.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Wovor Menschen (laut der CDU nahen Adenauer Stiftung) in Deutschland Angst haben: Russischer Aggression, Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Rechtsruck, AfD, Klimawandel, Desinformation. Grüße an eine vollkommen falsche politische und mediale Debatte. www.kas.de/documents/d/...
Tabelle im Link.
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
"[...] Iran’s president [...] announced that Tehran [...] would need to be abandoned and re-established elsewhere, because, after years of climate-fuelled drought, its water has finally run out." The article includes ideas on what to do against climate inaction. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Another Cop wrecked by fossil fuel interests and our leaders’ cowardice – but there is another way | Genevieve Guenther
The fingerprints of Russia and Saudi Arabia are all over the decision text in Brazil. But a group of nations led by Colombia and the Netherlands offer hope, says End Climate Silence founding director ...
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Rutger Bregman @rutgerbregman.com · 25/11/2025
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
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Valérie Masson-Delmotte @valmasdel.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Un document concis et clair du @hc-climat.bsky.social
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Mar Benavides @marbenavides.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
suggested the university was “explicitly trading my academic freedom for access to the Chinese student market,” www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
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Reposted by Merkel lab
Pierre-François Lenne @pflenne.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Appreciate Quanta for shining a light on our joint work with Simon Gsell, Sham Tlili (@shamtlili.bsky.social), and Matthias Merkel (@merkellab.bsky.social).
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Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Woah! Such an important study published in Nature today! Quick thread with some of their key figures! 🧵
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Malte Kreutzfeldt @mkreutzfeldt.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Zusammen mit dem Monitoring-Bericht zur Energiewende hat Katherina Reiche in der letzten Woche einen Zehn-Punkte-Plan vorgestellt. Dieser weist sprachlich wie inhaltlich große Ähnlichkeiten zu einem Papier von RWE und Eon aus dem Frühjahr auf. Ein längerer Thread mit Links und Beispielen. (1/19)
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Thousands of Italian workers and students are on strike for Gaza apnews.com/article/ital...
apnews.com
Italian workers' strike in solidarity with Gaza brings disruptions across the country
Thousands of workers and students across Italy have joined a general strike and demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
In case you missed it, according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. You may have been aware of it - some people still are not. The text of the resolution: genocidescholars.org/wp-content/u... www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
theguardian.com
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s top scholars on the crime say
International Association of Genocide Scholars resolution backed by 86% of members who voted
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Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament 🌍 @greens-efa.eu · 10/09/2025
The EU credibility is at stake. We must do more on Gaza. Our @baseickhout.bsky.social to Commission President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu.
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Greenpeace EU @greenpeace.eu · 09/09/2025
No individual billionaire, corporation, or country should be allowed to block the will and wellbeing of 8 billion people and the future of our planet. The Planet Can’t Afford Billionaires Read more: time.com/7305649/the-...
illustration of a hand from a business suit hold a match, lighting a fuse on a bomb that is planet earth

Moor Studio—Getty Images
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Greens/EFA in the EU Parliament 🌍 @greens-efa.eu · 10/09/2025
MEPs, together, drawing a red line for Gaza. Killing civilians is a red line. Starving people is a red line. Bombing hospitals and shelters is a red line. Israel’s assault on Gaza is unlawful, disproportionate, and devastating. We call on @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu and the EU to take action!
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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
"Last year, more than 90 percent of wind and solar projects commissioned worldwide produced power more cheaply than the cheapest available fossil-fuel alternative."
nytimes.com
‘China Is the Engine’ Driving Nations Away From Fossil Fuels, Report Says
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Most-viewed Guardian articles last night. Editors shouldn’t think that the public doesn’t want to know more about climate change. Or about ocean science 🌊! Read the article about our paper: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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Truthout @truthout.org · 15/08/2025
Israeli forces abducted a Palestinian child near a GHF site in June and took him to a notorious prison camp where they subjected him to severe torture for nearly a month. Omar was alongside other aid seekers when Israeli forces encircled them, held him at gunpoint, and then forced them to strip.
buff.ly
Israel Abducted Child Aid Seeker and Tortured Him for a Month While Carrying Out Aid Site Massacres
A recent report reveals Israel is also abducting Palestinians near aid sites, on top of near-daily massacres.
