Leo Martins (he/him)

Safety warning as councils move to take down flags One council voiced fears about flag blowing down and ending up on the windscreens of passing cars.

However, it the flags must be removed for safety reasons ("coming loose from a lamppost" and "ending up on a moving vehicle's windscreen") why allow them on private property?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Liverpool street lined with Union Flags We spoke to a range of people living and working around Park Road to find out how they feel about the sudden arrival of flags in the bustling city road

this week I saw several of these half-masted Union Flags. What a nice gesture to mourn the passing of Dame Jane Goodall.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpo...

The cruelty is the point.

They are using this as an excuse to fire even more of our best, most dedicated scientists, researchers, and civil servants.
They do this because they do not believe in science, and they do not genuinely care about the health of America.

Staff Scientist About EMBL-EBI EMBL’s European Bioinformatics Institute is a data powerhouse, utilised on a global scale to advance scientific discovery through bioinformatics and solutions to some of the world’s mos...

I am hiring! - looking for a Staff Scientist to co-run my research group with me. Staff Scientist is a senior professional scientist role at EMBL. Please forward to people you might know who could be interested! embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j...

BTW the last link is thanks to @dieworkwear.bsky.social . Grifters gonna grift bsky.app/profile/diew...

I should have paid more attention to friends trying to convince me that solipsism is the only explanation for this world...

The reaction of everyone who actually works in health is 'What a ridiculous idea!'
People come to the GP surgery because they're unwell, many are anxious already and having what are widely perceived as the 'benefits police' on site will make this worse.

The genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The genomic basis of symbiotic integration at University of Bath, listed on FindAPhD.com

There's a PhD position now available with me in Bath, on the evolution of symbiosis. www.findaphd.com/phds/project.... The supervisory team also includes @anja1.bsky.social @phil-donoghue.bsky.social and others. NB, this is open both to UK-based students *and* to international students :)

SciLifeLab launches major recruitment call for staff scientists in computational biology, data science and AI Computational methods and artificial intelligence on large-scale molecular data are transforming the study of biological systems and processes, ranging from molecular structures and cellular processes...

We’re launching a major #recruitment call for staff scientists in #ComputationalBiology, #DataScience, and #AI to strengthen Sweden’s life science research. 🧪🖥️

Positions are based at SciLifeLab sites across Sweden’s leading universities.

Learn more and apply ↓
www.scilifelab.se/news/scilife...

It is hard to break the loop of 1) selecting excellent researchers using traditional indicators of excellence (=prestige); and 2) expecting these beneficiaries of old-school prestige to lead on more inclusive, forward-looking indicators.
But current data shows it is only all bark, no bite.

I'm trying to reconcile REF's expressed need for NTOs and their described priority for "EDI and broader diversity" (e.g. 2029.ref.ac.uk/wp-content/u... (PDF)), with their selection, in practice, of established Professors (in the case of UoL all are Professors news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/09/04/s...).

The rise of ‘nightmare bacteria’: antimicrobial resistance in six charts Data reveal how the global challenge to reduce deaths and infections from drug-resistant bacteria is not going according to plan.

The number of deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance is predicted to rise from 1 millio to 2 million death per year by 2050. Reasons:
- Too few new drugs
- Excessive use of antibiotics in agriculture
- Antibiotics overuse in medical practice
- Lack of awareness
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Many days I pass in front of a plant-based meals restaurant. And here I was, naively thinking how good the expression "plant-based" is. It's inviting, avoids moral arguments, and it does what it says on the tin.

I'm mostly a carnivore, but I also eat a lot of plant-based food!

The most important paper in evolutionary biology I'd never heard of:

1/

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

Brassica oleracea / Brassica oleracea / Brassica oleracea

Peacehaven: Fire at East Sussex mosque probed as 'hate crime' Video appears to show two people in balaclavas at the mosque before a large blaze spreads.

Men in balaclavas set fire to a mosque in East Sussex last night. It's only appearing on the BBC's local coverage, rather than its main national headlines, despite coming just a week after the (also under-reported) firebombing of an asylum hotel in London last week
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

One year as a Marie Curie fellow in Denmark | Nasmille Liceth Larke-Mejía From fieldwork in the Arctic, to navigating new challenges and finding my path.

New blog post! 🚨

Reflections on my first year as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow in Denmark — the science, the challenges, and the journey toward independence. 🌱

nasmillelarkemejia.com/one-year-as-...

#uArctic_project

Please join me in congratulating Woman on her appointment

Start independent research at the JIC with us 👇.

Really interested in finding those with an interest in structural biology and biochemistry of plants and microbes.

Please do get in touch by email if you'd like to know more 👍

Invasive mosquito vector species detected in surveillance traps in United Kingdom

because the stakes are so low, it's easier to burn the royal society to the ground than to admit a mistake.

I can’t promise this will be the last time I talk about inequity — or equity washing — in science. But after the multitude of responses to my Nature piece, I know something has shifted. Many came from the Global North. That alone feels like a small win. 👉 rdcu.be/eGEun

In fact: in more cases than not, immigration is actually at least part of the answer to address the real issue. So basically: anti-immigration policies constitute a *double negative* - they prevent addressing the real issues by providing the wrong focus and they likely make the real issue worse.

Voluntary work, notwithstanding unpaid labour implications, isn’t a requirement for people who already live here, native or not and many (most) don’t do any at all. So charities etc will soon rely on immigrants as already happens in the NHS.

This week, we lost a leading scientist. Prof Amilcar Tanuri, who died with 67 years after leading the scientific response to Zika, HIV, COVID-19 and multiple other epidemics in Brazil. I was so fortunate to have Prof Tanuri as a mentor and friend for over 3 decades. Rest in peace my friend.

Hi @npr.org! We worked late tonight putting together this handy pocket guide!

It doesn't address road design issues, but if we're going to educate road users, we should include drivers.

It's the size of a folded business card. Print it, fold it, put it in your wallet!

This is getting a bit awkward. Anyone else feels like chipping in?

OK, here it is. Come work with me at the University of Liverpool making ALL THE AI models from ALL THE prokaryote pangenome data. Heck, we will make models from ALL the pangenomes, even eukaryotes!!! (link below👇) 1/4

After another announcement of Elsevier's embrace of AI (e.g. sciencebusiness.net/network-upda...), I remember that time when someone from Elsevier wanted me to work for them. For free. Scanning an open literature database. The hackathon organisers put them in charge.
mstdn.science/@leomrtns/11...