Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · 4d

My vote in during plankton 102 was #2, but I won’t give away whether I learned I was right or wrong!

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · 4d

Please vote!

Steve Haddock @stevehaddock.bsky.social · 4d

For CTENOPHORE DAY, a little survey:
Which end of this fishing Pleurobrachia is the mouth on? Please just "vote" in the comments — no definitive answers. 🦑🧪🌊

P.S. this is one of my earliest #ctenophore photos, shot on film in a home-built kreisel.

P.P.S. Legit data-gathering for a future paper.

A spherical comb jelly floating against a dark background, with its tentacles deployed, tentilla (side branches) fanned out. There is a number 1 above the body and number 2 below the body. Photo by S. Haddock taken around 1990.

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Jelena Godrijan 🫧❾🌊🦋 @godi.bsky.social · 7d

Study reveals the hidden genomic diversity & global distribution of Phaeocystales — bloom-forming algae with surprising mixotrophic strategies, viral integrations, & adaption to polar vs temperate zones. #protistsonsky
Big step forward for marine ecology & biogeochemical models. 🧬🌊
📖 rdcu.be/eI4nv

Genome-resolved biogeography of Phaeocystales, cosmopolitan bloom-forming algae

Nature Communications - Phaeocystales are ecologically significant nanoplankton whose evolutionary history and functional diversity remain incompletely characterized. Here, the authors integrate...

rdcu.be

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 7d

“It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.”
― Jane Goodall

💙 RIP to a real one. My childhood hero

Jane Goodall with monarch butterfly scarf

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 6d

"Following a thorough, individualized financial review" DOE is terminating 223 awards worth $7.5 billion.

Energy Department Announces Termination of 223 Projects, Saving Over $7.5 Billion

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects, resulting in a savings of approximately $7.56 billion dollars for American taxpayers.

www.energy.gov

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · 14d

Excited and honored to be a part of this cohort and work to advance strategies to stabilize the climate. Stay tuned for more

COMPASS @compassscicomm.bsky.social · 20d

We’re excited to introduce the COMPASS #mCDR Communication Leaders cohort! This amazing group of experts will help drive informed, responsible conversations on marine carbon dioxide removal 🌍 . Learn more about the cohort here: buff.ly/cTAFaIa

#CarbonRemoval #ClimateLeadership #MarineScience

Introducing the COMPASS mCDR Communications Leaders Cohort | COMPASS

COMPASS is thrilled to introduce our new COMPASS mCDR Communication Leaders cohort! This group of experts spans disciplines, sectors, geographies, and career stages. From biophysical and social…

buff.ly

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Robert Rohde @rarohde.bsky.social · 20d

The Northern Pacific Ocean is currently smashing temperature records.

And it is reaching these levels far earlier than the current generation of climate models had expected.

A short thread 🧵

Time series of monthly Northern Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies from 1850 to August 2025 alongside multi-model expectations of the warming in this area (scenario SSP2-4.5).

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 19d

Of all the stupid things that this regime has done, this is right up near the top. Postdoctoral researchers come to the US on H-1B visas. This will further destroy the US science enterprise. Stupid stupid stupid.

Trump administration to add $100,000 fee for H-1B visas

The Trump administration is targeting a visa widely used by tech companies and other employers to hire foreign workers.

www.cbsnews.com

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Sep 3

“Phosphorus constrains global photosynthesis more than nitrogen does [*on land*]” - there… fixed it

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Phosphorus constrains global photosynthesis more than nitrogen does - Nature Ecology & Evolution

Nitrogen and phosphorus limitations are both key to spatial patterns and temporal trends in primary production. This global analysis indicates that phosphorus limitation on terrestrial primary product...

www.nature.com

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Aug 15

This is a nice piece covering how adding iron to the ocean can help stabilize the climate - the time for action is here #oceaniron @exois-oceaniron.bsky.social

Grist @grist.org · Aug 14

The tiny ocean organisms that could help the climate in a big way.

grist.org/climate/the-...

#Ocean #Science #Phytoplankton #Organism #Seas #Environment

The tiny ocean organisms that could help the climate in a big way

Scientists are exploring whether encouraging phytoplankton growth could sequester atmospheric carbon without harming oceanic ecosystems.

grist.org

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Giulia Faucher @giuliafaucher.bsky.social · Jul 10

🌊 If you plan to attend OSM26, please consider submitting an abstract to our session

“Biogeochemical and Ecological Insights for Evaluation of Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR)”

agu.confex.com/agu/osm26/pr...

