Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@qoto.org

Jack promoting RFK Jr. on Bluesky demonstrates that Bluesky intends to best Twitter in key time-to-enshitification metric.

What a great cover.
From the NYT obit for artist Bruce McCall

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/arts/bruce-mccall-illustrator-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

'In Japanese, human survivors of the atom bomb are called hibakusha. These surviving trees have a name as well: hibakujumoku.'

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/05/opinion/hiroshima-japan-trees.html

'Their work paved the way for companies such as GSK, Pfizer and Moderna to develop the RSV vaccines in the pipeline today. “This is my lifetime's work. It’s very gratifying to see this finally happening,” Graham says. “It’s a good day for RSV.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-01529-5

“Older adults, in particular those with underlying health conditions, such as heart or lung disease or weakened immune systems, are at high risk for severe disease caused by RSV,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, in a statement. “Today’s approval of the first RSV vaccine is an important public health achievement to prevent a disease which can be life-threatening and reflects the FDA’s continued commitment to facilitating the development of safe and effective vaccines for use in the United States.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/03/health/first-rsv-vaccine-approved/index.html

Great #opportunity to submit a #proposal for a session at the #ScienceSummit at the UN General Assembly:
https://sciencesummitunga.com/call-for-sessions-proposals/

🔬🧪🧑‍🔬🔬🧪👩‍💻🔬🧪🧑‍🔬🔬🧪👩‍💻
Deadline: June 12, 2023

#UNGA78

@cyrilpedia @NicoleCRust I totally agree with this as an issue. In general, there is a worrying trend that today's academic grants want to achieve *all* the things: not just cool research projects, but more/better communication &outreach, be translational, pursue open science, achieve gender equality... All of these goals are worthwhile, but expecting every scientist/project to achieve everything at once is misguided. Having targeted programs addressing these could be much more impactful.

Herd- or group-think in drug development:

"Large companies are the biggest contributors to this phenomenon, with an estimated 68% of the portfolios of the top 10 companies going after targets with a significant amount of herding. And one of the reasons mentioned for this is the increasing number of combination therapies (especially in oncology), where organizations want their own drug candidates in that mix, rather than relying on having their new drug dosed with somebody else’s."

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/thundering-herd

From Oliver Sacks, "River of Consciousness".

#Books #Bookshelf #BookClub #consciousness #SciComm #readerlife #bookstodon

@cyrilpedia
Thanks - I look forward to listening.

It is tricky. So much of the science ethos is "figure it out". We aren't taught to teach, but we do, etc. The investment required to do SciComm well is underestimated (and the ability to do it is undervalued). But it's also a good thing and should be incentivized. I guess that's the solution - incentivizes (as opposed to requirements) are probably the way to go here.

📣 New on my blog:

Re-opening the discussion on mRNA decay inside P-bodies💥

#mRNA #mRNADegradation #Pbodies #phototoxicity

@biorxivpreprint

https://greenfluorescentblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/04/re-opening-the-discussion-on-mrna-decay-inside-p-bodies/

#lymphoma #cancer #MEDMASTODON
@majorajay #lymsm

Pembrolizumab
(pem-broh-LIH-zoo-mab)

... an immune checkpoint inhibitor that binds to the protein PD-1 on the surface of certain immune cells called T cells, which keeps cancer cells from suppressing the immune system.

in Relapsed or Refractory Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma: Final Analysis

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37130017/

On the art of nonfiction, David Shenk.

This article and its 3 challenges to writing nonfiction resonates with me. As a scientist, it also highlights the difference between scientific practice versus science writing of other types (with a surprising insight for science).

The second challenge is the one that both scientists and science writers do a lot of: figuring out how to navigate complex information. It's the core of the job, whether you are doing science or writing about it.

The first challenge is the one that most scientist don't do much of: storytelling science. For the scientists that want to do it, that's great. But it's also really hard. While tremendously valuable to the whole, I'm not sure it turns individuals into better scientists; it's a different (valuable!) thing. Of the 3 challenges, this one differentiates science writers vs scientists, I think. (The analog in science would be the experiments and such).

The third challenge is the one that is less obvious: Stepping back from the trees to view the forest from 10,000 feet to get a fresh perspective. I agree with Shenk that most scientists don't do it. It's one I'd like to see more scientists engage in; I suspect it would lead to better science.

#writing #nonfiction

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2009/11/on-the-art-of-non-fiction/30107/

O diretor da Human Rights Watch disse que "as informações sobre pessoas detidas por protestos pacíficos contra a coroação [do rei] são incrivelmente alarmantes" e que "isto é algo que se esperaria ver em Moscovo, não em Londres".

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/joseggusmao/status/1654921572249923586