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Randy Heiland

@rheiland.bsky.social
567 followers 864 following 24 posts

Research Associate, MathCancer Lab, Intelligent Systems Engineering Dept, Luddy School, Indiana University. Scientific computing/simulation, agent-based modeling, dynamical systems. rheiland.github.io

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Reposted by Randy Heiland
This Many Years Ago @thismanyyearsago.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
49 years ago, on the 18th of September 1977, space probe Voyager I took the first long distance photograph of earth and the moon together from 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometres) away. #otd #history #space 🗃️
This picture of a crescent-shaped Earth and Moon -- the first of its kind ever taken by a spacecraft -- was recorded September 18, 1977, by NASA's Voyager 1 when it was 7.25 million miles (11.66 million kilometers) from Earth. The Moon is at the top of the picture and beyond the Earth as viewed by Voyager. In the picture are eastern Asia, the western Pacific Ocean and part of the Arctic. Voyager 1 was directly above Mt. Everest (on the night side of the planet at 25 degrees north latitude) when the picture was taken. The photo was made from three images taken through color filters, then processed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Image Processing Lab. Because the Earth is many times brighter than the Moon, the Moon was artificially brightened by a factor of three relative to the Earth by computer enhancement so that both bodies would show clearly in the print. Voyager 2 was launched Aug. 20, 1977, followed by Voyager 1 on Sept. 5, 1977, en route to encounters at Jupiter in 1979 and Sa
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Ted Pavlic (he/him/his) @tedpavlic.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
New widget for my stochastic #simulation course that I hope will be useful for other #statistics and #probability courses. Gallery of common probability distributions with info on logical origins, parameters, and how to sample from them among other things. tpavlic.github.io/asu-simulati...
tpavlic.github.io
Distribution Explorer — interactive explainer
Nineteen common input-modeling distributions, one per tab: live pdf or pmf and cdf plots against reference shapes, formulas and moments, when to choose each one over its neighbors, how they relate, an...
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Joshua Bull @joshuabull.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The MuSpAn paper is now live! If you've been working from the preprint or early access version, I'm happy to say you can now read it in its beautifully formatted final form, complete with Figures that appear at logical places in the manuscript instead of piled up at the back doi.org/10.1038/s414...
doi.org
MuSpAn: a toolbox for multiscale spatial analysis - Nature Communications
Bull, Moore, and colleagues present MuSpAn, a flexible platform for analysing spatial biology data across scales. It integrates diverse methods to enable quantitative characterisation of tissue organi...
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Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
So, bluesky, where is the discussion of the absolute insane things AI is doing in the realm of mathematics? It seems like we're nearly at the inflection point where the models are as good as human domain experts, and soon may well be better. Is that discourse only happening on twitter?
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Luke Ontario @coolhand.bsky.social · 29/07/2024
Wow. This is such great advice it startled me
A tweet:

Megan K. Stack ®
@Megankstack
At bedtime the 8 yo told me his teacher said: "Think of your mind like a pond full of fish and each fish is a feeling. Try to be the pond, not the fish." And all I can say is primary school has significantly improved.
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
‘Virtual cells’ aim to turn raw data into predictive models of biology www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Virtual cells’ aim to turn raw data into predictive models of biology
Simulations of biological systems could transform biomedical research, but researchers are still learning how to reproduce life’s complexity without drowning in data.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 28/05/2026
Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation. scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
How animals sense Earth’s magnetic field is one of biology’s enduring mysteries. Researchers have now identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons (Columba livia) to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation.

Photo: Andreas Teichmann/laif/Redux
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
"I would like to emphasize the importance of question-driven science...young scientists might enjoy science more if they are thinking about questions rather than just collecting data" journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
journals.biologists.com
Interview with Noboru Mizushima – President of the Japan Society for Cell Biology
Noboru Mizushima is Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he runs a laboratory studying the mechanisms and physiological functions of autophagy and o...
