iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 4h

#WeekendReading: Schubert et al., on coralline algal beds as a carbonate factory and how it's often forgotten that they are a major ecological and carbon-removal hotspot. 🧪🌊 Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111…

Rhodolith morphology and growth. Rhodoliths collected from northeastern Atlantic coralline algal beds and representative cross-sections, showing (a–c) Phymatolithon lusitanicum – Armação de Pêra, (d–f) Phymatolithon sp. – Madeira, and (g–i) Phymatolithon sp. – Gran Canaria. Arrows indicate the Alizarin staining line, and dotted lines (b, e, h) denote the maximum extension and the corresponding lateral measurement performed on each protuberance.

060

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 13h

Everyone talks about how strong human hair is, but no one talks about how abrasive it is. One day I'm going to do a little study, just running shaving blades on the SEM after a number of uses and seeing how they get wracked.

Scanning electron microscope image of a human hair (black and white). • SIZE: Scale bar representes 20 µm

Source: https://www.nisenet.org/catalog/scientific-image-sem-image-human-hair

360

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 14h

Got to love that some grants got zero inflation adjustment and can barely cover salaries, and maybe a smidgen of travel and basically nothing more. But getting more money is hard, so at least one just pivoted to support only theoretical reaserch. #AcademicSky

060

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 16h

Radicalization is an ongoing issue, with its worst form in violent extremism. Adolescents are an at risk group here, notably when untreated mental health is involved, with possible cross-amplification. 🧪 Link: doi.org/10.1177/10398562241292209

Do and don'ts with radicalized youth. From: https://www.keepitrealonline.govt.nz/parents/illegal-material/recognising-the-signs-of-radicalisation

0126

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 17h

מילא שהכתבה לא מקשרת לדו"ח המקורי, לזה כבר התרגלתי - אבל הדו"ח אפילו עדיין לא קיים באתר של הגוף שאתם טוענים עשה את המחקר! (אני מניח שזה קצר בין האמברגו על ההודעה לתקשורת למי שאחראי על האתר שעדיין לא העלה את זה, אבל בכל זאת...)

020

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 17h

Things were busy, and it went by without any chance to celebrate, but I now got the proofs with DOIs, so it's real. Happy to report I've checked two academic milestones: Been an author on 100 peer-reviewed papers (actually, 101 now, like I said, busy) and over 3000 citations! #AcademicSky

Citations 3080 (since 2021: 2472)
h-index 27 (since 2021: 26)
i10-index 58 (since 2021: 49)

160

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 18h

Just got an email from the editor-in-chief of a journal for which I'm an associated editor, reminding me that we still haven't got any reviewers for a paper I'm handling. I've already invited 13 people, four of whom didn't even bother to reject. Thinking of just rejecting the paper. #AcademicSky

130

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 23h

Ha... you can still vote for #MinCup - go and vote for quartz. ⚒️

0144

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Now, these are some good news. They seem to have figured out a neat trick to lower the effective dose of saRNA vaccines by adding a viral protein that allows the vaccines to self-amplify. 🧪 Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-…

A Schematic representation of the THP-1-2R reporter cell line. Upon activation of the IRF and/or the IFN-I signalling pathway, Lucia Luciferase is secreted. Created in BioRender. Maillard, P. (https://BioRender.com/r2k7d4d) is licenced under CC BY 4.0. B Representative contour plots of GFP+ THP-1-2R reporter cells 24 h post-transfection with CHIKV-GFP-STOP (blue), -B2WT (red) or B2R59Q (orange) saRNA. The indicated gate represents GFPhigh population selected for MFI analysis in (C). C THP-1-2R-wt or IFNAR-/- cells were transfected with CHIKV-GFP-STOP (blue), -B2WT (red) or B2R59Q (orange). Flow cytometry was used to monitor the MFI of GFPhigh population 24 h post-transfection. Mean of independent experiments (n = 4), each point represents the average of technical replicates. D Immunostimulatory activity of different saRNA vectors in THP-1-2R-wt or IFNAR-/- cells by measuring Lucia Luciferase in the supernatant. For each experiment in (C), Lucia luciferase activity was measured. Mean of independent experiments (n = 4), each point represents the average of technical replicates. Connected dots correspond to values obtained from the same biological replicate. Statistical analyses were performed using a two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (B, C). ***P < 0.001; ns not significant. arb. units: arbitrary units.

0151

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm thinking about branching out to Tumblr, just not sure what sort of content would work there. I don't think the science scene there is as strong, but I think it might be a place to put more creative stuff.

