So I look like a slow distillation atack

Delighted to share our latest now published in @science.org, where we developed "cyborg" pancreatic organoids to trace and stimulate functional human islet cell maturation. We're excited for the potential as new tools for #diabetes research and therapy!

Implanted flexible electronics reveal principles of human islet cell electrical maturation

Understanding how human pancreatic α and β cell electrical activities mature is critical for building fully functional stem cell–derived (SC-) pancreatic organoids for research and therapeutics. We im...

science.org

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE UNIVERSE PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

OpenAI launches ChatGPT Health, encouraging users to connect their medical records

But it’s ‘not intended for diagnosis or treatment.’

theverge.com

I strongly suggest this read on the topic and LLM antropomorphism: The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models replicate the mechanisms of a psychic’s con softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...

Blog post: Just quit Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it. open.substack.com/pub/arjunraj...

Just quit

Quitting projects in science is hard, but we should be doing a lot more of it.

open.substack.com

An essential development over the past decade-plus is that the ignorant went from feeling chastened when their ignorance was revealed to banding together and deciding that, actually, they were right. They might disagree at times, but they agreed that ignorance itself was an indicator of trust.

💔🙏Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are celebrating Christmas today in the trenches while holding the line against Russian aggression They're doing it for their nation's survival & for Europe's security Merry Christmas to all of them & their families. May they reunite soon

One of the most pleasant surprises of the past 20 years was the transformation of Wikipedia into arguably the most reliable general information source freely accessible to the public. It’s not perfect — I’ve certainly seen errors — but it’s kind of shockingly good. One might consider a donation.

Greta Thunberg arrested at a protest supporting Palestine Action hunger strikers

Greta Thunberg arrested at a protest supporting Palestine Action hunger strikers

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been arrested in central London at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action hunger strikers.

news.sky.com

In English we know it as “Carol of the Bells,” but the melody arises from a Ukrainian folk tradition of songs welcoming the new year and summoning the forces of nature to meet human labor and bring prosperity. Do listen. I wrote about the history here: snyder.substack.com/p/o-generous...

UNITED24@u24.gov.ua · 11mo ago

Another beautiful Shchedryk performance amidst ruins. It was set in what used to be a DTEK thermal power plant — now destroyed by russia. The contrast between russia’s destructive nature and the Ukrainian will to create beauty even in the darkest times is palpable.

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

Oliver Sacks was a hero of mine. I couldn't let @rachelaviv.bsky.social’s brilliant piece pass without comment. My latest, on why Sacks's fictions are so much worse than those of your garden-variety journalist fabulist. . open.substack.com/pub/mariakon...

The man who mistook his imagination for the truth

The disappointing reality of one of my (ex-)heroes, Oliver Sacks

open.substack.com

#OtD 17 Dec 1970 soldiers were ordered to fire upon Polish dockworkers in Gdynia by the state to attempt to crush protests against price rises. Dozens were killed then buried, but strikes grew until the government had to back down stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/8870...

i know this is hardly a new take but isn’t it WILD that wikimedia has to ask for donations to keep itself afloat when every LLM in the world has been trained on wikipedia data?

Khashoggi's Ghost@urocklive1.bsky.social · 11mo ago

This is my cyclical reminder that there's really only one consistently reliable source of info in the public record that isn't owned by right wing billionaires, who really want to put an end to it. Please give at least the $2.75 minimum they request if you can. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

If you have a bank account in your country or use U.S. technology, as most of us do, this will 100% affect you and your loved ones now and well into the foreseeable future. And this is why #Digitalsovereignty should be a goal for every democratic government if they are serious about freedom.

Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca · 11mo ago

"‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock Intl Criminal Court judge out of daily life. Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards or access everyday services (Uber, Alexa, Ticketmaster...) in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary." www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

This is what is going to happen. There will be a thin top layer of non-digital universities — and all the tech billionaires will send their kids to those places.

Christopher Howell@chrishowell.com · 11mo ago

Total success to the first college/university that pledges to be AI-free and brand it as an opportunity to receive a real education.

Why does anyone use the Wilcoxon test for anything? It's not even transitive. It's sensitive to things one most likely is not looking for (changes in distribution shape) and relatively insensitive to what one usually is looking for (change in location). www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Wondering how much it helps that Finnish is not widely spoken and not easy to learn (but Hungary contradicts this factor)

New Humanist@newhumanist.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it

Just discovered Radu Isac, hilarious & resonates so much youtu.be/ndtMz2aNqi8?...

Radu Isac: The War Next Door

YouTube video by Radu Isac

youtu.be

Huge respect to the papers for finding both an 88 year old worried about the tax bill on her 6 bedroom Kensington house and a 20 year old fretting about only being able to save £12k a year tax free. Top work all around. These are not easy case studies to find.

It sure looks like Russian intelligence attempted to use military drones to assassinate the President of Ukraine inside an EU country. Looking forward to more thoughts from Belgium on why freezing Russian assets is an escalatory move that might compromise the peace process.

southpaw@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...

Oh look. They’ve actually drawn a diagram for all the people stupid enough to need a bloody diagram.

European News@eunews.social · 11mo ago

Elon Musk and his Russian friends call for the abolishment of the EU

Day 4 and the final day of the BSI saw a fantastic talk from @labliston.bsky.social about Tregs in the brain and an excellent session devoted to “Barriers, bugs, and breakdowns” - right up our street! Thank you to all organisers and presenters @britsocimm.bsky.social for a great week in Liverpool🫶

We can't imagine what realities in Ukraine are. Some paperwork related to my car was delayed. Yesterday I got a text: "today I got the news that unit for whom Roma was driving current batch of cars or buggies got destroyed on a mission with few guys killed and other badly wounded... 1/3

People in comments write "this is not America". So what is it, Belgium? This is the US. This is the "mass deportation" policy in action. It's enacted by president elected on that mandate by Americans. He is still supported by one of the two major parties. It's what they voted for. They knew him.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 11mo ago

FLORIDA — Woman in scrubs: “I’m a U.S. citizen! Why are you doing this to me??”

"There's not enough women in STEM!" is a Anglo-Germanic problem, sure, all have problems with systemic inequality, but not to the same scale as Germany. Ya'll just pretending other countries don't exist.

Polygenic risk scores probe selected DNA variants to estimate risks for traits like height or diabetes. Yet those very variants—or adjacent/linked ones—can shape cancer or infection resistance, musicality, wit, appearance. Using PRS to choose embryos is just a terrible idea

Don't fall for the manipulative "censorship" framing of EU's fines against X for DSA violations. The EU is trying to enforce their laws. X is breaking them. And the U.S. government is defending big tech, billionaries, & bullshitters rather than protecting users. www.linkedin.com/posts/daphne...

Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship. https://lnkd.in/g3Cyeeyk That would, indeed, be interesting! But this is just the EU… ...

Don't let anyone tell you that the Commission's DSA enforcement against X is about speech or censorship. https://lnkd.in/g3Cyeeyk That would, indeed, be interesting! But this is just the EU enforcing...

linkedin.com

a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...

The Sanger Prize

The Sanger Prize is an outreach competition aimed at undergraduate students who live and study in low or middle income countries

sanger.ac.uk

Wellcome Sanger Institute@sangerinstitute.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Have you heard of the Sanger Prize? It is a three-month undergrad placement at the Institute, and applications are open. Hear from our current Sanger Prize holder Beatriz Rodrigues Estevam, here ⤵️ https://sangerinstitute.blog/2025/11/20/unravelling-the-mysteries-of-the-worm-through-bioinformatics/