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Isabel

@isabelott.bsky.social

Evolutionary & population biology of vector-borne viral disease systems. 🦟 genetics PhD student in NC. Arbovirologist, orthobunyavirus wonk, feral reference librarian, & public health advocate. 80s mosquito. Coaster-sized earrings. (she/her) πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ

11,012 Followers  |  2,206 Following  |  2,357 Posts  |  Joined: 23.09.2023  |  2.1992

Latest posts by isabelott.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Please Don’t Say Mean Things about the AI That I Just Invested a Billion Dollars In β€œ[Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang Is Begging You to Stop Being So Negative About AI” β€” Headline from Gizmodo - - β€” Guys, enough is enough. Bullying is a s...

"You can’t just measure the value of something in terms of 'whether or not it makes everything worse for everyone.' The world is much more complicated than that."

01.02.2026 14:30 β€” πŸ‘ 123    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 2
A senior at a public school in Pittsburgh asked Microsoft Copilot to trawl her message history in order to help her brainstorm topics in response to an essay question: What do you do for fun?

A senior at a public school in Pittsburgh asked Microsoft Copilot to trawl her message history in order to help her brainstorm topics in response to an essay question: What do you do for fun?

This was not the main point in this article about using AI in college admissions, but it stood out to me for so many reasons including the impulse to have the chatbot mediate all experiences including telling you what you do for fun. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/s...

04.02.2026 00:50 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

all these calls for schumer to step down, that he’s too old, that he’s out of touch, that he doesn’t have the fight required to do the job, etc, seem pretty silly when you consider examples of people who actually become more capable into old age, such as the crypt keeper

03.02.2026 23:42 β€” πŸ‘ 435    πŸ” 35    πŸ’¬ 19    πŸ“Œ 1
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β€œ.. Not a single Republican member of Congress showed up to the public forum .. on the violence inflicted by federal immigration agents, featuring testimony from the brothers of Renee Good ..”

@newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/post/206100/...

03.02.2026 23:09 β€” πŸ‘ 5379    πŸ” 2373    πŸ’¬ 249    πŸ“Œ 232

having to age verify to view the bash reference manual…appropriate, somehow. we must protect the youths’ innocence somehow

04.02.2026 00:26 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A rare misstep

04.02.2026 00:05 β€” πŸ‘ 186    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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News, Bad and Good, from the Dean of Arts and Sciences We have no money for copies. But our Live, Love, Learn program now includes two Undergraduate Scribe Fellows. We have no money for raises, but we’v...

"We had to eliminate merit increases, but our president’s life coach swears that extrinsic motivation doesn’t work anyway, and my masseur agrees. Also, our Morale Boosting Consultant has T-shirts."

02.02.2026 14:30 β€” πŸ‘ 66    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 5
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Unique territorial and compartmental organization of chromosomes in the holocentric silkworm - The EMBO Journal Hallmarks of multicellular eukaryotic genome organization are chromosome territories, compartments, and loop-extrusion-mediated structures, including TADs. However, these have mainly been observed in ...

How do compartmentalization & loop extrusion organize eukaryotic genomes beyond classical model organisms?
Hi-C analysis of silkworm chromosomes by Drinnenberg, Muller, Mirny et al reveals new combination of these mechanisms, and a new, secluded β€œS” compartment
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

03.02.2026 10:37 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Live: Judge orders release of suspects in alleged shovel attack on agent Department of Homeland Security says agent fired in self-defense after being attacked with a snow shovel and broom.

"Photographic evidence from the shooting scene of a Venezuelan man by federal agents last month in Minneapolis supports the account of witnesses there – and appears to undercut the narrative provided by federal officials." www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

03.02.2026 22:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1358    πŸ” 468    πŸ’¬ 44    πŸ“Œ 71
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Sick fourth-grader among 4 Columbia Heights students held by ICE Columbia Heights Public Schools says four students remain detained by ICE after Liam’s return, including 10-year-old Elizabeth, who has fallen ill.

Elizabeth is a Columbia Heights fourth-grader who loves volleyball, learning English and giggling in the halls with her friends. She's been held in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for nearly a month, and she and her mom have both fallen ill. sahanjournal.com/education/co...

03.02.2026 23:54 β€” πŸ‘ 2453    πŸ” 1592    πŸ’¬ 41    πŸ“Œ 135
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Human Rights Watch researchers resign after report on Palestinian right of return blocked The organization claims the report, which finds Israel’s denial of the right of return is a crime against humanity, is β€˜paused pending further analysis and research’

Two HRW employees that make up the entirety of the organization's Israel and Palestine program are stepping down after the leadership blocked a report that deems Israel’s denial of Palestinian refugees the right of return a "crime against humanity." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

03.02.2026 18:00 β€” πŸ‘ 377    πŸ” 206    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 13
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Here’s what they found:

Women are interrupted more often than menβ€”by about 10–20% in economics seminars.

Those interruptions are more likely to:
- Cut women off mid-sentence
- Come from men
- Be adversarial rather than clarifying in nature

03.02.2026 20:55 β€” πŸ‘ 393    πŸ” 135    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 32

I agree with my anonymous colleague: the administration is not approving Council slates NIH has already proposed. That is why we have several Institutes who soon won't have a functional Council, a statutorily required part of peer review.

