Kenneth Wasmund
@kennethwasmund.bsky.social
Lecturer in Environmental Microbiology -- marine systems, wastewater; biodegradation; functional & microbiome genomics.
Big fan of the ocean, summer & sports!
https://sites.google.com/view/kenneth-wasmund/home
Big fan of the ocean, summer & sports!
https://sites.google.com/view/kenneth-wasmund/home
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
How shit at business do you have to be, to be personally worth 37,000 times the amount an average UK worker will earn in a LIFETIME, and still be incapable of withstanding a tiny tax increase?
December 27, 2025 at 2:17 PM
How shit at business do you have to be, to be personally worth 37,000 times the amount an average UK worker will earn in a LIFETIME, and still be incapable of withstanding a tiny tax increase?
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Merry X-SMASH!
My first first author paper is out on bioRxiv! 🖥
We present epsSMASH, a comprehensive and high-throughput tool for predicting exopolysaccharide (exoPS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in bacterial genomes 🦠🧬🧫
1/8
My first first author paper is out on bioRxiv! 🖥
We present epsSMASH, a comprehensive and high-throughput tool for predicting exopolysaccharide (exoPS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in bacterial genomes 🦠🧬🧫
1/8
December 24, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Merry X-SMASH!
My first first author paper is out on bioRxiv! 🖥
We present epsSMASH, a comprehensive and high-throughput tool for predicting exopolysaccharide (exoPS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in bacterial genomes 🦠🧬🧫
1/8
My first first author paper is out on bioRxiv! 🖥
We present epsSMASH, a comprehensive and high-throughput tool for predicting exopolysaccharide (exoPS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in bacterial genomes 🦠🧬🧫
1/8
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 18, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known"
- Bertrand Russell, 1976.
Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
- Bertrand Russell, 1976.
Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
December 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
“A process which led from the amoeba to man appeared to the philosophers to be obviously a progress - though whether the amoeba would agree with this opinion is not known"
- Bertrand Russell, 1976.
Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
- Bertrand Russell, 1976.
Time-lapse video of Vampyrella lateritia eating Spirogyra algae from Science Source/Oliver Skibbe. 🦠
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
💾 Prokka 1.15.6 is released!
This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to.
#bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics
github.com/tseemann/pro...
This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to.
#bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics
github.com/tseemann/pro...
Release Heading into the sunset · tseemann/prokka
The future
This is probably the last release of Prokka. I won't be making any code changes except bug fixes. I will update the databases occasionally. I strongly recommend you use Bakta by @oschwen...
github.com
December 15, 2025 at 9:09 PM
💾 Prokka 1.15.6 is released!
This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to.
#bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics
github.com/tseemann/pro...
This is the last major release of Prokka. But don't be sad, because @oschwengers.bsky.social already has an excellent replacement called Bakta you can migrate to.
#bioinformatics #microbiology #genomics
github.com/tseemann/pro...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
📢 20 postdoctoral positions (full-time, 4 years) for outstanding female scientists 👩🔬 🔬 @univie.ac.at
The E-STEEM programme call opens January 7th, 2026 and closes March 3rd, 2026.
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
I participate as a host...
The E-STEEM programme call opens January 7th, 2026 and closes March 3rd, 2026.
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
I participate as a host...
careers.univie.ac.at
December 16, 2025 at 12:56 PM
📢 20 postdoctoral positions (full-time, 4 years) for outstanding female scientists 👩🔬 🔬 @univie.ac.at
The E-STEEM programme call opens January 7th, 2026 and closes March 3rd, 2026.
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
I participate as a host...
The E-STEEM programme call opens January 7th, 2026 and closes March 3rd, 2026.
careers.univie.ac.at/en/postdoc/e...
I participate as a host...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Postdoc position open in NERC-funded project on peatland microbial Hg cycling: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research.... Deadline Jan 31. If you are still finishing your PhD in Hg geomicro/biogeochem and interested, please get in touch w/ me directly. Please repost as/where suitable - thanks!
Research Associate
Job PurposeTo make a leading contribution to the NERC Pushing the Frontiers of Environmental Research Project What happens to millenia of mercury pollution in peatlands under global warming?, worki...
www.jobs.gla.ac.uk
December 11, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Postdoc position open in NERC-funded project on peatland microbial Hg cycling: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research.... Deadline Jan 31. If you are still finishing your PhD in Hg geomicro/biogeochem and interested, please get in touch w/ me directly. Please repost as/where suitable - thanks!
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
The GTDB website now has an ANI calculator based on skani that supports uploading of user genomes. Try it at gtdb.ecogenomic.org/tools/skani.
Find more information about @jimshaw.bsky.social fantastic tool at www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Find more information about @jimshaw.bsky.social fantastic tool at www.nature.com/articles/s41....
GTDB - skani calculator
An interface to compute pairwise ANI of NCBI genomes using the GTDB taxonomy.
gtdb.ecogenomic.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:59 PM
The GTDB website now has an ANI calculator based on skani that supports uploading of user genomes. Try it at gtdb.ecogenomic.org/tools/skani.
