Michael G. Lerner
@mglerner.bsky.social
Comp. biophysicist at Earlham: Biomembranes, comp oncology. Reducing distracted hyperbusyness. Decolonizing my sylabus. [email protected] @[email protected] @mglerner at bird site
ORCID: 0000-0003-1222-3212
ORCID: 0000-0003-1222-3212
Here is a solid, thought-provoking post.
You know those labs that keep harming students, again and again? Some reflections on why it's so hard to stop this from happening and where our responsibilities lie.
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
scienceforeveryone.science/bad-mentors-... 🧪
Bad mentors hurt people
What to do about bad mentors?
scienceforeveryone.science
November 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Here is a solid, thought-provoking post.
Lunchtime tart for the wife’s birthday! Quite pleased with how it came out.
November 23, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Lunchtime tart for the wife’s birthday! Quite pleased with how it came out.
Definitely wanted this to lead to some biophysical version of the Coriolis force.
The law of the jungle.
Interactions of cells in a collective lead to global rotation.
In 80% of the case HUVEC cells turn clockwise.
How many cells does it take for this to happen?
Interactions of cells in a collective lead to global rotation.
In 80% of the case HUVEC cells turn clockwise.
How many cells does it take for this to happen?
November 21, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Definitely wanted this to lead to some biophysical version of the Coriolis force.
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
I am honored and excited to present our recent work on mixed AND asymmetric membranes at @bppbseminar.bsky.social! 🧪
My online talk will be this Friday, 11/21/25, 11am US Eastern time.
Many thanks to the organizers for putting this together! More details here: sites.google.com/view/bppb-se...
My online talk will be this Friday, 11/21/25, 11am US Eastern time.
Many thanks to the organizers for putting this together! More details here: sites.google.com/view/bppb-se...
November 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I am honored and excited to present our recent work on mixed AND asymmetric membranes at @bppbseminar.bsky.social! 🧪
My online talk will be this Friday, 11/21/25, 11am US Eastern time.
Many thanks to the organizers for putting this together! More details here: sites.google.com/view/bppb-se...
My online talk will be this Friday, 11/21/25, 11am US Eastern time.
Many thanks to the organizers for putting this together! More details here: sites.google.com/view/bppb-se...
I love having students work in groups to write sample exam problems in class. This time, I told them to take some existing problems and make them harder. It’s so cool seeing them dive into things like “well, we could give less information … what could we leave out?” #ITeachPhysics
November 19, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I love having students work in groups to write sample exam problems in class. This time, I told them to take some existing problems and make them harder. It’s so cool seeing them dive into things like “well, we could give less information … what could we leave out?” #ITeachPhysics
I know this is not the question. But do we know the mechanism yet?
We don't just have evidence that ibuprofen works, we have things like a cochrane review finding two high-quality RCTs showing ibuprofen works better than acetaminophen for dental pain after lower wisdom tooth removal. www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10....
November 14, 2025 at 2:38 AM
I know this is not the question. But do we know the mechanism yet?
It's angular momentum day in my #Physics class, so of course we start with fidget spinners on their desks and Emmy Noether on the screen as they walk into the room :)
November 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
It's angular momentum day in my #Physics class, so of course we start with fidget spinners on their desks and Emmy Noether on the screen as they walk into the room :)
why would you do this
October 14, 2025 at 8:48 PM
why would you do this
I asked what turned out to be a really hard question in my intro class. Build this circuit on a breadboard (easy). Measure the equivalent resistance of the two parallel resistors (easy). Measure I1, the current through R1 (whoa!).
#ITeachPhysics a lot, and I was surprised by just how tough this was.
#ITeachPhysics a lot, and I was surprised by just how tough this was.
October 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I asked what turned out to be a really hard question in my intro class. Build this circuit on a breadboard (easy). Measure the equivalent resistance of the two parallel resistors (easy). Measure I1, the current through R1 (whoa!).
#ITeachPhysics a lot, and I was surprised by just how tough this was.
#ITeachPhysics a lot, and I was surprised by just how tough this was.
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
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
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
September 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
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
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
This may well be the most fascinating job post I've ever seen! A whole (short) thread worth reading, and getting excited about. Whether or not you're a relevant candidate.
