Robert Insall
@robinsall.bsky.social
Chemotaxis. Math. Computers. Cells. Machine learning.
Reposted by Robert Insall
You can see some of these stereotypes - the simple, morally pure countryside vs. the morally compromised, inauthentic city - play out in Greek and Roman literature.
So this is a very old idea that recurs regularly.
So this is a very old idea that recurs regularly.
Do other countries have this weird notion that you’re not a “real” representative of the nation if you live in an urban center? Like do the French say Parisians aren’t really French? Are you considered not a real German if you live in Berlin? Or is this mainly a weird American thing?
January 1, 2026 at 7:24 PM
You can see some of these stereotypes - the simple, morally pure countryside vs. the morally compromised, inauthentic city - play out in Greek and Roman literature.
So this is a very old idea that recurs regularly.
So this is a very old idea that recurs regularly.
Reposted by Robert Insall
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
January 1, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
Extraordinary narrative about weaponized ignorance
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that the 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a lab virus from vaccine research, a defective influenza vaccine. Let’s analyze what a lie this is. First, in 1918, 107 years ago, virology was in its infancy
December 28, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Extraordinary narrative about weaponized ignorance
Reposted by Robert Insall
The Gothic arms were less fatal to the schools of Athens than the establishment of a new religion, whose ministers superseded the exercise of reason, resolved every question by an article of faith, and condemned the infidel or sceptic to eternal flames.
-Gibbon #DeclineAndFall
-Gibbon #DeclineAndFall
December 23, 2025 at 8:33 AM
The Gothic arms were less fatal to the schools of Athens than the establishment of a new religion, whose ministers superseded the exercise of reason, resolved every question by an article of faith, and condemned the infidel or sceptic to eternal flames.
-Gibbon #DeclineAndFall
-Gibbon #DeclineAndFall
Nice image from Anamul Hoque "tidied up" a bit by ChatGPT - won us the "best image" prize at UCL Life Sciences.
Ernst Haeckel, eat your heart out.
Ernst Haeckel, eat your heart out.
December 18, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Nice image from Anamul Hoque "tidied up" a bit by ChatGPT - won us the "best image" prize at UCL Life Sciences.
Ernst Haeckel, eat your heart out.
Ernst Haeckel, eat your heart out.
Reposted by Robert Insall
“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. 🦠
Contact Inhibition coordinating tissues made sparsely of mesenchymal cells.
From Alex Grigas @ ManningGroup and @mongeralab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
From Alex Grigas @ ManningGroup and @mongeralab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Sparse mesenchymal cell networks as a fluid under tension
Sparse mesenchymal cellular networks are ubiquitous across animals, shaping both embryonic and adult structures through dynamic interactions with epithelia. Yet, the physical principles underlying the...
www.biorxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Contact Inhibition coordinating tissues made sparsely of mesenchymal cells.
From Alex Grigas @ ManningGroup and @mongeralab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
From Alex Grigas @ ManningGroup and @mongeralab.bsky.social
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
YASSSSSS!!!!!
December 17, 2025 at 8:07 AM
YASSSSSS!!!!!
Reposted by Robert Insall
December 17, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Looked on Twitter/X for news on the Brown shooting and to check if any of my many colleagues and friends has been harmed.
And my lord has that place ever become a cesspit. Awful.
And my lord has that place ever become a cesspit. Awful.
December 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Looked on Twitter/X for news on the Brown shooting and to check if any of my many colleagues and friends has been harmed.
And my lord has that place ever become a cesspit. Awful.
And my lord has that place ever become a cesspit. Awful.
Hahahahahaha
They've realised the disaster they've directly brought to the country, wilfully promoting antivax propaganda and propagandists, but they manage to blame it on BIDEN? Spectacular mental gymnastics.
They've realised the disaster they've directly brought to the country, wilfully promoting antivax propaganda and propagandists, but they manage to blame it on BIDEN? Spectacular mental gymnastics.
December 13, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Hahahahahaha
They've realised the disaster they've directly brought to the country, wilfully promoting antivax propaganda and propagandists, but they manage to blame it on BIDEN? Spectacular mental gymnastics.
They've realised the disaster they've directly brought to the country, wilfully promoting antivax propaganda and propagandists, but they manage to blame it on BIDEN? Spectacular mental gymnastics.
Excellent final sessions to complete an excellent #cellbio2025...
December 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Excellent final sessions to complete an excellent #cellbio2025...
Finally got fed enough up with Google that I shifted everything to a different search engine. We'll see if it sticks...
November 26, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Finally got fed enough up with Google that I shifted everything to a different search engine. We'll see if it sticks...
Reposted by Robert Insall
they became a verb, but unfortunately it was an ad verb.
November 25, 2025 at 5:55 AM
they became a verb, but unfortunately it was an ad verb.
Gorgeous work by Jamie Whitelaw - loss of CYRI equates to giant, elongated focal adhesions.
Yet another connection between WAVE complex dynamics & integrin-based adhesions
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Yet another connection between WAVE complex dynamics & integrin-based adhesions
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
CYRI-B loss promotes enlarged mature focal adhesions and restricts microtubule and ERC1 access to the cell leading edge
Highlighted Article: CYRI-B-depleted cells show enlarged stable focal adhesions. A Bio-ID screen revealed a role for CYRI-B in microtubule-mediated adhesion turnover.
journals.biologists.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Gorgeous work by Jamie Whitelaw - loss of CYRI equates to giant, elongated focal adhesions.
