Justin Blumenstiel
@bdelloid.bsky.social
Evolution, Genomics, Genetics, Epigenetics, Transposons, Small RNAs, Meiosis, Politics, Music, Kansas....AND DROSOPHILA!!!
Freaked out ribosome and DNA truther doing my own research.
"We are our own reviewers" - Alejandro Montenegro
Freaked out ribosome and DNA truther doing my own research.
"We are our own reviewers" - Alejandro Montenegro
Pinned
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
![Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreihwhjblp5lyiwp63ouar7ocfea7evmckytoeo7rkfuoo4gw5rnrra@jpeg)
November 26, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
November 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Another example (not that you needed one) of the pure AI garbage being pumped into the information ecosystem. YouTube Shorts on Barbara McClintock:
November 26, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Another example (not that you needed one) of the pure AI garbage being pumped into the information ecosystem. YouTube Shorts on Barbara McClintock:
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
AI-Generated “Slop” in Online Biomedical Science Educational Videos: Mixed Methods Study of Prevalence, Characteristics, and Hazards to Learners and Teachers pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... 🧬🖥️🧪
November 26, 2025 at 3:02 PM
AI-Generated “Slop” in Online Biomedical Science Educational Videos: Mixed Methods Study of Prevalence, Characteristics, and Hazards to Learners and Teachers pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC... 🧬🖥️🧪
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
a kind of wild extension of the existence of the insect eye "pseudopupil" is the "deep pseudopupil". this allows you to glimpse the cellular organization of photoreceptors, with only low-power magnification. can do large genetic screens just your bare eyes! 🪰👁️
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
a kind of wild extension of the existence of the insect eye "pseudopupil" is the "deep pseudopupil". this allows you to glimpse the cellular organization of photoreceptors, with only low-power magnification. can do large genetic screens just your bare eyes! 🪰👁️
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ar...
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Wow. could be an earthquake in TN-7
November 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Wow. could be an earthquake in TN-7
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
The last work of my PhD is finally out: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...! This work is about accurately estimating branch length in the Ancestral Recombination Graph (ARG), which is achieved by a really simple framework with minimal assumptions. (1/n)
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
November 25, 2025 at 8:27 PM
The last work of my PhD is finally out: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...! This work is about accurately estimating branch length in the Ancestral Recombination Graph (ARG), which is achieved by a really simple framework with minimal assumptions. (1/n)
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I agree. I appreciate Variety’s boldness here but there’s no way the Zapruder film should be at number 1
The movie listed at #1 is so incredibly misplaced that it calls into question the veracity of the entire list. It belongs on the list, yes, but SO MUCH further down. An absolute, credibility-wrecking flub. Boo, @variety.com! Boo!
variety.com/lists/best-c...
variety.com/lists/best-c...
The 100 Best Comedy Movies of All Time
Variety's list of the 100 best comedy movies of all time includes 'Annie Hall,' 'Pretty Woman,' 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'Young Frankenstein.'
variety.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:49 AM
I agree. I appreciate Variety’s boldness here but there’s no way the Zapruder film should be at number 1
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
if elon just hired an Inverse Jester (guy hired to listen to his jokes and pretend they're funny) we could solve every problem except how to keep the inverse jester from killing himself
November 24, 2025 at 4:42 PM
if elon just hired an Inverse Jester (guy hired to listen to his jokes and pretend they're funny) we could solve every problem except how to keep the inverse jester from killing himself
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I swore an oath to the Constitution in 1986. I've upheld it through 25 years of service and every day since I retired.
If Trump's trying to intimidate me, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to our country to be silenced by bullies who care more about power than the Constitution.
If Trump's trying to intimidate me, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to our country to be silenced by bullies who care more about power than the Constitution.
November 24, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I swore an oath to the Constitution in 1986. I've upheld it through 25 years of service and every day since I retired.
If Trump's trying to intimidate me, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to our country to be silenced by bullies who care more about power than the Constitution.
If Trump's trying to intimidate me, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to our country to be silenced by bullies who care more about power than the Constitution.
Has anyone messed around with Ultima for sequencing? We are wondering if index hopping might explain some slightly weird results....
