Dan Samorodnitsky
@dsamorod.bsky.social
i'm an editor and science writer. i cover biology, genetics, the environment, stuff like that. i live in Minneapolis. my pronouns are he/him. i am a cofounder at @sequencermag.bsky.social dansamorodnitsky.com
Genes and genomes are not binary, regulation is not binary, the products of genes are not binary, cellular fates are not binary, yet somehow the product of those things is binary
Tim Janicke@timjanicke.bsky.social · 4w agoIn a new #Viewpoint we argue that the binary definition of #BiologicalSex based on gamete size is a scientifically robust framework that is entirely compatible with the diversity of sexual phenotypes and human gender identities. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
TBH I feel like Mamdani has bent over backwards to demonstrate that he's not remotely antisemitic, and guys like Frum who will call him an antisemite anyway on the basis of his religion and anti-Zionism are doing the work of bona fide antisemites
brent sewer socialist🚰🌹@therealbrent.bsky.social · last mo.I hate this guy so much
Earlier this year researchers at Stanford University published a paper on a protein that seemingly broke the Central Dogma, the cardinal rule of biology. For @sequencermag.bsky.social, I wrote about whether the scientific dogmas are important at all. www.sequencermag.com/when-the-cen...
When the Central Dogma bends, will it break?
The discovery of a protein that seemingly contradicts a fundamental law of biology raises a question: how important are those laws anyway?
sequencermag.com
With a few exceptions science media in general has largely shrunk from criticizing the administration, for many reasons but one is that publishers (like Springer Nature, former owner of SciAm) are multinationals with business interests that are more lucrative than journalism.
@joycecaroloates.bsky.social · last mo.fondly remember subscribing to Scientific American in high school. but I have heard that the magazine has changed considerably reflecting the anti-science bias of the current administration. is this true?
Subscribe to @sequencermag.bsky.social, independent science media. www.sequencermag.com
Sequencer
Decode the universe. A writer-owned popular science magazine
sequencermag.com
Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · last mo.Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com
I wrote this essay to correct recent obituaries of Craig Venter, which overstate the significance of his human genome sequencing work, repeating the hype and exaggerated promises of his own self-promotion, which was designed to fuel speculative investment in his biotech companies
Disjunctions Magazine@disjunctionsmag.bsky.social · last mo.@jonothingeb.bsky.social, on Craig Venter's life and science under neoliberalism.
The good vibes that a Sabres or Bills win would generate could explode the sun. Sports viewing as a type of religious repression.
Dave Levitan@davelevitan.bsky.social · 2mo agoNow that the Knicks got it done what is the most potentially cathartic/demon-exorcising win in US pro sports now? Buffalo/Minnesota winning a Super Bowl? Maple Leafs (North American, whatever) winning a cup? Clippers or Suns?
among the many things i learned in this fascinating article by @dsamorod.bsky.social is that when you get sunburn a bunch of your skin cells have to decide whether to kill themselves or not :( www.quantamagazine.org/rna-is-the-c...
RNA Is the Cell’s Emergency Alert System | Quanta Magazine
How does a cell know when it’s been damaged? A molecular alarm, set off by mutated RNA and colliding ribosomes, signals danger.
quantamagazine.org
sure I walked up and down lyndale saying hey to my neighbors but it was also one million degrees outside with air like a wet towel
David Brauer@dbrauer.net · 2mo agoWe spent the winter defending our way of life and in a single June weekend — with pencil sharpening, Grand Old Day, Tour de Luce, Open Streets, Twins, Lynx, Saints, etc — we are living it.
If it makes you feel any better your senses of hunger, thirst, and the passage of time are also constructs of your brain and your cells.
why is he not funding day car e in the beautiful nation of Israel
Isi Baehr-Breen@isibb.bsky.social · 3mo agoHasn't even been a year and Zohran's governance is having a massive impact on my family. Our daycare was able to open a 15-seat 3K program because of the 2,000 extra seats the admin funded. Everyone we know got in somewhere they wanted. This is gonna save us almost 50 grand.
There's a scene in the Paths of the Dead where a skeleton comes to life and yells spooky stuff at Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli that I found so unexpected it literally jump scared me.
Tauriq Moosa@tauriq.bsky.social · 3mo agoWhat's your favourite creepy Lord of the Rings quote or fact? Mine is in the book, Gandalf's description of his fight with the Balrog, he mentions "nameless things"
Anyone who liked The Vegetarian is out of their minds I will die on this hill. Go ahead, shoot me.
The crowning achievement of any education system in the world is the State University of New York, which puts a 2- or 4-year college in basically every burg with 5,000 or more people in it in the state. When I went to SUNY Binghamton, in-state tuition was $2k, out-of-state was $5k.
bendwalsh.bsky.social@bendwalsh.bsky.social · 3mo agoTony Judt gave an interview once where he explained how the true gems of the American higher education system weren't the Ivy Leagues, they were the land-grant universities and specifically, their research libraries
"My political opponents are simply too childish to understand that unregulated financial power, the crushing of the middle class, and unremitting bombing of civilians into dust are all good things" is a key conservative talking point.
Abby Sliva@abbysliva.bsky.social · 3mo agoThese people don’t know any people in academia or really any college students and it’s prime territory for making up a guy to get mad at
pretty excited to share a recent project that was a total joy to work on—a poster for @boneshakerbooks.bsky.social in minneapolis! designed by me & printed in-house with @mothdude.bsky.social's expertise, this project was inspired by book fair & library posters of my early '90s childhood
why is he not walking the beautiful streets of tel aviv
Acyn@acyn.bsky.social · 4mo agoMayor Mamdani chats with New Yorkers while walking the six miles from City Hall to Gracie Mansion, fulfilling the promise he made in his inauguration speech to “be outside” as Mayor — “because this is a government of New York, by New York, and for New York.”
Sure he says "The Jewish people are part of the land and they should remain that way," and "I want to liberate everyone" but that is actually coded anti-semitism.
Arno Rosenfeld@arnorosenfeld.bsky.social · 4mo agoEXCLUSIVE: I spoke with Mahmoud Khalil about Hamas, Zionism and what "free Palestine" means to him "This is what we should aspire for: to get a place where there’s no more conflict, no more killing in that place and its open to anyone who wants to call it their home." forward.com/news/817276/...