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
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
September 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
This may well be the most fascinating job post I've ever seen! A whole (short) thread worth reading, and getting excited about. Whether or not you're a relevant candidate.
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
Major cool membrane conference coming up next week! The Biomembrane Days 2025, organized by an amazing team from the MPI for Colloids and Interface Science @mpici.bsky.social: Rumy Dimova (@dimovalab.bsky.social), Helge Ewers, and Thomas Weikl. I'm so very much looking forward to attending! 🤩 🧪
Biomembrane Days 2025
Membranes form the intricately shaped compartments of life. The Biomembrane Days are a triannual workshop that highlights recent advances in understanding the morphology and molecular organization of ...
events.mpikg.mpg.de
September 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Major cool membrane conference coming up next week! The Biomembrane Days 2025, organized by an amazing team from the MPI for Colloids and Interface Science @mpici.bsky.social: Rumy Dimova (@dimovalab.bsky.social), Helge Ewers, and Thomas Weikl. I'm so very much looking forward to attending! 🤩 🧪
Yet again, someone’s off leash dog attacked mine on a walk. Of course it had to be something as muscular as a pitt bull. Everyone’s fine. But I’m getting too old to throw my boat in the middle of dog fights.
September 11, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Yet again, someone’s off leash dog attacked mine on a walk. Of course it had to be something as muscular as a pitt bull. Everyone’s fine. But I’m getting too old to throw my boat in the middle of dog fights.
I love this question for intro physics
![Projectiles 1 and 2 are launched over level ground with the same speed but at different angles. Which hits the ground first? Ignore air resistance. [Projectile 1 goes about twice as high as projectile 2, both in nice parabolic arcs.]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2s32idzwnqpln3s44jz5dvy6/bafkreieiedlbihyluoehrnzw6owxr7rzhzhn6m45pdmklo2uurkkodwapa@jpeg)
September 8, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I love this question for intro physics
Slightly late to this, but I’m watching the Fast and Furious movies for the first time. I’m on #3. The series seems to think we’re watching for Paul Walker. Are they serious?!
August 24, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Slightly late to this, but I’m watching the Fast and Furious movies for the first time. I’m on #3. The series seems to think we’re watching for Paul Walker. Are they serious?!
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
Tour de force on the kinetics and mechansms of lipid transport in cells through exquisite use of bifunctional probes by @nadlerlab.bsky.social and colleagues. Such an exciting time for the field. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Quantitative imaging of lipid transport in mammalian cells - Nature
Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.
www.nature.com
August 21, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Tour de force on the kinetics and mechansms of lipid transport in cells through exquisite use of bifunctional probes by @nadlerlab.bsky.social and colleagues. Such an exciting time for the field. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
We are hiring into 3 (THREE!) tenure track lines this year at Wake Forest — if you’re looking please reach out, I love chatting about our department! We are a vibrant group that love & embrace the teacher-scholar model 👩🏫
August 20, 2025 at 11:46 AM
We are hiring into 3 (THREE!) tenure track lines this year at Wake Forest — if you’re looking please reach out, I love chatting about our department! We are a vibrant group that love & embrace the teacher-scholar model 👩🏫
Found an old box of tapes. Now listening to the Soup Dragons.
August 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Found an old box of tapes. Now listening to the Soup Dragons.
Reposted by Michael G. Lerner
Can’t wait to introduce bird-based storage into my backup system
July 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Can’t wait to introduce bird-based storage into my backup system
A friend has pointed out that “stare at it and be smart” is a very generally applicable method
Middle-aged folks: how did you learn to factor polynomials like ax^2 + bx + c? My kids have learned the diamond and box methods. I'm pretty sure I just learned "stare it and be smart."
July 17, 2025 at 9:37 PM
A friend has pointed out that “stare at it and be smart” is a very generally applicable method
Middle-aged folks: how did you learn to factor polynomials like ax^2 + bx + c? My kids have learned the diamond and box methods. I'm pretty sure I just learned "stare it and be smart."
July 17, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Middle-aged folks: how did you learn to factor polynomials like ax^2 + bx + c? My kids have learned the diamond and box methods. I'm pretty sure I just learned "stare it and be smart."