Nirosha J. Murugan
@msahsorin.bsky.social
Tier II Canada Research Chair in Tissue Biophysics & Assistant Professor.
Leveraging biophysical & quantum signals to redefine health.
Leveraging biophysical & quantum signals to redefine health.
Simplicity > complexity.
As biologists, we may be attracted to complexity because we study complex systems. But going down the rabbit hole we see that fundamentally the most simplest networks give rise to the most complex emergent behaviors.
As biologists, we may be attracted to complexity because we study complex systems. But going down the rabbit hole we see that fundamentally the most simplest networks give rise to the most complex emergent behaviors.
This is an excellent analogy, because my recollection from grade school is that the pen on the right looks fun and exciting, and then you play with it for a few minutes and realize it's not actually useful for anything and in fact makes some tasks more cumbersome, and never think about it again.
yeah, just out of interest, how many people choose the pen on the right for real work or art? See a lot of them in professional workplaces, do you?
January 22, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Simplicity > complexity.
As biologists, we may be attracted to complexity because we study complex systems. But going down the rabbit hole we see that fundamentally the most simplest networks give rise to the most complex emergent behaviors.
As biologists, we may be attracted to complexity because we study complex systems. But going down the rabbit hole we see that fundamentally the most simplest networks give rise to the most complex emergent behaviors.
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
Beautiful time spent with two of my favorite humans and scientists @msahsorin.bsky.social and @martinpicardenergy.bsky.social! Thanks to @acnporg.bsky.social #energy ✨
January 14, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Beautiful time spent with two of my favorite humans and scientists @msahsorin.bsky.social and @martinpicardenergy.bsky.social! Thanks to @acnporg.bsky.social #energy ✨
Inspiring what consistency and thinking across disciplines can do to better understand our states of being.
January 11, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Inspiring what consistency and thinking across disciplines can do to better understand our states of being.
“If you knew every last detail about my brain processes, you still wouldn’t know what it’s like to be me”. @heddamorch.bsky.social
Lovely read on the why our subjective experience may not be reducible to neural circuitry alone. Link: www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-c...
Lovely read on the why our subjective experience may not be reducible to neural circuitry alone. Link: www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-c...
Is Consciousness Part of the Fabric of the Universe?
A theory called panpsychism proposes that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality
www.scientificamerican.com
January 11, 2026 at 1:40 PM
“If you knew every last detail about my brain processes, you still wouldn’t know what it’s like to be me”. @heddamorch.bsky.social
Lovely read on the why our subjective experience may not be reducible to neural circuitry alone. Link: www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-c...
Lovely read on the why our subjective experience may not be reducible to neural circuitry alone. Link: www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-c...
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
How much can we say about the complexity of brains and minds from low-scale, molecular and sub-cellular events? Here's my drawing of Cajal's Demon, an entity that tries to do that @manlius.bsky.social @lmprida.bsky.social @mkhochb.bsky.social @drmichaellevin.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social
January 7, 2026 at 11:32 AM
How much can we say about the complexity of brains and minds from low-scale, molecular and sub-cellular events? Here's my drawing of Cajal's Demon, an entity that tries to do that @manlius.bsky.social @lmprida.bsky.social @mkhochb.bsky.social @drmichaellevin.bsky.social @wiringthebrain.bsky.social
“I think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” -Leo Tolstoy
📷: Fluorescent microscopic image of a zebrafish embryo heart ventricle 72 hours post-fertilization, highlighting actin filaments. By Dr. James Hayes
📷: Fluorescent microscopic image of a zebrafish embryo heart ventricle 72 hours post-fertilization, highlighting actin filaments. By Dr. James Hayes
January 5, 2026 at 1:19 PM
“I think... if it is true that there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” -Leo Tolstoy
📷: Fluorescent microscopic image of a zebrafish embryo heart ventricle 72 hours post-fertilization, highlighting actin filaments. By Dr. James Hayes
📷: Fluorescent microscopic image of a zebrafish embryo heart ventricle 72 hours post-fertilization, highlighting actin filaments. By Dr. James Hayes
Thank you Marie for holding a (digital) space for one of the most *real* conversations I've had in a long time.
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” — Bertrand Russell
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” — Bertrand Russell
Don't be afraid to be different. Being unconventional is a strength for @msahsorin.bsky.social, including in her work on the physical signals our bodies use to control plasticity, regeneration, & health. She shares key experiences that shaped her life.👩🔬
www.peoplebehindthescience.com/dr-nirosha-m...
www.peoplebehindthescience.com/dr-nirosha-m...
December 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Thank you Marie for holding a (digital) space for one of the most *real* conversations I've had in a long time.
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” — Bertrand Russell
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” — Bertrand Russell
Temporal entrainment of mechanical cues.
