Jeremy Kamil
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macroliter.bsky.social
Jeremy Kamil
@macroliter.bsky.social
8.2K followers 4.1K following 880 posts
[He, him.] CMV virologist exploring how viruses
enter cells and other tricky mischief (lately, of the glycoimmune-centric variety). University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. My posts here are my own speech, not my employer’s. #LoveVirology #Glycotime
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macroliter.bsky.social
🤔 Aaron Siri, a lawyer friend/ally of RFK Jr is making 💰 off / leading lawsuits that dovetail with RFK Jr’s anti vax + Tylenol autism noise? Of course, these folks who roll with Dell Bigtree are shaping US public health policy from the very top 🙃 📰 🎁 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/h...
Screenshot of text snippet from article, reads: Mr. Bigtree said that getting polio was "like having a cold," a notion that public health experts say is false and dangerous. He said that infection with the disease could offer strong immunity. "Polio is not the epidemic that we believe that it is," Mr. Bigtree said
October 3, 2025 at 10:49 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Heart of Darkness, 2025: US Marine Corporal Kurtz gets deployed to Portland and ends up deep up the Columbia River gorge leading a trans-positive ANTIFA microbrewery.
Google Gemini image rendering of a dude with a large greying beard in anarchist military fatigues holding a beer. He’s on a boat in a Pacific Northwest forested river gorge at sunset / dusk and there are rainbow flags and young folks with dyed hair in the background holding cases of beer.
September 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Mr. Frog
Bullfrog (tentative ID) on a log in western PA, sitting up with head to right and partly (and at diagonal) toward viewer.. upright pose atop front webbed feet, with a seemingly meditative countenance.
September 6, 2025 at 8:28 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Oh sweet, I can join a waitlist to be an unpaid quality control agent for #Meta, multibillion dollar company. (What an abjectly absurd approach to misinformation, especially in the era of LLM/ AI that could easily flag >98% of “cod liver oil cures measles”-grade nonsense. #CommunityNotes
Community Notes What are community notes? A way to keep people better informed Decide when posts might be misleading and what context should be published on them. What you can do as a contributor Add helpful context to posts Write a note when you see a public post that's potentially confusing or misleading. * Rate notes written by others A note is published once contributors with different views agree it's helpful. Join contributor waitlist & