Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Cahir O'Kane

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 5h

Also, if you're "in bed with flu", it's almost certainly Covid.

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 5h

After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...

England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet

The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter

christinapagel.substack.com

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Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 4h

Waning immunity. A significant Covid wave in England. No new variant.
Thanks Prof Pagel for highlighting and contextualizing

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 3h

#ER_Literature

Science Magazine @science.org · 3h

New #ScienceSignaling experiments in mice show how the enzyme SPEG prevents the leakage of calcium ions in skeletal muscle cells—a finding that could inform research into diseases associated with mutations in the calcium-releasing channel RYR1. https://scim.ag/3KKfpEG

Phosphorylation of RYR1 at Ser2902 decreases Ca2+ leak in skeletal muscle and susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia and heat stroke

Reducing Ca2+ leak through mutant RYR1 prevents pathological heat production in skeletal muscle.

scim.ag

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Annette Dittert @annettedittert.bsky.social · 10h

Die deutsche Blick auf Grossbritannien ist von jeher durch Mythen, Kitsch und Sentimentalitäten verstellt. Auch deshalb weil die Engländer sich gerne selbst so sehen.
Die Realität sieht ein wenig anders aus.
Ein sehr kluges Stück von Eva Ladipo. @faznet.bsky.social

Großbritanniens Demokratie: Auch in England gewinnen die Extremen an Zulauf

Die britische Demokratie ist uralt. Sie gilt als sagenhaft stabil und immun gegen irrationale Emotionen. Damit ist es nun vorbei.

www.faz.net

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Michele Frison @frisophagy.bsky.social · 10h

Bluesky, I am pleased to present to you the main product of postdoc work, published in @science.org ☝️

As it turns out, the very quality control mechanism that can remove mutant mtDNA copies is the one that maintains high mutant burden, or heteroplasmy levels

High heteroplasmy decreases mitochondrial ubiquitination

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Michele Frison @frisophagy.bsky.social · 10h

How can mitophagy be an effective quality control mechanism if mtDNA mutations reach high enough levels to cause disease?

This question led us into a dark path, full of concepts of evolutionary genetics, germline stem cell biology and mito-nuclear compatibility.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Ubiquitin-mediated mitophagy regulates the inheritance of mitochondrial DNA mutations

Mitochondrial synthesis of adenosine triphosphate is essential for eukaryotic life but is dependent on the cooperation of two genomes: nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA mutates ~15 times as...

www.science.org

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 4h

A man who introduced the public smoking ban in Ireland over 2 decades ago, one of the first national bans in the world and a great success, should be more ambitious than this

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 19h

“I don’t think we can mitigate for climate change.”

- Mícheál Martin, Taoiseach.

www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Taoiseach says some climate projects will not be fulfilled because they risk polarising society

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has rowed back on climate change commitments, saying Ireland may not be able fulfil all current initiatives due to the polarising effect it could have on society.

www.independent.ie

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Dermot Lynott @dermotlynott.bsky.social · 10h

We got solar panels installed about a month ago, and we’re running at about 75% energy independence. In autumn. In Ireland. This is not some unsolvable quantum physics problem for god’s sake 🤦

Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 19h

“I don’t think we can mitigate for climate change.”

- Mícheál Martin, Taoiseach.

www.independent.ie/business/tec...

Taoiseach says some climate projects will not be fulfilled because they risk polarising society

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has rowed back on climate change commitments, saying Ireland may not be able fulfil all current initiatives due to the polarising effect it could have on society.

www.independent.ie

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Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 5h

🚨🚨Good news: The European Union has signaled it will not give in to pressure from Washington to tear up its #green rules in order to firm up a deal on #tariffs, @ec.europa.eu trade chief @sabineweyand.bsky.social has said to EU Member States. 🧵
www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

EU refuses to bow to Trump demands to tear up business rules

Brussels has signaled it won’t yield to U.S. pressure to ignite a bonfire of green regulations as part of their trade deal, a top official tells diplomats.

www.politico.eu

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 5h

After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season.

TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...

