Derek Lowe
@dereklowe.bsky.social
Medicinal chemist / chemical biologist, author of “In the Pipeline” at http://science.org/blogs/pipeline. [email protected] and on Signal at Dblowe.18
All opinions are mine; I don’t speak for my employer in any way.
All opinions are mine; I don’t speak for my employer in any way.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Scoop: The apparent new #2 at CDC is a top ivermectin prescriber who ended Louisiana’s vaccine-promotion media campaigns.
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
Scoop: The apparent new #2 at CDC is a top ivermectin prescriber who ended Louisiana’s vaccine-promotion media campaigns.
The current Surgeon General of Louisiana has made headlines recently, including for allegedly burying a whooping cough outbreak.
open.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Scoop: The apparent new #2 at CDC is a top ivermectin prescriber who ended Louisiana’s vaccine-promotion media campaigns.
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
open.substack.com/pub/insideme...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
The 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List has 330 tenure-track positions and 47 teaching-only positions: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... #facultychemjobs #chemsky #chemchat ⚗️🧪
The 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List
docs.google.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
The 2026 Chemistry Faculty Jobs List has 330 tenure-track positions and 47 teaching-only positions: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... #facultychemjobs #chemsky #chemchat ⚗️🧪
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Some well-founded warnings about the use of LLMs in medicine:
LLMs for Medical Practice: Look Out
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Some well-founded warnings about the use of LLMs in medicine:
LLMs for Medical Practice: Look Out
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Some well-founded warnings about the use of LLMs in medicine:
Reposted by Derek Lowe
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
13 million seems rather little for a really hard problem.
Look, I'll take it on. We build AI models. We have tons of retrosynthetic expertise. We mess around with liquid handling robots.
But I wouldn't touch this for less than about 1.3 billion. This is a hard problem. Very, very, very hard.
Look, I'll take it on. We build AI models. We have tons of retrosynthetic expertise. We mess around with liquid handling robots.
But I wouldn't touch this for less than about 1.3 billion. This is a hard problem. Very, very, very hard.
Onepot.AI has launched with $13 million in funding to use artificial intelligence and robotics to automate one of the most time-consuming steps in drug development: chemical synthesis. cen.acs.org/business/sta... #chemsky 🧪
Molecule-maker Onepot.AI launches with $13 million
With an AI engine named Phil and a robotic platform, the start-up cuts down on synthesis turnaround
cen.acs.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
13 million seems rather little for a really hard problem.
Look, I'll take it on. We build AI models. We have tons of retrosynthetic expertise. We mess around with liquid handling robots.
But I wouldn't touch this for less than about 1.3 billion. This is a hard problem. Very, very, very hard.
Look, I'll take it on. We build AI models. We have tons of retrosynthetic expertise. We mess around with liquid handling robots.
But I wouldn't touch this for less than about 1.3 billion. This is a hard problem. Very, very, very hard.
Cowardice from the BBC. Donald Trump is in fact almost cartoonishly corrupt: he sells pardons, accepts gold bars, and sells his own cryptocurrency and souvenirs. There is surely no more bribe-able head of state on the planet.
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Cowardice from the BBC. Donald Trump is in fact almost cartoonishly corrupt: he sells pardons, accepts gold bars, and sells his own cryptocurrency and souvenirs. There is surely no more bribe-able head of state on the planet.
Fifteen Years
xkcd.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Derek Lowe
I really wish more scientists & artists were on here. When I go to in-person gatherings it’s really clear what a small sliver of us are here.
And I get it, how many social media collapses do you have to weather before you just give up?
But organizing would be so much easier if we were all here 😭
And I get it, how many social media collapses do you have to weather before you just give up?
But organizing would be so much easier if we were all here 😭
November 24, 2025 at 6:07 PM
I really wish more scientists & artists were on here. When I go to in-person gatherings it’s really clear what a small sliver of us are here.
And I get it, how many social media collapses do you have to weather before you just give up?
But organizing would be so much easier if we were all here 😭
And I get it, how many social media collapses do you have to weather before you just give up?
