Rob Carr
@robcarr.bsky.social
Former runner, former paramedic, former biochemist, former Director of Communications, former instructor, former young person. Still he/him/nerd.
Working on a hard but fun SF novel about the science involved in the search for life.
Working on a hard but fun SF novel about the science involved in the search for life.
@badmedicaltakes.bsky.social Check out Dr. Aliza on Facebook. AI "videos" of female human reproductive anatomy that are more like H. Bosch might have painted on Psilocybin.
I'm stupider for having watched.
I'm stupider for having watched.
November 12, 2025 at 7:55 AM
@badmedicaltakes.bsky.social Check out Dr. Aliza on Facebook. AI "videos" of female human reproductive anatomy that are more like H. Bosch might have painted on Psilocybin.
I'm stupider for having watched.
I'm stupider for having watched.
When you have to put something where you won't lose it, add the item and the location to the "Were I Put It" list.
I am not sure where to put the list.
I am not sure where to put the list.
November 2, 2025 at 10:57 AM
When you have to put something where you won't lose it, add the item and the location to the "Were I Put It" list.
I am not sure where to put the list.
I am not sure where to put the list.
Reposted by Rob Carr
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles @siouxsiew.bsky.social has launched a fundraising campaign to cover some of the legal fees accrued in taking a case against her employer, the University of Auckland. She explains why.
thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...
thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...
Siouxsie Wiles: Why I’m crowdfunding despite winning my legal battle
'Between the ERA and the Employment Court, my husband and I have spent over $632,000.'
thespinoff.co.nz
November 2, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles @siouxsiew.bsky.social has launched a fundraising campaign to cover some of the legal fees accrued in taking a case against her employer, the University of Auckland. She explains why.
thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...
thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...
Reposted by Rob Carr
#idsky #medsky I have always been impressed with the host-pathogen wars over iron, and all the amazing ways bacteria steal it from us.
Here's a comic about a new approach to antibiotic-resitant bacteria I made for Louisiana State University with @fromthelabbench.bsky.social and @jpjordan.bsky.social #sciart
Read the full comic and learn more about the research on the LSU website: www.lsu.edu/winning-team...
Read the full comic and learn more about the research on the LSU website: www.lsu.edu/winning-team...
October 17, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Glad they were caught and punished. I hope no grad students were harmed by this scam, but I suspect some were.
The pressure to finish a degree quickly and/or with the desired results may have made some of them victims.
www.the-scientist.com/scientist-fi...
The pressure to finish a degree quickly and/or with the desired results may have made some of them victims.
www.the-scientist.com/scientist-fi...
Scientist Fired for Defrauding Scholars in Huge Publishing Scam
From forged acceptance letters to fake DOIs, a publishing scam put Iraqi students and their degrees at risk. The fraudster? A university professor.
www.the-scientist.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Glad they were caught and punished. I hope no grad students were harmed by this scam, but I suspect some were.
The pressure to finish a degree quickly and/or with the desired results may have made some of them victims.
www.the-scientist.com/scientist-fi...
The pressure to finish a degree quickly and/or with the desired results may have made some of them victims.
www.the-scientist.com/scientist-fi...
Last evening, I watched the Scripps Front Row Lecture "How microbes are rewriting the rules of immunity" with Howard Hang, PhD.
Unsurprisingly, the microbiota humans carry affects our health, including our immune system. The effect of the genes those organisms carry (microbiome)...
🧵🧪🦠🚀 1/n
Unsurprisingly, the microbiota humans carry affects our health, including our immune system. The effect of the genes those organisms carry (microbiome)...
🧵🧪🦠🚀 1/n
October 9, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Last evening, I watched the Scripps Front Row Lecture "How microbes are rewriting the rules of immunity" with Howard Hang, PhD.
Unsurprisingly, the microbiota humans carry affects our health, including our immune system. The effect of the genes those organisms carry (microbiome)...