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 15/10/2023
Honeybees understand the concept of zero, or "null set", putting them in the same cognitive class as parrots, dolphins and primates in that regard. What's more interesting to me is HOW WE CAN KNOW THAT. The experimental design is what I want to focus on:
The European honey bee may have originated from eastern Africa. This bee is pictured in Tanzania.
Photo:  Muhammad Mahdi Karim 
12mm long Apis mellifera, Apis mellifera. Pictured in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_bee#/media/File:Apis_mellifera_Tanzania.jpg
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Wallace Marshall @wallaceucsf.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It’s starting to seem like changes in cell volume are turning up in many different cases of cell state transitions. Would be nice to collect examples.
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NPR @npr.org · 19/04/2026
This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer. n.pr/41HfdLS
n.pr
The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off
This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer.
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Lana Sinapayen @sinalana.eurosky.social · 18/04/2026
Is there somewhere a list of all the definitions of "complexity" especially in the context of biology, information theory, evolution, complex systems? #ALife
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Johanna Joyce @johannajoyce.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
What does it take to truly understand #cancer in all of its complexity? Delighted to share our Review in Cell "Cancer ecosystems: A dynamic interplay across scales" with Daniela Quail, where we propose a multi-scale framework connecting tumor ecology with physiology 🧪⚕️ www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
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John C. Baez @johncarlosbaez.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
In the town of Quartzsite I picked up a beautiful chunk of labradorite. This mineral creates an eerie blue shimmer in the sunlight - a phenomenon called 'labradorescence'. It's a form of feldspar. 60% of the Earth's crust is feldspar, and I know so little about this stuff! (1/n)
A bluish polished piece of labradorite sitting on a wooden desk.  Photo by John Baez.
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The Dissenter @thedissenteryt.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
In episode 886, I talk with Dr. Randall Beer about autopoiesis, enactivism, dynamical systems, and evo-devo approaches in #Biology. #CognitiveScience #Science youtu.be/1YcSgczYqKk
youtu.be
#886 Randall Beer: Autopoiesis, Enactivism, Dynamical Systems, and Evo-Devo Approaches in Biology
YouTube video by The Dissenter
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cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
The bluebirds are rethinking their migration plans
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Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 22/12/2025
The hepatitis B vaccine is amazing. It was the first viral protein subunit vaccine, the first recombinant vaccine, AND the first vaccine to prevent a type of cancer. That's right: we've had a cancer vaccine for over 40 years. Our new three-hour episode of Hard Drugs is all about it:
open.spotify.com
The first cancer vaccine
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robertfathauer.bsky.social @robertfathauer.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
The online gallery for 2026 Joint Mathematics Meetings Exhibition of Mathematical Art is now live: gallery.bridgesmathart.org/exhibitions/....
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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
One proposed strategy to promote a youthful immune system and human healthspan is to rejuvenate our thymus gland. Can we learn from this exceptional (and peculiar looking) vertebrate that can do this? science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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allen institute @alleninstitute.org · 25/11/2025
With nearly 10 million neurons & 26 billion synapses, a supercomputer-powered virtual brain model, developed by our scientists and collaborators, could allow risky or impossible experiments to be run safely in software. @reuters.com reports: www.reuters.com/video/watch/...
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Prisca Liberali @priscaliberali.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Emergence and Self-organisation across biological scales! I hope you are ready for next year conference! It will be an incredible event April 20-22 2026. The first of many #LakeConference organised by @ehannezo.bsky.social @alleninstitute.org and James Sharpe @embl.org
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Alejandro Montenegro @aemonten.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Another thing that is making this an "interesting" time to be the head of Integrity in Publishing at a scientific publisher 🥲 We really need major oversight at institutions, before things are sent for publication. Data provenance is key.