010

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I have gotten to that point in my career where someone comes to me with a cool idea, and I write them a page-long essay, with references, explaining why their core assumptions were wrong. (Would have been rather cool if it worked, but first the foundation needs to be solid) #AcademicSky

0100

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

וכך תם לו עוד #אייקון, עבורי לפחות, דברים אחרים דורשים את זמני. היה כיף, היה נחמד לדבר על העבר של האגודה, ועוד יותר לקשקש על מבני על וגיאופוליטיקה בהרצאה שלי. אבל הכי כיף היה לדבר עם אנשים ( @ehmaimon.bsky.social, @yael-furman.bsky.social, @grnfluoresceblg.bsky.social, @orinp.bsky.social ואחרים).

לא צילמו אותנו בפאנל של ועדי האגודה לדורותיהם, אבל כן בהרצאה שלי על שבעת פלאי העולם שלא היה. מי שלא היה הפסיד דיון שהתחיל בתלונות שלי על פרופוגנדה יוונית והתקדם להסבר על מנעד כוח גיאופוליטי.

180

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And so another ICON comes to a close, for me. There's one more day, but I won't make it. Today I got to talk about some of the history of the local community and then go on to talk about futuristic mega stractures (and geopolitics).

Trying to explain about how the original Seven Wonders of the World were nothing but a bit of propaganda.

A not very flattering shot of me in the part of the talk where we got to talk about Soft and Hard power.

041

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

To continue on the theme from this morning: there is cross-fertilization between SFF and STEM. But it also works in weird ways. If you have a STEM background, Sci-Fi ratchets up creativity. 🧪 Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/artic…

The moderating role of students' background on the relationship between sci-fi and creativity.

121

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I loathe that I can't access some of my locally stored files when I'm offline because they are in a shared folder and the share manager doesn't like changes it can't sync.

120

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Going to be in #ICON2026 today, as was yesterday, and while it's an SFF con, I do get to wedge in some science along the way. It's a very open and interested audiance to this sort of content, and a good space to promote science. 🧪 Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s…

The booth space in ICON2025. Don't know I could get on a soapbox there and get an audience if I'd start talking about climate change... but one of those years I should try.

051

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

וכך מסתיים לו היום הראשון של #אייקון. היה כיף והרבה יותר רגוע משהיה לי הרבה זמן. פאנל "מה אם?" היה חביב ביותר, ואשמח לעשות שוב. מחר הרצאה על מבני-על ופאנל. בין לבין אהיה כנראה בעיקר באיזור העירוני והאשכול למי שירצה להגיד שלום.

מעבירים ביינינו כובע במהלך פאנל "מה אם?", מסקנה לפעם הבאה - יותר כובעים.

051

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

And thus the first day of #ICON26 comes to a wrap. Had a lot of fun being part of an all-age What If pannel (I even managed to not be the first to talk about death, although I was the first to bring up extinction events).

Sitting in a What If panel and talking about bees, dinosaurs, and cultural imperialism.

050

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is really one of those questions that, through a certain lens, are terrifying: "What is the minimum amount of time a person needs access to green spaces to get mental health benefits?" (The answer is 1 hour per week) 🧪 Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/artic…

Estimated Dose Benchmarks (EDBs) for the frequency and duration of greenspace exposure. The solid curves represent the best-fitting sigmoid relationships between greenspace exposure and standardized mental health responses. Panel a presents exposure frequency in visits per week; Panel b presents exposure duration in hours per week. Emax represents the model-estimated asymptotic maximum response. EDB50, EDB90, and EDB99 represent the estimated doses corresponding to 50%, 90%, and 99% of Emax, respectively. For frequency, the estimated benchmarks are 1.1 visits/week (EDB50), 4.0 visits/week (EDB90), and 6.4 visits/week (EDB99). For duration, they are 1.1 h/week (EDB50), 4.1 h/week (EDB90), and 7.8 h/week (EDB99). These values are model-derived average thresholds across heterogeneous studies and should not be interpreted as precise individual prescriptions.

1102

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's not always something everyone in the household feels like doing, but (small, close) family meals, with no screens and everyone involved in preparation, do have positive health outcomes. 🧪 Link: psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-57228-0…

A gaggle of adults and one kid engaged in a meal.

071

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Sex workers face massive physical and mental health challenges. Could any intervention help with that? Education and empowerment as peer delivery one help. But generally, they mostly need better access to appropriate care. 🧪 Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/artic…

Harvest plot of evidence for interventions to improve health and wider determinants in sex workers by intervention category

The harvest plot is a supermatrix showing the direction of effect for outcome categories across different categories of intervention. Each bar represents an intervention and is labelled by a footnote, which can be identified below. Taller bars represent interventions from studies with a moderate-quality assessment; shorter bars are interventions from studies with a low-quality assessment. Darker purple bars are static interventions. Lighter purple bars are outreach. Striped bars are interventions that involved peer design, delivery, or both. Solid bars had no peer involvement.