November 24, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Has anyone messed around with Ultima for sequencing? We are wondering if index hopping might explain some slightly weird results....
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
November 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Just… just do it. Seriously.
I would like all of you, each and every one, to go google “Miss Universe National Costume Competition 2025 Norway” right now
November 22, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Just… just do it. Seriously.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
I’m having that thing where you log on to social and everyone is reacting to the new thing but the reactions are vague, aghast, angry enough that you’re struggling to figure out exactly what the new thing is. German must have a word for this.
November 22, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I’m having that thing where you log on to social and everyone is reacting to the new thing but the reactions are vague, aghast, angry enough that you’re struggling to figure out exactly what the new thing is. German must have a word for this.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Just ported @ryanfeigenbaum.com's amazing color logic into a standalone, MIT-licensed library. Perceptually uniform palettes for your next generative art or design project. 🎨 meodai.github.io/pro-color-ha...
November 20, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Just ported @ryanfeigenbaum.com's amazing color logic into a standalone, MIT-licensed library. Perceptually uniform palettes for your next generative art or design project. 🎨 meodai.github.io/pro-color-ha...
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
"Didn’t anyone ever teach you manners? Were you raised in a barn, piggy? Our guest came all the way from Camp Crystal Lake. Traffic was a nightmare, but he showed up anyway."
How Dare You Embarrass My Esteemed Guest, Jason Voorhees
“President Trump assailed an American journalist in the Oval Office on Tuesday for asking Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, about t...
buff.ly
November 21, 2025 at 2:40 AM
"Didn’t anyone ever teach you manners? Were you raised in a barn, piggy? Our guest came all the way from Camp Crystal Lake. Traffic was a nightmare, but he showed up anyway."
LOL. A crap ton of redactions is just going to keep this thing cooking. IMHO, from a perspective of raw politics, massive redactions are the best thing. Then they will unredact 10%. A month later, another 10%. AND IT JUST KEEPS GOING.
November 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
LOL. A crap ton of redactions is just going to keep this thing cooking. IMHO, from a perspective of raw politics, massive redactions are the best thing. Then they will unredact 10%. A month later, another 10%. AND IT JUST KEEPS GOING.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
The end result of hours of fiddling and cleaning heads, pinch rollers, potentiometers, replacing dead transistors. The sound is incredible. Hope Bluesky doesn't garble up the audio with compression.
November 20, 2025 at 2:43 AM
The end result of hours of fiddling and cleaning heads, pinch rollers, potentiometers, replacing dead transistors. The sound is incredible. Hope Bluesky doesn't garble up the audio with compression.
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
"Our operating system is malware 😀"
Microsoft warns that Copilot Actions in Windows, now in beta and off by default, can infect devices and pilfer data, prompting concern from security researchers (Dan Goodin/Ars Technica)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
November 20, 2025 at 7:13 AM
"Our operating system is malware 😀"
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
Someone from Nebraska should make an album called New Jersey
November 20, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Someone from Nebraska should make an album called New Jersey
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
nature is healing, the average senator should think of the average rep as a pissant and the average house rep should go to sleep dreaming about tasting that senator’s blood
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
nature is healing, the average senator should think of the average rep as a pissant and the average house rep should go to sleep dreaming about tasting that senator’s blood
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
we are returning to the state in which the framers intended for the legislature, in which the lower chamber and the upper chamber absolutely despise one another
The House has voted unanimously to repeal the provisions in the shutdown package which allow GOP Senators to sue the federal government and get as much as $1 million in damages - because the feds looked at their phone records in the Jan. 6 investigation.
November 20, 2025 at 2:54 AM
we are returning to the state in which the framers intended for the legislature, in which the lower chamber and the upper chamber absolutely despise one another
Reposted by Justin Blumenstiel
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
senate.ucsd.edu
November 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
UC San Diego is discovering shocking grade inflation at many Cali high schools, to the point that a large minority of kids with a 4.0 average in math are at 6th grade or below in mathematical ability.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.
In response, they’re resorting to semi-blacklisting schools with especially bad grade inflation.