Jeff Dean (the Biochemist) @jeffdean@qoto.org

I built this tool a year ago but I feel like Mastodon folks would like it

The "Weird Old Book Finder"

Type in a search query, and it'll find one randomly-chosen public-domain book that matches the query -- and present it for immediate reading: https://www.weirdoldbookfinder.net/

Why only one book? To prevent the paradox of choice! Just *start readin'*

Can't promise every book will be weird, but most are

A longer essay on how/why I developed it: https://debugger.medium.com/a-search-engine-that-finds-you-weird-old-books-3a74fbb5f3d4

This was a search for "mastodon"

Two things I'm learning about #mastodon after using it pretty constantly

1. Use hashtags... all of them
There's no algorithm, people discover through hashtags

2. Follow people
This is the only way you get content, without it, you're always looking at the hashtags

3. Boost people's toots
This helps people discover other people organically

4. The default/official mastodon app doesn't have local timeline
If you're on a smaller instance, load up the website and checkout the local timeline

This is such a succinct piece that explains exactly why some people really like mastodon and some really don't.

https://uxdesign.cc/mastodon-is-antiviral-design-42f090ab8d51

Calling #genetics people. Faculty post a York University in Toronto. Great department. Send me a message if you want information. https://www.academicwork.ca/jobs/assistant-professor-genetics-york-university. molecular, cellular, and/or #EvolutionaryGenetics #genetics or #Genomics feel free to retoot to spread it further.

Multiple openings for both tenure-track and teaching faculty at Northeastern in Computer Science (Boston as well as London, Bay Area, other locations). I am finding it is a great place to be new faculty (ask me). #jobs #teaching

https://www.khoury.northeastern.edu/information-for-overview/prospective-faculty/open-positions/tenure-track/

https://www.khoury.northeastern.edu/information-for-overview/prospective-faculty/open-positions/teaching-faculty/

Young people that want to train in the medical or veterinary professions but don’t get the crazily high grades or jump through the hoops to get into medicine in the UK -look at studying in Europe -life is too short to be put off by bad policy..#NeedMoreMedicalPeople

This one is for everyone nostalgic for old school metabolic maps

"We studied the genetic architecture of the human plasma metabolome using 913 metabolites assayed in 19,994 individuals and identified 2,599 variant–metabolite associations (P < 1.25 × 10−11) within 330 genomic regions, with rare variants (minor allele frequency ≤ 1%) explaining 9.4% of associations."

#Metabolism #NatureMedicine

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02046-0

it’s impossible to photograph enormous #trees casually, but we try

Now the way the Internet Archive is doing mastodon is how more organisations and celebs should be joining the fediverse!

They have a dedicated in house instance, which lets you identify official staff, and gives them control and security over their content, whilst also allowing people and instances to opt in or out of interacting with them

Kudos for doing it right @internetarchive!

OrthoDB v11 is out! The hierarchical catalogue of orthologues now with 294 #arthropods https://www.orthodb.org/

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Cool #Science that explains how plants made the move from water to land 500 million years ago and were able to grow beyond just a few centimetres. The key is the evolution of xylem, the transport tissue in vascular plants that transports water and nutrients from the roots to the stem and leaves. To be able to grow without a high chance of blockages in their piping, plants had to rearrange their vascular tissue.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add2910

The best of #Twitter is its spontaneous, joyful creativity in reaction to the moment. Now, its ironic death is playing out like a New Orleans funeral, an ebullient brass band noodling away as people dance through the loss.

“Lockheed Martini” lol