Markus Deserno
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markusdeserno.bsky.social
Markus Deserno
@markusdeserno.bsky.social
1.4K followers 170 following 1.1K posts
Theoretical and computational biophysicist at Carnegie Mellon University. Loves lipid membranes, music, and art. (he/him) 🇩🇪🇺🇸
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markusdeserno.bsky.social
Markus Deserno @markusdeserno.bsky.social · Sep 26
I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪

Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360

PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!

Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:

1/10
Tenure-track Position in Biophysics at Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics Location: Pittsburgh, PA Open Date: Sep 19, 2025 Description The Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics. The appointment is intended to be at the Assistant Professor level, but exceptional candidates at a higher level may also be considered. We seek outstanding candidates with a strong record in cellular and subcellular biophysics. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, uncovering how key characteristics of living systems arise from the interplay between supramolecular cellular structures, how the emergent cellular circuitry defines goals and enables robust decision making, and how metabolic resources are allocated. This encompasses understanding of how information is learned, stored, transduced, and processed across subcellular structures. Applicants with theoretical, data science, or experimental backgrounds within biological physics are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will strengthen and extend research programs of current biophysics faculty in the Department of Physics and collaborate with broader life science activities across many departments at CMU and the wider Pittsburgh area. More details on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/174360
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Awesome colleague alert!
One day, @bridgesbio.bsky.social might save your life by disrupting bacterial communication and behavior. No need to kill your enemy—just confuse the heck out of them!
January 31, 2026 at 1:25 AM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Many have already shared this powerful image by MJ.Hiblen, over on Insta under www.instagram.com/mjhiblenart/. It really makes me well up. May Renée and Alex rest in peace. 💔
January 27, 2026 at 5:19 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Just like I don’t want to go to war zones to bear witness to atrocities first hand, I don’t want to watch snuff videos to confirm that ICE is executing protestors in broad daylight. I want professional journalists to do that. And I don’t want them to both-sides the content. DO YOUR JOB!
January 26, 2026 at 12:59 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Martens, Turkowyd, Hohlbein, and Endesfelder would politely disagree! 🧪
January 26, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
froomkin.bsky.social
Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)
NYT lead headline: Videos Contradict Federal Accounts of Fatal Shooting
January 25, 2026 at 3:19 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Oh, apparently just one day.
bsky.app/profile/froo...
markusdeserno.bsky.social Markus Deserno @markusdeserno.bsky.social · 8d
How long until the word “appear” disappears? Not holding my breath.
January 26, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
admirablewomen.bsky.social
Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM
Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas. Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.
January 26, 2026 at 12:06 AM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
How long until the word “appear” disappears? Not holding my breath.
January 25, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
strandjunker.com
“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
January 24, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
dimitridrekonja.bsky.social
Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him.

White. Hot. Rage.
January 24, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
thetnholler.bsky.social
“Freedom is not free. We have to work at it. Nurture it. Protect it. Even sacrifice for it.”
January 25, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
carlbergstrom.com
I was a sensitive kid. I loved cats. I had OCD, undiagnosed.

When I was 9, a fraternity brother tortured a cat to death in my hometown. The details even now are beyond imagination. archive.is/xdmUL

I was traumatized for years from reading the news story.

The torturer? Now the head of the NRA.
January 25, 2026 at 4:55 AM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
astrokatie.com
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
January 25, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
admirablewomen.bsky.social
Ursula K. Le Guin died #OTD in 2018.

