Sha Liu 刘沙
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flysleeplab.bsky.social
Sha Liu 刘沙
@flysleeplab.bsky.social
400 followers 370 following 17 posts
Neurobiologist studies sleep, biological rhythms, and insect cognition.
Group Leader @VIB_CBD @cbdresearch.bsky.social | Assistant Professor @KU_Leuven ||

http://www.flysleeplab.com
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flysleeplab.bsky.social
Sha Liu 刘沙 @flysleeplab.bsky.social · Nov 15
🚨 Postdoc openings!
We’re looking for postdocs excited about sleep, synapses & cellular neurophysiology (fly or mouse).

Yes, we also have mouse projects!

See details: www.flysleeplab.com/positions
Positions | flysleeplab
www.flysleeplab.com
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
currentbiology.bsky.social
"Saw her in the Amazon
With the voltage runnin' through her skin
Standin' there with nothin' on
She gonna teach me how to swim"

for more about the electric (f)eel, check this primer by Ken Catania ⚡ www.cell.com/current-biol...

(and yes, finally some current biology in Current Biology)
February 5, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
vibneuroleuven.bsky.social
🚀 Proudly introducing the VIB-KU Leuven Center For Neuroscience, a merger of the two former VIB research centers VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research and Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders (NERF)! Our new motto: Bold Science, Real Impact.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhaq...
VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience
YouTube video by VIB-KU Leuven Center for Neuroscience
www.youtube.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
nomascus.bsky.social
Birds have a thick retina devoid of blood vessels - so how do they ensure sufficient oxygen availability?
They don't - neurons rely on glycolysis, metabolizing glucose released from the pecten.

Insane new study that includes comparative data on lizards and crocs.🧪

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Oxygen-free metabolism in the bird inner retina supported by the pecten - Nature
While the photoreceptor outer segments in the bird outer retina have access to oxygen, the inner retina operates under chronic anoxia, supported by anaerobic glycolysis in the retinal neurons.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
shoalgroup.bsky.social
Our paper is published today in Current Biology and is featured on the cover!

We report a neat, and somewhat counter-intuitive, finding: higher-ranking baboons get less and more interrupted night-time rest.
Cover image with sleeping baboon
January 6, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
hannah-haberkern.bsky.social
📢 Join us, the Haberkern lab, @uni-wuerzburg.de for a postdoc studying neural circuit mechanisms of navigation. You’ll spearheading neurophysiology experiments on our brand new 2P!

⏳ Apply by 28th February 2026

Details: www.haberkernlab.de/docs/ENPostd...

#neuroscience #academicjobs #postdoc
On the left, the image shows a schematic of a fly head, ring neurons and EPG neurons together with some calcium imaging frames. On the right is a photo of a fly on a ball in virtual reality and another schematic of a VR system.
December 23, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
palaeostephan.bsky.social
Honoured to have contributed to a new paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Mario Bronzati and lots of excellent and brainy (yes, pun intended) colleagues, showing that pterosaurs and birds evolved flight-capable brains but in different ways. www.cell.com/current-biol...
November 27, 2025 at 9:59 AM
flysleeplab.bsky.social
🚨 Postdoc openings!
We’re looking for postdocs excited about sleep, synapses & cellular neurophysiology (fly or mouse).

Yes, we also have mouse projects!

See details: www.flysleeplab.com/positions
Positions | flysleeplab
www.flysleeplab.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
nature.com
Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals

go.nature.com/4i0i61w
Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals - Nature
Comparisons of 154 genomes from 21 animal phyla and outgroups have been used to reconstruct ancestral adaptation to life on land across 11 distinct terrestrialization events, revealing strong evidence for convergent genomic evolution across the animal kingdom and recurring periods of terrestrial colonization.
go.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
pawelburkhardt.bsky.social
Sponges back?

Integrative phylogenomics positions sponges at the root of the animal tree. @science.org

#sponges vs #ctenophores
November 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
quantamagazine.bsky.social
Quanta contributing writer @maxlevy.bsky.social has received a Kavli Gold Award from @aaas.org and @kavlifoundation.org for “The Hidden World of Electrostatic Ecology,” a detailed account of how small organisms use static electricity to their advantage.

www.quantamagazine.org/quantanews/q...
Quanta Contributor Max G. Levy Wins AAAS Kavli Gold Award for Science Journalism | Quanta Magazine
Judges from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and The Kavli Foundation recognized Quanta Magazine contributing writer Max G. Levy with a Gold Award in the Magazine category for “...
www.quantamagazine.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
elife.bsky.social
Evidence from 14 research funding programmes confirms that early winners tend to keep winning (Matthew effect). But the idea that an early setback makes you stronger later doesn’t replicate widely.
buff.ly/UEtcRd4
eLife Assessment This important study reports the results of efforts to replicate two phenomena of significant interest to early-career scientists and scientific policymakers: the Matthew effect and the early-career setback effect. Several previous studies of these effects have focused on early-career researchers with grant proposals that fell just below or just above a funding threshold. Those just above the threshold were more likely to be successful when they applied for funding later in the career (an example of the well-known Matthew effect), while those just below were more likely to go on to have stronger publication records (the early-career setback effect). In this study the Matthew effect was found to be robust across funders, and to generalize from those close to the funding threshold to the whole population. The early-career setback effect was not robust across funders and did not generalize to the whole population. The evidence reported is convincing.
November 5, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
elife.bsky.social
Kinematics and morphology reveal how mammals descend trees safely, showing posture and movement strategies that suggest early upright behaviours in ancestral primates.
buff.ly/59o59R8
Strategies of descent on vertical supports of various diameters by species.
November 3, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
elife.bsky.social
How neurons go with the blood flow when migrating through the brain.
buff.ly/wIrwf4q
November 1, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
science.org
The China-Argentina Radio Telescope is facing a series of new obstacles. https://scim.ag/49xkgTU
Argentina’s move to woo Trump has derailed South America’s largest radio telescope
U.S.-Chinese tensions have left nearly complete observatory in limbo, jeopardizing research into pulsars and other celestial objects
scim.ag
October 30, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
vibneuroleuven.bsky.social
Apply for our International PhD Call! Discover the 11 new projects for this edition and apply until the 20th of November.
🔗More info: cbd.sites.vib.be/en/phdcall2026
October 15, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
rafaelyuste.bsky.social
Our paper reconstructing hydras endodermis published in @currentbiology urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...
October 29, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
pawelburkhardt.bsky.social
First neurons didn’t appear overnight. We trace their roots to ancient secretory cells - showing how lifestyle & behavior shaped the evolution of first synapses.🧠🌊 #Evolution #Neuroscience

Our latest in @natrevneuro.nature.com
Link: rdcu.be/eMX3E

@jeffcolgren.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
The evolutionary origins of synaptic proteins and their changing roles in different organisms across evolution
Nature Reviews Neuroscience - Recent studies have shed further light on the evolutionary origins of chemical synapses, In this Review, Colgren and Burkhardt explore how ancient proteins were...
rdcu.be
October 27, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
hannah-haberkern.bsky.social
New work from Sha Liu's lab connecting a cellular level process to behavior! 🪰💤
biorxivpreprint.bsky.social bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Oct 16
Presynaptic Release Probability Determines the Need for Sleep https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.16.682770v1
October 23, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
thetransmitter.bsky.social
Edward Kravitz, a Harvard biochemist who proved GABA's inhibitory power, passed away last month. He will "be remembered for his humanity, for his social conscience and his desire to help those less fortunate than he,” says Ronald Harris-Warrick.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

bit.ly/479Ggmo
Remembering GABA pioneer Edward Kravitz
The biochemist, who died last month at age 92, was part of the first neurobiology department in the world and showed that gamma-aminobutyric acid is inhibitory.
bit.ly
October 24, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
gugunderwater.bsky.social
Jellyfish helmet!
This larval-stage jack fish (aka trevally) is living inside the #jellyfish for protection against whatever might come his way.

#jackfish #trevalley #jellyfish #🪼 #symbiosis #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater #okinawa #kume #kumejima
October 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
insectneurolab.bsky.social
Very happy to see our first paper on Black Soldier Flies out!

A chemically defined oviposition attractant and repellent of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens)
doi.org/10.1163/2352...

This was a Master project of amazing Nyasha Thomas, who set up the BSF work in the lab.
October 22, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
turrigiano.bsky.social
what Piali said! Looking to recruit a new assistant professor to our fabulous neuroscience group and department at Brandeis. Please circulate far and wide and alert anyone you know who is on the job market!
#neuroscience
senguptalab.bsky.social Piali Sengupta @senguptalab.bsky.social · Oct 22
TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961
Brandeis University, Biology Department
Job #AJO30961, Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program, Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, US
academicjobsonline.org
October 23, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
janelia-flyem.bsky.social
We're very proud to be releasing the complete male fly CNS connectome!

It's the product of a huge team effort here at Janelia in partnership with the Cambridge Fly Connectomics group (@jefferis.bsky.social and colleagues), plus invaluable collaborators.

More soon...
www.janelia.org/project-team...
Male CNS Connectome
A team of researchers has unveiled the complete connectome of a male fruit fly central nervous system —a seamless map of all the neurons in the brain and nerve cord of a single male fruit fly and the ...
www.janelia.org
October 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
mariadelapax.bsky.social
Ed Kravitz passed away yesterday.
He was a remarkable scientist and mentor- brilliant, curious, creative, and kind. I am grateful to have learned from him. His legacy will endure through his science and through the many people he inspired.

We will miss you, Ed.
September 22, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Sha Liu 刘沙
mads100tist.bsky.social
This is a disaster if the EU doesn't follow up by doubling the budget 😬🧪
September 14, 2025 at 8:09 AM