Yet another connection between WAVE complex dynamics & integrin-based adhesions
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Yet another connection between WAVE complex dynamics & integrin-based adhesions
journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
I wonder why #REF2029 is proving so spectacularly useless?
Different groups want it to assess "research culture", stop unis getting an advantage when people move, promote geographic diversity, stop individuals from being impacted, make publication open, etc...
Few seem concerned about research.
Different groups want it to assess "research culture", stop unis getting an advantage when people move, promote geographic diversity, stop individuals from being impacted, make publication open, etc...
Few seem concerned about research.
This week on Wonkhe: Richard Traini rallies the sector to use REF 2029 as the opportunity to promote and reward the expertise of technical staff
REF should be about technical professionals too
Richard Traini rallies the sector to use REF 2029 as the opportunity to promote and reward the expertise of technical staff
buff.ly
November 22, 2025 at 9:08 AM
I wonder why #REF2029 is proving so spectacularly useless?
Different groups want it to assess "research culture", stop unis getting an advantage when people move, promote geographic diversity, stop individuals from being impacted, make publication open, etc...
Few seem concerned about research.
Different groups want it to assess "research culture", stop unis getting an advantage when people move, promote geographic diversity, stop individuals from being impacted, make publication open, etc...
Few seem concerned about research.
Yay! Congrats to SFB1348!
Dynamic cellular interfaces reloaded!🎉 Happy and excited to receive extended funding @sfb1348.bsky.social @uni-muenster.de @mpi-muenster.bsky.social and to push our collaborative science forward in the next 4 years! Big thanks @dfg.de, reviewers, and everyone else involved for the continued support!
November 21, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Yay! Congrats to SFB1348!
At last!
Someone doing some real science. On matters of fundamental interest and importance.
Someone doing some real science. On matters of fundamental interest and importance.
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 8:38 AM
At last!
Someone doing some real science. On matters of fundamental interest and importance.
Someone doing some real science. On matters of fundamental interest and importance.
So very funny.
Utterly predictable. Like those funny @ScienceGuardians rants. But still utterly hilarious when it happens.
Utterly predictable. Like those funny @ScienceGuardians rants. But still utterly hilarious when it happens.
A paper critiquing post-publication peer review has numerous made-up references, including a @nature.com article falsely attributed to our Ivan Oransky.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
PubPeer - An expert criticism on post-publication peer review platform...
There are comments on PubPeer for publication: An expert criticism on post-publication peer review platforms: the case of pubpeer (2025)
pubpeer.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:12 PM
So very funny.
Utterly predictable. Like those funny @ScienceGuardians rants. But still utterly hilarious when it happens.
Utterly predictable. Like those funny @ScienceGuardians rants. But still utterly hilarious when it happens.
Absolutely extraordinary.
UCL management, in their godlike and infinite wisdom, have decided it's a good idea to remove all waste bins from all offices and replace them with occasional big 4-way recycling things plonked in the middle of corridors.
UCL management, in their godlike and infinite wisdom, have decided it's a good idea to remove all waste bins from all offices and replace them with occasional big 4-way recycling things plonked in the middle of corridors.
November 12, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Absolutely extraordinary.
UCL management, in their godlike and infinite wisdom, have decided it's a good idea to remove all waste bins from all offices and replace them with occasional big 4-way recycling things plonked in the middle of corridors.
UCL management, in their godlike and infinite wisdom, have decided it's a good idea to remove all waste bins from all offices and replace them with occasional big 4-way recycling things plonked in the middle of corridors.
Reposted by Robert Insall
As someone who looks at a lot of Manhattan plots, I can say that an under-appreciated cause of false positive GWAS hits is stuff stuck to my computer screen.
November 12, 2025 at 1:40 AM
As someone who looks at a lot of Manhattan plots, I can say that an under-appreciated cause of false positive GWAS hits is stuff stuck to my computer screen.
Dylan Burnette lab excelling themselves with lovely microscopy, even more than ususal.
Beating iPSC-derived heart muscle cells videoed through a microscope. Alpha-actinin-2 is shown. #CellBiology
November 9, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Dylan Burnette lab excelling themselves with lovely microscopy, even more than ususal.
The science literature used to be more fun
November 8, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The science literature used to be more fun
fine-looking meeting
interested in mechanobiology and physics of living systems? this is the conference for you! Join us 9-12 June in Heidelberg! with @nicolettapetridou.bsky.social @xaviertrepat.bsky.social Enrique Rojas & Alba Diz-Munoz
Registration OPEN
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
Registration OPEN
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
November 6, 2025 at 12:50 PM
fine-looking meeting
Reposted by Robert Insall
Very excited to share an advert for a new lecturer position in Computational Cancer at UCL! Permanent position at assistant professor level- join a growing community at UCL in a cutting edge discipline.
Please share widely!
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Please share widely!
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Very excited to share an advert for a new lecturer position in Computational Cancer at UCL! Permanent position at assistant professor level- join a growing community at UCL in a cutting edge discipline.
Please share widely!
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
Please share widely!
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...