Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 1d

This book has never been more timely. Thanks to @sonali-m-19.bsky.social for writing it and for sending me a copy.

Photo of book “Thriving as an International Scientist” written by Sonali Majumdar

1 6 25

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · 1d

Wonderful story!

Charlie Borst @chasb.bsky.social · 1d

Fun piece for @science.org that pretty much wrote itself. Interview with AP photographer Lindsey Wasson telling the story of being the one to tell a disbelieving Mary Brunkow that she’d just won the @nobelprize.bsky.social Prize in Medicine— www.science.org/content/arti...

What’s it like to tell someone she won a Nobel Prize?

Science chats with photographer Lindsey Wasson, who captured how Nobel winner Mary Brunkow reacted to life-changing news

www.science.org

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Charlie Borst @chasb.bsky.social · 1d

Fun piece for @science.org that pretty much wrote itself. Interview with AP photographer Lindsey Wasson telling the story of being the one to tell a disbelieving Mary Brunkow that she’d just won the @nobelprize.bsky.social Prize in Medicine— www.science.org/content/arti...

What’s it like to tell someone she won a Nobel Prize?

Science chats with photographer Lindsey Wasson, who captured how Nobel winner Mary Brunkow reacted to life-changing news

www.science.org

2 9 47

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp.bskyverified.social · 1d

"Immigrants, we get the job done"

www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

3 17 80

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · 4d

Congratulations!!

1

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · 7d

Very well said!!
Chemistry research is fueling Pennsylvania’s economy — so why are we defunding it? penncapital-star.com/commentary/c...

Chemistry research is fueling Pennsylvania’s economy — so why are we defunding it? • Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Chemistry research is fueling Pennsylvania’s economy — so why are we defunding it?

penncapital-star.com

2

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 10d

I didn't know Jane Goodall, but it's pretty clear the world is a poorer place without her, and that she wished and worked for a better world than the one we're making.

3 9 110

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · 26d

www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...

Can nanobots play follow the leader? | Penn State University

A group of tiny particles followed “breadcrumbs” left behind by a different group of particles in new experiments demonstrating the first steps in creating intelligent communicating systems involving ...

www.psu.edu

2

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 26d

FT piece on the decline of Chemistry (from January). www.ft.com/content/563f...

Graph showing decline in the number of courses for various STEM subjects, relative to 2020 levels. Chemistry drops the most rapidly, but overall decline is also seen in Biosciences, Physics, and General Sciences.

1 5 8

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · Sep 11

Being a professor is so weird. You are constantly having to act like you know things.

24 11 250

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Sep 10

Non-reciprocal predator-prey behavior among enzyme-attached particles. Nanobots play 'follow the leader' by chasing chemical trails in microfluidic device phys.org/news/2025-09... via
@physorg_com

Nanobots play 'follow the leader' by chasing chemical trails in microfluidic device

Researchers at Penn State demonstrate the first steps in the design of tiny particles that can perform specialized tasks, such as targeted delivery of drugs or other cargo.

phys.org

2

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Dean Astumian, OFS @deanast.bsky.social · Sep 8

Delighted that a new paper highlighting the role of the Curie principle for understanding kinetic asymmetry and directional motion by molecular ratchets!

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Interpreting molecular ratchets, directionality, and kinetic asymmetry through the work of Curie, Einstein, and Lewis - Communications Physics

Scalar energy can drive formation of non-equilibrium steady-states or power directional processes such as chemotaxis, ion transport across a membrane, or walking along a polar track. This work focuses...

www.nature.com

1 6

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Sep 7

Not my experience too. I get many, many more likes and reposts from X. I suspect that Bluesky is mostly confined to the US and UK, while X has many more international scientific subscribers.

Ivan Aprahamian @aprahamian.bsky.social · Sep 4

not my experience... 🧪⚗️#chemsky

Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · Sep 4

With social media site Bluesky growing in popularity among academics, a new study has revealed how it measures up against X when it comes to sharing and promoting scientific research.

2

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Sep 2

Should be a must reading for students thinking about nanotechnology and no just the techno types.

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Sep 2

In this piece for Aeon, I argue that, while nanotechnology is now a very real and mature field, a popular early vision of it was an example of what I am calling an "oneiric technology": a fantasy of the sort that Silicon Valley loves.
aeon.co/essays/no-su...

