#RuairiTakeover I've had an incredible time here in Bilbao. I've focused on the innovative research being done at @cicbiogune.bsky.social over the last week. But in my final post, I wanted to also talk about the city itself.
#RuairiTakeover Back at @cicbiogune.bsky.social, this is the NMR platform, which drinks all the liquid nitrogen I saw yesterday.
#RuairiTakeover I was given a guided tour of the microscope facilities at the Basque Resource for Electron Microscopy (BREM) last month. Their showpiece is the behemoth Krios G4 cryo electron microscope. It looks like this:
Let's open it up in a quick thread!
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In my last day taking over this account, I wanted to share some snapshots from the last three months. I'll start with group leader Rosa Barrio holding up some food for the flies she studies. It's got yeast and polenta and sugar. I think you could sell it as a health shot.
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NMR requires powerful fields generated by superconducting magnets. These magnets are kept at ultralow temperatures by liquid nitrogen and helium. Platform manager Tammo showed me how he fills huge canisters full of liquid nitrogen - see below 👀
#RuairiTakeover Lurking in CIC bioGUNE's basement, the NMR platform houses bulky analysis machines that use powerful magnetic fields to reveal chemical and structural information about molecules (that's a very abridged explanation). Here's a quick video inside!
#RuairiTakeover This was a great opportunity to talk directly to researchers about science communication, and to hear back from them what mattered the most. Thanks to @cicbiogune.bsky.social for helping organize these last two days!
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I had a fantastic time at today's workshop! It makes all the difference when attendees are passionate and engaged. I appreciated hearing scientists' perspective on what they want from journalists writing about their work.
#RuairiTakeover Today, I'm leading a workshop here at @cicbiogune.bsky.social on science communication. We'll review how researchers can best tell their research stories, how to prep for an interview with the media, and how different outlets communicate to their audience. Pictures incoming soon!
#RuairiTakeover And here I am - It was great to see a packed room at @cicbiogune.bsky.social and field some great questions about AI, ethics, and headline writing from my audience! It turns out I never stop moving when I talk so I'm glad I could be photographed...
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Today, I'm giving a lecture to the institute about science journalism! Stay tuned for pictures of me, hopefully looking informed and learned.
#RuairiTakeover Here's a bit more about @cicbiogune.bsky.social. It's a bioscience research facility that houses 19 research groups. Rare disease research is only a fraction of the science happening here, which includes everything from cancer research to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
#RuairiTakeover Today, I had the pleasure of meeting Fide Miron, the Vice President of FEDER - the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases. Fide is a powerful advocate for people living with these conditions. I was delighted to have the opportunity to get her insight here at @cicbiogune.bsky.social
#RuairiTakeover I've got a busy week coming up - with interviews, a lecture, and a workshop planned. My fellowship has been focused around rare disease research, which multiple groups here at bioGUNE focus on!
