Lesley MacNeil
@steeltownworms.bsky.social
Loves worms, dogs and nothing else. Opinions are my own and rarely reflect those of my employer. Associate Professor at McMaster University.
I asked ChatGPT for a list of Canadian Researchers who use C. elegans. Shout-out to my friends Doug Derry @wbderry.bsky.social and Joe Chin-Sang. Also, shout-out to Cathy Rankin, who is the only female C. elegans researcher in Canada.
Chicago Fire Stella Kidd
ALT: Chicago Fire Stella Kidd
static.klipy.com
Had Fauci been in the Epstein files he would have avoided today's hearing.
Please for the love of God, stop putting text in bold for no particular reason! Software developers, stop making bold the default (looking at you Prism). It doesn't need to be fancy, it needs to be readable. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Anna Kendrick: Boom Mic Drop
ALT: Anna Kendrick: Boom Mic Drop
static.klipy.com
I have two preprints out (and under review/revision) and another coming soon (linked below), and I go up for tenure next spring. So if your department is looking for a speaker - call me! (Actually do not. Email me. I am a millennial and unexpected phone calls give me anxiety). 🧪
I've been following this cyclospora outbreak story (and writing for Forbes) and now would be a good time to stop eating any uncooked fresh produce from the U.S. The CDC are investigating but no source/s identified yet. Canadian fresh produce is a much better bet. Never a better time to buy Canadian
"They just want to turn it off." A fascinating story of the librarians who have started teaching classes showing people how to remove AI "features" from their phones and apps. www.bangordailynews.com/2026/07/02/m...
These Maine librarians are helping patrons resist AI and Big Tech
Despite breathless reporting on how AI is going to change the world, Hannah Cyrus, a Bangor librarian, said that, in her experience, most library patrons aren’t finding it helpful.
bangordailynews.com
Is the real issue less a guilty/not guilty verdict but - as in Tessier-Lavigne’s case - the fact this seems bound to occur in a hypercompetitive environment incentivizing fraud and a feudal system ill-equipped and disincentivized to address it?
Dalmeet Singh Chawla@dalmeet.bsky.social · 4w agoNeuropathologist Adriano Aguzzi is not guilty of research misconduct or negligence, a probe of three dozen studies at the University of Zurich has found. My latest for @thetransmitter.bsky.social: www.thetransmitter.org/ethics/neuro... @elisabethbik.bsky.social, @charlespiller.bsky.social
I'm so disillusioned, I almost don't even care who gets the FIFA Peace Prize next year
Reason 1 million that I love the worm community: Someone shows an image of a really large C. elegans, and there are audible oooohhhs and ahhhhhhs from the audience.
Buddy Elf's Big Reaction
ALT: Buddy Elf's Big Reaction
static.klipy.com
Hey C. elegans friends! What's your preferred method for cell-specific knockout or knockdown? Would love any paper recommendations too! Thank you!!!
What happens when AI is used to train AI. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The curious case of Elias Thorne – and what he tells us about AI inbreeding | Arwa Mahdawi
A character bearing that name appears in a remarkable number of chatbot-generated stories, writes Arwa Mahdawi. He could be a messenger from the future – or a warning that generative AI is in danger o...
theguardian.com
Are you super organized? Knowledgeable about research operations and administration? Join me at Purdue!! In Indiana. Opportunity to: - work with all kinds of software and AI tools - contribute to labs working on the causes and cures of disease - with nice people! careers.purdue.edu/job/Research...
Research Operations Administrator, Associate
Research Operations Administrator, Associate
careers.purdue.edu
No public good (eg universities, libraries, museums, infrastructure, public transport, government, etc) should ever be run like a business
Matthew Noe@noethematt.bsky.social · 2mo agoImagine if the academic library was allowed to simply be what it is instead of having to chase down hype or novelty in order to secure level funding (i.e. a funding cut). "Running the university like a business" has utterly failed our students, our workers, and society itself.
I'm trying to come up with assignments for my undergrad class that are hard for AI to complete. How do we feel about a farm biosecurity plan delivered with a diorama (I'm mostly kidding)?