No suffering, no death, no limits: the nanobots pipe dream | Aeon Essays

Thirty years ago, nanotech was about to change everything. Let’s not get tricked again by Silicon Valley’s magical thinking

aeon.co

1 4

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · Aug 29

270 2.8K 11K

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Aug 22

Ah, the good life of a journal editor 😁

1 1

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Aug 8

And, if you can manage, deep fried zucchini blossoms lightly dusted with flour also go very well with dal and rice. Hard to find the blossoms in the U. S. but I managed to convince a local Amish farmer. Italians usually do something similar, stuffed with cheese, which makes them less crisp.

2 1 1

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Aug 8

Deep fried eggplant slices or fried matchstick potatoes are perfect accompaniments with dal and rice!

1

Reposted by Ayusman Sen

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Aug 7

Snapshot of US beliefs about science and flat-earthy stuff. [1000+ people surveyed, +/- 3%] carsey.unh.edu/publication/...

A graph showing agreement with various statements about science as well as conspiracy theories

26 80 250

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Aug 1

Fellow motorists, follow the roadmap for an exciting journey! Many thanks to Samuel Sanchez and others for their insights:

Nature Nanotechnology @natnano.nature.com · Aug 1

New Perspective Article:

A roadmap for next-generation nanomotors.

"to inspire future generations of researchers to advance both fundamental understanding & practical breakthroughs, thereby engineering a paradigm shift in #nanomotor research."

#SystemsMaterials

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Evolution of Nanomotors Over 20 Years and Beyond.

Early research focused on achieving controlled motion at the single-particle level, powered by energy harvesting from various external sources or in situ chemical reactions. As studies progressed, particle–particle interactions inspired developments in multi-agent control and the emergence of nanomotor assemblies. More recently, swarming behaviours have demonstrated higher levels of autonomy and navigation, mimicking collective behaviours found in nature. Looking ahead, future nanomotors are expected to possess precise control, environmental responsiveness, information storage and retrieval, task execution, and multifunctional capabilities.

Chen, S., Fan, D.E., Fischer, P. et al. A roadmap for next-generation nanomotors. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-025-01962-9

3 4

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Jul 6

Actually, most editors do favor papers on trendy topics but one hopes for an occasional eccentric one. Do we have eccentric AIs?

Andrew Bissette @andrewbissette.bsky.social · Jul 6

Yeah, you think human editors like trendy topics? Wait til the LLMs get going...

1

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Jul 5

All AI is based on past patterns and, by definition, cannot predict a scientific “black swan.” Of course, human editors and reviewers can also fall short but, at least, there is hope!

Andrew Bissette @andrewbissette.bsky.social · Jul 5

I was asked recently why we can't use LLMs to reduce the workload of reviewers - either by automating desk rejects or (semi-)automating reviews.

This is one reason.

Ian Holmes @ianholmes.org · Jul 5

White text on white background instructing LLMs to give positive reviews is apparently now common enough to show up in searches for boilerplate text.

1 2 2

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Jul 2

Absolutely!

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · Jul 2

OK, McNutt has to go. You stand up for science by denouncing what Trump is doing to it. You would do the same if the Dems were doing those things. This is not fucking difficult.

Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · Jul 2

An exchange on X; Marcia McNutt is president of the National Academy of Sciences. Incredible to me that anyone would construe defending science against attack by the government as "partisan politics." It would be equally worth defending no matter which party was in power.

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Jun 30

To paraphrase Ogden Nash: I never saw an assfish nor do I hope to see one, but I would rather see one than be one.

1 3

Ayusman Sen @ayusmansen.bsky.social · Jun 28

We are on our way to designing intelligent communicating systems involving particle populations that carry out different tasks. Non-reciprocal chemotactic movement in enzyme cascade under flow-free conditions: Cell Reports Physical Science www.cell.com/cell-reports...

Non-reciprocal chemotactic movement in enzyme cascade under flow-free conditions

Sapre et al. showcase a hydrogel-based microfluidic device that creates chemical gradients under flow-free conditions for studying enzyme-powered chemotaxis. The setup allows long-term observation of ...

www.cell.com

4 6