Chris Balakrishnan
@evolutionpirate.bsky.social
Nerd Nite Founder and author/editor of "How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" http://bit.ly/NerdNiteBook opinions my own
This is thoughtful and worth your time.
Ran Blekhman@blekhman.bsky.social · last wk.Everyone says AI will accelerate science. I don't think it will -- at least not in biology, and at least not soon. New post where I explain why, and how the productivity paradox can be resolved: blekhman.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
NEW: As cyclosporiasis cases jumped, the company linked to the outbreak - Taylor Farms - effectively delayed a recall that mounted in consumer confusion. Gift link for @business www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
As Parasite Spawned Chaos, Taylor Farms Slow-Walked Its Response
The US Food and Drug Administration had apologized, Taylor Farms said in a post on X. An agency lab test linking its produce to the country’s worst cyclosporiasis outbreak in decades was a false posit...
bloomberg.com
It's out! Excited to present the Great Barrier Reef Microbial Genomes Database (GBR-MGD), a comprehensive DB of 1000s of high-quality prokaryote, virus, plasmid, and chromosome-level eukaryote MAGs using Nanopore long reads. Subthreads incoming. Please share widely. 🙂 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The planktonic microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef - Nature
The Great Barrier Reef Microbial Genomes Database compiles prokaryotic, viral and eukaryotic genomes from seawater collected from the Great Barrier Reef, providing a rich resource for the study of mar...
nature.com
I guess this is how one becomes someone who haunts estate sales for old Pyrex
Your Cookware Got Worse On Purpose
One buyout firm quietly collected Pyrex, Corelle, Instant Pot, and Oneida. Farberware is a name on a 200-year lease. And the pans still worth buying.
worseonpurpose.com
We need 2-3 more writers with a science-y backgrounds to help us turn news chaos into orderly information on @unbreaking.org's infectious disease control, food safety, and medical research funding pages. The commitment is a few hours every couple of weeks. Is this you? 🌱 unbreaking.org/how-to-help/
How to help — Unbreaking
Documenting damage and resistance. Unflooding the zone.
unbreaking.org
Here's the article. diabetesjournals.org/care/article...
Misguided Brushes of a Pen Continue to Dismantle and Destroy Biomedical Research in the United States: We Can No Longer Afford Complacency and Fear. We Must All Act Now!
The opinions expressed in this editorial are the personal views of the authors (S.E. Kahn, C.A.M. Anderson, J.B. Buse, and E. Selvin) and do not represent
diabetesjournals.org
The prevent defense prevents you from winning. RIP John Madden.
Who needs Moore's law when you've got solar growth rates?
Nicolas Fulghum@nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 4w agoSolar's sharp rise continues. As of April 2026, global solar capacity now exceeds 3 terawatt. 1 gigawatt → 1 terawatt: 20+ years 1 terawatt → 2 terawatt: 33 months 2 terawatt → 3 terawatt: 19 months
New paper from the lab! In which we, in partnership with Sylvan Heights Bird Park, describe patterns of genetic diversity, pathogen susceptibility, and inbreeding in one of the rarest birds in the world, the white-winged wood duck (not a muscovy duck). A short thread, and link below. (1/4)
Think I might have chosen the experts at one of the worlds most admired zoos *that has been doing this for 50 years*.
Carl Zimmer@carlzimmer.com · last mo.The US government is entering a partnership to store frozen cells and other biological samples from endangered and threatened species with Colossal, a private company best known for claiming to "de-extinct" dire wolves. Story by me & @catrineinhorn.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/43Rzhfw
Good morning with good news: Biggest solar cell factory in US history starts making solar cells and every major piece of a solar panel! Qcells will annually make in Georgia 8.6 GW of modules and 3.3 GW each of cells, ingots & wafers. It will employ 4,000! electrek.co/2026/06/11/g... #energysky
Georgia is about to have the biggest solar cell factory in US history
Qcells is making solar cells in Georgia at what will soon be the largest solar cell factory in US history. Here's why that matters.
electrek.co
Humble as always @birdfiddler.bsky.social , who could be said to be the brains behind this operation. It was Alice after all who pointed out to me this linkage between frugivory and sexual selection and the papers from Snow and others :)
Alice Boyle@birdfiddler.bsky.social · 2mo agoThere is a LOT in this ms. Broad taxononomic scope, new genomes, functional genomics, physiology, & more. I have never been prouder to play such a minor role in a paper. On that note: the long author list reflects the huge diversity of skills & perspectives req to tackle this question! Yay collabs!
Before I get too far, here is the link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... The first author is @evolutionpirate.bsky.social and the senior author is Maude Baldwin, but if you look carefully, there are actually 8 co-first authors! (incl @rdriver215.bsky.social). 2/n
Genomic and physiological changes in a sexually selected and frugivorous bird radiation
Across diverse organisms, the strength and ecological drivers of sexual selection vary enormously. In birds, some of the families with the most elabor…
sciencedirect.com
Ages ago, I asked @mikemelton.bsky.social for permission to use his phenomenal video of the hard-to-see Saffron Crested Tyrant Manakin. You can see it here along with video of the other four manakins whose genomes we sequenced! Thanks again!!!
