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Mike Fainzilber

@mfainzilber.bsky.social
1.2K followers 261 following 786 posts

Molecular neuroscience, cell biology, aikido and haiku, not necessarily in that order. www.weizmann.ac.il/Biomolecular_Sci…

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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Paul David Mena @extraspecialbitter.bsky.social · 7h
ghost town — I seem to have misplaced my shadow
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Ori Weinstock and company. My daily post on the dark site, now moved here youtu.be/PH-ijpgDZsY
youtu.be
Netanyahu resign
YouTube video by Yael Nussbaum
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 15h
🧪 The late great Wisława Szymborska (Nobel laureate in Literature) when asked why she had published so few poems, said: “I have a trash can in my home”. And that is precisely the problem with the open science/LLM crowd, they don't use trash cans...
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 18h
“The most unexpected was barbecued bear over macaroni—which was slightly dry, but since the chef said she “found it in a ditch off Route 42”, better overcooked than under.”
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 21h
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Comedy wildlife photography award finalists 2026 – in pictures
A selection of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards 2026 finalists – from a shortlist featuring a caiman wearing a wig, a leopard doing a handstand, a strutting white-tailed eagle and a polar bear appeari...
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
🧪 “The case is “very upsetting for those of us who are into open data”” Or in other words, be careful what you wish for … retractionwatch.com/2026/10/01/o...
retractionwatch.com
When open data are misused
Credit: HALUSTD from Popspixel via Canva When Dorothy Bishop was asked to review a paper for a small neuroscience journal in August, she could tell from the abstract the authors had used a dataset …
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Wales Haiku Journal @waleshaiku.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Autumn ’26 issue of Wales Haiku Journal is now live. We’re delighted to share this new issue, featuring #haiku, #senryu, #tanka, #haibun, #tankaprose and #haiga from talented poets and artists across the world. A huge thank you. You can read the issue here: www.waleshaikujournal.com
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
arXiv rate limiting submissions in face of AI deluge blog.arxiv.org/2026/10/01/u...
blog.arxiv.org
Fair Moderation, Equitable Access, and AI: arXiv’s Updated Rate Limit Policy
arXiv, and the scientific community at large, are facing a watershed moment. Scholarly publishing is currently changing at a rapid pace, and we are seeing a…
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
the wind still chasing your footsteps 🙏 to David McMurray for giving this one space in his column today at The Asahi Haikuist www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...
asahi.com
ASAHI HAIKUIST NETWORK/ David McMurray | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
High-pitched calls...swans hurrying back from tundra--Yutaka Kitajima (Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture)
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️ www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Smit Machchhar: Pilot of Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv describes cockpit attack by co-pilot
Capt Smit Machchhar tells Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi he opened the cockpit door to let others in during the attack.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
🧪 “The case is “very upsetting for those of us who are into open data”” Or in other words, be careful what you wish for … retractionwatch.com/2026/10/01/o...
retractionwatch.com
When open data are misused
Credit: HALUSTD from Popspixel via Canva When Dorothy Bishop was asked to review a paper for a small neuroscience journal in August, she could tell from the abstract the authors had used a dataset …
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
The Economist @economist.com · 01/10/2026
It is more revealing about its academic culture than its civil service
bit.ly
Research on grasping bureaucrats startles Singapore
It is more revealing about its academic culture than its civil service
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MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I think we need to start explicitly making the real distinction of AI vs genAI when we talk about genAI. The problem with the whole thing is that the author admitted to using genAI to create parts of the video. That is completely different from using AI for post processing
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🧪 Who needs real scientists if one can just create fake ones on demand…
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Paul David Mena @extraspecialbitter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
homeless camp — a bonfire of campaign signs #thingstowriteabout
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The Haiku Foundation @haikufound.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
dlvr.it
HAIKU DIALOGUE – Intoxication – Writing Poetry – long list
writing poetry – long list The post HAIKU DIALOGUE – Intoxication – Writing Poetry – long list appeared first on The Haiku Foundation.
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Nature @nature.com · 29/09/2026
A new Chinese-owned journal has set its sights on rivalling the world’s oldest and most influential academic titles go.nature.com/4hRoHN8
go.nature.com
China wants to build world-leading science journals — can it be done?