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
journals.biologists.com
From genes to patterns: five key dynamical systems concepts to decode developmental regulatory mechanisms
Summary: Dynamical systems theory provides a powerful quantitative and intuitive framework to understand developmental processes. This Primer brings key concepts of this framework to the ever-growing ...
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Israeli public figures call for ‘crippling sanctions’ on Israel over Gaza starvation
Thirty-one high-profile Israelis accuse Tel Aviv of ‘brutal campaign’ and demand permanent ceasefire in letter
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
“I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?” “It couldn’t happen without the support of the western world. Any leader that is not doing whatever they can to stop it is part of this horror.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, say Israel-based human rights groups
Reports detailing intentional targeting of Palestinians as a group, and systemic destruction of Palestinian society, add to pressure for action
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
‘We faced hunger before, but never like this’: skeletal children fill hospital wards as starvation grips Gaza
For months Israel kept food shipments to Gaza far below starvation rations. Now the death toll is rising rapidly
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Frank Schnorrer @frankschnorrer.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
SARCOMERES divide! Mechanism how muscles grow while contracting - daughter sarcomeres appear everywhere. Seen live, registered on our cover. Pioneered by @clementrodier.bsky.social @friedrich-group.bsky.social Ian Estabrook @ibdm.bsky.social $ by @hfspo.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
If the Royal Society had decided to expel Elon Musk simply for violating their Code of Conduct, they wouldn't now face the embarrassment of having a Fellow who built MechanoHitler. Hey ho.
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News Eye @newseye.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
If you don’t think this moment of symbolism is 100% deliberate, you haven’t been paying attention. The Speaker surrendering his gavel is purposeful, self-subjugation to the “King”. Congress betraying its role & yielding its power. All on #July4th too.
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IBDM, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille @ibdm.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
🥇Sham Tlili has been awarded the CNRS 2025 Bronze Medal! She studies how physical forces shape living tissues by using mouse stem cell models known as gastruloids. A unique blend of physics & biology. 🔗 Read more: www.ibdm.univ-amu.fr/sham-tlili-w...
ibdm.univ-amu.fr
Sham Tlili, winner of the CNRS 2025 bronze medal - IBDM | Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille
A distinction that rewards a promising and already fruitful scientific career.
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
“What we know from the science is that unless we halve emissions by 2030, we’re not going to be able to get anywhere close to the Paris Agreement’s limit.” “Overshooting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 °C target would be a very serious political failure.” Very true. www.oneearthnow.org/p/rates-of-w...
oneearthnow.org
“Rates of Warming are Unprecedented” Scientists Warn in Latest Dire Assessment
Unless carbon emissions and fossil fuel use are slashed drastically, global heating could surpass the limits set out in the Paris Agreement.
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Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
»Wer soll das alles bezahlen?« ist bis heute wohl eines der beliebtesten Gegenargumente, um Klimaschutzmaßnahmen zu verschleppen. Wer heute noch an dieses Strohmann-Argument glaubt, sollte einen Blick in den neuen Bericht des Industrieländerverbandes OECD werfen. perspective-daily.de/article/3771...
perspective-daily.de
Kluger Klimaschutz lohnt sich. Für alle – sagt eine neue Studie
Hier kommt die Antwort auf »Wer soll das alles bezahlen?«. Denn Klimaschutz könnte zu 13% mehr Wohlstand führen.
