Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@social.cleverlibre.org

Design for a flying machine with wings based closely upon the structure of a bat's wings. By Leonardo da Vinci

"An object offers as much resistance to the air as the air does to the object. You may see that the beating of its wings against the air supports a heavy eagle in the highest and rarest atmosphere, close to the sphere of elemental fire..."

The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci translated by Jean Paul Richter is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5000

#books #science #inventions

GABAARs: not just inhibitory? This study of striatal spiny projection #neurons shows that #GABA is a state-dependent #neurotransmitter, and not simply an inhibitory one, suggesting a revision of the role of intrastriatal #GABAergic signaling #PLOSBiology https://plos.io/3SGKafq

Direct prediction of intrinsically disordered protein conformational properties from sequences - Nature Methods https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-023-02159-5

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#proteomics #prot-paper

This is big news:

"Word came this morning that Biogen is dropping their anti-amyloid antibody (Aduhelm, aducanumab), so it's time to take stock. I was never happy about the FDA's decision to approve it, and that's putting it lightly."

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/goodbye-aduhelm

Two Covid articles you really should read if you're interested in this stuff

Short: https://johnsnowproject.org/insights/where-are-our-leaders/

Long: https://johnsnowproject.org/insights/endemic-sars-cov-2-and-the-death-of-public-health/

@flypapers
A prime example of Drosophila #neurogenetics combining high throughout behaviour, circuital function and connectome to dissect sine and pulse courtship song, joint work from #Stern and #Dickson labs, with my old time labmate Min Xu 🎉🎉as coauthor
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.01.015
Also possibly useful for you too @PessoaBrain regarding your quest earlier of network level control #neurosciences

How can scientists make the most of the public’s trust in them? https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00238-x

'Miller’s attention turned toward investigating how best to mimic the apoptotic cells, overriding the expression of dendritic cells. He partnered with polymer chemist Lonnie D. Shea, PhD, who was at the McCormick School of Engineering, to develop a nanoparticle that interacts effectively with dendritic cells.'
#Immunology #autoimmunity #autoimmunedisease

https://www.genengnews.com/topics/drug-discovery/light-my-fire-cour-raises-105m-series-a-to-advance-tolerogenic-nanoparticles-for-autoimmunity/

Arthropod Photo of the Week: January 31, 2024
Broad-nosed weevils
Ericydeus lautus
Coleoptera: Curculionidae
By Valentina Lyau (@tetracerus_macro), California, USA
#arthropodPOTW
#entomology #insects #photography

Mark Powell’s Pen Drawings Accentuate the Memories Etched into Faces and Ephemera https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/01/mark-powell-pen-portraits/

If you're in Berlin:

"The show, “Josephine Baker: Icon in Motion,” which runs through April 28, is a small but dense and deeply imaginative reconsidering of her life and work. The museum’s director, Klaus Biesenbach (formerly of MoMA and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) has curated the show with the artist Kandis Williams, the scholar Terri Francis and the curator Mona Horncastle: The result emphasizes the importance of multiple interpretations."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/arts/design/josephine-baker-exhibition-berlin.html

'Embora bom e barato seja um objetivo apelativo, não é realista querermos investigação científica de qualidade e, ao mesmo tempo, não investirmos de forma consequente nesse desígnio. Seguramente que os recursos destinados ao SNCT têm necessariamente de ser adequados à realidade do país, mas se este investimento for demasiado curto, imprevisível e mal estruturado dificilmente pode originar os retornos que queremos.'

https://www.publico.pt/2024/01/31/ciencia/opiniao/omeletes-ovos-ciencia-portugal-2077903

'The technology may transform agriculture in LMICs beyond the genomic level: local farmers seem happy, Runo told the journal Nature, to source seeds from regional researchers rather than multinationals. The global spread of gene-editing technology may end up dispersing the commercial power currently concentrated in corporate labs — and raises the prospect of African-grown gene-edited crops being sold beyond the continent.'

https://www.ft.com/content/10a7cd0c-78f0-409a-9808-a71a11e7b46a

People should be aware that "stingless bees" doesn't mean these are nice bees.

Stingless bees don't sting, that's true. They just crawl up your nose and into your ears and bite until you no longer function like a normal human being.

If you see me running at great speed through the Amazon forest, it's usually because I'm trying to get away from the stingless bees.