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agrossfield.bsky.social
Alan Grossfield
@agrossfield.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.2K following 1.7K posts
Expert in biomolecular simulation and biophysics.

http://membrane.urmc.rochester.edu/
http://grossfieldlab.github.io/loos/
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5877-2789
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
melissagiragrant.com
Fuentes, yesterday: “Our #1 political enemy is women because women constrain everything, every conversation, every man, everything. They have to be imprisoned. They are the ones that are hurting the fertility rate. They're the ones making us sympathetic to poor people, which are also brown people.”
Nick Fuentes: “The number one political enemy in America is women. … They have to be imprisoned.”
www.mediamatters.org
February 12, 2026 at 12:13 PM
agrossfield.bsky.social
Is GitHub flaky for anyone else this morning? I keep getting “No server is currently available to service your request”
February 9, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
swin24.bsky.social
At Findlay Market in Cincy. It’s called Yee Mama; i think it’s relatively new; first time for me and the fam today. The food is EXCELLENT but that is not the reason i want to keep going back again and again, spot the reason
Yee mama at Findlay market in Cincinnati. The awesome wonton place has a “IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE. ICE IS NOT” sign up. Yee mama at Findlay market in Cincinnati Yee mama at Findlay market in Cincinnati
February 8, 2026 at 6:43 PM
agrossfield.bsky.social
Small pleasure: reviewing decisions on papers by editorial board members this morning, and every reviewer appeared to be thoughtful and respectful. It makes me feel proud to be associated with Biophysical Journal @biophysj.bsky.social
February 9, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
zachweinersmith.bsky.social
Lately I'm regretting that we didn't talk about space data centers in A City on Mars, but tbh the idea just seemed so transparently silly. Now Musk and apparently the CNA (www.reuters.com/science/chin...) are talking about it.
China plans space‑based AI data centres, challenging Musk's SpaceX ambitions
China's main space contractor vowed to construct "digital-intelligence infrastructure" that will enable data from Earth to be processed in space.
www.reuters.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
radleybalko.bsky.social
Floored by this story. A man wrote a pollite email to a federal prosecutor objecting to the deportation of an Afghan seeking asylum. DHS responded with an administrative warrant to get the man's info from Google, then visited his home to intimidate him.
DHS Hunts Down 67-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Who Criticized Them in Email
The Department of Homeland Security is using a little-known tool to go after its critics.
newrepublic.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
drjennings.bsky.social
This is a truly timeless piece... harpers.org/archive/1941...
February 1, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
I am hearing that RFK Jr.’s minions are going to go after HPV vaccines. I’ve got problems with these people and now you’re going to hear about them, first from a personal perspective and then from a professional one.

It all boils down to this: WE HAVE A SAFE VACCINE THAT PREVENTS CANCER.
January 28, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Oh goody...Andrew Huberman is going to be a commentator on CBS News.

I first learned of him when he did a 4+ hour podcast with Director Bhattacharya (also the first time I heard Bhattacharya on a podcast).

1/7
January 28, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
lemoustier.bsky.social
🧪🏺 See also gen- #AI for art, whether intended for media articles to go with your latest research paper, or for #scicomm content more broadly... it's NOT worth it
jensfoell.de Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 18d
LinkedIn probably wasn’t the best channel to post this, but I stand by it
A LinkedIn post from my profile, reading: “It's a very simple equation, really: Science communication needs to be accurate, it needs to be authentic, and it needs to be transparent. If you're not doing it that way, you're not doing science communication at all. In addition, *good* science communication is inclusive, it's ethical, it's sustainable. If you're not heeding these things, you're not doing science communication right. Which is why I am profoundly shocked by ostensibly reasonable people promoting the use of chatbots for science communication. Their use decreases factual accuracy. It decreases transparency. It decreases authenticity. Those things are true regardless of *which* chatbot you're using and regardless of *how* you're using it. Plus, the tech is not sustainable, not inclusive, not ethical. The promotion and use of Al chatbots is already damaging science communication and, if taken to the extreme, will be capable of quickly destroying it. Not through the rise of evil Al, but through ignorance on part of the users, rapidly destroying the trust that science communicators have been able to build over decades. Everything I will ever publish will be written by humans, and by humans only. If science communication goes the way of the robots, it will go there without me.”
January 26, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
admirablewomen.bsky.social
Jane Richardson was born #OTD in 1941