272

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Not the best feeling when you select an entire chapter and press Delete. Somehow, also, it's not a bad feeling. #Writing #Editing

390

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of the powers the most OP characters in my works have is the ability to be in multiple places at once and be fully present in each of those places. Is that wish fulfillment for me? You can absolutely believe it. For me, and for anyone who has ever had multiple responsibilities. #Writing

250

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

אני לא חושב שצריך עדות יותר משמעותית לזה שאני כותב בעיקר באנגלית כמו העובדה שאני מחזיק Shift באות הראשונה של משפט, לא משנה השפה שאני מקליד בה.

140

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Why do boys and girls differ in reading achievements? I wish there was one factor we could simply address, but the reality multifactor, ranging from dyslexia being more common in boys to treatment in the classroom. 🧪 Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10…

Factors involved in the reading gender gap (neurobiology, developmental factors, temporal factors, geographical factors, colture/educational factors)

151

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

אז תזכורת, כי זה חשוב, מחר #אייקון26. כי שוב, וזאת תזכורת, מחר אייקון.

0134

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Sometimes... Me: I think this is a bit niche. My audience (apparently): We are the niche! (Now just to get that other section of audience on the creative side, and not just on the science stuff)

050

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is a bit niche, but I think it's interesting. We usually figure out where continents were back in time based on retained magnetic properties. You know what can be a great sanity check on that? Checking that the fossils match those positions. 🧪⚒️ Link: doi.org/10.1144/gslspecpub2026-18

Example of mismatch between a plate tectonic reconstruction and the fossil record.

1379

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

One of these moments that visual media conveys really well but is extremely hard to communicate in written form is that moment when all the big guns, missile launchers, and great bows come out, turn on a target, and let loose. To the list of things to work on. #Writing

static.klipy.com

Missile Truck Firing Rockets

Alt: Missile Truck Firing Rockets and shaking the camera while they're at it.

150

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Do earthquakes repeat? No one can really agree on that, one way or another. Some of them seem to, we call them repeaters. How those are generated might very well depend on specific organization of rupture points on a fault. 🧪⚒️ link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.…

Schematic illustration of a hierarchical patch model producing diverse types of repeaters.
The hierarchical organization, represented by variable patch sizes, governs earthquake rupture behavior and controls the extent to which ruptures repeat partially or fully. Large earthquakes may emerge from a cascade-up process initiated by failure on a small patch, with rupture likely propagating downdip.

151

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

אני באופן מודע לא עושה שידרוגים מסויימים למרחב "עבודה" בבית. זה מרחב שמיועד בראש ובראשונה ליצירה. אין מספיק מקום להכל בכל רגע נתון, אבל יש לי איפה לתפור, איפה לצבוע, איפה לקרוא ועוד פינה למחשב בשביל לכתוב ולעשות גרפיקה. אני לא רוצה שזה יהפוך למשרד, יש לי אחד כזה כבר בעבודה.

060

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Early 20th-century German chemists had a scary combination of honesty and gull. A century of science built atop "Hmm... I think I got it right".

000

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

We have the science to support it: "Medium-length nails consistently received higher ratings for physical attractiveness, cuteness, and partner desirability". Also, color also has an effect. Guess I'm going back to painting my nails. 🧪 Link: digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_…

Abstract Swirls nail painting - Freeform swirls in soft or bright colors look artistic and modern, according to Juliie Nails Art, where I found the photo (https://juliienailsart.com/nail-art-for-long-nails/)

2211

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

דבר אחר שנראה לי שוויתרתי עליו לחלוטין הוא לנסות לזכור מונחים בשפה ספציפית. אני בטוח שיש לזה מילה בעברית, אני לא אזכור אותה (אם בכלל מישהו משתמש בה) ואשתמש במונח באנגלית או, לפעמים, גרמנית. (הבעיה לא מוגבלת לעברית, אבל מתרחשת בה לעיתים יותר קרובות כי המרחב המקצועי שלי הוא בסופו של דבר בעיקר בלע"ז)

140

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I think there is room for tactical folly in literature (even if it leads to success); it tells us something about the culture and the character. The question is whether the writer makes use of it in an interesting way. #Writing

020

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

After about twenty odd years in the field (and now working mostly at sea), my family decided it was time I finally started dressing like a geologist. ⚒️ (I'll probably still show up to conferences in a waistcoat and a buttoned-up shirt or a Hawaiian shirt, season-dependent. Maybe to the office)