Remember the feeling of being comforted by a loving, rhythmic tap, this is what world-modeling looks like. A predictive model is created & later experienced as familiarity. Even if pats are not heartbeats, stimulus generalization is enough to bridge the gap
Remember the feeling of being comforted by a loving, rhythmic tap, this is what world-modeling looks like. A predictive model is created & later experienced as familiarity. Even if pats are not heartbeats, stimulus generalization is enough to bridge the gap
December 28, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Temporal entrainment of mechanical cues.
Remember the feeling of being comforted by a loving, rhythmic tap, this is what world-modeling looks like. A predictive model is created & later experienced as familiarity. Even if pats are not heartbeats, stimulus generalization is enough to bridge the gap
Remember the feeling of being comforted by a loving, rhythmic tap, this is what world-modeling looks like. A predictive model is created & later experienced as familiarity. Even if pats are not heartbeats, stimulus generalization is enough to bridge the gap
From our non-neural, intelligent slime mold to yours, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
May your data be normally distributed, your revisions minor, and your model systems predictive.
May your data be normally distributed, your revisions minor, and your model systems predictive.
December 26, 2025 at 2:26 AM
From our non-neural, intelligent slime mold to yours, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
May your data be normally distributed, your revisions minor, and your model systems predictive.
May your data be normally distributed, your revisions minor, and your model systems predictive.
Happy Winter Solstice ❄️
Let's celebrate the extra photons that will enter lives from this day forward.
Let's celebrate the extra photons that will enter lives from this day forward.
December 21, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Happy Winter Solstice ❄️
Let's celebrate the extra photons that will enter lives from this day forward.
Let's celebrate the extra photons that will enter lives from this day forward.
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
❄️ Christmas heightens emotion, from hope and giving to nostalgia and wonder. But does this conflict with Stoicism, often seen as austere? | https://bit.ly/4nYkreE
This article shows how Stoic ethics, grounded in human vulnerability, fosters care, community, and deep feeling.
This article shows how Stoic ethics, grounded in human vulnerability, fosters care, community, and deep feeling.
December 21, 2025 at 10:00 AM
❄️ Christmas heightens emotion, from hope and giving to nostalgia and wonder. But does this conflict with Stoicism, often seen as austere? | https://bit.ly/4nYkreE
This article shows how Stoic ethics, grounded in human vulnerability, fosters care, community, and deep feeling.
This article shows how Stoic ethics, grounded in human vulnerability, fosters care, community, and deep feeling.
Little electric field generators...
Organelles do NOT have a single uniform pH.
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
And if you think they must, because “protons diffuse fast,” this paper is for you.
A thread on why that assumption is wrong; and what we found instead. 🧵 1/n
Organelles harbour pH gradients https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.12.694065v1
December 17, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Little electric field generators...
Posting this here because it feels like the right place for it.
I’m encouraged by the willingness to reflect on how we do #Science. Structure and rigor matter, but so does preserving the creative space where new ideas can actually form and drive impact.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.120...
I’m encouraged by the willingness to reflect on how we do #Science. Structure and rigor matter, but so does preserving the creative space where new ideas can actually form and drive impact.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.120...
Fostering cultural change in research through innovative knowledge sharing, evaluation, and community engagement strategies
Scientific research needs a new system that appropriately values science and scientists. Key innovations, within institutions and funding agencies, are driving better assessment of research, with open...
arxiv.org
December 13, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Posting this here because it feels like the right place for it.
I’m encouraged by the willingness to reflect on how we do #Science. Structure and rigor matter, but so does preserving the creative space where new ideas can actually form and drive impact.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.120...
I’m encouraged by the willingness to reflect on how we do #Science. Structure and rigor matter, but so does preserving the creative space where new ideas can actually form and drive impact.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.120...
As a lab trying to understand how #physical signals drive biological #patterning, we’ve been thinking a lot about #energy and #information.
Are energy and information fundamentally distinct, or do they collapse into a single underlying principle once you look closely enough?
Any thoughts?
Are energy and information fundamentally distinct, or do they collapse into a single underlying principle once you look closely enough?
Any thoughts?
December 12, 2025 at 8:57 PM
As a lab trying to understand how #physical signals drive biological #patterning, we’ve been thinking a lot about #energy and #information.
Are energy and information fundamentally distinct, or do they collapse into a single underlying principle once you look closely enough?
Any thoughts?
Are energy and information fundamentally distinct, or do they collapse into a single underlying principle once you look closely enough?
Any thoughts?
Curiosity is innate in all of us.
I’m hopeful we can build a world where every mind has the freedom to pursue knowledge, and where difference is seen as a source of insight that strengthens our understanding of life.
I’m hopeful we can build a world where every mind has the freedom to pursue knowledge, and where difference is seen as a source of insight that strengthens our understanding of life.
