Brian D. Wade

The most meaningful way to succeed is to help others succeed.

Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...

Molecular clock evidence for an Archean diversification of heme-copper oxygen reductase enzymes Age estimates for the emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis derived from molecular clock analyses reach back to the Archean, substantially predating ge…

Aerobic metabolism might have evolved before the Great Oxidation Event.
#AncientEarth #scienceSky

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I know science can’t fix the world — here’s why I do it anyway The world faces energy shortages as fossil fuels are phased out. Research can’t go on as normal.

I know science can’t fix the world — here’s why I do it anyway
#scienceSky

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Synthesizing scientific literature with retrieval-augmented language models - Nature A specialized, open-source, retrieval-augmented language model is introduced for answering scientific queries and synthesizing literature, the responses of which are shown to be preferred by human eva...

Synthesizing scientific literature with retrieval-augmented language models
#academicSky

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

Does the Measured Abundance Suggest a Biological Origin for the Ancient Alkanes Preserved in a Martian Mudstone? - Alexander A. Pavlov, Caroline Freissinet, Daniel P. Glavin, Christopher H. House, Jen... The measured abundance (30–50 ppb) of long-chain (C10–C12) alkanes and their possible carboxylic acid precursors found in the ancient Cumberland mudstone in Gal...

Does the Measured Abundance Suggest a Biological Origin for the Ancient Alkanes Preserved in a Martian Mudstone?
#Mars #astrobiology

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New collaborative paper! ⚡

Hannah Feinsibler et al. show that synthetic FeS, FeNiS, and NiS compounds catalyze H+ and nitrate reduction under hydrothermal-vent–like conditions, supporting mineral precursors to enzymes like hydrogenases and nitrogenases! #astrobiology

chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10....

Ecological constraints and evolutionary trade-offs shape nitrogen fixation across habitats Abstract. From its earliest beginnings, life’s expansion into new habitats has been profoundly shaped by its reciprocal interactions with Earth’s changing

New paper! Why are some Nitrogen fixing microbes more complex?

@msobol.bsky.social et al. find that microbes with more N2-fixation genes have larger, more versatile genomes, showing how changing environments shaped this key metabolism!

> academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a... @isme-microbes.bsky.social

Universal paralogs provide a window into evolution before the last universal common ancestor Universal paralog protein families form due to gene duplications that occurred prior to the last universal common ancestor of life. This perspective describes how these protein families offer valuable...

What happened before the last universal common ancestor? Pre-LUCA evolution is hard to study. In our new Cell Genomics Perspective we spotlight how paralogous proteins open a window onto the deepest chapters of evolution. 🧬🌍

Out today!

--> www.cell.com/cell-genomic... @cellpress.bsky.social

Intercalated bacterial biofilms are intrinsic internal components of calcium-based kidney stones | PNAS Calcium oxalate stones comprise greater than 70% of all kidney stones. In the current conceptual framework, the initial stone nidus is thought to i...

Intercalated bacterial #biofilms are intrinsic internal components of calcium-based kidney stones
#microbes #microbiology #scienceSky

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system The rise of antibiotic resistance motivates a revived interest in phage therapy. However, bacteria possess dozens of anti-phage immune systems that co…

Chemical inhibition of a bacterial immune system
#bacteria #bacteriophage #microbiology #scienceSky

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

NASA NASA.gov brings you the latest news, images and videos from America's space agency, pioneering the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

Our latest paper on ancient microbes and nitrogen is featured on the NASA website today! 🚀🔬Way to go, @hollyrucker.bsky.social!

Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA’s Search for Life Beyond Earth
www.nasa.gov

Paper link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #astrobiology @uwmadscience.bsky.social

Academic publishers defeat lawsuit over ‘peer review’ pay, other restrictions A group of major academic publishers convinced a judge in New York to dismiss a lawsuit accusing them of thwarting competition by barring scholars from submitting papers to multiple journals simultane...

Academic publishers defeat lawsuit over ‘peer review’ pay, other restrictions
#academicSky

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

Adaptive transcriptional remodeling of Streptococcus mutans under simulated microgravity and silver stress reveals evolutionary innovation in artificial environments - npj Complexity npj Complexity - Adaptive transcriptional remodeling of Streptococcus mutans under simulated microgravity and silver stress reveals evolutionary innovation in artificial environments

Adaptive transcriptional remodeling of Streptococcus mutans under simulated microgravity and silver stress reveals evolutionary innovation in artificial environments
#evolution #ExperimentalEvolution #mevoSky #microSky

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Microgravity reshapes bacteriophage–host coevolution aboard the International Space Station Phage-host interactions have a role shaping microbial ecosystems, but their behavior in microgravity remains largely unexplored. In this study, experiments aboard the ISS reveal distinct evolutionary ...