Four Dancing Cows in a Field
ALT: Four Dancing Cows in a Field
static.klipy.com
Thrilled to share our latest paper describing systemic metabolic alterations in a fly tumour model. Great work of PhD grad Dr. Kewei Yu and undergrad and post-bacc researcher Gurpreet Moroak. @dmmjournal.bsky.social @sfuscience.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
A Drosophila tumor model identifies a conserved Upd–JAK/STAT–Akh signaling axis associated with metabolic changes in cancer cachexia
Summary: A Drosophila tumor model drives cancer cachexia and distant organ wasting through a conserved tumor–host signaling axis resulting in metabolic reprogramming.
journals.biologists.com
C. elegans friends: If you participated in the mentor match program last year, we want your feedback on what worked, what didn't, and how to make the program better! Please fill out this survey: forms.gle/xYCF19saFfoj...
C. elegans Community Mentor Match 2025 feedback survey
Thank you for providing feedback about your experiences as a mentee, mentor, and peer group member in the last cycle of the C. elegans Community Mentor Match program! Please skip questions that are n...
forms.gle
Any time I’m in a meeting and the topic of discussion turns to brainstorming ways the university can make more money, I know I’m in the wrong meeting. Or to put it differently the meeting has the wrong attendee. #academicsky
Looks like I am teaching for 4 hours in a row on Mondays in the fall. In two different buildings, obviously.
Bugs Bunny Crying Tears
ALT: Bugs Bunny Crying Tears
static.klipy.com
TODAY! I am fully aware of how absurd a <24h deadline is but trust me there’s a good reason. if you’re interested in this postdoc, send me your CV immediately.🧪⚒️
Dr Dan Shugar 🇨🇦@watershedlab.bsky.social · 2mo ago🚨Funding for 2yr postdoc w/ me & @geocron.bsky.social on landslide-tsunami-jökulhlaup project, but (this is the ridiculous part) I need to select someone NOW or I lose the $. If you're NOT in Canada (can be any nationality) and interested, send me your CV and transcripts by midnight MT, June 12. 🧪⚒️
#CrohnsDisease is associated with NOD2 mutations, but what's NOD2's role in the #intestine? Mckenna Eklund & @edanfoley.bsky.social show that #NOD2 interacts with #estrogen to regulate intestinal homeostasis, perhaps explaining the sex-specific pathogenesis of CD @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4ojTEuZ
Is there a word for government of, for, and by 12-year-old boys
Kate Klonick@klonick.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt seems overnight the White House has been replaced by a Monster Energy Drink branded UFC cage
Holy smoke--Thermo Fiasher stonewalling after being caught re-handed. How does copying and pasting bands fit into optimized for presentation and clarity???
Reese Richardson@reeserichardson.bsky.social · 2mo agoThermo Fisher now has a page up in response to our observations. They flatly deny that images were manipulated or fabricated while repeating that images were "optimized for presentation and clarity on the website", no lie, six times. www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/l...
I am recruiting PhD students for my new lab housed in the Sam Noble Museum at University of Oklahoma! If you are interested in fish macroevolution, geometric morphometrics, specimen-based research & phylogenomics please reach out. More info here: fishdiversitylab.weebly.com Please share widely!!!
they came for dolly. we ride at dawn.
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2mo agoMissouri will halt new enrollment in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library on July 1 after Republicans cut state funding from $6 million to $2 million. In 2025, Missouri's state-funded effort distributed 1.9 million books.
The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)
This work nicely quantifies a major issue in our universities: "In higher education, administrative costs have risen much faster than instruction and research costs (4). MIT Faculty grew by only 9.2% between 1985 and 2023, while administrative staff grew by 189%." www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Happy Tuesday! Who's ready to hear about 1. Flesh-eating maggots (mostly go after cattle) 2. They're native to the US 3. The USDA has kept them out of the US since the 1960s 4. But the flesh-eating maggots are making a 21st century comeback. And believe it or not it may be thanks to MAGA.
