Mike Fainzilber
@mfainzilber.bsky.social
Molecular neuroscience, cell biology, aikido and haiku, not necessarily in that order.
https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Biomolecular_Sciences/Fainzilber/
https://www.weizmann.ac.il/Biomolecular_Sciences/Fainzilber/
Pinned
Mike Fainzilber
@mfainzilber.bsky.social
· Sep 30
“There are two races of men in this world, but only these two - the “race” of the decent man and the “race” of the indecent man.”
- Viktor Frankl
- Viktor Frankl
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Avoiding the hothouse, at least for while, may stop youngsters burning out, becoming disenchanted with endless practice or simply getting bored with their field
Why child prodigies rarely become elite performers
Hot-housing promising youngsters works—but not as well as you might think
econ.st
February 6, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Avoiding the hothouse, at least for while, may stop youngsters burning out, becoming disenchanted with endless practice or simply getting bored with their field
‘Asked what he looked for in a piece of writing, he responded simply, “I just want to fall in love with it…You don’t know until you’ve found it, but when you find it, you know.” ‘
The literary agent died on January 18th, aged 97
Georges Borchardt made a life from a love of reading
The literary agent died on January 18th, aged 97
econ.st
February 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM
‘Asked what he looked for in a piece of writing, he responded simply, “I just want to fall in love with it…You don’t know until you’ve found it, but when you find it, you know.” ‘
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Welcome, piles of slop filling up the journals with clouds of useless wordy garbage. Case in point:
What the Literature is Filling Up With
www.science.org
February 4, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Welcome, piles of slop filling up the journals with clouds of useless wordy garbage. Case in point:
🧪 “The reviewer’s exasperating “I see what you’re trying to do, but…” is not a bug in the system; it is the system. It signals that another human intelligence has wrestled with the work long enough to care.”
'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3
AI is not a peer, so it can’t do peer review
If we still believe that science is a vocation grounded in argument, curiosity and care, we can’t delegate judgement to machines, says Akhil Bhardwaj
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:10 AM
🧪 “The reviewer’s exasperating “I see what you’re trying to do, but…” is not a bug in the system; it is the system. It signals that another human intelligence has wrestled with the work long enough to care.”
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
New in #ScienceSignaling 👉Importin β1 has an unexpected role in presynaptic long-term plasticity and spatial memory, by regulating local protein synthesis at hippocampal synapses.
#neuroscience #cellbiology #synapticplasticity #memory
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#neuroscience #cellbiology #synapticplasticity #memory
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
New in #ScienceSignaling 👉Importin β1 has an unexpected role in presynaptic long-term plasticity and spatial memory, by regulating local protein synthesis at hippocampal synapses.
#neuroscience #cellbiology #synapticplasticity #memory
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#neuroscience #cellbiology #synapticplasticity #memory
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
— The Epicurean Paradox
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
— The Epicurean Paradox
February 2, 2026 at 5:15 PM
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
— The Epicurean Paradox
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
— The Epicurean Paradox
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Wasn't it precisely what the Impact Factor was invented for historically?
How do librarians decide which peer-reviewed biomedical journals are worth subscribing to?
Genuine question from a journal editor who’s realizing this is a huge blind spot.
Genuine question from a journal editor who’s realizing this is a huge blind spot.
February 2, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Wasn't it precisely what the Impact Factor was invented for historically?
