Reposted by Robert InsallCathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 22hGreat reporting from @robinbisson.bsky.social on an absolutely dire funding situation… 2119
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Very interesting paper. An old-fashioned concept - sadly now rare in biology - measure stuff accurately, and you can understand how it works... www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...biorxiv.orgUncoupling microtubule lifetime, stability and post-translational modifications.Microtubules (MTs) undergo continuous cycles of growth and disassembly. Because the transitions between these states are stochastic, MT age varies widely within a population. As MTs age, they are thou... 0316
Reposted by Robert InsallZach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Can we please stop doing this? I made a comic about it and everything! 142240411
Reposted by Robert InsallLiam Blizard @blizard.io · 13/09/2026You also used to be able to to block it by inserting the word "fucking" into every question you asked google, but they seem to have fixed that now 141
Reposted by Robert InsallCurrent Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · 10/09/2026In our recent issue we interview Susana Coelho, who uses brown algae to study evolution, development, and life-cycle complexity at the Max Planck Institute for Biology. Read the Q&A to find out more about Susana’s most important scientific influences: www.cell.com/current-biol...cell.comSusana CoelhoInterview with Susana Coelho, who uses brown algae to study evolution, development, and life-cycle complexity at the Max Planck Institute for Biology. 03618
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I get extraordinarily depressed by the standards of reasoning used in my field. Circular arguments everywhere. Bald statements that are plainly fallacious. Dominant active mutations used to prove something is "key". Knockouts of A used as evidence that A "controls" B. What to do? It's everywhere... 150
Reposted by Robert InsallP(aul) Frazee @pfrazee.com · 09/09/2026If apple doesn't announce foldable iphones, we shouldnt let that stop us from folding them 2324519
Reposted by Robert InsallJRho @jrho.bsky.social · 06/09/2026The most absolutely massive flex from the state fair exhibit. This quilt is made of 40 years of prize ribbons from various categories at the New Mexico State Fair won by Carol St. Clair Johnson. She also won a prize for this quilt. 6861112007
Reposted by Robert InsallUCL Research Department of Cell & Developmental Biology @ucl-cdb.bsky.social · 03/09/2026🎉 Congratulations to Professor Robert Insall on his recent appointment as Vice-Dean for Artificial Intelligence. This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to Robert's expertise, leadership, and commitment to advancing innovation in AI. 2152
Reposted by Robert InsallEmmaeli @emmaelie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026portrait of Tim Curry ♥️ photographed by Joe Gaffney, 1974 216031
Reposted by Robert InsallMax Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics @mpi-cbg.de · 24/08/2026We are celebrating 25 years since opening our building in Dresden on January 22, 2001! #25yearsmpicbg www.mpi-cbg.de/news-outreac... 04012
Reposted by Robert InsallCyriak @cyriak.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Just in case anyone who follows me hasn't heard of Bobby Fingers, here's his latest masterpiece www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGt7...youtube.comJohnny Depp's BedYouTube video by Bobby Fingers 36722
Reposted by Robert InsallBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 16/08/2026This is a story in which *everyone* save some of the original investigators was operating in profound bad faith: Arday, the institutions, the racists who took up his case and made it a story, the media as a whole. Obviously the institutional failure is bigger than one tragically disturbed man. 154043
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Showing passers-by the eclipse projected down 2x poster tubes into a slide box. Once we got past "who are these mad scientists with contraptions made from cardboard boxes and tinfoil" we had lots of takes! Especially kids. Science is always cool. 2110
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Testing eclipse-cams in UCL @ibidicells.bsky.social - note high-level use of your technology, or at least the box it came in 0101
Reposted by Robert InsallUCL Research Department of Cell & Developmental Biology @ucl-cdb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026The Barrios lab is seeking a Research Assistant to work on a project looking at how memories become behaviour. For details and to apply: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...ucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 133
Reposted by Robert Insallcallista yee @csybio.bsky.social · 06/08/2026hiiii everyone! my department @zoology.ubc.ca is hiring an assistant professor in cell and developmental biology! deadline is october 1! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32408 // please share!!!!!academicjobsonline.orgUniversity of British Columbia, Department of Zoology Job #AJO32408, Assistant Professor in Cell and Developmental Biology, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, CA 16598
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 16/07/2026UCL's Cell and Developmental Biology are hiring! Come and join us if you're interested in AI, computation and how they can lead to new biological discovery. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...ucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 025
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 11/07/2026In other news: Pope found to be practising Catholic shock horror... www.timeshighereducation.com/news/majorit...timeshighereducation.comMajority of students deny using AI when forbidden, study findsAlmost one-third of students report not using AI at all in their studies, while non-native English speakers at UK universities are among those relying on the technology regularly 000
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 11/07/2026x.com/fchollet/sta...x.comFrançois Chollet (@fchollet) on XIt's mind-blowing how fast agentic coding has progressed in the past 6 month. It's a completely different world now. 100
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Please come and join us! Jobs for machine learning and mathy types! 044
Reposted by Robert InsallBuzz Baum @buzzbaum.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Dear fellow researchers. I think we need to discuss this: www.newscientist.com/article/2532... While peer review is flawed, and while preprints are a great way to share data before publication, as a community we mustn’t trade rigour for hype. This paper was peer reviewed and rejected.newscientist.comWhat is 'SpudCell'? Arguably the greatest bioengineering feat yetA prototype cell partly capable of replicating itself has been created using 36 existing bacterial genes, but it's not really a living organism – yet 56210