Find more information about @jimshaw.bsky.social fantastic tool at www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Find more information about @jimshaw.bsky.social fantastic tool at www.nature.com/articles/s41....
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Sooooo excited to see #Diatoms appearing on postage stamps
#algae
www.falklandstamps.com/bat135-diato...
#algae
www.falklandstamps.com/bat135-diato...
BAT135 Diatoms FDC
Buy BAT135 Diatoms FDC from Falklands Stamps. Diatoms The striking images on these stamps are colour enhanced scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of four diatom species found in Antarctica....
www.falklandstamps.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Sooooo excited to see #Diatoms appearing on postage stamps
#algae
www.falklandstamps.com/bat135-diato...
#algae
www.falklandstamps.com/bat135-diato...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Three more Farage bloc MEPs alleged to have followed Russian asset’s script
Three more Farage bloc MEPs alleged to have followed Russian asset’s script
At least eight MEPs elected for Ukip or Brexit party now known to have been focus of efforts by jailed Nathan Gill
Three more British MEPs from Nigel Farage’s bloc are alleged to have “followed the script” given to a colleague who was being bribed by an alleged Russian asset, according to prosecutors, as a police investigation into the affair continues.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has named Jonathan Bullock, Julia Reid and Steven Woolfe, saying they followed the script provided to Nathan Gill by Oleg Voloshyn when giving interviews to 112 Ukraine, a pro-Russian TV channel in March 2019. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Three more Farage bloc MEPs alleged to have followed Russian asset’s script
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
New preprint!
We explore how gutless marine worms and their bacterial symbionts use organosulfur compounds like DMSP and DMS - key molecules in marine sulfur cycling.
Our results show that these compounds support carbon and energy metabolism in the Olavius algarvensis symbiosis.
We explore how gutless marine worms and their bacterial symbionts use organosulfur compounds like DMSP and DMS - key molecules in marine sulfur cycling.
Our results show that these compounds support carbon and energy metabolism in the Olavius algarvensis symbiosis.
December 7, 2025 at 8:24 AM
New preprint!
We explore how gutless marine worms and their bacterial symbionts use organosulfur compounds like DMSP and DMS - key molecules in marine sulfur cycling.
Our results show that these compounds support carbon and energy metabolism in the Olavius algarvensis symbiosis.
We explore how gutless marine worms and their bacterial symbionts use organosulfur compounds like DMSP and DMS - key molecules in marine sulfur cycling.
Our results show that these compounds support carbon and energy metabolism in the Olavius algarvensis symbiosis.
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Proliferation of a bloom-forming phytoplankton via uptake of polyphosphate-accumulating bacteria under phosphate-limiting conditions academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a... #jcampubs 🌊
December 5, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Proliferation of a bloom-forming phytoplankton via uptake of polyphosphate-accumulating bacteria under phosphate-limiting conditions academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a... #jcampubs 🌊
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Fresh from our group, a new role for oxygen production in ammonia-oxidizing archaea:
Oxygen production as an electron overflow pathway in ammonia-oxidizing archaea
Congrats to Thomas Pribasnig for this great work!
Check it out here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Oxygen production as an electron overflow pathway in ammonia-oxidizing archaea
Congrats to Thomas Pribasnig for this great work!
Check it out here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
December 5, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Fresh from our group, a new role for oxygen production in ammonia-oxidizing archaea:
Oxygen production as an electron overflow pathway in ammonia-oxidizing archaea
Congrats to Thomas Pribasnig for this great work!
Check it out here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Oxygen production as an electron overflow pathway in ammonia-oxidizing archaea
Congrats to Thomas Pribasnig for this great work!
Check it out here:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Respiratory endosymbionts, that allow their ciliate hosts to breathe nitrate instead of (or in addition to) oxygen are frequent members of the wastewater microbiome. 🦠 🖥️🧬
Great to see this work by @louison-nicolas.bsky.social published in ISME coummuncations!
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Great to see this work by @louison-nicolas.bsky.social published in ISME coummuncations!
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Validate User
doi.org
December 5, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Respiratory endosymbionts, that allow their ciliate hosts to breathe nitrate instead of (or in addition to) oxygen are frequent members of the wastewater microbiome. 🦠 🖥️🧬
Great to see this work by @louison-nicolas.bsky.social published in ISME coummuncations!
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Great to see this work by @louison-nicolas.bsky.social published in ISME coummuncations!
doi.org/10.1093/isme...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Not just in American classrooms. And it’s been in discussion and implementation for 2-plus years now in many universities. The sort that are quite keen for their degrees to retain value for their students while we all navigate new AI landscapes.
Handwritten and oral exams are making a comeback
AI is accelerating a tech backlash in American classrooms
Handwritten and oral exams are making a comeback
econ.st
November 30, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Not just in American classrooms. And it’s been in discussion and implementation for 2-plus years now in many universities. The sort that are quite keen for their degrees to retain value for their students while we all navigate new AI landscapes.