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
shadow puppets
the naked emperor
a marionette
————-
late January
the city streets fill up
with tear gas
————
ice storm
in the road abandoned cars
with smashed out windows
the naked emperor
a marionette
————-
late January
the city streets fill up
with tear gas
————
ice storm
in the road abandoned cars
with smashed out windows
February 1, 2026 at 2:24 PM
shadow puppets
the naked emperor
a marionette
————-
late January
the city streets fill up
with tear gas
————
ice storm
in the road abandoned cars
with smashed out windows
the naked emperor
a marionette
————-
late January
the city streets fill up
with tear gas
————
ice storm
in the road abandoned cars
with smashed out windows
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
PJ's submission window is NOW open for the month of February! We’re looking for your best #senryu and related forms of #poetry, including #kyoka, #haibun, #gembun, #haiga, and #sequences
Submission guidelines:
prunejuicesenryu.com/submissions/
#WritingCommunity
#submissions
Submission guidelines:
prunejuicesenryu.com/submissions/
#WritingCommunity
#submissions
February 1, 2026 at 3:27 PM
PJ's submission window is NOW open for the month of February! We’re looking for your best #senryu and related forms of #poetry, including #kyoka, #haibun, #gembun, #haiga, and #sequences
Submission guidelines:
prunejuicesenryu.com/submissions/
#WritingCommunity
#submissions
Submission guidelines:
prunejuicesenryu.com/submissions/
#WritingCommunity
#submissions
🧪 In which the MYC field (re)discovers UTR driven RNA localization …
Does the noncoding genome actually carry more genetic information than coding seqs? Motivated by this question we mutated every bp in the 10kb MYC locus. Results are even more exciting: Decoding the MYC locus reveals a druggable ultraconserved RNA element www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
www.biorxiv.org
January 31, 2026 at 12:00 PM
🧪 In which the MYC field (re)discovers UTR driven RNA localization …
hunger moon
trying not to swallow
this single grain of rice
🙏 to editors Joe Woodhouse and C.X. Turner for publishing this one in Wales Haiku Journal @waleshaiku.bsky.social Winter 2025/26 issue
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
trying not to swallow
this single grain of rice
🙏 to editors Joe Woodhouse and C.X. Turner for publishing this one in Wales Haiku Journal @waleshaiku.bsky.social Winter 2025/26 issue
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
WINTER 2025 | home
The Winter Edition of the Wales Haiku Journal. Featuring an array of haiku, monoku, haibun, haiga and commentary.
www.waleshaikujournal.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:03 PM
hunger moon
trying not to swallow
this single grain of rice
🙏 to editors Joe Woodhouse and C.X. Turner for publishing this one in Wales Haiku Journal @waleshaiku.bsky.social Winter 2025/26 issue
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
trying not to swallow
this single grain of rice
🙏 to editors Joe Woodhouse and C.X. Turner for publishing this one in Wales Haiku Journal @waleshaiku.bsky.social Winter 2025/26 issue
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Schwarz lab @bostonchildrens.bsky.social identify a mechanism coupling mitochondrial movement to energy demand. When energy levels are low, the energy-sensing kinase AMPK phosphorylates the motor/adaptor protein TRAK1, arresting #mitochondria via the #actin #cytoskeleton. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
January 30, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Schwarz lab @bostonchildrens.bsky.social identify a mechanism coupling mitochondrial movement to energy demand. When energy levels are low, the energy-sensing kinase AMPK phosphorylates the motor/adaptor protein TRAK1, arresting #mitochondria via the #actin #cytoskeleton. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
The Winter 2025–2026 edition of Wales Haiku Journal is now available, gathering #haiku from poets across the world - each poem shaped by attention, care, and the quiet textures of the season.
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
WINTER 2025 | home
The Winter Edition of the Wales Haiku Journal. Featuring an array of haiku, monoku, haibun, haiga and commentary.
www.waleshaikujournal.com
January 30, 2026 at 12:45 PM
The Winter 2025–2026 edition of Wales Haiku Journal is now available, gathering #haiku from poets across the world - each poem shaped by attention, care, and the quiet textures of the season.
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
www.waleshaikujournal.com/winter2025
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
The MRC has asked each of its grant review boards to recommend no more than 3 applications for funding, RPN has heard from multiple sources
Normally, boards recommend an average of 12-13 bids, so the success rate this year will be tiny
This affects applicant-led calls which closed in 2025...
Normally, boards recommend an average of 12-13 bids, so the success rate this year will be tiny
This affects applicant-led calls which closed in 2025...
January 30, 2026 at 7:59 AM
The MRC has asked each of its grant review boards to recommend no more than 3 applications for funding, RPN has heard from multiple sources
Normally, boards recommend an average of 12-13 bids, so the success rate this year will be tiny
This affects applicant-led calls which closed in 2025...
Normally, boards recommend an average of 12-13 bids, so the success rate this year will be tiny
This affects applicant-led calls which closed in 2025...
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
🔬🧪Join us at #ISMB2026
First European edition of the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲!
📅 12–16 July 2026
📍Glasgow, Scotland, UK
👇 Check the Program, Submit an abstract and Register now at
www.isocmb.org
See you there! 🏴
#6thISMB #Mechanobiology #Glasgow #CellMechanics #Biophysics
First European edition of the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲!
📅 12–16 July 2026
📍Glasgow, Scotland, UK
👇 Check the Program, Submit an abstract and Register now at
www.isocmb.org
See you there! 🏴
#6thISMB #Mechanobiology #Glasgow #CellMechanics #Biophysics
January 29, 2026 at 8:50 PM
🔬🧪Join us at #ISMB2026
First European edition of the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲!