But organizing would be so much easier if we were all here 😭
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Semaglutide works for weight loss but not, alas, Alzheimer's.
www.globenewswire.com/news-release...
www.globenewswire.com/news-release...
Novo Nordisk A/S: Evoke phase 3 trials did not demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in Alzheimer's disease progression
Bagsværd, Denmark, 24 November 2025 – Novo Nordisk today announced the top-line results from the 2-year primary analysis of evoke and evoke+ phase 3 trials...
www.globenewswire.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Semaglutide works for weight loss but not, alas, Alzheimer's.
www.globenewswire.com/news-release...
www.globenewswire.com/news-release...
Define “too many plants”
November 24, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Define “too many plants”
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
A long thread of really useful background on where RFJ Jr. and MAHA came from. Follow it down past the Debby Boone part; there's a lot to take in. But it matches many of my own experiences and reading in these areas:
Thinking back to November 2023 when Soledad O'Brien and Rob Reiner devoted their time and clout to this credulous conspiracy podcast about the JFK assassination. Feeding the anti-government conspiracy theory mill when there were 12 months to go before a crucial election was, IMO, a bad choice.
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
A long thread of really useful background on where RFJ Jr. and MAHA came from. Follow it down past the Debby Boone part; there's a lot to take in. But it matches many of my own experiences and reading in these areas:
Reposted by Derek Lowe
The radicalizing dynamic that has shaped the Right still applies. We are now witnessing the next step on that trajectory.
Whatever form MAGA takes in the coming post-Trump era, the idea that American politics will soon experience a return to “normalcy” is dangerously fanciful.
Whatever form MAGA takes in the coming post-Trump era, the idea that American politics will soon experience a return to “normalcy” is dangerously fanciful.
November 23, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The radicalizing dynamic that has shaped the Right still applies. We are now witnessing the next step on that trajectory.
Whatever form MAGA takes in the coming post-Trump era, the idea that American politics will soon experience a return to “normalcy” is dangerously fanciful.
Whatever form MAGA takes in the coming post-Trump era, the idea that American politics will soon experience a return to “normalcy” is dangerously fanciful.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Right.
And it's a good way to start explaining that Miller took away our cancer cures and VA nurses to pay for his goons.
And it's a good way to start explaining that Miller took away our cancer cures and VA nurses to pay for his goons.
November 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Right.
And it's a good way to start explaining that Miller took away our cancer cures and VA nurses to pay for his goons.
And it's a good way to start explaining that Miller took away our cancer cures and VA nurses to pay for his goons.
This is a really good overview of asteroid-impact risk (and what we as humans have been doing to mitigate it).
OK, so. Below a certain size, the atmosphere takes care of the problem--objects below 10 meters in size, say, are going to give a great showy fireball but not do any damage on the ground unless you're really personally unlucky, like the teenager who owned this car.
meteoritecar.com
meteoritecar.com
The Peekskill Meteorite Car Official Website
The official website of the Peekskill Meteorite Car, the most famous object to ever be struck by a meteorite.
meteoritecar.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
This is a really good overview of asteroid-impact risk (and what we as humans have been doing to mitigate it).
Reposted by Derek Lowe
The most important thing to remember about all this fantasy-engineering of the Constitution is Madison's warning: If we suck as a people, no clever constitutional schemes will save us.
November 22, 2025 at 3:03 AM
The most important thing to remember about all this fantasy-engineering of the Constitution is Madison's warning: If we suck as a people, no clever constitutional schemes will save us.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Imagine being one of those CEOs or school presidents who bowed down to this weird old man, then realizing he doesn’t like you as much as he likes this guy who didn’t bow at all
November 21, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Imagine being one of those CEOs or school presidents who bowed down to this weird old man, then realizing he doesn’t like you as much as he likes this guy who didn’t bow at all
Reposted by Derek Lowe
this man has blood on his hands and everyone who supported him and excused him has blood on their hands and I do not want to hear a single fucking Democrat with any position other than "impeach and remove him immediately"
he and his MAHA movement are child killers
he and his MAHA movement are child killers
Breaking News: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he personally instructed the CDC to abandon its position that vaccines do not cause autism. The move underscores his determination to challenge scientific orthodoxy — in this case, that vaccines save lives — and bend the health department to his will.
