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Ben Neely

@benneely.com

1.9K followers 700 following 2.2K posts

Analytical biochemist attempting molecular cartography across the tree of life, powered by MS-based proteomics. Opinions expressed are solely my own. he/him benjaminneely.com Charleston, SC, USA

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · Nov 16

As of right now, it is not an exaggeration that I am getting many fold better science/proteomics content and interactions here, as well as some of my pop culture (eventually sports) and local info! A good time to get mine folks that *you* make the algorithm.

bsky.social/about/blog/7...

Algorithmic Choice with Custom Feeds - Bluesky

Our implementation of algorithmic choice lets users customize one of the most important parts of their social media experience: their feed.

bsky.social

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 17h

I also liked it when it came out! though it was incredibly unpopular at the time.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 23h

Live footage of me taking kids to school next couple days.

Charleston is a glimpse into the future. King Tide means flood, and a little rain or onshore wind makes it real big. But tides go up and down quick. Still, planning trips to avoid high tide downtown. @chswx.com

water.noaa.gov/gauges/chts1

two people are standing on a boat in the ocean .

ALT: two people are standing on a boat in the ocean .

media.tenor.com

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 1d

Ha, I guess for all my genomics skywalkers. Hopefully it’s better than Peptide: a protein building game (which I do own).

TabletopGamingDeals @tabletopgamedeals.bsky.social · 1d

While not as big a deal as the other two our favourite Genius Games Game Genotype is also on sale.

It's 19% off, a Prime Big Deal

#ad amzn.to/4h0Ktw1

This is a great dice drafting worker placement game about Mendelian genetics and growing pea plants.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 2d

I definitely got a couple games not on my list because of you. Big thanks.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 2d

It was a legit AI collab variety show, but the escalating tension was also part of the show, but done so people thought it was real.

www.instagram.com/p/DPenupQEgn...

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 4d

I was playing a pre-determined part, which was for the guests.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 4d

Since I’ve started this thread: “feedback” was 3 people legit tried to fight us, and one guy was coming to work the event (gigpro) but quit to protest with us. He got super pissed when he found out we were fake, like security had to escort him away and report him.

Point: AI emotions run hot.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 4d

Nearly every patron both nights was taping us out of safety, annoyance or laughter. This is from night one with matching shirts. Second night we looked more legit in normal clothes and had more “feedback” from guests. And all those uber drivers were freaked out!

www.instagram.com/reel/DPZFTUa...

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 4d

… which I guess is the point of performance art and this event specifically. AI is great, but even satirically it does have a dark underside to the promised future.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 4d

So… for two nights I was a paid extra, first protesting outside the event, then a patron yelling at hecklers inside, and got to see the show 3 times. Seeing people’s reaction for and against, I can 100% see real (large and violent too) protest being a thing in the near future.

synthetic-theatre.ai

This is not part of the show but is a recent thread on bluesky that feels pretty close to a sentiment I see.

Only one half of our protest, which was like 50 people with signs and bullhorns making our voices known. Lots of stories here.

The ad for the gig. I was brought in late after they realized they wanted more people inside. This was posted Tuesday night when I realized I wasn’t gonna be working Wednesday.

Reposted by Ben Neely

Ruth Huttenhain @rhuttenhain.bsky.social · 7d

My lab @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social is recruiting! We are looking for a postdoc at the interface of quantitative proteomics and G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) biology:
postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...
#TeamMassSpec #Proteomics #GPCR #Postdoc

Open Postdoctoral position, faculty mentor Ruth Huttenhain | Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

postdocs.stanford.edu

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 5d

It felt pretty on brand for the meeting, especially with their announcement from Germany involving hockey uniforms. When in Rome!

But you know, the show is a bit all over, so no promises what you’ll find.

a man in a suit sits on a park bench with two older people

ALT: a man in a suit sits on a park bench with two older people

media.tenor.com

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 6d

I think just moving to “proteomes”, as in a complete annotated proteome, is paramount. The whole tr v sp thing needs to be gone, especially for human searches, but also for any other species. BUT, you can still gain or lose genes between assemblies and annotations, which is a bit of a can of worms.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 6d

I’m late to this news, but Melvyn Bragg is stepping down as host of In Our Time. I can’t emphasize enough how much this show has meant to me, and Melvyn’s style is what makes it awesome. Definitely hit the back catalog, or one of my fav recent ones is this one on lungs… there’s so much more to it.

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Evolution of Lungs

From the mechanics of the first breaths on Earth to the reason we hiccup.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 7d

This morning instead of proteomic-ing, I went to a rehearsal for what I guess will be performance art. I have a very small role but it’s gonna be a blast to do this for real Friday and Saturday night… and get paid to do it! The show itself is great btw.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

First step for shutdown Ben was to apply to some local calls for extras in a live show this week. I would recommend reading the article as it describes the upcoming experiment of creativity with AI, which is front and center in our science world.

charlestoncitypaper.com/2025/08/01/s...

'Synthetic Theatre' will be colorful mix of McBride, Beeple - Charleston City Paper

Imagine, if you will, an unassuming warehouse in a no-frills industrial strip on the outskirts of a South Carolina town.

charlestoncitypaper.com

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 7d

It’s definitely an interesting question to ask someone, but not cheating.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

I think all the calls for the season finale of Outer Banks are over, but that would be cool too.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

Of course, just like how washing your car insures it rains, if I get a callback that means the shutdown ends early. 🤷‍♂️

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

'Synthetic Theatre' will be colorful mix of McBride, Beeple - Charleston City Paper

Imagine, if you will, an unassuming warehouse in a no-frills industrial strip on the outskirts of a South Carolina town.

charlestoncitypaper.com

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

Still one of the weirder holidays I know of, but because of @magnuspalmblad.bsky.social I know about it, and maybe one day will actually get to go to Leiden and celebrate it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Octob...

3 October Festival - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

I hadn't seen the parallels, but are we at this giant full circle point where AI gen is the writing the ancient greeks mistrusted?
opusverba.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/p...

Plato: from Phaedrus

In this final section on Plato, I will be looking at a small section of Phaedrus, a dialogue between Socrates and an Attican aristocrat. The text as a whole deals with issues of rhetoric, but the s…

opusverba.wordpress.com

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 9d

I love that in the trailer for the fake show one of the quotes is “we’re all going to hell”. Didn’t take us long to get there after this GPT-3 moment in summer 2020.

adolos.substack.com/p/what-i-wou...

What I would do with GPT-3 if I had no ethics

Sounds fishy...

adolos.substack.com

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 13d

For some reading, or just an exploration of exemplary science communication, check out the @quantamagazine.bsky.social series "How We Came to Know Earth" and its presentation. Really really good stuff.

www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...

How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine

Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 13d

Yeah, we expect more certainty tomorrow when/if it spins up. But nothing world ending, but likely school closing since winds close bridges. Bad timing for end of FY25 and a shutdown, which is why I’m monitoring a likely TS so hard.

Ben Neely @benneely.com · 14d

Well @ronbeavis.bsky.social, we’ve got an interesting weather pattern developing. I don’t think it’s a fujiwhara or what happened in 2015 when we had the “1000 year flood”, but there will be interactions between the storms that could result in a lot of rain somewhere. Looking like TS Imelda for us.

Thousand-year deluge in South Carolina

Rainfall was measured by the foot in South Carolina in an event that statistically would happen, on average, once every thousand years.