Simone Cuff
@simonecuff.bsky.social
Lover of all things data, immunology and viruses. Also a bit of sci-art.
The science is the what and the how, the arts and humanities is the why. Society can only flourish when we have both.
Andrew McRae@mcraeandrew.bsky.social · last mo.WFH unexpected bonuses. My teen's playing Resident Evil in the room next to me & as the sounds of screams & crashing accompany my emails I get to chide "Gentle hands! What have I taught you? It doesn't sound like you are using your gentle hands!" to her as she destroys zombies. Eyerolls achieved.
I saw an AI today that helps you look through the literature for promising ideas, helps with research design, looks for funding opportunities and then helps you write the grant application. So the question is, will this break the current funding system?
So we blocked IFNγ in Mtb infected macaques and….the animals were fine. Turns out mice overestimate the importance of IFNγ in TB because IFNγ drives iNOS in mice but not macaques or humans. This means we don’t actually know how T cells suppress Mtb. rdcu.be/ff9GB #tuberculosis #immunology
IFNγ blockade in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macaques alters the granuloma environment but not bacterial control
Nature Communications - Here, the authors show that IFNγ blockade does not impair resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in macaques, opposed to what has been observed in mice, due...
rdcu.be
What a find! Cruising the second hand book shops for interesting reads when I found a reprint of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's letters back from Turkey ,including her observations on variolation from the 1720s. #vaccines #immunology #history
Don’t miss this chance to ROCK your abstract@ Join the HUPO ECR webinar with Reegan Burnell-Clarke, Taylor & Francis Group, and discover how to craft a clear, powerful, & engaging scientific abstract-plus choose strategic keywords that boost your visibility & impact us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
The way UK govt funds science is in the midst of a major transition, with creation of a much more direct link between government priorities & UKRI research funding. My attempt to set in context the biggest upheaval in UK science funding policy since the 1980s: softmachines.org?p=3252
UK science policy in transition – Soft Machines, by Richard Jones
softmachines.org
Yes, drawing helps me think. It also helps me get through zoom seminars where I disagree with the people giving them. The gently scruffy nature of this pony means I was mildly miffed at some of the points made at today's talk.
How likely is ‘likely’? Does ‘likely’ have a higher probability than ‘probable’? I put together a quick quiz so you can see how you interpret probability phrases, then see how you compare with others: probability.kucharski.io
Santa has come early! New issue out now, full of festive treats for all the family. Biochemical functions and quantum fluctuations! Weyl tiles and ordinal scales! Mass extinctions, artificial neural networks and much more…Find it here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/bjps/cur... #philsci #philsky
Prof. Matthias Eberl @eberllab.bsky.social: "A Microbial Horror Show — Devastating outbreaks of disease that shaped how we fight infections" Public Lecture Thursday 27th November, 7:00 pm UK time @cumedicengage.bsky.social 👉🏼 tinyurl.com/microbial-ho... 🦠🧫🔬🤒🏥
Just saw ChatGPT and its AI LLM ilk called stochastic parrots and it is just the most fabulously satisfying, accurate metaphor. When you are being formal: LLM. When you are saying what you think: SP.
Pleased to see this extending further across the publishing ecosystem. #ResearchIntegrity www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Transparent peer review to be extended to all of Nature’s research papers
From today, all new submissions to Nature that are published will be accompanied by referees’ reports and author responses — to illuminate the process of producing rigorous science.
nature.com
To celebrate this (urp 🤢) exciting new journal series, we made a mini game! Can YOU guess which journals are Discover, MDPI, or both? No cheating! There's even the challenge mode "APC Ladder." Share your high score with the hashtag #ResearchIntegrity pagoba.shinyapps.io/publi_guess/ FUN!! 🤮 6/n
Tech giant creates a green space only to be horrified that they are accidentally creating a valuable ecosystem rather than a token piece of bio-art.
