Why do cultural skills (reading, maths) consistently activate the same brain regions across people? @standehaene.bsky.social and L. Cohen argue that culture doesn’t create new brain circuits: it invades evolutionarily ancient maps of the cortex. check this great paper www.cell.com/action/showP...

Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation - Nature Genomic and biochemical analyses of prokaryotic sulfur metabolism identify diverse microorganisms with the capacity to oxidize sulfide using iron(iii).

📢 New paper in @nature.com

Microbes rock 🎸🤘 with sulfide and iron minerals

I am very excited to share our recent study, which describes a previously unknown microbial energy metabolism ⚡⚡⚡🦠🧫⚡⚡⚡

🆕 Microbial iron oxide respiration coupled to sulfide oxidation - MISO

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

How streptococci bacteria infect the brain to cause meningitis revealed in zebrafish

📹 Sumedha Ravishankar et al, School of Biological Sciences, UC San Diego in @plosbiology.org

➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025... with
@antdlewis.bsky.social

What drives the self-organization of life? By linking three major ecological theories, we show that ecosystems maximize power at intermediate efficiency close to bifurcation points. Energy flux meets life's organizing principles. @sfiscience.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

We are hiring: Full Professor of Soil Ecosystems and Global Change Soil ecosystems form the foundation of planetary health and play a critical role in climate feedback mechanisms. However, they are also vulnerable to the impacts of global change.

CeMESS is hiring!

Join us at the Division of Terrestrial Ecosystem Research (@ter-cemess.bsky.social) as Full Professor of SOIL ECOSYSTEMS AND GLOBAL CHANGE. Collaborate across a leading institution in microbiome science and environmental research.

🔗 Learn more: cemess.univie.ac.at/news/detail-...

Using ChatGPT to write essays may be eroding critical thinking skills A team of neurologists and AI specialists at MIT's Media Lab has led a study looking into the brain impacts of large language model (LLM) use among people who engage with them for study or work. They ...

phys.org/news/2025-06... I recently found this note. This is a good subject for discussion, I wish I knew more.

Looking for Master's thesis projects?

Join us in Vienna to study :

- bacterial ecology
- fungal-bacterial interactions
- microbial modeling

A new Master in Microbiome Science 🦠🧫🔬👨‍🎓 👩‍🎓🧑‍🎓 @univie.ac.at

Apply now! Registration till April 7th, 2025

studieren.univie.ac.at/en/degree-pr...

#microbiome #master #uniwien #univienba #vienna #education #research #science #facts

No short-term response of microbial or isopod-driven litter decomposition to microplastics Microplastic pollution is a growing threat to soils, but its effects on plant litter decomposition remains poorly understood. Particularly, it is uncl…

📣 Our paper on the effect of microplastics on decomposition is out in Applied Soil Ecology: "No short-term response of microbial or isopod-driven litter decomposition to microplastics". ​

⚠️ Spoiler: We do not report any significant effect, and yes it matters.

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

Join us in at #ESEB2025 Barcelona for our symposium on microbial adaptation to changing conditions. Organised by @mtoll8.bsky.social @javierdelafuente.bsky.social and me. Amazing invited speakers @saramitri.bsky.social and Itzik Mizrahi!! @eseb2025.bsky.social

Jillian Petersen appointed Full Professor at CeMESS We are delighted to announce that Jillian Petersen has been appointed Full Professor (§ 99/4) at the Center for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS). This appointment marks an excit...

A milestone for @cemess.bsky.social , a milestone for me too. Thank you @univie.ac.at for the support and recognition, thanks to all team members past and present - you’ve been the real reward! cemess.univie.ac.at/news/detail-...

Fantastic work by first-author Dr. Julia Wiesenbauer, who also defended her PhD-thesis on Monday. Big congratulations! 😀🥳🎉. 5/6

Not sure if this message is being spread yet but if not here it goes: I want everyone to have an opportunity to be a scientist! It is an amazing place to focus your energy and a wonderful community! I want people to know that they should all want this as an opportunity
for their kids.

