Thiago Carvalho @cyrilpedia@social.cleverlibre.org

Eels are classic. And also classical! In fact, they're the only fish mentioned by name in Homer's Iliad.

In Book 21, Achilles kills a Trojan in the River Scamander. Like ya do. And immediately, the eels begin to nibble on the dead man's kidneys.

Nibble. 'Cause eels are dainty.
#eels #history

Another great cover @CurrentBiology

https://www.cell.com/issue/S0960-9822(22)X0014-6#fullCover

'Autoimmune patients generally get methotrexate first, although the details of its effects on the immune system are complex and frankly not understood as thoroughly as you'd imagine for a drug that's been around since the Trumann administration.'

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/jak-inhibitors-can-t-help-it-bout-shape-i-m

"We implemented a systems approach to discover molecular signatures of HIV latently-infected CD4+ T cells, identifying the immunosuppressive, adenosine-producing ectonucleotidase CD73 as a key surface marker of latent cells."

#Preprint #Immunology #Virology #HIV

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.08.03.502655v2

Book superposition?

I just finished an interleaved reading of two books, and wow! did they enhance one another.

The first was an approachable philosophical treatise about how science works given that scientists are human with all their faults. The answer: “evidence”. (Thanks to Jim DiCarlo for this rec + confirmation by @markdhumphries).

https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631491375

The second was a book describing the unfolding of ideas about evolution from Darwin’s tree (mutations + survival of the fittest) through more modern ideas about horizontal gene transfer between species - a perfect illustration of the ideas in the philosophical book but not included in it. (Thanks to @cyrilpedia for this rec).

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Tangled-Tree/David-Quammen/9781476776637

Books can be complementary in all sorts of ways. Do you know of pairings that are enhanced when thought about together?

I’m just starting a book about the nature of time and ideas about time travel by @JamesGleick. Any thoughts on a good complement for it? (Maybe @JamesGleick) even has suggestions?

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/233793/time-travel-by-james-gleick/

#nonfiction #science #philosophy

Turning

Gears in the Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Sneek, the Netherlands. The oldest still functioning planetarium in the world, completed in 1781 in the Eisinga family living room. https://www.planetarium-friesland.nl/en/

#planetarium #astronomy #gears #space #Friesland #Franeker #photography #Pentax #PentaxK70

generative art version of the halting problem: it is generally impossible to determine if letting an algorithm continue will produce a better or worse artwork #generativeart #abstractart #digitalart #haltingproblem

Clears throat, then says it loudly for those praying in the back of the room.

by Pouya Derakhshan

We're looking for a #TenureTrack assistant professor in evolutionary ecology! Contact me if you'll be at #SMBE2023 #SMBE23 https://ecoevo.social/@dee_unil/110729674137135457

A new perspective in #protein research focuses on #disordered areas.

#membrane_channels #receptors

https://phys.org/news/2023-07-perspective-protein-focuses-disordered-areas.html

Kinda freaky: Poland reports a number of deaths in domestic (& wild) cats that tested positive for #H5N1.
It's been known for at least 15 yrs that cats can be infected with this bird flu. But case reports are generally sporadic. Could be a feature of enhanced surveillance?

NEW: How Harlan Crow Slashed his Tax Bill by Taking Clarence Thomas on Superyacht Cruises
==

In lavishing gifts on the #SupremeCourt justice, the billionaire #GOP donor may have violated #tax laws, according to tax experts.

#HarlanCrow #ClarenceThomas #SCOTUS #Taxes #News

https://www.propublica.org/article/harlan-crow-slashed-tax-bill-clarence-thomas-superyacht?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

This month's Highlight takes a deep dive into the evolution of clownfish https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evad127 #science #evolution #biology #genome #evolgen_paper

Through to 15th October, there are Digital Storytelling events taking place at the British Library

https://www.bl.uk/events/digital-storytelling

Yes, Covid deaths have dropped to their lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic. But there's plenty of #SARSCoV2 circulating, tens of millions of people w/ #LongCovid, and the potential of a bad new strain in the future
https://nytimes.com/2023/07/17/briefing/covid.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Europe should cap ‘luxury’ energy use to meet emissions targets, study says - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/17/europe-cap-luxury-energy-use-emissions-carbon-budget-targets-study makes sense, but the rich will never allow it...

One of my professors during PhD used to say “you can drive a truck through the holes in any given paper. so you look for what you *can* learn instead.” and being the smartass grad students we used to think driving that truck was fun. After so many years, I now appreciate her wisdom more than ever. All scholarly work has limitations but it’s refreshing when people critically evaluate what’s the actual value of the research. It's about humility, honesty, rigorous intellectual work.