England is now experiencing a significant Covid wave, after 10 months of relative quiet

The latest Covid situation in England and a look at where NHS services are as we head into winter

christinapagel.substack.com

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Reposted by Cahir O'Kane

Profit Greenly @profitgreenly.bsky.social · 6h

~40% of the ENTIRE corn crop of the US is used to make ethanol. This gets blended with gasoline to power well under 10% of our vehicle miles. If we converted 100% of our vehicles to EVs installing solar on a small fraction of the land this corn is grown on would power them all.

US domestic corn use graph from 1980 to 2020. The orange bar representing "Alcohol for fuel use" (aka ethanol) starts growing in early 2000s, explodes before 2010 and stays huge through the graphs 2022 end. This explains most of the increased corn production in the US.

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fly paper broadcast @fly-broadcast.bsky.social · 19h

Persistent viral infections impact key biological traits in Drosophila melanogaster
#Drosophila

Persistent viral infections impact key biological traits in Drosophila melanogaster #Drosophila

PubMed link

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Robert “The Bobby Yaga” McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 19h

Hard not to see these bans as Apple collaborating with the Trump administration.

Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses

Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 19h

Here you go dear sir 😎

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 13h

As an STV voter in both N & S Ireland I always felt my vote had more influence over the outcome, than in 30 years in (until 2024) a safe Tory seat in GB. (It also keeps out fringe parties that don’t reach a quota in any constituency, and keeps a constituency link to MPs unlike a list system)

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Lewis Herbert @lewisherbert.bsky.social · 15h

Adoption of PR for all elections has to become Labour Govt's top "system change priority" and critical by 2027 OR TOO LATE.
Sadly too many want to put all their chips on red, blinded by once in a lifetime 2024 result.
Otherwise 33% will beat 55% under current FPTP in 2029.
Keep up great feed Sandy!

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Avezov lab @avezovlab.bsky.social · 1d

New preprint from our lab! ER geometry sets the tempo of neuronal bursting via Ca²⁺ store-refill—revealing selective neuronal vulnerability to ER-structure problems. Thread to follow.🧠⚡️

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#Neurodegeneration #NeuroCellBiology #Calcium #bioRxiv

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 21h

The first Peruvian Pope….

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

E.g. The Met Office is the nation’s weather service AND a global climate change research centre. It is highly vulnerable.

Ministers fund its research, influence its priorities, and appoint its leaders. With no statutory basis, its priorities and funding could be changed with little oversight. 5/11

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

We found that the UK’s top scientific institutions, from the Met Office to the UK Health Security Agency, have inadequate institutional defences.

If an incoming government wanted to weaken the role of science and evidence in policy making, it could do so shockingly fast. 2/11

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 22h

And j think how terrible it would have been if Antifa had won out in Weimar Germany

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 1d

"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."

- Jack Posobiec at Trump's roundtable on antifa

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Alex Gould Lab @alexgouldlab.bsky.social · 1d

Calling early career PIs. A great opportunity to start your lab at @crick.ac.uk in the heart of London.

The Francis Crick Institute @crick.ac.uk · 1d

We're now recruiting early career group leaders at the Crick to lead ambitious research programmes and explore bold scientific questions.

Hear our Director, Edith Heard, explain why the Crick is a unique place for curiosity-driven research.

Apply now ➡️ www.crick.ac.uk/careers-stud...

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 2d

Good to see the Conservative Party committed to keeping the deficit down by *checks notes* spending £2 billion giving tax breaks for private education, creating a massive new deportation force and pledging to maintain pensioner benefits.

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Cahir O'Kane @cahirokane.bsky.social · 1d

So there are some situations in which loss of Sarm1 acts against regeneration and restoration of axon/neuron function.

Ashley Kalinski @kalinskilab.bsky.social · 2d

Paper Alert!! Our collaborative work with Giger Lab at UMich is out now in #ScienceTranslationMedicine Deletion of murine Sarm1 results in a microenvironment that delays peripheral nerve regeneration after injury | Science Translational Medicine @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Deletion of murine Sarm1 results in a microenvironment that delays peripheral nerve regeneration after injury

In Sarm1-deficient mice, peripheral nervous system regeneration is delayed after injury.

www.science.org