Sam Foley
@physfoley.bsky.social
Physics of membranes and self-assembly || Biophysics postdoc at Johns Hopkins || Previously Penn State -> Carnegie Mellon || for I perplex others not because I am clear, but because I am utterly perplexed myself ||
www.samuelfoley.com
www.samuelfoley.com
Pinned
Sam Foley
@physfoley.bsky.social
· May 26
I’m excited to finally share our new preprint! Membrane-associated assembly processes like CME function as precisely-tunable, spatially targetable, robust on/off switches that don’t require energy at decision-time.
arxiv.org/abs/2505.17290
🧪
arxiv.org/abs/2505.17290
🧪
Todd finally got to me. Bought Skyrim for a second time this weekend. At least I'll get to play the DLCs for the first time.
November 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Todd finally got to me. Bought Skyrim for a second time this weekend. At least I'll get to play the DLCs for the first time.
Reposted by Sam Foley
Getting journal rejections like
November 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Getting journal rejections like
Reposted by Sam Foley
Then Toad began to bang his head against the wall
November 20, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Then Toad began to bang his head against the wall
"Their words cannot be allowed to stand"
November 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
"Their words cannot be allowed to stand"
Reposted by Sam Foley
HEADS UP: CDC website now officially asserts that vaccines may cause autism.“Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.” Also says the “vaccines do not cause autism” header remains b/c of an agreement with Cassidy.
November 20, 2025 at 2:53 AM
HEADS UP: CDC website now officially asserts that vaccines may cause autism.“Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.” Also says the “vaccines do not cause autism” header remains b/c of an agreement with Cassidy.
My 12 year old 3DS still holds a charge like it's brand new. What magical batteries was Nintendo putting in these things?
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 AM
My 12 year old 3DS still holds a charge like it's brand new. What magical batteries was Nintendo putting in these things?
Favorite soft drink of a computational physicist? LSODA
November 19, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Favorite soft drink of a computational physicist? LSODA
Reposted by Sam Foley
Next talk at the #NaturalPhilosophy Symposium was by Chris Kempes on The Easy Part of Biology. Commentary by Margaret Johnson.
[Physics. Physics is the easy part of biology.]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKf...
[Physics. Physics is the easy part of biology.]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKf...
November 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Next talk at the #NaturalPhilosophy Symposium was by Chris Kempes on The Easy Part of Biology. Commentary by Margaret Johnson.
[Physics. Physics is the easy part of biology.]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKf...
[Physics. Physics is the easy part of biology.]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=riKf...
Genuinely incredible reddit comment on why C++ is called "C++" and not "++C"
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Genuinely incredible reddit comment on why C++ is called "C++" and not "++C"
I couldn't help but do the back-of-the-envelope calculation: based on the scale of the components and numbers shown, this would subject riders to about 50 g's of acceleration for around half a second. Short enough time period to probably be survivable... for some of the population, at least!
November 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I couldn't help but do the back-of-the-envelope calculation: based on the scale of the components and numbers shown, this would subject riders to about 50 g's of acceleration for around half a second. Short enough time period to probably be survivable... for some of the population, at least!
Reposted by Sam Foley
Arizona sunrise
November 10, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Arizona sunrise
Reposted by Sam Foley
Cool idea!
A membrane-driven biochemical oscillator tunable by the volume to surface area ratio https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.14.688573v1
November 16, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Cool idea!
Coming up on two months of Linux-only computing, and I'm definitely never going back.
After going full time Linux for a year and a half on the laptop I use for work, and in the face of Win10 EOL in less than a month, I'm finally taking the plunge and switching my home desktop to Linux. Year of the Linux Desktop attempt #34
November 15, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Coming up on two months of Linux-only computing, and I'm definitely never going back.
Utterly absurd
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Utterly absurd
Reposted by Sam Foley
November 13, 2025 at 3:26 AM
This was an awesome workshop!
It was a pleasure to co-organize with @allysonsgro.bsky.social Junior Scientist Workshop on Theoretical Biophysics at @hhmijanelia.bsky.social. We had great lectures and tutorials on theoretical approaches used to understand biological phenomena. Can't wait for the 2026 iteration, stay tuned.
November 12, 2025 at 12:47 AM
This was an awesome workshop!
Reposted by Sam Foley
If only science communicators, doctors, and the people who have monitored the anti-vaxx movement for years could have convinced journalists and politicians of this....
They want zero vaccines. They're not hiding it.
They want zero vaccines. They're not hiding it.
As predicted, they’re going after the entire childhood vaccination schedule (second slide, from WaPo).
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
If only science communicators, doctors, and the people who have monitored the anti-vaxx movement for years could have convinced journalists and politicians of this....
They want zero vaccines. They're not hiding it.
They want zero vaccines. They're not hiding it.
Reposted by Sam Foley
A question came up in the lab today:
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
A question came up in the lab today:
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
A question came up in the lab today:
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
A question came up in the lab today:
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
How many fish could you (completely) boil with the energy it takes to train an LLM like ChatGPT?
Reposted by Sam Foley
Just thinking again how Democrats asked people to accept short-term suffering in order to give space to prevent long-term, worse suffering and then said, "Thanks for suffering in the short-term. You'll get to suffer long-term too so that our Thanksgiving plans don't get disrupted."
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Just thinking again how Democrats asked people to accept short-term suffering in order to give space to prevent long-term, worse suffering and then said, "Thanks for suffering in the short-term. You'll get to suffer long-term too so that our Thanksgiving plans don't get disrupted."
Reposted by Sam Foley
i think this is key. taking the deal would amount to taking the blame. it would turn a clear political victory into an unambiguous defeat.
If the Dems blink after all of this, for a deal that all but ensures no ACA subsidies in 2026 anyway, then what was the purpose of letting the shutdown go for 40 days in the first place?
November 10, 2025 at 12:56 AM
i think this is key. taking the deal would amount to taking the blame. it would turn a clear political victory into an unambiguous defeat.
"Why do you like membrane bending simulations so much?"
November 6, 2025 at 5:42 PM
"Why do you like membrane bending simulations so much?"