Merkel lab
@merkellab.bsky.social
Group Leader, theoretical soft matter & biophysics CNRS, Center for Theoretical Physics, Marseille http://www.merkellab.net Opinions are my own.
Fires in France have now burned over 91,000 acres, by far the most of any year since the satellite record started in 2006. Current area burned is about 34x larger than this date in a typical (median) year:
I've created a new dashboard for The Climate Brink that is updated daily with ERA5 global mean surface temperature data. It includes daily anomalies, monthly and annual forecasts, and a bunch of interactive data visualizations: dashboard.theclimate...
Renewables are now the world's largest source of electricity – and the main source of new supplies
"Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it."
@johanduchene.bsky.social @sholtodavid.bsky.social Spent the last hour looking, found ten more apparently manipulated Western blots in Thermo Fisher's antibody verification data (across eight different catalogued products). Thread below. www.thermofisher.com/antibody/pro...
📣 We are organising the workshop "Phases of Collective Cellular Behavior: Rheology, Order & Feedback" from 5.-9. October 2026 at the MPI-PKS in Dresden, Germany. This workshop at the interface between physics and biology is about the collective behaviour of cells. More info: www.pks.mpg.de/colcel26
Another fascinating - and totally serendipitous - example of how human biological sex isn't always binary, despite executive orders that it is. In this case an XX/XY mosaic individual was a fertile female. Other XX/XY mosaics can be phenotypically male.
Shai Carmi@shaicarmi.bsky.social · 7mo agoA fascinating case report. The DNA of a female murder victim was genotyped and it turns out that she has been a chimera: a mixture of 46XX/46XY cell lines. The analysis (STR-based) found: 1. The maternal chromosome was identical between the two cell lines. www.fsigenetics.com/article/S187... 1/6
How likely is an #AMOC shutdown? Here's our latest study based on 768 runs with 38 standard climate models (the CMIP6 models). Note these do not include any meltwater from Greenland mass loss, so might underestimate the risk a bit. 2/2 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
Collapse of key Atlantic current could bring extreme drought to Europe for centuries, study finds. @swinda.bsky.social That's an under-appreciated impact of #AMOC shutdown, of particular concern given the recent results showing much higher likelihood of this. 1/2 www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
Wovor Menschen (laut der CDU nahen Adenauer Stiftung) in Deutschland Angst haben: Russischer Aggression, Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Rechtsruck, AfD, Klimawandel, Desinformation. Grüße an eine vollkommen falsche politische und mediale Debatte. www.kas.de/documents/d/...
"[...] Iran’s president [...] announced that Tehran [...] would need to be abandoned and re-established elsewhere, because, after years of climate-fuelled drought, its water has finally run out." The article includes ideas on what to do against climate inaction. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Another Cop wrecked by fossil fuel interests and our leaders’ cowardice – but there is another way | Genevieve Guenther
The fingerprints of Russia and Saudi Arabia are all over the decision text in Brazil. But a group of nations led by Colombia and the Netherlands offer hope, says End Climate Silence founding director ...
theguardian.com
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Un document concis et clair du @hc-climat.bsky.social
Haut conseil pour le climat@hc-climat.bsky.social · 10mo agoComprendre l’action climatique de la France et l’efficacité de ses politiques ? C’est l’objectif de la version "grand public" de notre rapport annuel : synthétique et pédagogique. À lire (et à partager) : www.hautconseilclimat.fr/publications...
suggested the university was “explicitly trading my academic freedom for access to the Chinese student market,” www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
theguardian.com
Appreciate Quanta for shining a light on our joint work with Simon Gsell, Sham Tlili (@shamtlili.bsky.social), and Matthias Merkel (@merkellab.bsky.social).
Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org · 10mo agoBiophysicists are realizing that there is an undervalued element at play in early development: Aside from genes, mechanical forces also steer the growth of embryos. @annademming.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/genes-have-h...
Woah! Such an important study published in Nature today! Quick thread with some of their key figures! 🧵
Zusammen mit dem Monitoring-Bericht zur Energiewende hat Katherina Reiche in der letzten Woche einen Zehn-Punkte-Plan vorgestellt. Dieser weist sprachlich wie inhaltlich große Ähnlichkeiten zu einem Papier von RWE und Eon aus dem Frühjahr auf. Ein längerer Thread mit Links und Beispielen. (1/19)
Thousands of Italian workers and students are on strike for Gaza apnews.com/article/ital...
Italian workers' strike in solidarity with Gaza brings disruptions across the country
Thousands of workers and students across Italy have joined a general strike and demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
apnews.com
In case you missed it, according to the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. You may have been aware of it - some people still are not. The text of the resolution: genocidescholars.org/wp-content/u... www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s top scholars on the crime say
International Association of Genocide Scholars resolution backed by 86% of members who voted
theguardian.com
The EU credibility is at stake. We must do more on Gaza. Our @baseickhout.bsky.social to Commission President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu.
No individual billionaire, corporation, or country should be allowed to block the will and wellbeing of 8 billion people and the future of our planet. The Planet Can’t Afford Billionaires Read more: time.com/7305649/the-...
MEPs, together, drawing a red line for Gaza. Killing civilians is a red line. Starving people is a red line. Bombing hospitals and shelters is a red line. Israel’s assault on Gaza is unlawful, disproportionate, and devastating. We call on @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu and the EU to take action!
"Last year, more than 90 percent of wind and solar projects commissioned worldwide produced power more cheaply than the cheapest available fossil-fuel alternative."
‘China Is the Engine’ Driving Nations Away From Fossil Fuels, Report Says
nytimes.com
Most-viewed Guardian articles last night. Editors shouldn’t think that the public doesn’t want to know more about climate change. Or about ocean science 🌊! Read the article about our paper: www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Israeli forces abducted a Palestinian child near a GHF site in June and took him to a notorious prison camp where they subjected him to severe torture for nearly a month. Omar was alongside other aid seekers when Israeli forces encircled them, held him at gunpoint, and then forced them to strip.
Israel Abducted Child Aid Seeker and Tortured Him for a Month While Carrying Out Aid Site Massacres
A recent report reveals Israel is also abducting Palestinians near aid sites, on top of near-daily massacres.
buff.ly
A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...
From genes to patterns: five key dynamical systems concepts to decode developmental regulatory mechanisms
Summary: Dynamical systems theory provides a powerful quantitative and intuitive framework to understand developmental processes. This Primer brings key concepts of this framework to the ever-growing ...
journals.biologists.com
“I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?” “It couldn’t happen without the support of the western world. Any leader that is not doing whatever they can to stop it is part of this horror.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
Israel committing genocide in Gaza, say Israel-based human rights groups
Reports detailing intentional targeting of Palestinians as a group, and systemic destruction of Palestinian society, add to pressure for action
theguardian.com