A new Chinese-owned journal Vita aims to compete with established journals.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“Poetry in translation is like taking a shower with raincoat on”
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Jenn R-J @jennfel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
soundly renouncing their obligations my knees #vss365 #SenryuSunday #senryu
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
------------------- river mouth mixing the waters no ICE ------------------- here but not here sirens ------------------- Both in the latest issue of Frogpond. Many 🙏 to Allyson Whipple and the editorial team. #SenryuSunday
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 25/09/2026
A long-standing mystery in #neuroscience is how the length of myelin sheaths are matched to the axons they wrap. Marie Bechler &co show that #oligodendrocytes use Piezo1 to sense axon diameter and locally control sheath elongation 🧪 #NeuroSky buff.ly/9HdgiHt
This image depicts a single oligodendrocyte cell myelinating mixed diameter synthetic axons. The myelin basic protein immunofluorescence image has been colorized by confocal z-plane and modified with edge detection to highlight numerous myelin sheaths of different lengths formed by a single oligodendrocyte.  The longer myelin sheath formed on a larger diameter synthetic axon stands out in blue-green. Image credit: Marie E. Bechler
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Christophe 🔬 Leterrier @christlet.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here's a balanced account of where the microscopy community stands on AI use by this year's Small World in Motion winner. My main issue is that no one seems to have seen the original data despite requests (no mention of it being reviewed by the organizers) www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
the-scientist.com
Allegations of AI Use in Nikon Competition Spark Controversy | The Scientist
Microscopists raise concerns about inappropriate AI usage in Nikon's microscopy contest-winning video. Nikon stands their ground, citing no policy breach.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🧪 “Now everything is safe and nothing is funded.” inpreparation.substack.com/p/opinion-re...
inpreparation.substack.com
Opinion: I Miss When The NIH Payline Was 40% And We All Mouth-Pipetted Phenol
By Dr. Douglas R. Waverly, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Yale University
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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There's a lot to say about this, and other folks are saying most of it. I just want to focus on one thing: the claim about the relationship between universities and "the real world."
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🧪 “Although we’ve experimented with using AI to accelerate lab work with initiatives like the Model Hardware Standard, this approach is less conducive to the sort of ad hoc workflows that are involved in our molecular biology research.”
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Cell - a Cell Press journal @cp-cell.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Now online! Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons
dlvr.it
Direct cell-to-cell transmission of retrotransposons
Retrotransposons can infect neighboring cells using a mechanism that relies on a small fusogen-like protein rather than on the envelope protein that is typically required for infection.
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The Economist @economist.com · 23/09/2026
“Fauda” doesn’t depict the awful war in Gaza. But if you want to understand how many Israelis have hardened their hearts to Gaza’s torment, the show can help
bit.ly
Can “Fauda” capture the truth of Israel, Gaza and October 7th?
Yes, but only part of it
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
morning mist the taste of distant peaks 🙏 to Jodie Hawthorne for including this one in folk ku journal, Issue 7, 2026
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
“You better live every day like your last because one day you’re going to be right.” – Ray Charles Via @economist.com quote of the day
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Broward County, Florida had 2 problems in 1972: - a giant pile of used car tires. - low levels of game-fish in coastal waters Broward Artificial Reef Inc. (BARINC) aimed to solve both problems in one fell swoop. 2 MILLION TIRES would be used to construct an ARTIFICIAL REEF. What could go wrong?😉
A barge loaded with tires has two or three people at one end managing the piles and their deployment.  It's an old black and white photo.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23/09/2026
Can confirm (see 🧵 ). But let me share some optimism. A NIH colleague said today that against all odds, NIH has been…winning. “We made this EO a necessity. We fought hard. We threw sand in all the gears. All the lowdown ways of blocking grants failed to produce the results Vought et al wanted.”
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thescikuproject.bsky.social @thescikuproject.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The wordplay in this #Sciku by @haikuhawk.bsky.social is simply delightful, just a fantastically elegant six words: tectonic plates she finds faults everywhere #ScienceHaiku #SciComm #SciArt #Tectonics thescikuproject.com/2026/09/21/t...
thescikuproject.com
Tectonics by John Hawkhead - The Sciku Project
tectonic plates // she finds faults // everywhere - Visit The Sciku Project to discover more about John's sciku!
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Samuel A. Myers' lab @samyers-lab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
One benefit of everyone using AI to review papers is that you get the same comments from three reviewers rather than three unique sets of comments....
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🧪 AMRF-Israel Symposium on Neural Repair, November 1'st, @weizmann.ac.il campus. Call for abstracts for short talks and posters from local students, postdocs and pre-tenure P.I.s. Registration is free but required. Please scan the QR code in the notice below to register.
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
The Economist @economist.com · 18/09/2026
Yes, but only part of it
bit.ly
Can “Fauda” capture the truth of Israel, Gaza and October 7th?
Yes, but only part of it
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🧪 Scientific “Authorship” in current times “The authors of three papers were unable to answer basic questions about their paper. … The authors of … four papers … had difficulty when asked deeper questions … . The authors of one paper were able to answer all my questions” medium.com/@TmlrOrg/ask...
medium.com
Asking Authors About Their Own Papers
By Nihar B. Shah
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🧪 AMRF-Israel Symposium on Neural Repair, November 1'st, @weizmann.ac.il campus. Call for abstracts for short talks and posters from local students, postdocs and pre-tenure P.I.s. Registration is free but required. Please scan the QR code in the notice below to register.
