Paul Beales

Should student mental health responsibility fall to universities? The number of students reporting mental health concerns is rising. But to what extent should the onus be on universities?

In the run up to confirmation and clearing, the BBC will be running a series of feature articles that portray universities in a negative light, rubbing salt in the wounds of a sector suffering from underfunding and financial deficits.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The Softcomp annual meeting is starting in Venice-Mestre. Looking forward to catching up with the community and making new connections. Already had very interesting and fruitful discussions over lunch.

Engineering biology to be a ‘focus’ in 10-year R&D plan - Research Professional News Emerging technology to feature in upcoming plan as government combats R&D “short-termism”, science minister says

Engineering biology to be a ‘focus’ in 10-year R&D plan.

Emerging technology to feature in upcoming plan as government combats R&D “short-termism”, science minister says.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

And I'd always thought that schists were caused by a night of too many beers and a dodgy kebab...!

Doesn't feel like conference travel to the US will be very attractive for the foreseeable.

Also: "American researchers should now be granted the same considerations and care as colleagues in other countries that are authoritarian or at risk of political unrest and conflict." 🤯😒

"Those travelling to the US need information on what customs and border protection staff are entitled to seize or search, including phone and laptop security; what to do if detained at customs; their rights if arrested; and risks of relocation to prisons within the US or El Salvador."

It's not resurrected as it was never extinct.

Dire Wolves play at home to Spurs this Sunday.

I'll get my coat.

Some scientists are taking a DIY coronavirus vaccine, and nobody knows if it’s legal or if it works Famed geneticist George Church and at least 20 others didn’t want to wait for the results of clinical trials: “I think we are at much bigger risk from covid.”

Link didn't work too well. Try this: www.technologyreview.com/2020/07/29/1...

Another gem from George Church? I use one on Woolly Mammouths from 3-4 years ago in The Sun as part of my science journalism and science writing materials for our natural sciences students as an example of outlandish sensationalism.

Here's another classic from Church: www.google.com/amp/s/www.te...

📣PhD available in our group focusing on Digital & Flow Chemistry for #MOF production. Based in Sch Chemistry & iPRD @UniLeeds. Start date: 1st Oct 2025. ⏰️Deadline 30th May. Please repost to spread the word 🙏 #chemsky #phdjobs eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

The art of a magician is misdirection. While we are distracted looking over there, what's happening that we aren't seeing. That's what we should be really worrying about.

Coalition of evil.

French scientist denied US entry after phone messages critical of Trump found France’s research minister said the scientist was traveling to Houston for a conference when his phone was searched

Maybe delete anything that could be considered critical of the Trump administration. Unless you wish to risk being arrested under terrorism charges, where the food is imagine is not so good! Perhaps delete anything related to DEI too, just to be safe.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Parallels with the 1936 Olympics?

Hiking at Malham in the Yorkshire Dales with our visiting collaborators for the ACROPATH project. A privilege to live so close to fantastic countryside for weekend activities.

ACROPATH team photo. Kick off meeting March 2025.

Great to welcome our collaborators from Japan to @universityofleeds.bsky.social for the kickoff meeting for our ACROPATH project. A UK-Japan Engineering Biology project to develop novel biomedical technologies, funded by @ukri.org MRC and AMED.

They daren't do that.

But they dare to gaslight their community as if they think we're a bunch of dim-witted fools.

Go figure.

Normally when reviewing and updating something you would keep the existing information in place until the new version was ready to replace it. You would only remove it in the interim if it was felt to be fundamentally damaging or flawed in its current form.

He doesn't help things by pointing out that they haven't taken action against the racist Watson, either.

You could ask similar questions about people who run/fund labs of 50+ people, etc. Is it not more efficient to spread resource more within the community? Personally, I find a group size of 6-8 is optimal, but I'm perhaps exposing my inferior capabilities in admitting that!

Trump is behaving like a Russian asset.

Membrane Transport Modulates the pH-Regulated Feedback of an Enzyme Reaction Confined within Lipid Vesicles Understanding ion transport dynamics in reactive vesicles is pivotal for exploring biological and chemical processes and essential for designing synthetic cells. In this work, we investigate how proton transport and membrane potential regulate pH dynamics in an autocatalytic enzyme reaction within lipid vesicles. Combining experimental and numerical methods, we demonstrate that compartmentalization within lipid membranes accelerates internal reactions, attributed to protection from the external acidic environment. In experiments, we explored how proton movement significantly impacts internal reactions by changing bilayer thickness, adding ion transporters, and varying buffers. Numerical investigations incorporated electrical membrane potential and capacitance into a kinetic model of the process, elucidating the mechanisms that dictate the control of reaction time observed in the experiment, driven by both electrical and chemical potential gradients. These findings establish a framework for controlling pH clock reactions via membrane changes and targeted manipulation of proton movement, which could aid in the design of synthetic cells with precise, controlled functionalities.

New paper led by the work of Darcey (experiment) and Anna (modelling) looking at how membrane transport and membrane potentials regulate an autocatalytic enzyme reaction confined within vesicles. We find that proton transport can be used to regulate reaction dynamics. doi.org/10.1021/acsn...

Yes, but that's not a truth that has penetrated Trump's head. And it probably never will as he is blinded by his own self-image and lacks the necessary self-awareness as he has surrounded himself with compliant sycophants.

Trump covets the Nobel Peace Prize. He sees his route to this as negotiating a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He is too weak to pressure Putin, so is targeting who he sees as the weaker man, giving Russia what they want. This is all about ego and self-gain, personal insecurity and weakness.

Solid-supported polymer–lipid hybrid membrane for bioelectrochemistry of a membrane redox enzyme Hybrid membranes, consisting of phospholipids and amphiphilic block polymers, offer enhanced stability compared to liposomes and greater biocompatibility than polymersomes. These qualities make them a...

Recent publication presenting the work of Dr Rosa Catania on the application of solid-supported hybrid lipid-polymer membranes for the electrochemistry of a membrane redox enzyme on electrode surfaces.

pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

With all the talk of Elon Musk's fellowship of the Royal Society, there's not enough focus on how he's an FRS in the first place.

Is financing companies a “substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge”? He clearly hasn't been the intellectual driver of all these technologies!

I have seen the phrase "preemptive obedience" bandied around a lot. To me that suggests there was only very superficial interest or belief in these ideas from those who hold the real power in these organisations. They are just fickle to ebbs and flows of outside influences. It's disappointing.

I'm not going to talk about specific institutions as that's not right, and tbh I don't know enough about the details of specific cases. However, I'm confident that good institutions will be ok in the long run.

Several UK universities are really struggling at present due to local economic factors (combination of student fees not increasing with inflation for over a decade & drop in international student numbers), some made capital investments at wrong time when interest rates on loans sky rocketed.

True, but it's probably still better to have significant financial reserves at your disposal than not. Although there'll undoubtedly be other complicating factors depending on circumstances of each institution.