Jonathan Eisen

David Botstein | 1942 - 2026 | Online-Tribute.com David was a beloved husband, father, brother, scientist, teacher, mentor, musician, friend, who touched the lives of thousands. David’s wide-ranging scientific career spanned decades with a legacy o…

Crap

www.online-tribute.com/DavidBotstein

David Botstein passed away. I worked with him at Stanford for a few years in designing and teaching a course on "The Heart". My heart is heavy right now. He was a wonderful mentor.

Angled-down image of a frog perched on a brown leaf and facing left. The frog's principal ground color is black, with yellowish-white stripes running from the nose through the eye and down the back to the legs. A second stripe runs along the lower jaw, terminating at the front legs. The legs are a light brown and there is a triangular flashmark of bright yellow at the top of the thigh. The frog also has some dark brown blobs attached to the lower back - four tadpoles, hanging on until the male frog can transport them to a suitable source of water.

Know what doesn't suck right now, or ever? Nature. This Pale-striped Poison Frog (Ameerega hahneli) was hopping across an open area at our NE Peru field station, on his way to find a suitable wet place to deposit his tadpoles (such as the axils of a bromeliad). #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿

I find the news very frightening right now, but one thing that helps me is noticing the birds all around me

Do you want a reason to spend 10 minutes a day noticing your local birds? Then join me for this spring’s #TenMinMerlin, using the (free) app Merlin to notice birds. No experience needed!

1/5

RIP David Botstein
#MicroSky

Ah, no. What a terrible loss. He was a wonderful scientist who touched so many of our lives.

Very sad to see this. I worked with him in Calico, David was a giant.

Cheer David, We will miss you. Thank you for everything.

David Botstein | 1942 - 2026 | Online-Tribute.com David was a beloved husband, father, brother, scientist, teacher, mentor, musician, friend, who touched the lives of thousands. David’s wide-ranging scientific career spanned decades with a legacy o…

Crap

www.online-tribute.com/DavidBotstein

David Botstein passed away. I worked with him at Stanford for a few years in designing and teaching a course on "The Heart". My heart is heavy right now. He was a wonderful mentor.

It's a good day for some hummingbirds -- gif of a hovering Anna's hummingbird in my yard in #DavisCA #birds

After a US-Israeli strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab, Iran, rescuers dug through the rubble for survivors. The death toll is still rising, with more than 80 confirmed dead so far.

John Oliver standing next to a sculpture of a large pair of testicles (supposedly President Lyndon B Johnson's)

Whenever I see this trophy. I can't help thinking of this:

Well, this aged well (like we all knew it would)

OrthoGarden: a Pipeline for Propagating Phylogenetic Trees for Non-Model Organisms from Short Reads and de novo Genome Assemblies https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41755752/

A morel

Hey look - it’s Sam Altman

Trump's dictatorship began by surrounding himself with fellow Epstein associates he could blackmail into submission.

I live with a lot of grief and rage. And I'm sure you do too. But we will channel it for a greater good.

Fantastic news!!

‘Unbelievably dangerous’: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Phage–host interactions are a key driver of microbial ecology, but observing them in nature is hard!
With metaHi-C, we detect freshwater phage–host pairs and link their infection dynamics to evolution.

Together with @nadal-molero.bsky.social & Ana Martin-Cuadrado

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

🦠Delve into the world of microbial ecology with @ashish-malik.bsky.social & Josh Thurston in the first of @bes-soilecogroup.bsky.social's Soil Ecology Seminars

Sign up via the link below to hear all about the latest research in this area on Wednesday, 25 February

MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. MicroSEA course integrates lectures, field sampling, and lab-based practicals in advanced techniques, such as flow cytometry, microscopy, culturing, and molecular analysis. The main objectives of MicroSEA course are: Fostering a deep understanding of marine protist diversity, ecology and biology; Providing hands-on training in advanced single-cell methods that are not commonly available in university programs; Building participants' confidence in designing and conducting research projects from field to data analysis; Promoting international collaborations and peer networking among students and speakers/trainers. The course will take place at the Station Biologique de Roscoff - SBR (France) - 7th to 12th of June, 2026 (arrival on the 6th, departure on the 13th). 20 participants will be selected, including 10 from EuroMarine member institutes. https://opbc.sciencesconf.org/

Protist lovers: Please apply for a week of rhapsody! Learn by doing:

MicroSEA (Microbial Sea Eukaryotes) course is a one-week, field-based summer school to train early-career researchers in the diversity, ecology, and single-cell biology of marine protists. opbc.sciencesconf.org

#protistsonsky

A deadly wildlife disease is spreading, but could season and habitat determine which snakes survive? In this episode, grad student Catherine Hanks reveals how indigo snakes may fight Snake Fungal Disease, and what her research could mean for conservation.

www.oriannesociety.org/snake-talk/

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Woodpecker granary.

Woodpecker granery.

One has to wonder how many bird hours it would require to accomplish this amazing feat. I mean, that's a lot of acorns. 🌰🌰🌰 Peace! ✌️ #birds #woodpeckers #storage

🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀 🦠👀

Wow. Really really useful paper and also really awesome thread / summary.

Well, you can also be the first to cite CLiJIIR6maw7WMm8@clijiir6maw7wmm8.com

Now published: our work using phylodynamics from surveillance data to quantify and experimentally validate the fitness impact of antibiotic resistance determinants & how this changes with patterns of antibiotic use: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

High-throughput analyses of a reconstituted diversity-generating retroelement identify intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of diversification Author summary Our study focuses on Diversity-Generating Retroelements (DGRs), a biological “evolution engine” that microbes and viruses use to rapidly develop new functions within specific genes. DGR...

Published version of our work on diversity-generating retroelements!

We reconstituted a phage DGR in E. coli and deployed high-throughput methods to identify factors influencing the activity of this system. #microsky

journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...

Wow. Really really useful paper and also really awesome thread / summary.

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨

Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!)

Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇

doi.org/10.1093/fems...