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Abdoulaye Diack @diack.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Competitor enters a major AI competition (RNA folding) GPU poor so can't train an AI Builds a "classic" eng pipeline instead. (90s tech) Wins and beat everyone using DL 💀 Their winning "hybrid" model had an AI in it. Their original one did not and had a higher score So they won despite the AI 😂
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Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman) @drspacejunk.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
What are your favourite biographies of mathematicians? 🧪 📚💙
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ISB @isbscience.org · 11/10/2025
Two leading voices in medicine – Lee Hood and Eric Topol – will explore what it means to live longer and healthier in a free virtual conversation hosted by @isbscience.org. 🗓️ November 4, 10-11 a.m. PT 💻 Register here – isbscience.zoom.us/webinar/regi... #Longevity #DigitalHealth #SuperAgers
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Richard Sever @richardsever.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
bioRxiv partners with Dryad to enable easier, better linking to curated datasets connect.biorxiv.org/news/2025/09...
connect.biorxiv.org
Dryad partnership brings easier data sharing to bioRxiv
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
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Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.org · 01/06/2025
Manu Prakash practices “recreational biology,” a scientific approach that explores life in the same playful way that puzzles probe math. “Basic science is not at the service of something, but the groundwork that is our entire society’s foundation.” www.quantamagazine.org/how-paradoxi...
Manu Prakash, a bioengineer at Stanford University, interacts with students in a lab
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Opinion: Susan Stamberg, trailblazer and NPR Founding Mother, retires - NPR
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Journal of Cell Biology @jcb.org · 03/09/2025
Our new collection offers cell biologists practical, expert-driven guidance and best practices in the design, execution, and analysis of experiments, and the subsequent communication of their results to their peers. 👉 rupress.org/jcb/collecti... #Reproducibility
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Era of the American Lawn Is Over
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epithelial mechanics fan club @epimechfc.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Are different cell types like oil and water? Over a century ago, researchers found that dissociated sponges and embryonic tissues can self-assemble into functional structures. Join me, @benswedlund.bsky.social to explore the differential adhesion hypothesis & its applications in tissue engineering!
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Miranda Hunter @mrndhntr.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
My recent postdoctoral work is out today in @nature.com! We found that physical confinement makes melanoma cells more invasive and drug tolerant. Thanks to all who made this work possible @whitefishlab.bsky.social @mskcancercenter.bsky.social #NIH #NCI www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Mechanical confinement governs phenotypic plasticity in melanoma - Nature
Mechanical confinement of cancer cells at the tumour–microenvironment interface induces phenotype switching through chromatin remodelling by HMGB2, leading to a more invasive and drug-resistant state ...
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Nature @nature.com · 27/08/2025
For some three billion years, unicellular organisms ruled Earth. Then, around one billion years ago, a new chapter of life began go.nature.com/3JyRV4S
go.nature.com
How did life get multicellular? Five simple organisms could have the answer
Single-celled species that often stick together in colonies have researchers rethinking the origin of animals.
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Deborah Blum @deborahb.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
We need (good) science journalism now more than ever. And you'll find me and other journalists saying just that in this smart piece.
nature.com
Why newsrooms must rethink science journalism before the next crisis
Despite climate extremes, pandemics and a global AI revolution, science reporting remains underfunded and undervalued.
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Nalini Joshi @monsoon0.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
I love the theme of the 2026 International Day of Mathematics: “Mathematics and Hope” 👉🏼 www.idm314.org #mathsky
idm314.org
International Day of Mathematics
A worldwide celebration of Mathematics on March 14 of every year.
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Paul Macklin @mathcancer.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Really excited to share our new @cellpress.bsky.social Cell paper with @fertiglab.bsky.social and colleagues. 1/n www.cell.com/cell/fulltex... @jktgfoundation.bsky.social @itcrtraining.bsky.social @smbmathbiology.bsky.social #mathbio #mathonco @mathonco.bsky.social @deniswirtz.bsky.social
cell.com
Human interpretable grammar encodes multicellular systems biology models to democratize virtual cell laboratories
We developed a plain text modeling language—a cell behavior hypothesis grammar—to easily build virtual cell models and connect them to data, helping scientists to unlock the hidden dynamics of tissues...