🧵🧪🦠🚀 1/n
Unsurprisingly, the microbiota humans carry affects our health, including our immune system. The effect of the genes those organisms carry (microbiome)...
🧵🧪🦠🚀 1/n
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Richard Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne
Susumu Kitagwa received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Kyoto University
Omar M. Yaghi received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
They won it for organometallic frameworks.
Richard Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne
Susumu Kitagwa received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Kyoto University
Omar M. Yaghi received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
They won it for organometallic frameworks.
October 8, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Richard Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne
Susumu Kitagwa received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Kyoto University
Omar M. Yaghi received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
They won it for organometallic frameworks.
Richard Robson is a professor at the University of Melbourne
Susumu Kitagwa received his Ph.D. in 1979 from Kyoto University
Omar M. Yaghi received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
They won it for organometallic frameworks.
Reposted by Rob Carr
🚨🧵by Zdenek Vrozina about "One mystery of Long COVID - why immune cells get stuck in a harmful, inflammatory mode..."
"A new study shows the switch is metabolic - and a single checkpoint can decide whether Th17 cells protect or drive disease.🧵"
Full thread:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/19712...
"A new study shows the switch is metabolic - and a single checkpoint can decide whether Th17 cells protect or drive disease.🧵"
Full thread:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/19712...
September 25, 2025 at 9:05 PM
🚨🧵by Zdenek Vrozina about "One mystery of Long COVID - why immune cells get stuck in a harmful, inflammatory mode..."
"A new study shows the switch is metabolic - and a single checkpoint can decide whether Th17 cells protect or drive disease.🧵"
Full thread:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/19712...
"A new study shows the switch is metabolic - and a single checkpoint can decide whether Th17 cells protect or drive disease.🧵"
Full thread:
threadreaderapp.com/thread/19712...
September 28, 2025 at 11:57 AM
I'm old enough that I get a "repeat 3 words later" schtick from a nurse about every year. The nurse, reading from a script, said three words. I complained those were the same three words as last year.
That felt good!
I forgot this year's new three words. Maybe if I hear them I'll recognize them.
That felt good!
I forgot this year's new three words. Maybe if I hear them I'll recognize them.
September 26, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I'm old enough that I get a "repeat 3 words later" schtick from a nurse about every year. The nurse, reading from a script, said three words. I complained those were the same three words as last year.
That felt good!
I forgot this year's new three words. Maybe if I hear them I'll recognize them.
That felt good!
I forgot this year's new three words. Maybe if I hear them I'll recognize them.
I was trying to write that I could not remember if a particle was a boson or a fermion.
Autoincorrect changed boson to bison.
Picture two bison colliding at near c in the Supercollider.
I'm not cleaning it up.
Autoincorrect changed boson to bison.
Picture two bison colliding at near c in the Supercollider.
I'm not cleaning it up.
September 18, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I was trying to write that I could not remember if a particle was a boson or a fermion.
Autoincorrect changed boson to bison.
Picture two bison colliding at near c in the Supercollider.
I'm not cleaning it up.
Autoincorrect changed boson to bison.
Picture two bison colliding at near c in the Supercollider.
I'm not cleaning it up.
This thread is an interlude to the series about "How Common is Life in the Universe?"
There's a concept rattling around in my brain that I need to use in this discussion that needs some explanation.
🧪🧬🚀🦠 🧵 1/n Interlude
There's a concept rattling around in my brain that I need to use in this discussion that needs some explanation.
🧪🧬🚀🦠 🧵 1/n Interlude
How Common Is Life in the Universe?
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
September 13, 2025 at 2:53 PM
This thread is an interlude to the series about "How Common is Life in the Universe?"
There's a concept rattling around in my brain that I need to use in this discussion that needs some explanation.
🧪🧬🚀🦠 🧵 1/n Interlude
There's a concept rattling around in my brain that I need to use in this discussion that needs some explanation.
🧪🧬🚀🦠 🧵 1/n Interlude
How Common Is Life in the Universe?