Honouring the women killed at École Polytechnique ‘is not enough’ - McGill Reporter
At McGill’s memorial ceremony for the École Polytechnique shooting, survivor Dominique Bérubé, now VP (Research and Innovation), speaks publicly about that day for the first time
reporter.mcgill.ca
December 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Curiosity is innate in all of us.
I’m hopeful we can build a world where every mind has the freedom to pursue knowledge, and where difference is seen as a source of insight that strengthens our understanding of life.
I’m hopeful we can build a world where every mind has the freedom to pursue knowledge, and where difference is seen as a source of insight that strengthens our understanding of life.
Why are we collectively okay with being chronically uncomfortable?
Journals are the weighted blankets of science (unclear if they help, but they definitely smother)
November 28, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Why are we collectively okay with being chronically uncomfortable?
Just leaving this right here....👀
October 30, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Just leaving this right here....👀
Isn’t it interesting that both chlorophyll and heme, 2 most important pigments of life, share the same #quantum architecture?
Beautiful to think that the 2 organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria) born of endosymbiosis operate on this shared, quantum-informed design.
Beautiful to think that the 2 organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria) born of endosymbiosis operate on this shared, quantum-informed design.
October 23, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Isn’t it interesting that both chlorophyll and heme, 2 most important pigments of life, share the same #quantum architecture?
Beautiful to think that the 2 organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria) born of endosymbiosis operate on this shared, quantum-informed design.
Beautiful to think that the 2 organelles (chloroplasts and mitochondria) born of endosymbiosis operate on this shared, quantum-informed design.
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
Neuroscientists! This is a great opportunity to recognize excellent colleagues for a prize and linked to give a talk at the FENS Forum in 2026! Nominate or apply directly! Deadline: Oct 29th!
ALBA-Elsevier Award for Neuroscience - @network-alba.bsky.social
ALBA-Elsevier Award for Neuroscience - @network-alba.bsky.social
📣 Deadline extended to 29 Oct 2025! The ALBA–Elsevier Award Lecture honours neuroscientists from underrepresented regions (based on Elsevier authorship metrics & journal market share, & past conference speakers).
🏆 Special Lecture at #FENS2026
✅ Must have led own lab ≥5 years
👉🏽 loom.ly/FEG7E-w
🏆 Special Lecture at #FENS2026
✅ Must have led own lab ≥5 years
👉🏽 loom.ly/FEG7E-w
October 16, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Neuroscientists! This is a great opportunity to recognize excellent colleagues for a prize and linked to give a talk at the FENS Forum in 2026! Nominate or apply directly! Deadline: Oct 29th!
ALBA-Elsevier Award for Neuroscience - @network-alba.bsky.social
ALBA-Elsevier Award for Neuroscience - @network-alba.bsky.social
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
What is the physical basis of death? Can we manipulate cellular rules to avoid it? What does death mean for a machine? Is immortality possible? What does it mean for language, thought, or information to die? My new book @princetonupress.bsky.social is coming soon. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
October 15, 2025 at 12:30 AM
What is the physical basis of death? Can we manipulate cellular rules to avoid it? What does death mean for a machine? Is immortality possible? What does it mean for language, thought, or information to die? My new book @princetonupress.bsky.social is coming soon. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
Ryotatsu Yanagimoto and coauthors introduce a programmable nonlinear photonic chip. By projecting light patterns onto a waveguide, they reconfigure how light interacts with light—opening the door to software-defined quantum, sensing, and communication optics. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Programmable on-chip nonlinear photonics - Nature
An optical slab waveguide with highly programmable nonlinear functionality is described, enabling the demonstration of versatile control over broadband second-harmonic generation across the spectral, spatial and spatio-spectral domains.
www.nature.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Ryotatsu Yanagimoto and coauthors introduce a programmable nonlinear photonic chip. By projecting light patterns onto a waveguide, they reconfigure how light interacts with light—opening the door to software-defined quantum, sensing, and communication optics. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Local and long-range biological patterns guided by physical forces. Beautiful.
Singh, A., Thale, S., Leibner, T., Lamparter, L., Ricker, A., Nüsse, H., Klingauf, J., Galic, M., Ohlberger, M., & Matis, M. (2024). Dynamic interplay of microtubule and actomyosin forces drive tissue extension. Nature communications, 15(1), 3198. #EpithelialMechanics
buff.ly/Nwi5TVv
buff.ly/Nwi5TVv
October 13, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Local and long-range biological patterns guided by physical forces. Beautiful.
Reposted by Nirosha J. Murugan
Lab’s 1st preprint!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
Induction of menstruation in mice reveals the regulation of menstrual shedding
During menstruation, an inner layer of the endometrium is selectively shed, while an outer, progenitor-containing layer is preserved to support repeated regeneration. Progress in understanding this co...
www.biorxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Lab’s 1st preprint!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!