Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · 25d

As a young person, I agree! Reading the literature has taught me more than any single class ever could. It's been so so so crucial to my development as a scientist thus far.

2

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Sep 17

Happy international microorganism day! Here's the only electron micrographs taken of the thermophilic sulfur reducer I study (images from L'Haridon et al. 1998). Desulfurobacterium thermolithotrophum is found in deep-sea hydrothermal systems and has some interesting microbial physiology!

A figure showing phase-contrast and electron micrographs of Desulfurobacterium thermolithotrophum. The bacterium is a bacillus found commonly in pairs with a singular tuft of flagella. More images (freeze-etched and metal shadowed as well as ultrathin section) show the different components of the cell envelope. Image is Fig 1. from L'Haridon et al. 1998 and can be found at https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-48-3-701

1 1 4

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Cameron Thrash @jcamthrash.bsky.social · Sep 11

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars - Nature

A geological, petrographic and geochemical survey of distinctive mudstone and conglomerate outcrops of the Bright Angel formation on Mars reveals textures, chemical and mineral characteristics, and or...

www.nature.com

4 8

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Aug 23

The Master & Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Aug 13

I've had similar experiences when using LLMs for coding. It's scary how many people kneel before Claude Code and vibe code their way into oblivion. Great thread!

Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · Aug 12

I asked it to pull the SSA demographic statistics from the US government. Its web crawler was blocked from accessing the site, but it lied to me and said that it pulled them. When I manually compared the data, I saw it used a simple function to fake it (life expectancy 85, with some noise).

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

STCmicrobeblog @stcmicrobeblog.bsky.social · Aug 12

this is all new and pretty exciting. but please, don't get even started with hyping the archaea as 'ancient microbes'. extant #Archaea are no more or no less 'ancient' than their bacterial cousins, which also survived numerous of 'Eath's extremes' during their history. thank you.

#MicroSky

Gltch @gltch.io · Aug 12

Ancient microbes—survivors of Earth’s extremes—may hold the key to defeating antibiotic resistance! 🦠✨ A hopeful discovery! #Microbiology

Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-08-ai-uncovers-archaeasins-unique-antibiotics.html

AI uncovers 'archaeasins,' unique antibiotics from ancient Archaea

They've survived for billions of years in boiling acid, deep-sea vents and salt flats. Now, some of Earth's oldest life forms—microbes called Archaea—are offering a new weapon in the fight against one of today's most urgent health threats: antibiotic resistance.

phys.org

1 10 30

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Aug 13

YAY! Congrats!!

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · Aug 8

Got this really cool, ghostly picture by accident the other day in Dillon Beach, CA. It is a Heermann's gull with both it's shadow and reflection.

#birds

Juvenile Heermann's gull (very dark all over) in flight, flying over very very shallow water. Flying to the right maybe two feet off the ground. It's shadow is to the right. Just below the shadow is a reflection on the sheen of water.

220 850 8K

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Jul 31

One of the vacuum pumps in our lab has been slowly dripping oil lately, so I did some online sleuthing and figured out a fix. I feel like a regular detective! My PI was impressed :)

1 2

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Jul 19

I had a great time at my first ever GRC this past week! I'll most definitely be attending Applied and Environmental Micro in 2027. Thanks @deniseakob.bsky.social @environmicrobio.bsky.social @thuls.bsky.social for organizing such a welcoming, fun, and scientifically stimulating conference!

1 1 8

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Jul 5

When predicting evolutionary histories, the characteristics of species alive today are used. Archaeal ancestors from ~ 2 billion years ago are the ones theorized to have become eukaryotes.

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jun 18

Yes.

Everyone Is Using A.I. for Everything. Is That Bad?

www.nytimes.com

18 42 350

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Jun 11

I presented my first ever poster today at the Boston Bacterial Meeting! What a whirlwind, and I got some great thought-provoking questions about research methodology. It's been nice to feel a sense of community with all the anti-science rhetoric and funding cuts.

1

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · Jun 4

As a recent B.S. grad, I can say that I know/have met a fair few people who rely on ChatGPT to do their homework and study for exams.

1 1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · May 31

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

71 1.4K 2.6K

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 31

These cuts are devastating and heartbreaking to see. The impacts will be felt for a long, long time.

Fiscal year 2026 budget request-- funding for the NSF directorate of biological sciences. Compared to FY 2024 budget, BIO research is -72.7%, BIO education is -93%, and BIO Infrastructure is -61%

Estimated number of people involved in NSF activities. Overall trend from FY 2024 to FY 2026 is downward in every category: senior researchers (60,400 to 16,900), other professionals (14,400 to 4,100), postdocs (5,500 to 1,000), Grad students (41,500 to 12,400), Undergrads (37,300 to 8,000), PreK-12 teachers (42,900 to 8,200), and PreK-12 students (128,100 to 39,400).

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Michael Baym @baym.lol · May 30

The goal is plainly and literally to cut the number of people involved in basic science in the US by 70%

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · May 30

From over 300k to less than 100k. A picture of smaller, reduced science.

Estimates for # of people involved in NSF activities

7 200 420

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 30

A place of honor on the bedside table has been given to your wonderful glowing tardigrade! I'm glad you enjoyed the gift :)

1

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 27

I'm happy to share that I've completed my Bachelor of Science in Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst!

A young man with curly hair sits beside the UMass campus pond on a stone bench. He is wearing a white dress shirt and black striped dress pants, as well as his undergraduate graduation regalia (robe, two cords). The graduation cap in his hand is decorated with Giant Microbes, namely Geobacter, a tardigrade, a nerve cell, a red blood cell, DNA, and an antibody.

The same young man has now donned his cap and faces away from the camera, gazing over the UMass campus. The W. E. B. Dubois library, old chapel, and Thompson hall are visible against a cloudy sky.

The aforementioned young man stands away from and above the camera. He is backed by the looming WEB Dubois library. He has tossed his cap into the air, visible in the center of the picture.

1 1

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 14

I found this an eye-opening read, thanks for sharing :)

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

DEI Virologist @kyt-thatsme.bsky.social · May 13

All of the skills I learned that make me (at least in my opinion) a good scholar were honed by the social sciences. My K-12 education was rich & I went to a liberal art college my freshman year before transferring to a state school. I took multiple English comp classes that taught me about rhetoric

1 6 25

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 13

The artist is willing to trade the Bdellovibrio for a glowing tardigrade! DM me and we can work this out :)

1

Reposted by Nathaniel Scott

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · May 13

"For me, the answer now lies in refusal, the withdrawal of participation from systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging."

Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council.

I wrote about my decision in TIME.

time.com/7285045/resi...

Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress

I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.

time.com

480 6K 17K

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 9

Also, the standard deviations are the exact same number as the highest data points LOL

1 1

Nathaniel Scott @diderm.com · May 9

Means are double the value of the highest data point

1 2