William Trewby
william.trewby.co.uk
William Trewby
@william.trewby.co.uk
Post-doc at UCL/London Centre for Nanotechnology (https://www.hoogenboom-lab.com/).

Biophysicist 🧪 using atomic force microscopy 🔬 to map outer membrane biogenesis at the single-protein level in living bacteria 🦠
We are back, soon!
The secrets of bacterial cell envelopes' our free online seminar series is due to resume in January 2026 after a long break.
Hosted by Georgina Benn and Syma Khalid- supported by the Microbiology Society. More details soon.
@microbiologysociety.org
Please spread the word
November 20, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
It's hard to believe this is real, but I think it is.
And most depressingly: Tyler does not say "What the fuck are you even talking about Sam, and why are you in this job?"
I laughed at loud. These people are so pathetic; our enemies are numbskulls. They will kill us all and still not know hs physics.

COWEN: The stupidest question possible: Why don’t we just make more GPUs?

ALTMAN: Because we need to make more electrons.

conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam...
November 19, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
"Thank Heavens Reeves froze the thresholds," says the median voter in 2029 as they walk past the derelict sports centre and down the empty high street to cast their vote.
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
Looking for a PhD? 🚀 MIBTP projects are out lots to explore!
🔬 #Bacteria#AMR#Interdisciplinary • FUN!
My projects explore how Gram-negative bacteria build and maintain their three-layered cell envelope, using cryo-EM, fluorescence microscopy and biochemistry.
warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa...
Dr Melissa Webby
Dr Melissa Webby
warwick.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
a tad smaller than crysanthemums...
(👉ALT)
October 8, 2025 at 5:07 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart.
Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point.
Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.
September 22, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
Mini-scoop: After resisting pressure to strip Elon Musk of his fellowship for months, the Royal Society is meeting on 1 October to discuss his removal – following his decision to address Tommy Robinson's far-right rally on Saturday.

www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-r...
Royal Society to debate throwing out Elon Musk
One of the most prestigious scientific bodies in the world is considering expelling Musk after his appearance at Tommy Robinson’s extremist London rally
www.thenewworld.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
Reposted by William Trewby
It’s official - “Nigel Farage is right, don’t vote for him” is a demonstrably awful strategy for Labour. Boosts salience of immigration, costs votes on the left, doesn’t persuade any voters on right (why would they accept a crap knock-off when they can have the original?)
We have a paper on how Labour's strategy is disastrous.

There's an exclusive coverage in @newstatesman.com

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
September 5, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Wikipedia:Signs of AI writing - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
August 31, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
#microsky
We challenge the long-standing view that peptidoglycan alone protects cells from bursting.

Our study shows that the periplasm — enclosed by OM–PG connections — acts as a pressure buffer essential for osmoprotection in Gram-negative bacteria.

📄 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Peptidoglycan–outer membrane attachment generates periplasmic pressure to prevent lysis in Gram-negative bacteria - Nature Microbiology
Outer membrane attachment to peptidoglycan enables periplasmic pressure to build up and counter cytoplasmic turgor pressure, preventing lysis during osmotic challenges in Escherichia coli.
www.nature.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
the most basic, enduring plea from medicine: stop obsessing over tech solutions for tiny marginal returns when we haven't even mastered the basics of 19thC public health reform, let alone anything more sophisticated.
June 21, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
No one anywhere would want voters to elect a tier of government that just runs one largely invisible thing badly with rules and obligations it doesn’t set using money it doesn’t raise. Yet, thanks to a generation of failure on social care policy, that is now what “local government” means here.
June 2, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by William Trewby
Please sign this petition to halt a programme of redundancies at Newcastle University.

chng.it/6YYNJh5fHH
Sign the Petition
End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University
chng.it
May 24, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
would take all these guys posting about using AI to avoid any and all time-consuming activities more seriously if even one of them looked like they then actually used that extra free time to gallivant
May 20, 2025 at 9:10 PM
I will always have time for Simon Reeve saying "bloody hell" or "flippin' 'eck" but it's especially wonderful in the magic of Svalbard
May 19, 2025 at 7:56 PM
this from @samfr.bsky.social is predictably bleak - especially for anyone vaguely hoping to get a look in at a permanent job in UK HE. Does get to the point where you have to be brutally honest about the pros and cons.

On the Brink open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/o...
On the Brink
Universities are in serious financial trouble - what can be done about it?
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
at my median location of my NCL > AMS > FRA haul to Heidelberg, and EMBO lab leadership course!
May 12, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
Well that’s me depressed for the weekend. As Glen acidly observes this looks like a pretty transparent effort to shift blame for coming university bankruptcies onto the institutions. Good luck with selling that to whichever MPs are about to lose their constituency’s largest employer.
May 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
Watching an older documentary on Industrial Light and Magic, where George Lucas talks a lot about how everything will be better with digital, and it feels like the first act of a Greek tragedy.
May 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
Postdoc position available!

This is a 2-year post funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences. You'll be based in the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology here in Newcastle, using super-resolution microscopy to look at the bacterial cell wall. 🔬🦠

Please re-post 🙏

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMY885/r...
Research Assistant/Associate - Mapping the Bacterial Cell Wall with Super-resolution Microscopy at Newcastle University
Apply for the Research Assistant/Associate - Mapping the Bacterial Cell Wall with Super-resolution Microscopy role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View det...
www.jobs.ac.uk
May 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
anyway, bring on Yorkshire, #PhysicsOfLife2025 and some exciting science chats 🧪🦠
March 24, 2025 at 11:16 AM
managed to make the train to Harrogate, poster and all (minor miracle for me) - would advise against going to a conference while trying to sell a house and with an 18 month old in tow, and another on the way
March 24, 2025 at 11:14 AM
true to form, have finished my poster for @instituteofphysics.bsky.social Physics of Life 2025 in precisely enough time to have it printed off and collect it before my train to *the conference itself*. not exactly the best way to lower blood pressure when trying to be organised...
March 21, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by William Trewby
We fret about this in our new course.

thebullshitmachines.com/lesson-9-blu...
March 19, 2025 at 11:03 PM