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John Pearson @jmxpearson.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Ok, reinforcement learning fans: RL is great, but what do we do when there's no obvious reward from the environment? What about perfecting a golf swing or a foxtrot or a musical performance? We may have an answer. A tale of 🐦 🎶 + 🧠. 🧵1/ #bioacoustics #prattle 💬 #neuroai #compneuro
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Dan Ruderman @danruderman.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
Fantastic work, @mathcancer.bsky.social ! phys.org/news/2025-07...
phys.org
New software simulates cancer cell behavior using genomics and computational models
In the same vein as weather forecast models that predict developing storms, researchers have now developed a method to predict the cell activity in tissues over time. The new software combines genomic...
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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
Wow! For the first time ever, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an exoplanet by directly imaging it. The newfound world has a mass similar to Saturn and orbits inside the debris disk surrounding a very young star just 111 light years away. via @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Evidence for a sub-Jovian planet in the young TWA 7 disk  - Nature
Using the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument, a study reports evidence for a direct detection of a cold, sub-Jupiter-mass planet in the disk of the star TWA 7. 
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James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Key Innovation: Getting beyond descriptive trajectories. DLA generates a geometric dynamical model—a Waddington landscape—that provides mechanistic insights without needing every molecular detail It bridges microscopic gene expression to macroscopic cell behaviour
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Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Scientists love to use the expression "emergent behaviour" when they talk about complex systems (as I do) But what it means is not clear As a way to start a conversation, here is a definition: a behaviour is emergent if it cannot be easily guessed through naive reasoning. What is your definition?
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Hungry baby
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Vaughn Cooper @vscooper.micropopbio.org · 08/06/2025
Sharing the most significant work from my group, led by the @evolvingstem.bsky.social team. Come for the discoveries of how Pseudomonas adapts in biofilms, stay for the story of how they were discovered by thousands of young scientists in grades 9-12. 🧪🧫🧬🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Student-led experimental evolution reveals novel biofilm regulatory networks underlying adaptations to multiple niches
We established a research-education partnership known as EvolvingSTEM that provides secondary school students the opportunity to conduct authentic research experiments centered on microbial evolution....
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Jon Humphries @jdhl18.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Shaping epithelial tissues by stem cell mechanics in development and cancer www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Shaping epithelial tissues by stem cell mechanics in development and cancer - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
Adult stem cells self-renew and differentiate to build, maintain and repair tissues. This Review discusses recent insights into the contribution of mechanical forces produced by epithelial stem cell a...
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Knut Einar Rosendahl @rosendahlke.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Many believed that EU would not be able to reach its ambitious 2030 climate goal Now: EU almost on track to reach 2030 climate goal www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
reuters.com
EU almost on track to reach 2030 climate goal
The European Union is nearly on track to reach its main climate target for this decade, with countries' existing CO2-cutting plans set to bring the bloc within one percentage point of the goal, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
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Giulia Laura Celora @gcelora.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Extremely happy to see our work on the collective chemotaxis of cell groups out! Such an incredible and fun collaboration leading to exciting interdisciplinary science #biophysics #mathbio #cellbiology 🔗 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
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Ana Hernandez Rodriguez @analiahr.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
One of the reasons I love #DevelopmentalBiology is that it's so visually engaging. I had the pleasure of organising an image competition at the GRC last March, and share this passion. You can now check out these images on @the-node.bsky.social: thenode.biologists.com/grs-developm...
thenode.biologists.com
GRS Developmental Biology 2025 Image gallery - the Node
The 2025 Developmental Biology Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) was held on March 29-30 2025. This year, the GRS co-chairs Ana R. Hernandez Rodriguez and
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Randy Heiland @rheiland.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, male & female (and red headed woodpecker)
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Do not adjust your screen. Viewing this tree does not require special 3-D glasses. That's just what the 'Rising Sun' redbud (Cercis canadensis) looks like. Native to North America, it was found growing wild & propagated. The trippy 3-D movie effect is a consequence of two factors:
A small tree has a dense green core of foliage, but at the ends of each branch, those leaves shade to pink and yellow in a continuous color gradient that corresponds with proximity to the trunk and leaf size.  A grey house with composite roof is nearby, and some other garden plants and shrubs.
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