Me, not with the best shave or angle, posing with two new shirts, one saying: "Just one more rock, I promise", the other says, "Yes, I really do need all these rocks" (two sentances I have said at least once in real life)

0110

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Five #Disney songs that are currently living in my head and should probably start paying rent: 1. I’ll Make a Man Out of You / Donny Osmond 2. How Far I'll Go / Lin-Manuel Miranda 3. Hellfire / Stephen Schwartz 4. Prince Ali / Howard Ashman 5. The Bare Necessities / Terry Gilkyson

Snippets from each of the songs in the list out of their respective movies (from left to right: The Jungle Book, Aladdin, Our Lady of Paris, Moana, Mulan)

120

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

If you worked with cross-polarization microscopy, you like birefringence. It's the property that gives us some really cool optics. So, naturally, someone had the thought: what if we push that to the maximum? 🧪⚒️ Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10…

$The quantitative investigation of the birefringence property for BIQCdCl4. a) Schematic diagram of the working principle of a polarizing microscope. b) Original interference color of a plate-shaped single crystal of BIQCdCl4 under cross-polarized light. c) Rotating the Berek compensator clockwise and counterclockwise to achieve extinction of the crystal. d) The wavelength-dependent refractive indices of BIQCdCl4 in (010) plane extracted from the theoretically computed dielectronic function by CASTEP. e) The refractive index distribution of BIQCdCl4 in the (010) plane at a specific wavelength of 546 nm. f) Triaxial ellipsoid describing the three refractive indices along the principal refractive axis at a wavelength of 546 nm.$

193

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Body temperatures of dinosaurs, and T-Rex specifically, have been one of these very heated debates I was always on the periphery of. Now there's new work showing them running rather hot (36.3 ± 2.5°C), similar to us. 🧪⚒️ Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.…

4216

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

לקראת סוף חודש הבא תתקיים אולי ההתאספות המשמעותית ביותר של מדענים, מכל דיסיפלינה שאתם יכולים לדמיין, שהיתה בארץ. גם אם חלק מהמניעים לבחירת התאריכים קשורה לסיבות אחרות, זה יוצר פוטנציאל! אני אהיה משועשע אך לא מופתע עם עוד שנה יהיה גל של מאמרים פורצי דרך (ומספר חתונות).

160

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

We need to discuss one of the most pressing and most conflicting scientific questions of our age: what kind of animal is Gonzo? (Are we even sure he's an amniote?) www.popsci.com/science/what...

popsci.com

What kind of animal is Gonzo? What kind of animal is Gonzo? The Muppets won't say, so we asked biologists.

Gonzo’s most distinct feature is also his most baffling: his beak. (Or is it a nose?)

140

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Never wrong. If you want to write, read wide, read a lot, and never fear trying new things.

020

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I am way behind on the times; I only now found out about @oceanfilly.bsky.social's paper on neurodiversity in biosciences, or specifically, about the lived experiences of neurodivergent biologists. 🧪 Link: academic.oup.com/icb/article-abstra…

074

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

One of my students is working on a theoretical aspect of a very fundamental element in marine chemistry. We have worked our way back through the literature to try and figure out how it works... He's now on a 124-page-long monograph from 1923, in German.

150

Reposted by Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️

Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Water world

36810

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Always fun to get an email on a workshop you've been invited to attend... and find out you're going to be on about half the presentations and all the panels but one. 🤦‍♀️ (Not a predatory one or something; for a project I'm a member of and apparently involved in too many aspects of it) #AcademicSky

050

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#WeekendReading: Yan et al. on the bad, terrible, not-good-at-all future projections for reef dissolution into the rest of the 21st century. (Have I mentioned it's not looking good?) 🧪🌊 Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi…

Anthropogenic reversal of Quaternary coral reef carbon fluxes. (a) During interglacial periods, enhanced carbonate production caused coral reefs to function as atmospheric CO2 sources. (b) During glacial periods, subaerial weathering of exposed reef carbonate consumed atmospheric CO2, causing reefs to function as carbon sinks. (c) Under high-emission scenarios, ocean acidification is projected to shift reefs toward net sediment dissolution by 2100. As sediment dissolution surpasses coral calcification, reefs transition from carbonate-producing CO2 sources to weak atmospheric CO2 sinks, but only at the cost of substantial framework degradation.

42719

Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I finally caught up with @adamwarren.bsky.social's Empowered, and naturally, since I last read it, EMP finally came out properly (and not just implied) as poly and bi. #Comics

End page of Volume 11 with one of the characters bemoning the author owes them a polyamory scene

010