Celebrating a major postdoc milestone this month: my paper is finally published and available online for all. Now that we've (and others) have truly established this link between molecular identity and vulnerability, I'm STOKED to narrow in on the "why/how."

The silence of academia embracing AI while data centers wreck harm on the environment and society is deafening. Almost as deafening as the noise coming from the data centers.

Lab equipment question: do you have a fav temp/humidity sensor for monitoring incubator conditions? I remember awhile ago @wormsense.bsky.social had one that recorded the readings and allowed for download via bluetooth I think? Looking for what's most reliable/cheapest right now.

Love having a great excuse to bike out to the commons when Boston weather is showing off.

Academics promoting or the use of or adopting AI in their research have an ethical obligation to openly discuss its environmental impacts and make efforts to minimize the harm the associated data centers are causing. I will die on this hill.

Many believe that AI models can have “experiences” and that they can have significantly more of these experiences in a shorter period of time than humans. To this point we need to remember that intellectual understanding does not equate experience, and that experience is requisite for expertise.

Unexpectedly inspired by Ronnie Chieng’s commencement address to Harvard, he hits the nail on the head. Using AI to do the work for you, in a capacity beyond a simple research tool, is skipping “the journey.” Skipping that journey as a student means robbing yourself of the opportunity for growth.

I left X, hoping to rebuild SciTwitter. That never really happened (for me at least) and so I long wondered what BlueSky is actually good for. Turns out it’s a perfect place to connect with my fellow bibliophiles 🤩

Joy Franco, PhD@engineeringjoy.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Possibly my favorite thing about physical books over all other types? Their very presence is a reminder of their existence, a reminder to read them, and a reminder to revisit their pages. All in a way that doesn’t require looking at a screen or risk the myriad of distractions from digital life.

Possibly my favorite thing about physical books over all other types? Their very presence is a reminder of their existence, a reminder to read them, and a reminder to revisit their pages. All in a way that doesn’t require looking at a screen or risk the myriad of distractions from digital life.

Spring weather finally hitting in Boston.

Immediate (joking to self) response: I find it amazing that the lawyers got the ethics of this right before a lot of the neuroscience field.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb@nkalamb.bsky.social · 3mo ago

UC Berkeley Law creates new AI policy that bans AI for "conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing any work submitted for credit" or exams because "thinking remains the sine qua non of good lawyering (and of a quality legal education)." That's what I'm talking about.

The thing I love about Boston is that it’s perfectly normal to walk more than 1.5 miles home from work. (Bike repair shuffle = trying something I usually only do during a blizzard)

Do you know of a Northeastern student looking for a neuro co-op with a fun postdoc mentor on an exciting project in the Segal Lab? Please send them my way!

Bless the people who send calendar invites 🙏

Bebe’s first cellranger run 🥲 #PostdocMilestones

This whole time I’ve been wondering if there’s really a place fo ME in academia I’ve been missing the bigger question: is there a place for JOY in academia? I think there is. Even if we forget it sometimes.

This is your reminder to go back up all of your data files and to double check that your working files are automatically backed up to a server from which they can easily be recovered in case they all of a sudden go missing. Ask me how I know 😳

Spring training starts now.

Trying to rebuild some fitness, feeling completely worked, but love seeing the data. Absolutely better than last week’s attempt. (This is what a VO2 max workout on the bike looks like for me right now 💀)

After years of telling PhD students they need to keep a strong hobby, I think I’ve finally articulated to myself the essential “Why?” It’s about perspective. Life in academia is a bubble. We often have to have a narrow focus to achieve goals, but this often leads to a loss of perspective. (1/2)

Even I can’t believe how tired I look after a very hard week in postdoc life, but I’m still smiling because I have amazing mentors who make me feel at home. Very proud to be a part of this interdisciplinary group. #NewLabSwagDay

Fill in the blank: If I could go back and tell my younger scientist self one thing about how to give lab meeting it would be _______

Compassion challenge for professors today: see how many students you can say hello to by name as you’re passing them in the halls or wherever on campus. Not every student will care, but I think you’ll have a good chance of pulling on at least one heart string…

What if academia had an index to reflect the number of times someone had been thanked in a publication for sharing reagents?

Just something pretty for your timeline. Nothing can ever really replace Furiosa, but new commuter also means new vibe. Introducing: Maitreya — the one who will help bring compassion, kindness, patience, and understanding to the streets.

If I told you the equipment manual is basically a protocol would you be any more likely to read it? Or even think to look at it?

My husband, who works from home, had to drop me off at work this morning in rush hour Longwood Ave traffic. I kind of feel badly for him, but am also secretly happy he had to experience what I deal with every day. Although, the comfort of a vehicle doesn’t quite do my usual bike commute justice.

Our internal organs are evolutionary marvels. New technologies are transforming our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate organs. You can find more by reading here: rdcu.be/e5EgU #EvoBio #EvoDevo 🐟🦎🐢🦇🐊🦜

The molecular evolution of vertebrate organs

Nature Ecology & Evolution - This Review discusses recent advances in the molecular evolution of vertebrate organs, including rates of evolution of organs and cell types, molecular mechanisms...

rdcu.be

Boston postdoc life really living up to the hype 😉 Isn’t it funny that I genuinely do still love it here?! As always, cannot express enough gratitude for the people working hard to keep the roads and sidewalks cleared. YOU are the reason my precious experiment didn’t go to waste this week 🥹 🙏

Lolz to when you don’t even realize it’s a federal holiday because you’re a postdoc.