Are cells like small liquid "brains"? Cells can gather and process complex sets of signals and respond in adaptive ways. How close are they to standard neural networks? Here's the seminal 1995 paper by Dennis Bray on cells as computers nature.com/articles/376...

Vienna celebrates 200 years of Johann Strauss II In 2025, Vienna will celebrate the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II. University of Vienna musicologist Michele Calella and theatre studies scholar Anke Charton discuss the socio-cultural context of...

In 2025, Vienna will celebrate the 200th birthday of Johann Strauss II - happy birthday! 🎉
Musicologist Michele Calella & theatre studies scholar Anke Charton discuss the socio-cultural context of Strauss the Younger’s life & work. His musical legacy continues to shape the City of Music to this day!

Can a microbial community become an evolutionary individual? Microbial communities provide crucial services for human well-being, driving an interest in designing and controlling them towards optimised or novel …

Can a microbial community become an evolutionary individual?

#CurrOpinMicrobiol by @salazarafra.bsky.social and @saramitri.bsky.social

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

Conspiracy theorists and incels: a deeper look into Resentment 📖 YouTube video by Universität Wien

What do conspiracy theorists, incels & Trump supporters have in common?🤔 They are all connected to the concept of resentment - or as philosophers call it, ressentiment.
But what exactly is resentment, and is it always a negative force? Leah Ritterfeld, #PhD researcher at the #univie, explains this ⤵

TER - We had our annual Science Retreat yesterday. Great science, discussions, and fun!
#TerrestrialEcosystemResearch
@cemess.bsky.social

Ksenia Guseva is a new senior scientist at TER We are thrilled to announce that Ksenia Guseva has joined our team as a senior scientist.

Congratulations to @kseniaguseva.bsky.social for becoming Senior Scientist at @ter-cemess.bsky.social, @cemess.bsky.social,
@univie.ac.at
Wonderful to have you on board!

ter.univie.ac.at/news-talks/n...

Design and regulation of engineered bacteria for environmental release - Nature Microbiology Chemla et al. review the release of bacteria into the environment and propose engineering strategies to help improve performance and reduce risk.

Design and regulation of engineered bacteria for environmental release

Review in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social by Yonatan Chemlaet al from Christopher A. Voigt

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

WWTF Grant awarded to CoE Key Researcher @davidberry1.bsky.social from @cemess.bsky.social at @univie.ac.at with Stefanie Widder from MedUni Wien. www.wwtf.at/funding/prog...

Microbial diversity and interactions: Synergistic effects and potential applications of Pseudomonas and Bacillus consortia

-in Microbiological Research

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

panel A with reference to [83], while no numerical references in paper, so I assume Sun et al 2022 ISME J

This is figure 5, which shows the contribution of food microbes to the gut microbiome across diet patterns.

A study in Nature Microbiology suggests that consuming more healthy plant-based foods could increase the proportion of gut microbes that favour human health. The findings are based on an analysis of more than 21,000 vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores. https://go.nature.com/40kHGqN 🧪

Ten species comprise half of the bacteriology literature, leaving most species unstudied www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #jcampubs

One of the biggest questions we get is when will our journals be here. We thank you for your patience.

You can now follow our journals with this starter pack!

Variability of functional and biodiversity responses to perturbations is predictable and informative - Nature Communications Measures of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning show variable responses to perturbations, complicating the prediction of responses to global change. This study shows that the variability of communi...

Variability of functional and biodiversity responses to perturbations is predictable and informative - Nature Communications

@jamesaorr.bsky.social et al.

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

Thank you Mark! 🤩

So what?
These results show that the sole physical characteristics(connectivity) can dictate the function of a natural microbial community. This shows the importance of considering the microhabitat characteristics when trying to understand the way microbiomes function in nature.

Why?
Spatial analysis shows highest degradation in the intermediate levels of accessibility in less connected structures. This could be due to reduce competition and enhance collaboration, or facilitation of spatial organization regulated by mechanisms like quorum sensing.