mRNA vaccines continue to show major promise.

In a small Phase 1 trial led by Dr. Balachandran, some patients with pancreatic cancer (one of the deadliest cancers) reached 6-year survival.

This is why sustained investment in science & research matters.

tinyurl.com/f4n4anhk

Pregnancy vaccine reduces baby hospital admissions for RSV by 80% A study confirms the vaccine gives excellent protection for babies against life-threatening chest infections.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🧪

Today we mourn the passing of our beloved central dogma. It served Crick well. But it is time to let go. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Screenshot of Science commentary articleL Scientists stunned by ‘fundamentally new way’ life produces DNA. Newly discovered bacterial defense system challenges genetic code’s central dogma. Image: In a newly discovered bacterial defense system, paired strands of DNA (orange and cyan) are synthesized by two enzymes: One (yellow) uses an RNA template (beige) to guide the assembly of the nucleotide bases that make up DNA, while a second, highly unusual enzyme (light blue) uses its own amino acids as a template."

As a scientist, I am here to report that this headline is indeed accurate as I am in fact STUNNED!!

Wow. This is incredible. 🧪

"Newly discovered bacterial defense system challenges genetic code’s central dogma.":
www.science.org/content/arti...

Asian Forest Scorpion

Photo of a moth probing a not-yet-fully-open, white flower. Another flower bud is in the background.

The long, tubular hypanthium holds nectar, the reward for pollinators. Oenothera species are dusk- or night-blooming, which is perfect for moths, like this sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) visiting opening buds of Oenothera sp. 📷: Lon&Queta CCBYNCSA2 #teammoth #Onagraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a leafy shoot with four pendulous, red, tubular flowers. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

The pollinators of Fuchsia in the Americas are hummingbirds. This Fuchsia (probably F. triphylla), observed in the Dominican Republic, has pendulous, red, nectar-rich flowers—perfect for hummingbirds. #Onagraceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Jumping spider (Hyllus keratodes)

The “whole grain” label has been stretched too far, Trisha Pasricha reports—and some scientists now believe that the health benefits of whole-grain foods might be misunderstood: theatln.tc/Sn8XyXkB

不同运动方式的运动量多少是最合适的 .方舟子. 我上次谈到，关于运动量的多少与死亡率的高低的研究，一般研究走路、跑步，对其他的运动方式研究得很少。今天查资料时发现哈佛大学公共卫生学院最近发表了一篇论文，研究的就是不同的运动方式的运动量与死亡率高低的关系。

发表新文章《不同运动方式的运动量多少是最合适的》 open.substack.com/pub/fangshim...

Tree Bark Microbes and Climate Gases Reveal Hidden Forest Climate Regulation | Happy Eco News New research shows that tree bark microbes and climate gases like methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide are closely linked, revealing an overlooked forest mechanism that helps regulate the atmosphere...

🧪 NEW RESEARCH shows that a lot of you are not sufficiently grateful to the communities of microbial organisms living in tree bark, without whom…

What, you thought bark was just dead crusty stuff?

Look, they’re quietly eating methane and carbon monoxide in there.

happyeconews.com/tree-bark-mi...

沙漠五点花被很多人认为是沙漠中最美的花，只在中午12点到4点之间盛开，要看到其标志性的五个红点（向传粉者指引蜜的位置）就要在这段时间才能看到。研究圣地亚哥植物的专家们说目前还不知道它是靠谁传粉的。我昨天拍到两只烟囱蜂挤在一朵花中，证明它和本地其他锦葵一样靠特定烟囱蜂传粉，解决一个谜

Photo of a leafy shoot. The stems and leaves are glandular and dozens of fungus gnats are trapped by the sticky glands. Photo by Scott Zona CC BY-NC 2.0.

A surface is described as 𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 when it’s covered with glandular hairs. In the case of this Petunia exserta, the glands are tiny but sticky enough to trap lots of fungus gnats! (This is a great plant for gnat control in a greenhouse.) #Solanaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Tapering root with a variable number of lateral roots, 2-12 inchesseveral cm long, tan to reddish brown.

If you're done with caffeine but are still looking for a generally socially acceptable upper, ginsenosides might be an option. The common active compound in ginseng (and thus many traditional Chinese medicines), we know about it a fair bit. 🧪 1/3 🧵

Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

More arachnids

Viciria pavesii appeared twice, male and female.

12 actually.

Christmas special: 13 species of spider ls in one trip.

Bum-eyed Spider( Bijoaraneus legonensis)

Joro spider at Jeju island, South Korea

The position of telonemids and prometheids in the tree of eukaryotes

Phylogenetic position and mitochondrial genome evolution of “orphan” eukaryotic lineages 🧪
www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Results further simplify and illuminate the evolutionary relationships between eukaryotes.

The first patients have been helped by cancer-fighting cells made directly in their bodies Novel approach could be faster, and cheaper, than making the cells in the lab—but safety concerns linger

The first patients have been helped by cancer-fighting cells made directly in their bodies | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

This is fun. 🧪🎢 🍎

C&EN Molecules of the Year: Hexanitrogen

We asked, you voted! Hexanitrogen is your 2025 Molecule of the Year! To get all the details on the spectacular finalists, check out our full coverage at cen.acs.org/synthesis/Mo...

#chemsky 🧪

Almost all of the species here are already carcinized, as the are true crabs (but check in the purples). The main figure from my carcinization paper is this:

Absolutely buzzing over this new video of a rarely seen giant squid

A photograph of a flat, soft-bodied springtail, looking face-on towards the camera as it crawls on the surface of some decaying wood.

There are few soil animals as adorable as the 'podgy' springtails!

This Platunurida sp. is a cousin of the famous 'giant' springtails in New Zealand. Instead of colourful spines, it has a flattened body, enabling it to squeeze into cracks in decaying logs where it lives.

#TheWorldBeneathOurFeet 🧪📸

Molecular basis of SAM-AMP synthesis and degradation in the type III-B CRISPR–Cas system | Nature Chemical Biology Upon sensing nonself target RNA, the CorA-associated type III-B CRISPR–Cas system catalyzes S-adenosyl methionine (SAM) and ATP to synthesize SAM-AMP, which activates the effector CorA and triggers immune responses. SAM-AMP can be degraded by NrN and SAM lyase, potentially deactivating the system. Here we find that the type III-B effector complex from Bacteroides fragilis uses a specific mechanism to recognize nonself target RNA and synthesize SAM-AMP. The 3′ anti-tag of nonself target RNA induces conformational changes in the Cmr2 subunit, triggering SAM-AMP synthesis independently of the stalk loop of Cmr3 subunit. SAM-AMP binding induces NrN to transit from an open to a closed conformation, enabling hydrolysis of the 3′–5′ phosphodiester bond. SAM lyase forms a triangular trimer that specifically degrades SAM-AMP into 5′-methylthioadenosine-AMP and homoserine lactone. These findings unveil unique mechanisms for SAM-AMP synthesis and degradation and provide deeper insights into the m

Discover how the type III-B CRISPR-Cas in Bacteroides fragilis synthesizes SAM^AMP using SAM and ATP, triggering immune responses. PMID:41272318, Nat Chem Biol 2025, @nchembio @OTSociety @NAR_Open https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-025-02075-z #Medsky #Pharmsky #RNA #ASHG #ESHG 🧪

I made a simulation of the radioactive decay dice experiment. Might be useful as an extension to the real activity or it could be used as a substitute for the actual experiment if not enough dice were available. I hope you find it useful.
#iTeachPhysics
#Science 🧪

sites.google.com/view/hookean...

fish-posting:
bsky.app/profile/sara...