📅 12–16 July 2026
📍Glasgow, Scotland, UK
👇 Check the Program, Submit an abstract and Register now at
www.isocmb.org
See you there! 🏴
#6thISMB #Mechanobiology #Glasgow #CellMechanics #Biophysics
First European edition of the 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲!
📅 12–16 July 2026
📍Glasgow, Scotland, UK
👇 Check the Program, Submit an abstract and Register now at
www.isocmb.org
See you there! 🏴
#6thISMB #Mechanobiology #Glasgow #CellMechanics #Biophysics
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
The journal @nature.com has corrected a highly-cited study about a robot chemist producing new materials from scratch — but some questions remain unanswered.
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social:
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@robertpalgrave.bsky.social
#ChemSky
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social:
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@robertpalgrave.bsky.social
#ChemSky
‘Nature’ robot chemist paper corrected, but some questions remain unanswered
The original study claimed the robot had discovered 43 new materials in 17 days
cen.acs.org
January 29, 2026 at 5:20 PM
The journal @nature.com has corrected a highly-cited study about a robot chemist producing new materials from scratch — but some questions remain unanswered.
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social:
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@robertpalgrave.bsky.social
#ChemSky
My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social:
cen.acs.org/research-int...
@robertpalgrave.bsky.social
#ChemSky
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Delighted to welcome Tony Williams back to The Sciku Project with this excellent #Sciku. It's a delightful concept and that first line is exquisite!
rockpool physics…
I dip my ToE
in the unfathomable water
#ScienceHaiku #SciComm #Theoryofeverything
thescikuproject.com/2026/01/29/t...
rockpool physics…
I dip my ToE
in the unfathomable water
#ScienceHaiku #SciComm #Theoryofeverything
thescikuproject.com/2026/01/29/t...
ToE… by Tony Williams - The Sciku Project
rockpool physics… // I dip my ToE // in the unfathomable water - Visit The Sciku Project to discover the theory behind Tony's poem!
thescikuproject.com
January 29, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Delighted to welcome Tony Williams back to The Sciku Project with this excellent #Sciku. It's a delightful concept and that first line is exquisite!
rockpool physics…
I dip my ToE
in the unfathomable water
#ScienceHaiku #SciComm #Theoryofeverything
thescikuproject.com/2026/01/29/t...
rockpool physics…
I dip my ToE
in the unfathomable water
#ScienceHaiku #SciComm #Theoryofeverything
thescikuproject.com/2026/01/29/t...
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
January 28, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
Research Notes of the AAS in particular, which was set up to handle short, moderated contributions especially from students, is getting swamped. Often the authors clearly haven’t read what they’ve submitting, (Descriptions of figures that don’t exist or don’t show what they purport to)
January 28, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Research Notes of the AAS in particular, which was set up to handle short, moderated contributions especially from students, is getting swamped. Often the authors clearly haven’t read what they’ve submitting, (Descriptions of figures that don’t exist or don’t show what they purport to)
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
We’re getting so many journal submissions from people who think ‘it kinda works’ is the standard to aim for.
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
“The idea is to put ChatGPT front and center inside software that scientists use to write up their work in much the same way that chatbots are now embedded into popular programming editors.
It’s vibe coding, but for science.”
It’s vibe coding, but for science.”
January 28, 2026 at 5:58 AM
We’re getting so many journal submissions from people who think ‘it kinda works’ is the standard to aim for.
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
#JNeurosci: Li and colleagues explored how the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) contributes to AD. They manipulated the p75NTR gene in a mouse model of AD and discovered that doing so alleviated some hallmark molecular and behavioral symptoms. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1939-25.2026
January 27, 2026 at 7:31 PM
#JNeurosci: Li and colleagues explored how the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) contributes to AD. They manipulated the p75NTR gene in a mouse model of AD and discovered that doing so alleviated some hallmark molecular and behavioral symptoms. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1939-25.2026
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
We're looking for a new editor with experience in Next Generation Medicine. Are you ready to leave the bench (or bedside) and help us identify the best science for publication in @science.org
Send your CV and cover letter explaining why you're a good fit for the role.
bit.ly/4bWOJfn
Send your CV and cover letter explaining why you're a good fit for the role.
bit.ly/4bWOJfn
bit.ly
January 27, 2026 at 5:25 PM
We're looking for a new editor with experience in Next Generation Medicine. Are you ready to leave the bench (or bedside) and help us identify the best science for publication in @science.org
Send your CV and cover letter explaining why you're a good fit for the role.
bit.ly/4bWOJfn
Send your CV and cover letter explaining why you're a good fit for the role.
bit.ly/4bWOJfn
Reposted by Mike Fainzilber