03.02.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
A picture of NIH Director Bhattacharya at a Senate HELP committee hearing on February 3, 2026 with NIH staffer Janna Norton who had been placed on administrative leave in the audience behind him.

A picture of NIH Director Bhattacharya at a Senate HELP committee hearing on February 3, 2026 with NIH staffer Janna Norton who had been placed on administrative leave in the audience behind him.

Coverage today with NIH Dir. Bhattacharya testifying before the Senate HELP Committee with NIH staffer @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social (who was placed on administrative leave for speaking out against the illegal and immoral actions of the administration) seated behind him.

#BethesdaDeclaration

03.02.2026 21:36 β€” πŸ‘ 42    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Reptile Handler At Birthday Party Ruthlessly Heckled By 6-Year-Old For Showing Amphibian

Reptile Handler At Birthday Party Ruthlessly Heckled By 6-Year-Old For Showing Amphibian

Reptile Handler At Birthday Party Ruthlessly Heckled By 6-Year-Old For Showing Amphibian https://theonion.com/reptile-handler-at-birthday-party-ruthlessly-heckled-by-6-year-old-for-showing-amphibian/

03.02.2026 22:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1502    πŸ” 186    πŸ’¬ 11    πŸ“Œ 18
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Marimar Martinez talks about being shot by CBP: β€œMy arms, legs, and chest were all wrapped in bandages. I had 7 bullet holes in my body. I remember the agents rushing the nurses to finish up so they could take me with them.”

03.02.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1459    πŸ” 689    πŸ’¬ 38    πŸ“Œ 33
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Lawmakers in Florida (a non-expansion state) are apparently considering a Medicaid work requirements bill.

Except Florida's income eligibility thresholds are so low that forcing people to meet an 80-hour/month requirement would force them off of the program.

floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/03/m...

03.02.2026 21:29 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 4

This was super frustrating to watch. Bhattacharya must have known they were referring to cuts to individual studies. He gave an answer to a different question because there is no good answer for the questions the Senators were actually asking.

03.02.2026 21:13 β€” πŸ‘ 44    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Bhattacharya's response was incredibly frustrating. Clinical trials cannot be just switched off and back on without consequences.

AND many PIs of reinstated trials are hesitant to continue to recruit participants... bc Bhattacharya has been going on podcasts saying these studies won't be renewed.

03.02.2026 21:06 β€” πŸ‘ 44    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is not true. MYF is capped at FY25 levels, where 39% of all awards were MYF.

We need to be very precise about this because the impact is enormous.

03.02.2026 20:45 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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North Carolina election board flags hundreds of thousands of voters for potential disenfranchisement The new round of letters expands the scope of voters being flagged.

NEW: North Carolina’s GOP-led election board will send letters to over 241,000 voters whose driver’s license numbers or Social Security numbers did not match government databases.

Around 98k of those voters could be forced to cast provisional ballots, which could risk disenfranchisement.

03.02.2026 20:09 β€” πŸ‘ 255    πŸ” 164    πŸ’¬ 42    πŸ“Œ 14

Leaving X: How scale insects evolved alternatives to chromosomal sex determination https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.31.703042v1

03.02.2026 21:32 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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What does #ElFasher look like after months of siege? MSF was recently granted access to visit the city, the capital of #Sudan’s North Darfur state.

Our teams saw destroyed neighbourhoods, emptied communities and a city that now resembles a ghost town: https://ow.ly/xAu650Y7RHT

03.02.2026 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Rep. @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social told reporters that there were about 1,100 detainees currently housed at the facility. That includes hundreds of other minors all the way down to a 2-month-old infant.

03.02.2026 16:22 β€” πŸ‘ 77    πŸ” 58    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 5

The replication crisis is gonna look like a joke in a few years 😰

03.02.2026 19:37 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Screen shot of a youtube video titled "AI.FILL Function Explained: 10X Productivity in Excel with AI" with the caption "Let ChatGPT fill your missing data"

Screen shot of a youtube video titled "AI.FILL Function Explained: 10X Productivity in Excel with AI" with the caption "Let ChatGPT fill your missing data"

Don't you f**king dare.

03.02.2026 14:56 β€” πŸ‘ 289    πŸ” 65    πŸ’¬ 28    πŸ“Œ 37

No more than FY25, which is a lot and still incredibly damaging.

We have to stop using that language because it makes it sound like the problem is fixed. It is absolutely not.

03.02.2026 21:34 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Measles exposure at Mission contributed to new immediate jeopardy citation The hospital's failure to isolate patients in a timely manner "placed everyone in the hospital at immediate risk for serious infectious disease exposure and development."

I mentioned that NC cited our hospital in β€œimmediate jeopardy” for the fourth time since HCA took it over 5 years ago and slashed staff to pay for executive pay packages. This time the failure to isolate symptomatic measles cases with a known exposure to the SC outbreak for 2 hours played a role.

03.02.2026 21:14 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

also applies to AUSAs

03.02.2026 21:14 β€” πŸ‘ 49    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
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The next witness, U.S. citizen and CA resident Martin Rascon, chokes up as he recounts an experience from August when four men in face masks, sunglasses, & baseball caps tried to force into his car, guns pointed at him and his family, ignoring requests to ID themselves before shooting multiple times

03.02.2026 21:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1145    πŸ” 288    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 4

@isabelott is following 20 prominent accounts