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
This is an astonishing story. Journal 'Science of the Total Environment' published *10,000 articles a year* Many were bogus.
Great summary of why our publication culture needs to be changed.
Great summary of why our publication culture needs to be changed.
Interesting investigation into a dodgy Elsevier journal -- with the additional nugget that the CEO of Elsevier's parent company made more than €15 million in total compensation last year.
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:21 AM
This is an astonishing story. Journal 'Science of the Total Environment' published *10,000 articles a year* Many were bogus.
Great summary of why our publication culture needs to be changed.
Great summary of why our publication culture needs to be changed.
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Hope is here.
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
November 28, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Hope is here.
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
If Sci Rep, MDPI, etc... cannot guarantee a meaningful peer review process, can we please just delist them already @clarivate.com ? Why is academic publishing treated as "the highest rigour" when indexing of scientific journals is done by saying "website seems legit, they even say they peer review."
November 28, 2025 at 7:24 AM
If Sci Rep, MDPI, etc... cannot guarantee a meaningful peer review process, can we please just delist them already @clarivate.com ? Why is academic publishing treated as "the highest rigour" when indexing of scientific journals is done by saying "website seems legit, they even say they peer review."
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Next time someone asks what's the matter with Musk's Twitter, show them this:
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
November 27, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Next time someone asks what's the matter with Musk's Twitter, show them this:
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
An account in India, amplifying a billionaire from South Africa being cheered by an Irish passport holder (using an alias) to encourage civil unrest in the UK.
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
PhD Opportunity: Advance UTI treatment with on-chip tech! 🔬🧫
Work at the microbiology-bioengineering interface with Hywel Morgan, @fnobrega.bsky.social and me.
Program EPSRC/MOD CISDnS CDT cisdns-cdt.ac.uk
Co-funded by IfLS Southampton
tinyurl.com/infoUTI
tinyurl.com/applyUTI
Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
Work at the microbiology-bioengineering interface with Hywel Morgan, @fnobrega.bsky.social and me.
Program EPSRC/MOD CISDnS CDT cisdns-cdt.ac.uk
Co-funded by IfLS Southampton
tinyurl.com/infoUTI
tinyurl.com/applyUTI
Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
Advancing urinary tract infection treatment through on-chip technological innovation at University of Southampton on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Advancing urinary tract infection treatment through on-chip technological innovation at University of Southampton, listed on FindAPhD.com
tinyurl.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:24 AM
PhD Opportunity: Advance UTI treatment with on-chip tech! 🔬🧫
Work at the microbiology-bioengineering interface with Hywel Morgan, @fnobrega.bsky.social and me.
Program EPSRC/MOD CISDnS CDT cisdns-cdt.ac.uk
Co-funded by IfLS Southampton
tinyurl.com/infoUTI
tinyurl.com/applyUTI
Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
Work at the microbiology-bioengineering interface with Hywel Morgan, @fnobrega.bsky.social and me.
Program EPSRC/MOD CISDnS CDT cisdns-cdt.ac.uk
Co-funded by IfLS Southampton
tinyurl.com/infoUTI
tinyurl.com/applyUTI
Deadline: 8 Dec 2025
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute
Objectives To determine the overall rate of loss of workplace teaspoons and whether attrition and displacement are correlated with the relative value of the teaspoons or type of tearoom. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting Research institute ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
November 20, 2025 at 3:44 AM
70 teaspoons placed in tearooms around the institute & observed weekly over 5 months. 80% of spoons disappeared; spoon halflife~81 days. Communal room halflife lower than in specific labs. 250 spoons annually required to maintain 70 spoon population.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.24.690213v1
November 25, 2025 at 2:16 AM
A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.24.690213v1
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
They grow bacteria on those hairy arms and then lick the bacteria off for a delightful snack, isn't that gross and cool?
November 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
They grow bacteria on those hairy arms and then lick the bacteria off for a delightful snack, isn't that gross and cool?
Reposted by Kenneth Wasmund
Our paper describing the GlobDB is now published in @bioinfoadv.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/bioa...
The GlobDB is the largest species dereplicated genome database currently available, containing 306,260 species representatives.
More information on globdb.org 1/5
🖥️🧬🦠
doi.org/10.1093/bioa...
The GlobDB is the largest species dereplicated genome database currently available, containing 306,260 species representatives.
More information on globdb.org 1/5
🖥️🧬🦠
GlobDB: a comprehensive species-dereplicated microbial genome resource
AbstractMotivation. Over the past years, substantial numbers of microbial species’ genomes have been deposited outside of conventional INSDC databases.Resu
doi.org
November 21, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Our paper describing the GlobDB is now published in @bioinfoadv.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/bioa...
The GlobDB is the largest species dereplicated genome database currently available, containing 306,260 species representatives.
More information on globdb.org 1/5
🖥️🧬🦠
doi.org/10.1093/bioa...
The GlobDB is the largest species dereplicated genome database currently available, containing 306,260 species representatives.
More information on globdb.org 1/5
🖥️🧬🦠