+ Developed the Richardson (ribbon) diagram to represent proteins' 3D structure (becoming a standard representation for protein structures)
+ MacArthur Fellow, 1985
+ Elected, Nat'l Academy of Sciences, 1991
+ President, Biophysical Society, 2012

#WomenInSTEM
Vibrant color portrait of Jane S. Richardson, the visionary biophysicist and artist who revolutionized structural biology with her invention of ribbon diagrams. She gazes warmly at the camera with a bright, knowing smile that radiates quiet brilliance and decades of curiosity. Her silver-blonde hair woven with gentle waves. Large, elegant dangling earrings catch the light, and she wears a richly patterned brown blouse embroidered with intricate turquoise paisley motifs and delicate beadwork that echoes the molecular elegance she has spent her life depicting. Behind her floats a luminous, dreamlike backdrop of glowing molecular structures--interlocking hexagonal and ribbon-like forms in electric blues, teals, and greens--blending science and art in a single, living canvas. Hand-drawn and hand-colored (by Jane Richardson) scientific artwork known as a Richardson ribbon diagram (or “ribbon model”), one of the iconic visual inventions of Jane Richardson that transformed the way we see and understand protein structures. A graceful, three-dimensional tangle of protein backbone ribbons twists and spirals through space, rendered in soft pencil lines and luminous watercolor hues. Smooth golden-brown coils represent α-helices that curl like elegant ribbons, while broad teal-green arrows trace the flat, pleated strands of β-sheets slicing through the molecule with directional purpose. Thin, looping golden threads connect the secondary structures, creating a delicate, almost dance-like choreography of biology’s hidden architecture. The entire form is framed by a simple olive-green mat and dark border, giving the drawing the quiet dignity of both fine art and precise scientific illustration—a timeless bridge between molecular reality and human imagination.
January 26, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
labvanni.bsky.social
Happy to share the latest from the lab, led by Daniel Alvarez, in collaboration with @lizconibear.bsky.social‬. In this AA-MD tour-de-force, we delve deep into the mechanism and energetics of lipid uptake by bridge-like lipid transfer proteins, and we learn a few interesting things along the way...
August 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
samthielman.com
I just thought everyone should see this
Dr Kareem Carr man: i wish to publish @kareem_carr Jan 21 reviewer 2: your paper is no good man: i'll do anything to improve reviewer 2: it's simple. you must read the work of the great scientist Pagliarini man: *bursts into tears* but i am Pagliarini Andre Pagliarini @apagliar Jan 21 a first: in rejecting an article I submitted to a journal, reviewer 2 noted I failed to engage the work of one Andre Pagliarini Jan 21, 2026 • 3:47 PM UTC
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
I started reading up on the whole "loneliness pandemic" narrative because this seems like a literature where the age-period-cohort problem may be relevant (or maybe it isn't?).

Here's data from Australia (HILDA), average agreement with the statement "I often feel very lonely" (SD of ca. 1.8).>
Average agreement with the statement "I often feel very lonely" plotted over time
January 15, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
aidangcw.bsky.social
hey European hivemind, I need some help...PhD students here, especially foreign ones, are feeling a lot of concern related to evolving immigration restrictions here. Those students are increasingly looking to postdocs in EU. To help advise them better, what are expectations for postdocs?

