Darren Dunlap
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microdarren.bsky.social
Darren Dunlap
@microdarren.bsky.social
Microoooobes iiiiin spaaaaaaaaaace! Complete microbe, space, and hiking nerd, microbiologist at Boeing Huntsville
this rules
January 9, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Me in the kitchen at 10pm sneaking the milkshake cookies @bruinabroad.bsky.social made
January 9, 2026 at 1:44 PM
It's Friday. Find your motivation.
January 9, 2026 at 1:41 PM
"My best friend is trying to kill me" was an instant hit in my household. I love frog and toad, but I admit it's kinda hard to explain why my 6 year old is yelling it in public.
Frog pushed a coat down over the top of Toad. Frog pulled snowpants up over the bottom of Toad. He put a hat and scarf on Toad’s head.

“Help!” cried Toad. “My best friend is trying to kill me!”

“I’m only getting you ready for winter,” said Frog.
January 8, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Now published in Nature Biotechnology:
go.nature.com/44P7nSm
If you missed it, the TL;DR is in my April thread below
January 6, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Been rewatching Golden Girls. Grew up with the dub, it's crazy how different the sub is.
January 7, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
1/ Well, he did it. He actually did it.

RFK Jr. just issued a unilateral directive to overhaul the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule. This isn’t based on new data or new evidence, and he bypassed every scientific and clinical process we have, including not taking public comment.
January 5, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HORSES! IT IS HORSE BIRTHDAY! HORSE!!!!!
January 1, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
an orange cat
December 29, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Christmas is hard for many. The years roll, the ghosts at the table increase. We’re haunted by the absence of voices, of laughter engines who drank and ate with us. This can be day of remembrance rituals. For what it’s worth, Hooklanders near and far are in my candles today. Be gentle on yourselves.
December 25, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
We are moving far beyond the notion of the visible "biological individual" to recognize that a #holobiont is a reality of nature - a structural and functional unit of life. Proper definitions are the bedrock of better science and an informed public.
December 19, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I love Its a Wonderful Life so much - I'm losing it 🤣

I still like to ponder about what Mr. Potter did with all that stolen money. He just.... Gets away with it! He steals the cash and is never seen again in the film!! #JusticeForBailey
December 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Also I finished a home maintenance task I've been procrastinating on for months, and it took all of 15 minutes.

I'm sure the celebratory parade is in work.
December 17, 2025 at 2:47 PM
With internet searches going mostly to crap, I'm falling back into using the library to look up books on home maintenance, car maintenance, etc, and I realized...

I should have been, you know.... Reading books again.

I love libraries.
December 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Its almost crisis 🎅
#art #sharks
December 15, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Nice try, frozen pizza instructions. If I'm making a frozen pizza, clearly I'm not capable of also doing a salad that night.
December 13, 2025 at 12:05 AM
The further into my career I get, the more I enjoy the process of data vis. My first instinct is to just dump as much info as possible at a person with EVERYTHING in one figure. Then I sleep on it and whiddle it down, or change the format.

It's fun!
Big new blogpost!

My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more.

--> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...
December 12, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Control is an illusion, something to let go of while parenting, and maybe, just maybe, something to reclaim while gaming.

Loved writing this short guest essay for @crossplayblog.bsky.social.

www.crossplay.news/p/sick-days-...
Sick Days Are For Video Games and Letting Go
Control is an illusion, even before children. Sometimes, a sick day flips the script.
www.crossplay.news
December 11, 2025 at 6:01 PM
I love geocaching, but I will never get used to just creeping around a random parking lot at dark with a flashlight, poking around a bush, trying not to look suspicious.
December 11, 2025 at 5:45 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
ATTN: Fellow artists perpetually in search of background noise!

www.myretrotvs.com

This site streams retro TV, divided up by genre and decade.

Watch news broadcasts from the 70s
Movie trailers from the 80s
Cartoons from the 50s
Soap operas from the 60s

And a lot more

It's pretty fuk'n great!
MyRetroTVs
Tune in to the lost decades with these nostalgic TV simulators.
www.myretrotvs.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
November 29, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Happy possum
November 26, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
We're out of clams.
November 26, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Darren Dunlap
Parents! Carers! Anyone thinking of buying a child a "science kit" for Christmas. For the same / less cost, buy a copy of "Recipes for Wonder" and put together a box of household "ingredients" which will let them do actual science and be a much more personal gift alomshaha.com/portfolio/mr...
October 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
And I'm proud of them. 💳🐠
Fish have committed credit card fraud
November 21, 2025 at 5:15 AM