First female author to win both the Nebula & Hugo awards for Best Novel for 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 (1970). In total, she won 8 Hugo & 6 Nebula awards. Second woman Grand Master of the #ScienceFiction & Fantasy Writers of America. #scifi #literature #booksky
Black-and-white photograph of Ursula K. Le Guin in her later years, seated comfortably in a wicker chair in front of a bookshelf filled with books. The acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author has short white hair, warm eyes, and a gentle smile as she gazes directly at the camera. She wears a dark long-sleeved shirt, her arms crossed and resting on her lap, with a bracelet on one wrist and a ring on her finger. To the right of the portrait is the vibrant cover of the 50th Anniversary Edition of her novel The Left Hand of Darkness, featuring a bold blue starry gradient background with the title in white text and her name prominently displayed.
January 22, 2026 at 5:11 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
10 years ago today, 1/22/2016, a massive blizzard hit Western Pennsylvania. I measured 2 feet of snow outside my apartment in Pittsburgh on the next day. The city was crippled for a week, Carnegie Mellon was closed for 3 days.

That incoming winter storm is probably history trolling us. 🙄
January 23, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
mcnees.bsky.social
Felix Klein lectured “On Hilbert’s first note on the foundations of physics" at the Mathematical Society of Göttingen #OTD in 1918. He included excerpts from letters in which he and Hilbert give priority to Emmy Noether’s results on conservation of energy in general relativity. (1/n) 🧪 ⚛️ 👩‍🔬
Black and white photograph of Emmy Noether. She is standing just behind an ornate chair, wearing a white striped blouse with puffy shoulders, a fluffy bow at her neck, and a heavy long skirt cinched with a belt. Her dark hair is pulled back and she is looking a bit to the photographer's right.
January 22, 2026 at 4:07 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
One source of my current heartbreak comes from looking at clips like this. How many people—from composition to performance—came together to create this glorious moment in time! Behold the limitless human potential! The beauty! And then realize that some losers just want to burn the whole world down.
Jonas Kaufmann - Turandot, Atto III: "Nessun Dorma"
YouTube video by JonasKaufmannVEVO
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
mohaveindv.bsky.social
Hey Dems, when we ask you to do something we want you to do something.. where are you? Get the police to free these Americans!!!!
January 18, 2026 at 8:08 AM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
When I think of a funny reply to a post, but then I see that replies are disabled, and so my witticism has to die with me.
a cartoon character is screaming in front of a purple couch with cn hd written on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon character is screaming in front of a purple couch with cn hd written on the bottom
media.tenor.com
January 18, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
dburbach.bsky.social
Non-protesting dad just trying to hustle his kids, as young as 6mo, out of the neighborhood. ICE threw a flash-bang INTO HIS car, all 6 kids in the hospital now.

If anyone wondered how things turn against occupying armies there's a case study playing out in front of you.
cjzero.bsky.social CJ Fogler @cjzero.bsky.social · 18d
That is what was relayed
January 15, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Reposted by Markus Deserno
wrigleyfield.bsky.social
I really want ppl w/o Minneapolis connections to understand

You might've heard that Mpls public schools went hybrid bc so many families are in hiding. Well, a coworker just told me that today, during his kid's hybrid class, a kid's apt building was raided onscreen

*Everyone has stories like this*
January 13, 2026 at 6:06 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Is this the "dynamic duo" in the regime of low Reynolds number?
chriso1.bsky.social Chris Orton @chriso1.bsky.social · 21d
On this day in 1966 Batman, starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, was first shown on US television.
Del and Rodney as Batman and Robin.
January 12, 2026 at 3:19 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
“When kids weren’t as clumsy as nowadays, they used to build snowstorks in the winter.”
January 12, 2026 at 12:17 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
We live in a world where the Norwegian Nobel Committee and the Norwegian Nobel Institute feel it’s necessary to clarify that a Nobel Peace Prize cannot be transferred.
January 10, 2026 at 4:16 PM
markusdeserno.bsky.social
Switzerland has mail-in voting.
Germany has mail-in voting.
Austria has mail-in voting.
Australia has mail-in voting.
New Zealand has mail-in voting.
Canada has mail-in voting.
UK has mail-in voting.
...and a few more

Also, *many* more countries permit mail-in voting when you're abroad.
January 9, 2026 at 10:22 PM