1/2
January 12, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
profrachelgan.bsky.social
Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.
Dear Sir Paul, Re: Royal Society Code of Conduct I am sure that many scientists have written to you about the specific question of Elon Musk’s Fellowship and whether, under the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct, his retaining that Fellowship is appropriate. I will not rehash these issues. Instead, as a female scientist with extensive experience of activities aiming to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the engineering and physical sciences sector, I am writing to you (in a personal capacity) to ask you to reconsider the statements you have recently made in this context to the UK press about the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct and how it is applied. A 2018 report from the joint National Academies of the United States of America, concluded that “sexual harassment is common in academic science, engineering, and medicine” and that “greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia”. This report described codes of conduct that make clear that sexual harassment is unethical and will not be tolerated as a “powerful incentive for change”. The authors also noted that sexual harassment can have significant and damaging effects on the integrity of research. In my own praxis, I have found that clear and consistently-implemented codes of conduct that address these issues make female scientists and engineers safer, and allow them to focus more effectively on their research. For codes of conduct to have such a positive effect, it is vital that sanctions for actions which transgress the code are meaningful and substantial. I was hence aghast to realise that in an interview with the Financial Times published on 9/1/26, you appear to have suggested that the Royal Society “should only expel fellows if their science proved “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective””. Moreover, in a further interview with the Guardian on 11/1/26 you suggested that the code “may need to be looked at again”, with the implication that your aim would be to remove the option of sanctions on Fellows for reasons not strictly related to faults or defects in their research. I suggest that changing the Royal Society’s code of conduct so that the likelihood of serious sanctions for sexual harassment is reduced, would directly endanger women who interact with the Royal Society at events or otherwise, and would provide a licence to harass to the already powerful people on whom the Society bestows fellowship. The implications of your words - that under your leadership the only infringements of the code which are likely to receive the sanction of the Fellowship being removed are those related to research misconduct - already risk empowering harassers. You stated, in the Financial Times interview, that “there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances”. Given this awareness of the possibility of bad actors in our scientific community, it is wholly irresponsible to suggest that the Royal Society would not act to sanction these people if they harass more vulnerable scientists. I am hence writing to request that you retract any suggestion that the Society’s Code of Conduct should be changed so that the only reason a Fellow might be sanctioned by the removal of their Fellowship is “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective” research. This action is necessary to safeguard female scientists, a requirement placed on the Society by safeguarding legislation and UK statutory guidance. Yours sincerely, Professor Rachel A. Oliver.
January 12, 2026 at 8:59 AM
agrossfield.bsky.social
The world is on fire, but at least I made something yummy for dinner: beef borguignon pot pie
A pot pie in a cast-iron pan sitting on the stove
January 10, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
chemprofcramer.bsky.social
My TL has been unremittingly dark, lately. Guessing I'm not alone. Got to visit Lisbon's zoo, yesterday. An exemplar of good animal stewardship (lots of enrichment props/activities in large spaces for the animals) while allowing awesome viewing. So, a TL cleanse of animal pics follows, if you need.
OK, this is the flag of Portugal, not an animal, but it was on the WAY to the zoo (estuary in the far background)
January 9, 2026 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Letter of resignation from @jennifer-troyer.bsky.social former Dir of Extramural Ops at NHGRI

"The NIH is not only no longer the organization that I love but is now an organization that I can no longer be a part of and retain my integrity and self-respect."

www.linkedin.com/posts/jennif...

1/6
Letter of resignation | Jennifer Troyer
Reposting: As many of you know, I recently chose to leave the position I worked hard to achieve, the work that I love, and the team of people that could not have been better to do this work with. It ...
www.linkedin.com
January 6, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
cabel.panic.com
anyway, relatedly, tonsky.me/blog/tahoe-icons/
It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons
Looking at the first principles of icon design—and how Apple failed to apply all of them in macOS Tahoe
tonsky.me
January 5, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
joho.bsky.social
Source: www.science.org/content/blog...
research. Marty Makary, our head of the FDA, believes that Lyme disease is an escape biowarfare agent. Jay Bhattacharya, among other things, believes that he is fit to lead the NIH. We are being governed by grinning idiots and sociopaths, and any assessment of our situation in 2026 has to take that as a precondition.
January 3, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
neurodevkathy.bsky.social
I don't think you non-science people realize what it takes to get a grant funded by NIH. Started experiments in Sept 2021 to generate 3 new mouse mutants to model human disease. Prelim dara shows they have relevant disease phenotypes worthy of study. Need a small grant first to characterize /1
January 2, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
sifill.bsky.social
Strange takes on Mayor Zamdani swearing his oath on the Qu’ran. It has nothing to do with church & state. The point of the oath is for the person swearing in to do so upon some text that is sacred TO THEM. Some Presidents swore in w/o any book. John Quincy Adams was sworn on a law book. His choice.
January 1, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Alan Grossfield
attackerman.bsky.social
As it happens, I have experience with high-level government demands to stop an explosive, accurate story from running, and I also have experience with 60 Minutes spiking a story I was involved in, so I have thoughts about the travesty at CBS. If you want some journalism anecdotes, here are a lot:
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com
December 30, 2025 at 8:06 PM