We're Hiring! I've moved into a new role in the University of Northampton and we're looking for a replacement Technician Demonstrator. You will be focussed on supporting students in the lab during their dissertation projects, lab safety and management jobs.northampton.ac.uk/vacancy/tech...

It's my last week as a technician demonstrator at @uninorthampton.bsky.social. next week I will be starting my new job as senior microscopist and advanced imaging facility manager at @uninorthampton.bsky.social.

I'm a professional in scientific imaging, honest. Every part of this is a carefully built machine to image a major cosmic event... Especially the pain au chocolat.

Exciting post in immunology: University of Manchester seeks a Research Technician to support immune checkpoint research using cutting-edge microscopy, omics, and genetic editing in human immune cells. www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/job/research...

University of Manchester Seeks Research Technician for Immune Cell Work

Join the University of Manchester as a Research Technician supporting immune checkpoint studies with cutting-edge microscopy, omics, and genetic editing.

dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk

Figures show #salmonella cases have increased in the region. Giving her expert view on this to ITV Anglia News (West) was #UON's Dr Alex Woodacre. www.itv.com/watch/news/catch-up-on-itv-news-anglia-west-from-tuesday-30th-june/hjpzn73 📺 6m40s. Expires 7:45pm tomorrow. #salmonella #publichealth

Exciting things happening in Northampton. Beautiful microscopes on their way!

Today's job is to help one of our students get into the lab with her service dog. I am legitimately looking at pictures of doggy coats, booties and safety specs.

These are those great "what are scientists doing with our tax dollars, it makes no sense!" Stories. A lot of what scientists do doesn't make sense, Often even in the context of the time. It makes sense later when someone develops a tool from the knowledge. Where would we be now without GFP?

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai@bioniclab.bsky.social · 3mo ago

🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.

I always assumed that these gels were neatened up and absolutely optimised to within a nm of reality, but completely making up bands and eliminating non specific binding has probably led to labs wasting time and money trying to eliminate "issues" which are just typical of the antibody.

Sholto David@sholtodavid.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Earlier this week I posted an example of a fake western blot provided by ThermoFisher to demonstrate the validity of a p53 antibody. I considered it an amusing curiosity. In fact Thermo Fisher Scientific has systematically manipulated antibody validation data!

This week in "we expect this of our students, we should really expect it of our academic researchers"...

Adam Rutherford@adamrutherford.bsky.social · 4mo ago

I am genuinely surprised by this. Of course you don’t just check all references, you actually read them. And yes that includes ones written in languages other than your own.

For my colleagues who love finding bizarre tortured phrases in AI writing

Leonid Schneider@forbetterscience.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Oh nothing, just a peer reviewed paper my colleagues found... doi.org/10.1016/j.ma... "1 mL of the mass killing of an ethnic group was opposed to 20 mL of the skin sample and unprotected to light for 7 min." Even AI knows what's wrong here, but @elsevierconnect.bsky.social doesn't.

I mean aside from the shocking scientific inaccuracies this feels like it was written by a 4 year old. I don't say this often but just use AI and tell it you want to lie.

I wish I had this when I was working with flies. Especially the cross planner!

Giorgio Gilestro@giorgio.gilest.ro · 6mo ago

Happy to announce I've launched a new service for the fly community: flyRoom, a web-based comprehensive stock manager for all your fly pushing needs. Organise all your stocks, maps all your genotypes, plan your crosses, print and scan your labels. Give it a try and let your colleagues know!

I don't get many opportunities to go to conferences, but the @midlandsinnovation.bsky.social flow cytometry conference is becoming an annual fixture. Best part is that I genuinely learn new stuff every year.

Yesterday I had the joy of receiving over £1 million worth of equipment from Evident Scientific. It will help us to deliver specialist teaching, support research and offer a facility to help other universities and businesses.

The tension is unbearable. I've been waiting here since 8 AM. I'm now joined by a member of management from Evident Scientific and 2 removals people, for the delivery of 17 pallets of microscope deliveries which has now been delayed until 11-12. We're all geared up and ready to go

Very excited to be advertising this project with the excellent cosupervision of Peter Mergaert through @i2bcparissaclay.bsky.social and @uniexecec.bsky.social. This position is open to international applicants and will involve stints in both Penryn UK and Paris France. Please share! Apply: adum.fr

All of this. I naïvely assumed all bio students would be more computer literate than I was in 2002. But then you had to learn to use a computer. A lot of students still can't use a PC beyond browsing the internet or typing an essay and we're at risk of leaving them behind if we don't teach them

CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, PhD@doctorcarrie.bsky.social · 9mo ago

If I hear one more person refer to Gen Z or Gen Alpha as digital natives when the students do not know: 1. How to use built-in Word functions like outlining and spellchecker 2. The different types of basic files 3. Interoperability 4. The issues related to uploading #EduSky #AcademicSky

I thought the Bluetooth logging system on the lab freezer was a waste of money, but on the offer it was cheaper with than without. Today students told me the alarm was going off but they definitely hadn't had it open too long and I got to show them this

Happy new shiny toy day to me... I mean the department

Yesterday there was a special celebration to (almost finally) close the building where I spent 13 years at Leicester. Famous for DNA fingerprinting, Richard III and countless other discoveries and developments. It was amazing to hear stories from people who were there significantly longer than me

This is definitely the weirdest form of mimicry. If there's a weirder one please tell me

Science Magazine@science.org · last yr.

In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it. Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8

Flashback to 10 years ago when someone foolishly said "Lewis, you're a photographer, you could do a professional looking lab photo"

Some days I'm very happy to be on campus

When people think this is just affecting America this is what they're not considering. Flybase is such a crucial resource and its loss could hugely impact fundamental research across the globe

FlyBase@flybase.bsky.social · last yr.

We currently have a call for support that has gone out to European labs, to support FlyBase-UK. We are asking our colleagues from labs in the US and other countries to wait for a similar call to them that will go out in the near future, to support the US sites. We thank you for your patience.

A colleague forgot about this plate and left it at 37 degrees for 3 weeks, but it looks glorious. I'm currently testing out a photo box to get more consistent images of Petri dishes and it seemed a good candidate

Movies you've watched more than 6 times using GIFs. And I still laugh childishly hard at this scene.

two men are sitting next to each other in front of a window and one of them is talking about lubricant .

ALT: two men are sitting next to each other in front of a window and one of them is talking about lubricant .

media.tenor.com

Annika Barber@annikabarber.bsky.social · last yr.

Movies you’ve watched more than 6 times using GIFs. (“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek or LOTR). This was still easy.

I may be late for the day, but the truth is the same every day. To my friends, colleagues, students, people passing me in the corridor who have something to say: you are safe with me

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · last yr.

Happy Trans Day of Visibility to all you wonderful lovely people! 🏳️‍⚧️ Thank you for sharing as much of yourselves as you are comfortable sharing; all our lives are richer for it ❤️

Very glad to have been involved in this, not least because it meant I got to play with some of our newest and shiniest equipment still cooling down from its installation.

Karen Anthony@profkarena.bsky.social · last yr.

Pleased to share this work out now in @SciReports linking Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene expression to survival outcomes in head and neck cancer. www.nature.com/articles/s41... @drleemachado.bsky.social @drlewisac.bsky.social

I think the most depressing thing about seeing equipment this old is assuming it must be from the 1960s/70s and discovering it was made in the early 2000s.

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them)@jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · last yr.

"Why don't you buy a new centrifuge" Because everyone knows that any appliances in that shade of yellow will outlive you and your entire family, look at it