Microgravity reshapes bacteriophage–host coevolution aboard the International Space Station
#evolution #mevoSky #microSky #spaceflight

journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

What I learned applying for tenure-track positions - Nature Human Behaviour Navigating the academic job market is never easy. I-An ‘Amy’ Su reflects on her experience searching for a faculty position during the Trump-era hiring freeze and the lessons she learned on her path t...

What I learned applying for tenure-track positions
#academicSky

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

Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth - NASA Science NASA-supported scientists have resurrected an enzyme first used by organisms on Earth 3.2-billion years ago and, in the process, have validated a chemical

Happy to share that a fantastic article about my latest research was just published on NASA’s website! Very grateful to have such a spotlight on my PhD research and recent Nature Communications paper.

Resurrected nitrogenases recapitulate canonical N-isotope biosignatures over two billion years - Nature Communications The study shows that nitrogenase enzymes have maintained stable isotope signatures over billions of years, revealing how ancient microbes shaped Earth’s nitrogen cycle and offering a new experimental ...

Our new paper, out today! We resurrected ancient nitrogenases first used by life on Earth 3 billion years ago. We combined synthetic biology and geology & validated their chemical #biosignature in rocks that helps reveal ancient life on Earth!(and beyond!)

Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Articles of Significant Interest in This Issue | Applied and Environmental Microbiology This editorial by Applied and Environmental Microbiology (AEM) editor in chief Gemma Reguera (e02229-25) explores the innate and acquired nature of linguistic bias and its negative impacts on scientif...

New #ApplEnvMicrobiol #AEM issue alert‼️

Wonderful science to end the month of January, starting with the Spotlights 👇

@asm.org Journals, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, #AppEnvMicro

doi.org/10.1128/aem....

"Doomsday Clock" moves to 85 seconds to midnight, closest point to catastrophe since its debut The "Doomsday Clock" is a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation.

"Doomsday Clock" moves to 85 seconds to midnight, closest point to catastrophe since its debut

www.cbsnews.com/news/doomsda...

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click After turning off ChatGPT’s ‘data consent’ option, Marcel Bucher lost the work behind grant applications, teaching materials and publication drafts. Here’s what happened next.

When two years of academic work vanished with a single click
#AI #ChatGPT #academicSky

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

40 years after Challenger: Lingering guilt and lessons learned Forty years after the Challenger disaster, NPR explores the engineers' last-minute efforts to stop the launch, their decades of guilt and the vital lessons that remain critical for NASA today.

40 years after Challenger: Lingering guilt and lessons learned
#spaceflight

www.npr.org/2026/01/25/g...

NASA Finds Lunar Regolith Limits Meteorites as Source of Earth’s Water - NASA Science A new NASA study of its Apollo lunar soils clarifies the Moon’s record of meteorite impacts and timing of water delivery. These findings place upper bounds on

#NASA Finds Lunar Regolith Limits #Meteorites as Source of Earth’s Water

science.nasa.gov/science-rese...

Hundreds of societies have been in crises like ours. An expert explains how they got out. An analysis of historical crises over the past 2,000 years offers lessons for avoiding the end times.

Worth a read of this piece by Peter Turchin in these turbulent times:
www.vox.com/the-highligh...

These islands were bought by US. Now they have a message for #Greenland.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Maastricht, The Netherlands (pic: L. Lemmens)

The Dutch coast at Noordwijk (pic: www.noordwijk.info)

View from Noordwijk, the Netherlands (Pic: ESA/R. Moorkens O'Reilly)

View from Noordwijk, the Netherlands (pic: ESA/R. Moorkens O'Reilly)

📷 The solar event earlier this week resulted in a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm, producing one of the most widely seen auroral displays across Europe for several years, visible from as far south as France across to Poland. Thanks for your pics! 🧪🔭👇

@esaspaceweather.esa.int @science.esa.int

Happy to announce I have a new paper out in Nature Chemistry Communications!

The idea of this paper was pretty simple: what's the *minimum* set of chemical compounds that you need to 'boot-strap' terrestrial biochemistry into functionality? And where might that set have come from?

Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional

The leader of the federal panel that recommends vaccines for Americans said shots against polio and measles — and perhaps all diseases — should be optional.

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...

Hey dumdums, cold weather does not negate climate change.

Thank you for your attention to this matter!

LAKE SUPERIOR, GREATEST LAKE OF ALL-TIME.

This would be awesome!

Kelly says he’s seriously thinking about running for president

thehill.com/homenews/cam...