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Harvard appears to think all Jews support Israel. That is discriminatory | Barry Trachtenberg, Victor Silverman, Atalia Omer, Raz Segal, Rebecca T Alpert
We are Jewish scholars who filed an amicus brief with the US supreme court on Harvard’s discriminatory assumption that being Jewish means supporting Israel
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 12/03/2025
Research from 2022 that every Democrat apologist should chew on: “We do not find any evidence that accommodative strategies reduce radical right support. If anything, our results suggest that they lead to more voters defecting to the radical right.“ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
Does accommodation work? Mainstream party strategies and the success of radical right parties | Political Science Research and Methods | Cambridge Core
Does accommodation work? Mainstream party strategies and the success of radical right parties - Volume 11 Issue 1
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
'Melanie O'Brien, president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, told NRC that Israel's deliberate blockade on "food, water, shelter, and sanitation" convinced her the Netanyahu government was carrying out a genocide' www.commondreams.org/news/israel-...
commondreams.org
Even Once Reluctant Scholars Now Agree on Israel's Gaza Assault: It's a Genocide | Common Dreams
Is Israel committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza? Leading international experts say yes, with the majority of their peers in academia concurring. The debate is shifting as the death toll ris...
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Here's the last slide from my recent presentation about how we should move forward on CO₂ removal (CDR). There's a lot of research to be done over the next few decades before we consider whether to deploy CDR. Just because something doesn't work today doesn't make it a scam. It's valuable research.
The way forward
• Develop robust MRV for CDR, especially open systems
• Assess the effectiveness, side effects, and social acceptance of various CDR techniques.
• Research which methods require the least amount of energy, water, land, and resources.
• Research how much CDR is possible given geophysical, environmental, technological, economic, social/cultural, and regulatory constraints.
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
“This technology [carbon capture and storage] perpetuates the business model of oil and gas companies.” “This is what this technology is designed to do. None of this is doing any good for the climate. On the contrary, this kind of technology is making things worse.” heimildin.is/grein/24581/...
heimildin.is
Climeworks’ capture fails to cover its own emissions
The carbon capture company Climeworks only captures a fraction of the CO2 it promises its machines can capture. The company is failing to carbon offset the emissions resulting from its operations – wh...
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Min Wu @wumin-lab.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
A beloved professor and legend 🙏 news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
news.cornell.edu
Benjamin Widom, influential physical chemist, dies at 97 | Cornell Chronicle
Benjamin Widom, Ph.D. ’53, Goldwin Smith Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Jan. 23 in Ithaca. He was 97.
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Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan @goncaerdemci.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
I'm excited to join @pritiagarwal.bsky.social and @tarafinegan.bsky.social as a co-organizer for the International Developmental Mechanics Seminar Series. The series will resume in September 2025, and call for speakers is now open! More info is on our new website: sites.google.com/view/devmech...
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Merkel lab @merkellab.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
I used to run Israel’s security agency – now I’m sounding the alarm about our extremist government | Ami Ayalon
Israel’s genuine friends abroad, from governments to Jewish communities, must mobilise to help us end this terrible war, says Ami Ayalon
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CNRS Biologie @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
👉 Lire l'article dans @natphys.nature.com buff.ly/F0egj1S
buff.ly
Marangoni-like tissue flows enhance symmetry breaking of embryonic organoids - Nature Physics
During the development of multi-cellular animals, biochemical signals control the organization of cells to set up body axes. In mouse embryonic stem cell aggregates, tissue flows are now found to…
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CNRS Biologie @cnrsbiologie.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Le développement embryonnaire des mammifères : quand la physique rencontre la biologie 🔬 🧫 🤝 @pflenne.bsky.social @shamtlili.bsky.social @cnrsingenierie.bsky.social @cnrs-dr12.bsky.social @univ-amu.fr @ibdm.bsky.social buff.ly/Co2Yjnc
insb.cnrs.fr
Le développement embryonnaire des mammifères : quand la physique rencontre la biologie
Le développement de l’embryon des mammifères est un processus complexe régi par des signaux biochimiques et des mécanismes physiques d’
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