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
September 13, 2025 at 12:34 PM
How Common Is Life in the Universe?
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
NASA recently announced that:
"A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life."
They are called "potential biosignatures."
🧪🧬🚀🚀🦠 🧵 1/n
No matter what the Smithsonian said about slavery, it soft-pedaled how evil and horrific slavery was, if only because of a lack of room on the signs.
August 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
No matter what the Smithsonian said about slavery, it soft-pedaled how evil and horrific slavery was, if only because of a lack of room on the signs.
I'm working on a problem for fun & I don't like the answer I get.
Assume the half-life of a radioactive element does not change with temperature or pressure.
We have the same # of moles in a given volume of a radioactive element at the exact center of the Earth and in Pittsburgh.
🧪 1/2
Assume the half-life of a radioactive element does not change with temperature or pressure.
We have the same # of moles in a given volume of a radioactive element at the exact center of the Earth and in Pittsburgh.
🧪 1/2
July 3, 2025 at 1:52 AM
I'm working on a problem for fun & I don't like the answer I get.
Assume the half-life of a radioactive element does not change with temperature or pressure.
We have the same # of moles in a given volume of a radioactive element at the exact center of the Earth and in Pittsburgh.
🧪 1/2
Assume the half-life of a radioactive element does not change with temperature or pressure.
We have the same # of moles in a given volume of a radioactive element at the exact center of the Earth and in Pittsburgh.
🧪 1/2
Why didn't they call the recently discovered "hemifusome" cellular garbage collection organelle in humans a "Heftysome" after the garbage bag?
🧪🧬 #biology
🧪🧬 #biology
July 1, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Why didn't they call the recently discovered "hemifusome" cellular garbage collection organelle in humans a "Heftysome" after the garbage bag?
🧪🧬 #biology
🧪🧬 #biology
We're watching "Walking with Dinosaurs" on PBS. It seems to be like the "Walking with X" from the '90s.
Watch some adorable creature go through its life, get attached to the creature, and watch it die horribly.
Understandable, but a bit depressing.
Watch some adorable creature go through its life, get attached to the creature, and watch it die horribly.
Understandable, but a bit depressing.
June 21, 2025 at 9:37 PM
We're watching "Walking with Dinosaurs" on PBS. It seems to be like the "Walking with X" from the '90s.
Watch some adorable creature go through its life, get attached to the creature, and watch it die horribly.
Understandable, but a bit depressing.
Watch some adorable creature go through its life, get attached to the creature, and watch it die horribly.
Understandable, but a bit depressing.
I was having blood glucose lows I didn't know about before the CGM.
Cut my long-insulin.
Ate part of a normal breakfast, BG went through the roof.
Should have seen that coming.
I feel stupid.
Cut my long-insulin.
Ate part of a normal breakfast, BG went through the roof.
Should have seen that coming.
I feel stupid.
June 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
I was having blood glucose lows I didn't know about before the CGM.
Cut my long-insulin.
Ate part of a normal breakfast, BG went through the roof.
Should have seen that coming.
I feel stupid.
Cut my long-insulin.
Ate part of a normal breakfast, BG went through the roof.
Should have seen that coming.
I feel stupid.
Reposted by Rob Carr
the white house's budget request for
2026 proposes a 47% cut in funding for nasa’s science mission directorate, which is DEVASTATING for space science.
let’s fight back. sign this petition to show support and SPREAD THE WORD!!! let’s save nasa science.
www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...
2026 proposes a 47% cut in funding for nasa’s science mission directorate, which is DEVASTATING for space science.
let’s fight back. sign this petition to show support and SPREAD THE WORD!!! let’s save nasa science.
www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...
May 31, 2025 at 12:06 AM
the white house's budget request for
2026 proposes a 47% cut in funding for nasa’s science mission directorate, which is DEVASTATING for space science.
let’s fight back. sign this petition to show support and SPREAD THE WORD!!! let’s save nasa science.
www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...