Dan Jagger@auditorynerves.bsky.social · last yr.Google battling ‘fox infestation’ on roof of £1bn London office. The foxes "are now living on the top floor which is like a small park.” The as-yet unopened ~1m sq ft King’s Cross building has been under construction since 2018. 🧪🦊🦊 www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
A female Western Gull was recorded riding 150km in a garbage truck from San Francisco to a compost facility in Central CA, probably to forage. TWICE. An innovator, an icon, a genius. This is one of my favorite @waterbirdsociety.bsky.social papers I've ever handled as managing editor #ornithology
British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU)@bou.org.uk · last yr.The First GPS Observation of a Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) Riding in a Long-Haul Garbage Transfer Truck | doi.org/10.1675/063.... | Waterbirds | #ornithology 🪶
Here's our piece on the £86bn R&D budget The govt calls it a “bumper funding package” worth more than £22.5bn a year by 2029–30 In reality it's a real-terms freeze, accounting for inflation, using OBR forecasts But probably as good as the research sector could hope for
Rachel Reeves to set £86bn R&D budget over four years - Research Professional News
Research escapes real-terms cut in static spending review settlement, as regional innovation funding expanded
researchprofessionalnews.com
Robin Bisson@robinbisson.bsky.social · last yr.At 9pm, The Times published a piece on the spending review including crucial details of the UK's 4-year R&D budget, which DSIT sent in a press release *embargoed* for...tomorrow Look out for a piece from us on this with some actual analysis www.thetimes.com/article/a0f4...
Our latest research shows spot-on flea treatments on dogs are released into water when dogs swim even 28 days after treatment - in contrast to the label which suggests dogs can safely swim 48 h after treatment. www.newscientist.com/article/2482...
Dogs pollute water with pesticides even weeks after flea treatment
When dogs given spot treatments for fleas go swimming, they release levels of pesticides dangerous to aquatic life for at least a month after the treatment
newscientist.com
See also statistics and critical thinking. But mainly because this not only has an excellent point, but because it is a damn good read.
Liam Proven@lproven.bsky.social · last yr.The Copilot Delusion buff.ly/99QsTEM <- the story is that one thing LLMs are good at is helping programmers. An experienced programmer carefully explains, in detail, why this is not true.
🚨 We're recruiting! The Journal of Medical Microbiology is seeking two Editors for our Molecular and Microbial Epidemiology section. Help shape the future of microbiology research. 📅 Apply by 20 June 2025 🔗 microb.io/News
We have officially moved in. Our Pop-Up Science Shop will be open to the public from 7th July until 3rd August 3025. Find us in the St David's shopping centre in Cardiff near John Lewis, Zara and Apple. Learn about the microbial world in, on and around us. Including the black death.
The nature of status-seeking in society (and by some elements in science especially) normally makes me despair. LLMs enabling that without effort even more so. This blog post suggests a refreshingly subversive take on both.
Iris Meredith@iris-meredith.bsky.social · last yr.This week's blog post is here, and it's about LLMs as a cultural phenomenon:
Mass mortality of Black-legged Kittiwakes, Norway, 2023: more than 15,000 birds dead, population reduction of 50%. genotype EA-2022-BB 👉 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Are you based in the U.S. 🇺🇸 or Canada 🇨🇦 and thinking of doing research in Europe? ERC grants offer up to €4.5 million to support groundbreaking, investigator-driven frontier research in all fields. Watch the dedicated info session for researchers in your region👉 youtu.be/92QYink1Lik #ChooseEurope
ERC Grants: EU funding for your bottom-up research proposal (2025)
YouTube video by EURAXESS North America
youtu.be
European Research Council (ERC)@erc.europa.eu · last yr.Today, the ERC formally adopted a decision to increase its support for researchers moving to Europe. On top of its normal grants, the ERC offers 'start-up' funding to help PIs establish laboratories / research teams in Europe. This extra funding is now x2 (up to €2 million!) europa.eu/!6Vdgmp
Exciting job opportunities! Two postdoc positions are available in the Fodor Lab at @dunnschool.bsky.social to study influenza virus transcription, genome replication, nuclear export and assembly. More info: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