OSM: 22-27 February 2026 Glasgow

Abstract submission deadline: 20th August 2025

Biogeochemical and Ecological Insights for Evaluation of Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal (mCDR)

Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) encompasses several ocean-based strategies to sequester atmospheric CO2 in the ocean to mitigate anthropogenic climate change. With a growing interest in chemical ...

agu.confex.com

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Jay T. Cullen @jaytcullen.bsky.social · Jul 10

🌊🧪 1/ Job Alert! Are you a world-leading researcher in climate change solutions? UVic’s Canada Excellence Research Chair offers 8 years of support for groundbreaking research. Join our interdisciplinary team @seos-uvic.bsky.social Learn more & apply by Aug 29: www.uvic.ca/faculty-staf...

Why work at UVic? - Faculty & staff - University of Victoria

Get information on the working environment at the University of Victoria.

uvic.ca

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Jul 8

I can't stress enough how close U.S. science is to the cliff.

"Numbers released in May by the National Science Foundation (NSF) indicate that if Congress approves the cuts to the agency proposed by the White House, the number of early-career researchers it supports could fall by 78%" (@science.org)

‘It’s a nightmare.’ U.S. funding cuts threaten academic science jobs at all levels

“There is a lot of pressure to essentially leave the country or not pursue research,” one Ph.D. student says

www.science.org

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) @scor-int.bsky.social · Jul 2

#ECR input needed! Help SCOR serve early-career scientists better by contributing to the survey: www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCOR-ECOP

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jul 2

Losing support to continue this dataset would be absolutely devastating for science and humanity. #carbon #mCDR #climatechange

The Keeling Curve @keelingcurve.bsky.social · Jul 2

Ralph Keeling sked to appear tonight on @CNN in 10 pm Pacific/1 am Eastern broadcast on moves to cut funding to Mauna Loa Observatory, where Keeling Curve measurements have been made since 1958.

Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 25

Terpenoid production can be engineered and optimized in Phaeodactylum tricornutum - a promising chassis for bioproduction. Excellent keynote by @michelefabris.bsky.social @ #MLD8

Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 25

I’ve assumed that the diatom fossil record was more helpful in resolving early diatom evolution than it actually is. Karolina Brulka sets the record straight at #MLD8, revealing that Lower Jurassic Pyxidicula fossils were most likely calcareous nannofossils

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

www.nature.com

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 25

Day 3 of #MLD8 started with an awesome plenary by @sinkingdiatom.bsky.social - identifying the “slow burning fuse” of diatom evolution, punctuated by three pulses of accelerated evolution. Definitely a seminal and must-read pub if you haven’t come across it yet www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

A new version of ASAFIND (2.0) is out! @asafind.bsky.social. Ansgar Gruber introduced the updated tool at #MLD8 doi.org/10.1111/tpj....

ASAFind 2.0: multi‐class protein targeting prediction for diatoms and algae with complex plastids

Many photosynthetic eukaryotes possess complex plastids, which are surrounded by four membranes, and by a space known as the periplastidic compartment (PPC). ASAFind is a software for the prediction ...

doi.org

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

The “big and beautiful” diatom Coscinodiscus granii makes girdle bands with regular pores spaced 285 nm apart. Felicity Ashcroft presents a new set of candidate biomineralization genes from a transcriptome of chemically-synchronized cells. #MLD8

Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

Missing you, and wishing you were here!

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

The oil-producing diatom Fistulifera solaris had an interesting evolutionary trajectory. Two species that diverged from the last F. solaris common ancestor millions of years ago, re-hybridized ~0.12MYA which underlies the current allodiploid genome. Hikaru Tago at #MLD8

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Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

In Pseudo-nitzschia, only 20% of the cells engage in sexual reproduction, but scRNA-seq shows they are all primed and ready to go. Antonella Ruggiero at #MLD8

Sarah Smith @smith8272.bsky.social · Jun 24

Using sexual reproduction markers identified from scRNA data, Arthur Cleyman developed new tools to transform Cylindrotheca closterium and make “pheromone sensing” lines. Cool 😎 #MLD8 @gustbilcke.bsky.social

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Reposted by Sarah Smith

Serena Flori @serenaflori.bsky.social · Jun 24

Continuing the Conference tour 2025 with #MLD8 #diatoms show with cryo-exm 🦠

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