James Catterson
@scotsfriction.bsky.social
Researching neurodegeneration using flies. Based at Edinburgh University. UKDRI.
Also Music. Politics. Ceramics. Leith4Life
Also Music. Politics. Ceramics. Leith4Life
Pinned
I also had a chance to speak with HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh about our work using flies in dementia research. Everybody loves the flies. 😇😅🥰
Reposted by James Catterson
Clever new method for assembling DNA oligos into larger sequences without the need for unique overlap sequences. Can't wait for those 'this sequence is too complex' rejection messages from DNA suppliers to become a thing of the past. 🧬🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Construction of complex and diverse DNA sequences using DNA three-way junctions - Nature
Sidewinder enables high-fidelity DNA assembly by separating the information that guides assembly from the final assembled sequence.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Clever new method for assembling DNA oligos into larger sequences without the need for unique overlap sequences. Can't wait for those 'this sequence is too complex' rejection messages from DNA suppliers to become a thing of the past. 🧬🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by James Catterson
January 22, 2026 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by James Catterson
reading up on the Pitchfork subscription thing. apparently if you don't subscribe you can no longer read every review. and it sounds like their archive of reviews will not be open to non-subscribers anymore either.
January 20, 2026 at 10:48 PM
reading up on the Pitchfork subscription thing. apparently if you don't subscribe you can no longer read every review. and it sounds like their archive of reviews will not be open to non-subscribers anymore either.
Reposted by James Catterson
Trick Bag, Aquarium Drunkard, Stereogum, Hearing Things, a billion independent newsletters…just saying! if you cherish the spot where you read about music, especially if it’s eternally dangling on the precipice of financial oblivion because there’s not a corporation behind it, throw them some money.
January 20, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Trick Bag, Aquarium Drunkard, Stereogum, Hearing Things, a billion independent newsletters…just saying! if you cherish the spot where you read about music, especially if it’s eternally dangling on the precipice of financial oblivion because there’s not a corporation behind it, throw them some money.
Reposted by James Catterson
Deutsche Bank here with the good stuff.
Game on.
Game on.
January 18, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Deutsche Bank here with the good stuff.
Game on.
Game on.
Reposted by James Catterson
Northern Lights over Greenland 🇬🇱
January 17, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Northern Lights over Greenland 🇬🇱
Reposted by James Catterson
What Europe could do is threaten to boycott the World Cup. It won't. But that might actually work. Trump wants his big show.
January 17, 2026 at 6:51 PM
What Europe could do is threaten to boycott the World Cup. It won't. But that might actually work. Trump wants his big show.
Reposted by James Catterson
pretty sure he meant the other thing, grok, but very cool that those are your two things
January 16, 2026 at 4:55 PM
pretty sure he meant the other thing, grok, but very cool that those are your two things
Reposted by James Catterson
Delighted to see the vindication of Scotland's position here - not just ScotGov, the policy was approved by Parliament as a whole.
It was deliberately wrecked by bully tactics of a right wing UK govt that was willing to sacrifice our environment, our economy and people's jobs, for petty politics.
It was deliberately wrecked by bully tactics of a right wing UK govt that was willing to sacrifice our environment, our economy and people's jobs, for petty politics.
BREAKING: A waste management firm’s £51.4 million legal claim against the Scottish Government over its aborted deposit return scheme has been thrown out
January 16, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Delighted to see the vindication of Scotland's position here - not just ScotGov, the policy was approved by Parliament as a whole.
It was deliberately wrecked by bully tactics of a right wing UK govt that was willing to sacrifice our environment, our economy and people's jobs, for petty politics.
It was deliberately wrecked by bully tactics of a right wing UK govt that was willing to sacrifice our environment, our economy and people's jobs, for petty politics.
Reposted by James Catterson
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
January 16, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Hats off to whoever did this (and the beautiful model).
Reposted by James Catterson
Everybody thinks 'https://' stands for 'hypertext transfer protocol secure' but it actually stands for 'head to this place, sucka' followed by a colon and two laser sounds
January 13, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Everybody thinks 'https://' stands for 'hypertext transfer protocol secure' but it actually stands for 'head to this place, sucka' followed by a colon and two laser sounds
Reposted by James Catterson
Oh wow: Cryo-EM structure of #TAF15 filaments from postmortem #FTLD brains by the group of Ben Ryskeldi-Falcon at the @mrclmb.bsky.social. What an amazing tour-de-force!! 🤯
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
January 13, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Oh wow: Cryo-EM structure of #TAF15 filaments from postmortem #FTLD brains by the group of Ben Ryskeldi-Falcon at the @mrclmb.bsky.social. What an amazing tour-de-force!! 🤯
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by James Catterson
Skipping to one of the other devolved legislatures, if you are not watching the developing political earthquake in Wales, you need to start. A lot of the potential drama of the Holyrood election has evaporated, and good gods has the Senedd stepped up. www.itv.com/news/wales/2...
January 13, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Skipping to one of the other devolved legislatures, if you are not watching the developing political earthquake in Wales, you need to start. A lot of the potential drama of the Holyrood election has evaporated, and good gods has the Senedd stepped up. www.itv.com/news/wales/2...
Reposted by James Catterson
Your occasional reminder that it's not the job of women to stay in toxic spaces in order to civilise men. (This piece is written by a woman, btw.) www.independent.co.uk/voices/grok-...
If women quit X because of Grok’s deepfake nudes, the predators win – so I’m staying
As women abandon X because of its use to generate non-consensual sexual imagery, the danger is not just what happens to those who stay, but what happens when abusers are left alone on the platform, sa...
www.independent.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 1:14 PM
Your occasional reminder that it's not the job of women to stay in toxic spaces in order to civilise men. (This piece is written by a woman, btw.) www.independent.co.uk/voices/grok-...
