Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@qoto.org

#OnThisDay, 23 May 1907, 19 women take their seats in the Finnish Parliament. They are the first women Parliamentarians in the world.

#WomenInHistory #VotesForWomen #FinnishHistory #EuropeanHistory #Histodons

Social media risks for youth mental health highlighted in new surgeon general report https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/23/social-media-youth-mental-health/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon_organic

Biologists still have much to learn about #preprints adoption in their community.
ASAPbio invited representatives from social sciences (including @philipncohen ) to share their knowledge and experience regarding strategies they’ve used to build communities of preprint users.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0oceCpqT8pGNCppCmhNcW2vNaOi4_9Nlrp#/registration

A fantastic thorough study on viral ecology within built environments! #virology #MicrobialEcology

“Consistent with the differences in diversity and structure between bacterial communities in air and on surfaces, the airborne and surface-borne viromes in the present study were distinct. The use of advanced ventilation and filtration systems may explain the lower virome diversity in subway air than in air from venues using natural ventilation.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10169181/

On this day in 1925: Joshua Lederberg born, won 1958 #NobelPrize for discovering genetic recombination in bacteria #ThisDayInBiotech

'But organoids are not ready to represent complex neural networks, says Maria Leptin, the biologist who leads the European Research Council. “You cannot study the function of the brain and its interconnections, even though you can grow brain organoids,” she says. “It will be a long time before questions that require organ interactions or perception can be studied in this way.”

https://www.ft.com/content/7c35e08a-4931-4401-b27e-acabf974bff8?shareType=nongift

@cyrilpedia

'Disease has long been weaponized against those who are perceived as “other.” From the bubonic plague of the 14th century to tuberculosis and H.I.V., the examples echo throughout the history of medicine. When people are frightened, they seek someone to blame, to create a narrative — even if that narrative is false — in which disease is punishment rather than a random unlucky event.'

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/21/opinion/the-next-pandemic-blame.html

'Anomotaenia brevis, a cestode that uses Temnothorax nylanderi ants as intermediate hosts, extends the lifespan of these hosts several fold and changes their behaviour, morphology, and colouration. The mechanisms behind these changes are unknown, as is whether the increased longevity is achieved through manipulation of the parasite.'

#Preprint #HostPathogen

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.12.23.521666v2

Postdoctoral Researcher Position in Biophysics

University at Buffalo, SUNY

Unlock the secrets of biomolecular condensates with us at Banerjee Lab, UB as a #Postdoc in #Biophysics! #ScienceJobs

See the full job description on jobRxiv: https://jobrxiv.org/job/university-at-buffalo-suny-27778-postdoctoral-researcher-position-in-biophysics/?feed_id=46242

#ScienceJobs #hiring...
https://jobrxiv.org/job/university-at-buffalo-suny-27778-postdoctoral-researcher-position-in-biophysics/?feed_id=46242

Evolutionary Trajectories of New Duplicated and Putative De Novo Genes https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad098 #science #evolution #biology #genome #evolgen_paper

Could brain/mind research benefit from a decadal survey?

I'm fascinated to learn that Astronomy/Astrophysics coordinate a giant community survey every 10 years to discuss priorities. It's a huge effort for the researchers involved in making it happen, and the last one:

drew from the astronomical community through hundreds of white papers, town hall meetings, and the advice of 13 sub-panels over several years to produce its recommendations

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/decadal-2020/2020-decadal-survey

Astronomy is a bit different than brain/mind research because there has to be a lot more coordination due to the resources involved (a lot of funds > 1 telescope). But I imagine that an added benefit is community discussion of the "Grand Plan".

My growing sense is that the incentives in brain/mind research are a bit broken insofar as they encourage researchers to "make beans" as opposed to think "what needs to be done and how can I contribute?". Moreover, a lot of the funding priorities are coming from the top rather than the community. I wonder: would brain/mind research benefit from a survey something like what Astronomy does (with the caveat that the conclusion probably would not be: let's invest in 1 big thing)? 🤔​