2026 proposes a 47% cut in funding for nasa’s science mission directorate, which is DEVASTATING for space science.
let’s fight back. sign this petition to show support and SPREAD THE WORD!!! let’s save nasa science.
www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...
Reposted by Rob Carr
POTUS released a skinny FY 2026 budget, proposing to drastically cut funding for federal R&D across several agencies.
AAAS urges Congress to reject the budget and to reaffirm their long-standing bipartisan support for S&T investments. Read the full statement: www.aaas.org/news/preside...
AAAS urges Congress to reject the budget and to reaffirm their long-standing bipartisan support for S&T investments. Read the full statement: www.aaas.org/news/preside...
May 2, 2025 at 6:14 PM
POTUS released a skinny FY 2026 budget, proposing to drastically cut funding for federal R&D across several agencies.
AAAS urges Congress to reject the budget and to reaffirm their long-standing bipartisan support for S&T investments. Read the full statement: www.aaas.org/news/preside...
AAAS urges Congress to reject the budget and to reaffirm their long-standing bipartisan support for S&T investments. Read the full statement: www.aaas.org/news/preside...
Reposted by Rob Carr
As we monitor the status of the still unobligated funds for FY25, AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh warns in a @nytimes.com article about the Presidential Budget Request for FY26. If enacted by Congress, “the consequences for the future of our nation will be catastrophic.” www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...
Science backers say proposed federal research cuts pose dire risks.
www.nytimes.com
May 6, 2025 at 2:02 PM
As we monitor the status of the still unobligated funds for FY25, AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh warns in a @nytimes.com article about the Presidential Budget Request for FY26. If enacted by Congress, “the consequences for the future of our nation will be catastrophic.” www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...
Reposted by Rob Carr
“Are you worried?” That is always the first question.
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
I Worry, but I Fight
From Marc | Despite that worry, I cannot stop standing up for what is right. I cannot turn a blind eye to injustice.
www.democracydocket.com
April 20, 2025 at 2:20 PM
“Are you worried?” That is always the first question.
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
“Of course I am worried,” I respond. “The president of the United States considers me an enemy and has promised retribution. I would be an idiot not to be worried. But I am not going to give in. I will continue to fight.”
Reposted by Rob Carr
Don't worry guys. Even if the markets crash and burn, the Trump family, Elon, and Howard Lutnick will be fine! They have enough money to make it through.
April 3, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Don't worry guys. Even if the markets crash and burn, the Trump family, Elon, and Howard Lutnick will be fine! They have enough money to make it through.
I've been working on my SF novels about the search for life on Mars. The more I learn, the more the search looks like an astronaut using a small robotic excavator to dig three feet down and find living organisms in the sample.
It's not a quest. The novel doesn't work.
🧵1/2
It's not a quest. The novel doesn't work.
🧵1/2
March 31, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I've been working on my SF novels about the search for life on Mars. The more I learn, the more the search looks like an astronaut using a small robotic excavator to dig three feet down and find living organisms in the sample.
It's not a quest. The novel doesn't work.
🧵1/2
It's not a quest. The novel doesn't work.
🧵1/2
Reposted by Rob Carr
You must know by now that woke means science and truth and accurate facts.
They prefer lies and misinformation.
Also any women or dark skin people in charge, is also too woke. They only allow white men in charge.
And yes, they're fucking nuts.
They prefer lies and misinformation.
Also any women or dark skin people in charge, is also too woke. They only allow white men in charge.
And yes, they're fucking nuts.
March 29, 2025 at 3:06 AM
You must know by now that woke means science and truth and accurate facts.
They prefer lies and misinformation.
Also any women or dark skin people in charge, is also too woke. They only allow white men in charge.
And yes, they're fucking nuts.
They prefer lies and misinformation.
Also any women or dark skin people in charge, is also too woke. They only allow white men in charge.
And yes, they're fucking nuts.