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Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 17/09/2026
‘I don’t know how they’ll rebuild trust. I hope there will be some lawsuit, I’m not a fan of suing people in general but this is a big scandal,’ says Elisabeth Bik. #ChemSky @elisabethbik.bsky.social @reeserichardson.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social www.chemistryworld.com/news/antibod...
chemistryworld.com
Antibody data manipulation extends to thousands of images across 15 suppliers
Sleuths discover widespread, systematic alteration of Western blots and other antibody data
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 17/09/2026
Union members at @thelancet.com and its affiliated journals will go on strike Sept. 22 for one day with further action planned for the following week, after pay negotiations with parent publisher Elsevier fell apart. It's the first strike in the journal's 200-year history.
retractionwatch.com
Lancet union declares first-ever strike over staff wages
Union members at The Lancet and its affiliated journals will go on strike Sept. 22 for one day with further action planned for the following week, after pay negotiations with parent publisher Elsev…
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Deborah Karl-Brandt @dkarlbrandt.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The shortlist with commentray is out! thehaikufoundation.org/category/fea...
thehaikufoundation.org
Haiku Dialogue Archives - The Haiku Foundation
Haiku Dialogue is an interactive feature that invites poets to write to a theme, and to comment on other poets' work on that same them.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🧪 A first-hand view on the perils of science reporting in current times
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🧪 “…Murata and colleagues compared chocolate-eating vocalizations with the sounds the rats produced while eating regular food. And while the rats ate similar amounts of both, they emitted significantly more 40 kHz inverted-U USVs while eating chocolate.” www.popsci.com/science/rats...
popsci.com
Rats make an ultrasonic sound when they eat chocolate
Animal sounds could be a window into their internal emotions, new research indicates.
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Sam @ddr-sam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A recent @cp-cell.bsky.social paper proposed that double-stranded DNA directly binds and activates SARM1. In a new @pnas.org paper, an international team was unable to reproduce that central finding www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pnas.org
Direct activation of SARM1 by dsDNA is not supported by biochemical and cellular evidence | PNAS
Sterile alpha and Toll/interleukin-1 receptor motif–containing protein 1 (SARM1) is a NAD+-consuming enzyme that drives axon degeneration and is ac...
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Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
@diche_mideros captures two red and green macaws flying side by side, their wings touching as they soar: #AGoodPlace
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thescikuproject.bsky.social @thescikuproject.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I love the way that the first two lines of Doug J. Lanzo's excellent #Sciku carry so much power and mouthfeel, and how they're completely put into perspective by that brief final line: spit-fired flames the coral-creviced crackling of shrimp #ScienceHaiku thescikuproject.com/2026/09/14/s...
thescikuproject.com
Sonic Booms Fired from the Reef by Douglas J. Lanzo - The Sciku Project
spit-fired flames // the coral-creviced crackling // of shrimp - Visit The Sciku Project to discover more about Doug's shrinp sciku!
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Nature @nature.com · 14/09/2026
After an eventful life in the limelight, the discovery of a manipulated specimen preceded the controversial biologist’s death. Questions about his findings remain go.nature.com/4j1sHvw
go.nature.com
Fraud sealed the fate of controversial zoologist Paul Kammerer — 100 years on, his ideas deserve revisiting
After an eventful life in the limelight, the discovery of a manipulated specimen preceded the biologist’s death. Questions about his findings remain.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
🧪 "“There are a lot of chances in your career, but the important thing is to keep thinking.” scienceblog.com/m-a-58-year-...
scienceblog.com
A 58-year-old lecturer who had published no original work in 12 years, and who had spent years keeping the books at a friend's Subway sandwich shop, mailed a paper to the Annals of Mathematics on Apri...
An obscure adjunct, working at a Subway while publishing nothing, solved a centuries-old problem that had defeated the world's elite mathematicians.
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Mike Fainzilber @mfainzilber.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
festival of lights a candle touching darkness Originally published in tsuri-dōrō, issue 20, March-April 2024 #SenryuSunday chosen for @jennfel.bsky.social "festival" theme for this week
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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I've already got the prize. The prize is the pleasure of finding the thing out, the kick in the discovery, the observation that other people use it—those are the real things; the honors are unreal to me. I don't believe in honors. — Richard Feynman
A black and white portrait of Richard Feynman wearing a suit and tie, leaning back in an office chair with one hand raised in a gesture. He is surrounded by a desk with papers and a chalkboard in the background.
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