Reposted by Robert InsallBiohub @biohub.org · 29/06/2026How do you track thousands of cells in complex systems, in 3D & over time? We are launching a Kaggle challenge to push the frontier of AI-powered cell tracking, building on advances like Ultrack & the DaXi lightsheet microscope from the @loicaroyer.bsky.social lab. bit.ly/4bfdzWE 01510
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 24/06/2026This, emphatically, shouldn't have been done, and shouldn't be used. You'd think we'd have learned that someone else's contextless algorithmic division of science outputs into "the best" and "not the best" is a disaster. Doesn't matter whether AI or Elsevier does it. the-one-percent.qedscience.comthe-one-percent.qedscience.comQED — The most compelling preprints of 2025 56713
Reposted by Robert InsallPolly Mackenzie @pollymackenzie.bsky.social · 21/06/2026My nine year old asked for a Rosetta Stone cake for his birthday 602218152562
Reposted by Robert InsallDouglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 13/06/2026It appears my countrymen have arrived in the Americas and culturally appropriated a statue of George Washington. 371594384
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 12/06/2026As usual, Current Biology is by some way the most interesting table of contents to read among general biology journals. Chapeau. 040
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 29/05/2026Didn't you listen to the man? He told you! "adjustment to clarify for presentation purposes"... 270
Reposted by Robert InsallSholto David @sholtodavid.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Reluctant to post too much about this but I did want to share my favourite finding from the dozens of manipulated or duplicated ThermoFisher verification blots. This one has a giant square. Enjoy! 710833
Reposted by Robert InsallEric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 26/05/2026The last thing you see before opening ChatGPT 6061961361
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 27/05/2026PhD opportunity at UCL! Computational modelling of tumours, in medical physics. www.ucl.ac.uk/engineering/...ucl.ac.ukComputational Modelling of Tumour–Microenvironment Dynamics (25008)Find out more about this four-year funded PhD studentship 044
Reposted by Robert InsallCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 25/05/2026"Please provide a justification for the foreign collaboration." Science. 11768158
Reposted by Robert InsallAshkaan K. Fahimipour @akfbio.bsky.social · 22/05/2026Reptiles with longer Wikipedia pages tend to be bigger. The relationship is a power law with exponent = 0.85. I guess humans really like writing about big lizards? The longest article is the Komodo Dragon. 13348117
Reposted by Robert InsallCathy Abbott @cathyabbott.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Slightly unfortunate dedication in this book (at first glance) 😬 071
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 22/05/2026The @anthropic opus science skills in Claude are rendered, basically, completely useless by the overzealous guardrails. For a system that wants to persuade people it's smart, it's staggeringly dumb. 110
Reposted by Robert Insallderek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 20/05/2026this is what some of you look like in short sleeve button-up shirts 923151902266
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 17/05/2026And article of great insight, using data remarkably well. Why are we not having babies? www.ft.com/content/fba3...ft.comWhy birth rates are falling everywhere all at onceHomes and phones are part of the reason for the demographic shift changing our world 200
Reposted by Robert Insallc0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 15/05/2026What happens when you put a snake in shag carpeting with some little soft, bendable posts in the way (and also it can't see the posts). If you answered: "It behaves like a light particle moving through a diffraction grating" then congratulations! You win! Let's talk about SNAKE DIFFRACTION. 617165
Reposted by Robert InsallFlo Camus @fcamus.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Our postdoc ad is live! 🔥 We're seeking a researcher to lead computational work on mitochondrial heteroplasmy in bees. You'll analyse single-cell datasets exploring heterplasmy dynamics. PhD + NGS/bioinformatics expertise required. 🔥 www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...ucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021). 1118
Reposted by Robert InsallAcid Rain @bearysweet.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Wish you could best those multi-coloured Pac Man ghosts in the flesh? Now you can. A life-sized Pac Man arena in Singapore is turning a classic arcade game into a real world experience. 👻👻👻 Run! #games #arcade #pacman 703246612
Reposted by Robert InsallHHMI @hhmi-science.bsky.social · 10/05/2026This mesmerizing timelapse captures the nonstop motion inside an animal cell. Red/orange streaks are the growing ends of microtubules, tiny “highways” that can rapidly assemble and disassemble to move proteins & other molecules within the cell. 📸: Andy Moore, HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus 18316
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 07/05/2026I hope this doesn't cause people to question the provenance of the Nobble Prize I was deservedly awarded last year... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...theguardian.comFrench professor accused of ‘gigantic hoax’ after inventing Nobel-style prizeAuthorities investigate Florent Montaclair over award given to himself and others including Noam Chomsky 040
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 05/05/2026If this is true (I doubt, but possible) it is a catastrophe for science funding process. Last nail in the coffin level. Why? Because funding will remain at 10%. Nobody's going to pull a load of new cash out of the hat. So. At first - grants that use an online tool will have an advantage over ../ 1153
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 02/05/2026Tring to work out how Arp2/3 complex fits together with monther and daughter actin filaments, with Laura Machesky and her 3D printer 070
Robert Insall @robinsall.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Good article, but describes only a fraction of the harm caused by an exceptionally ill-considered decision. Finding reviewers and panellists is a problem. How does alienating half the European science community, by locking them out of all participation, help? www.science.org/content/arti...science.orgAbrupt change to European funder’s rules leaves researchers shut outFlood of proposals to European Research Council—perhaps unleashed by AI—means unsuccessful applicants must wait longer to reapply 010
Reposted by Robert InsallPablo J. Sáez @pjsaez.bsky.social · 27/04/2026Very nice cover picture for the next GRC in #CellMigration, chaired by @robinsall.bsky.social #AnaMariaLennon & @djcohen.bsky.social www.grc.org/directed-cel... 2416