RFK Jr. Says He Instructed CDC to Change Vaccines and Autism Language on Website
In an interview, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cited gaps in vaccine safety research. His critics say he is ignoring a larger point: Vaccines save lives.
nyti.ms
November 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
this man has blood on his hands and everyone who supported him and excused him has blood on their hands and I do not want to hear a single fucking Democrat with any position other than "impeach and remove him immediately"
he and his MAHA movement are child killers
he and his MAHA movement are child killers
Reposted by Derek Lowe
No single person, especially someone with zero expertise, should be able to just change the CDC website on a whim. The fact that federal health and science pages are no longer trustable is a catastrophe for public health and democracy.
Kennedy Says He Told C.D.C. to Change Website’s Language on Autism and Vaccines
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:05 PM
No single person, especially someone with zero expertise, should be able to just change the CDC website on a whim. The fact that federal health and science pages are no longer trustable is a catastrophe for public health and democracy.
Catching up on blog posts: a biochemical role for the element tungsten, of all things. Don't look for it in your multivitamins any time soon, though:
Biochemical Tungsten - Really
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Catching up on blog posts: a biochemical role for the element tungsten, of all things. Don't look for it in your multivitamins any time soon, though:
Reposted by Derek Lowe
I'm keeping a list of cowards and collaborators who've helped destroy public health and biomedical research: who would you nominate? From Ta-Nehisi Coates: "If none of us are here, If none of us are here to see it, tell your children who the cowards were."
November 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I'm keeping a list of cowards and collaborators who've helped destroy public health and biomedical research: who would you nominate? From Ta-Nehisi Coates: "If none of us are here, If none of us are here to see it, tell your children who the cowards were."
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Absolutely. Even if he weren't a damaged creep, his approach to scientific evidence is completely disqualifying.
We know the answer; We just don't have the science yet
There is no study that says that it is not true.
Bye, bye Bobby. You've "gone wild" enough. You going to kill lots of people.
We know the answer; We just don't have the science yet
There is no study that says that it is not true.
Bye, bye Bobby. You've "gone wild" enough. You going to kill lots of people.
November 21, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Absolutely. Even if he weren't a damaged creep, his approach to scientific evidence is completely disqualifying.
We know the answer; We just don't have the science yet
There is no study that says that it is not true.
Bye, bye Bobby. You've "gone wild" enough. You going to kill lots of people.
We know the answer; We just don't have the science yet
There is no study that says that it is not true.
Bye, bye Bobby. You've "gone wild" enough. You going to kill lots of people.
Reposted by Derek Lowe
Bhattacharya's newest 1-page pandemic plan forcefully rejects the GBD, his previous 1-page pandemic plan.
It's really just an admission that he's not competent enough to control a virus and not caring enough to even try.
My latest devastating takedown.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/bhattacharya...
It's really just an admission that he's not competent enough to control a virus and not caring enough to even try.
My latest devastating takedown.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/bhattacharya...
Goodbye to Focused Protection. Jay Bhattacharya’s Latest 1-Page Pandemic “Plan” is for Vulnerable People to Stop Being Vulnerable.
Jay Bhattacharya's new "plan" is really an admission that if there's a new pandemic, he’s not competent enough to do any of the incredible things he “would have” done regarding COVID. He's not
sciencebasedmedicine.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Bhattacharya's newest 1-page pandemic plan forcefully rejects the GBD, his previous 1-page pandemic plan.
It's really just an admission that he's not competent enough to control a virus and not caring enough to even try.
My latest devastating takedown.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/bhattacharya...
It's really just an admission that he's not competent enough to control a virus and not caring enough to even try.
My latest devastating takedown.
sciencebasedmedicine.org/bhattacharya...
Reposted by Derek Lowe
A long shot, but does anyone know of an English translation of this book? De animalibus insectis libri septem by Ulysse Aldrovando, published 1602 wellcomecollection.org/works/dbtrvx2q
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
A long shot, but does anyone know of an English translation of this book? De animalibus insectis libri septem by Ulysse Aldrovando, published 1602 wellcomecollection.org/works/dbtrvx2q