Alice Boyle@birdfiddler.bsky.social · 2mo agoBefore I get too far, here is the link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... The first author is @evolutionpirate.bsky.social and the senior author is Maude Baldwin, but if you look carefully, there are actually 8 co-first authors! (incl @rdriver215.bsky.social). 2/n
I can’t emphasize enough the contributions of the team. Some probably view this number of first authors as absurd, but each of them contributed a massive amount of time and effort (and data!) just an amazing team to work with. I’m so happy to have this out in the world!
Alice Boyle@birdfiddler.bsky.social · 2mo agoBefore I get too far, here is the link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... The first author is @evolutionpirate.bsky.social and the senior author is Maude Baldwin, but if you look carefully, there are actually 8 co-first authors! (incl @rdriver215.bsky.social). 2/n
#NewPaperAlert! This one has a massive author list and has been a LONG time in coming, but is SO COOL! First, check out the first figure to get you interested! Manakins! Fruit! Sexual-selection in action (displays and Z:A chromosomal diversity)! Read on for the back story & link 1/n
Asst Professor - Plant or Fungal Genomics // University of Wyoming jobs.chronicle.com/job/37995586... The Department of Botany and the School of Computing invites applications for a tenure-track position in Plant or Fungal Genomics at the rank of Assistant Professor. #BotanyJobs
Asst Professor - Plant or Fungal Genomics - Wyoming, United States job with University of Wyoming | 37995586
Asst Professor - Plant or Fungal Genomics Join Our Campus Community! Thank you for your interest in joining the University of Wyoming. Our...
jobs.chronicle.com
in which the kids are alright AND student newspapers continue to light the way "In its tireless support for AI, the University has essentially endorsed shortcuts+the outsourcing of academic thinking. AI cannot coexist with education — it can only degrade it." www.thedp.com/article/2026...
Editorial | Penn has an AI problem
The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board argues that Penn’s choice to embrace AI is detrimental to the institution of higher education.
thedp.com
Well damn, this is cool. Birds That Don't Exist: Niche Pre-Emption as a Constraint on Morphological Evolution in the Passeroidea | Chia et al., 2026 | Ecology Letters onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Birds That Don't Exist: Niche Pre‐Emption as a Constraint on Morphological Evolution in the Passeroidea
We use topological data analysis to reveal a persistent morphological gap in a major group of songbirds (superfamily Passeroidea). The gap remained unoccupied for millions of years, even though nearb...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Some thoughts on AI based on working on this project: Some thoughts on AI based on working on this project: liorpachter.wordpress.com/2026/02/19/t...
The Quickening
In a paper titled “THEOREMS FOR A PRICE: Tomorrow’s Semi-Rigorous Mathematics Culture” published in 1993, mathematician Doron Zeilberger wrote: There are writings on the wall that…
liorpachter.wordpress.com
Our point in this research is not that bird feeding causes zoonotic spillover, but that we can actually *predict* when spillover is likely to occur, so that we can adjust our behavior (e.g., bird feeding) when the risk supports us making a change.
Alexander Lees@alexanderlees.bsky.social · 7mo agoNew paper links Salmonellosis disease dynamics to avian irruptions mediated by transmission at bird feeders - with subsequent spillover to humans causing severe illness and death 🪶🌎 #ornithology #UKBirding www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #BirdFeeding #Rethink @mwtingley.bsky.social
The Business and Biodiversity Assessment looks at how economic activities both depend on and affect biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. Which aspect are you most curious about? 👀 More info about the #BizBiodiversity report set for approval at #IPBES12: ipbes.canto.de/b/HJAGG
Labor calls a general strike in Minnesota to protest the ICE invasion of the state.
"Less than 24 hours after the Trump administration informed more than 2,000 addiction and mental health programs nationwide that it was immediately terminating almost $2 billion of their funding, the administration reversed course and reinstated the money." Gift link: nyti.ms/4pzDSLz
nyti.ms
Still the best holiday album as far as I know: youtube.com/watch?v=kImY...
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Silver Bells"
YouTube video by DaptoneRecords
youtube.com
I think the answer to stopping the harms of the Big AI companies is *not* to say "we need to kill all the AI", even though we hate seeing the creeping impacts of that bad AI in our lives. The model has to be how Bluesky is a better alternative to Twitter. We need a tolerable AI alternative instead.
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature
Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...
nature.com
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA? Well, wonder no more! (Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social) "No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes
Muller's ratchet predicts that non-recombining genomes can accumulate deleterious mutations, though molecular evidence for it is rare. Previous studies have tried to detect ratchet-like behavior in mi...
biorxiv.org