Reposted by James Catterson
I mean it’s gonna be really hard to top this one
January 10, 2026 at 4:08 PM
I mean it’s gonna be really hard to top this one
Reposted by James Catterson
It’s gonna be hard to top this one folks
If women quit X because of Grok’s deepfake nudes, the predators win – so I’m staying
If women quit X because of Grok’s deepfake nudes, the predators win – so I’m staying
If women quit X because of Grok’s deepfake nudes, the predators win – so I’m staying
www.independent.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 4:05 PM
It’s gonna be hard to top this one folks
Reposted by James Catterson
With great reluctance I have to admit the Americans are being funny on the timeline, at the expense of the British staff cosplaying as pro-Trump US newspaper bosses.
Checking in on the Washington Post editorial board’s take on the new RFK-approved food pyramid, and I really cannot believe how lazy these people are www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
January 10, 2026 at 6:22 AM
With great reluctance I have to admit the Americans are being funny on the timeline, at the expense of the British staff cosplaying as pro-Trump US newspaper bosses.
Reposted by James Catterson
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 PM
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
Reposted by James Catterson
banning X is a national security issue for every country, plain and simple
its explicit goal is to amplify and empower the largest Nazi-adjacent party in every country in which it operates
it is also the largest deepfake porn generator in the world
this is not a difficult call to make
its explicit goal is to amplify and empower the largest Nazi-adjacent party in every country in which it operates
it is also the largest deepfake porn generator in the world
this is not a difficult call to make
January 8, 2026 at 5:43 PM
banning X is a national security issue for every country, plain and simple
its explicit goal is to amplify and empower the largest Nazi-adjacent party in every country in which it operates
it is also the largest deepfake porn generator in the world
this is not a difficult call to make
its explicit goal is to amplify and empower the largest Nazi-adjacent party in every country in which it operates
it is also the largest deepfake porn generator in the world
this is not a difficult call to make
Reposted by James Catterson
The world feels rough right now
So please enjoy this shrimp, filmed off Cozumel, Mexico. It may be a larval reef shrimp, but we don’t know what species or how long it lives or what it eats. The world is still full of wonder and beauty and mystery.
🎥 @pedrovalenciam scuba diver on Insta
So please enjoy this shrimp, filmed off Cozumel, Mexico. It may be a larval reef shrimp, but we don’t know what species or how long it lives or what it eats. The world is still full of wonder and beauty and mystery.
🎥 @pedrovalenciam scuba diver on Insta
January 8, 2026 at 8:20 PM
The world feels rough right now
So please enjoy this shrimp, filmed off Cozumel, Mexico. It may be a larval reef shrimp, but we don’t know what species or how long it lives or what it eats. The world is still full of wonder and beauty and mystery.
🎥 @pedrovalenciam scuba diver on Insta
So please enjoy this shrimp, filmed off Cozumel, Mexico. It may be a larval reef shrimp, but we don’t know what species or how long it lives or what it eats. The world is still full of wonder and beauty and mystery.
🎥 @pedrovalenciam scuba diver on Insta
Reposted by James Catterson
Again, "I only make CSAM for money" would not help an ordinary person's defence, but would aggravate their sentencing.
Now only paying subscribers can make violent non-consenual sexual imagery of women and children -
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Grok turns off image generator for most users after outcry over sexualised AI imagery
X to limit editing function to paying subscribers after platform threatened with fines and regulatory action
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Again, "I only make CSAM for money" would not help an ordinary person's defence, but would aggravate their sentencing.
Reposted by James Catterson
In the week Grok produces images of child sexual abuse, its creator, xAI, has just announced it has closed a $20 billion funding round.
January 6, 2026 at 8:03 PM
In the week Grok produces images of child sexual abuse, its creator, xAI, has just announced it has closed a $20 billion funding round.
Reposted by James Catterson
conde nast gave this guy pitchfork, and by my count, 19 staff from my time got cut or left. two years later, he's leaving to work with pharrell.
remembering that pitchfork was sold to conde nast with the understanding that conde would be good stewards of the publication. just reminiscing, is all.
remembering that pitchfork was sold to conde nast with the understanding that conde would be good stewards of the publication. just reminiscing, is all.
January 6, 2026 at 3:06 PM
conde nast gave this guy pitchfork, and by my count, 19 staff from my time got cut or left. two years later, he's leaving to work with pharrell.
remembering that pitchfork was sold to conde nast with the understanding that conde would be good stewards of the publication. just reminiscing, is all.
remembering that pitchfork was sold to conde nast with the understanding that conde would be good stewards of the publication. just reminiscing, is all.
Reposted by James Catterson
Our university still has accounts on this website and they shouldn't. @ucc.ie @joh2024.bsky.social
NEW: People are using Elon Musk's chatbot, Grok, to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed.
futurism.com/future-socie...
futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Is Being Used to Depict Horrific Violence Against Real Women
People are asking Elon Musk's Grok chatbot to alter images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, and even killed.
futurism.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Our university still has accounts on this website and they shouldn't. @ucc.ie @joh2024.bsky.social
Reposted by James Catterson
One example of how Grok is being used to target women. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch being sexualised, degraded, and humiliated step-by-step by Grok. All the images accurately reflect the prompts provided.
January 5, 2026 at 5:37 PM
One example of how Grok is being used to target women. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch being sexualised, degraded, and humiliated step-by-step by Grok. All the images accurately reflect the prompts provided.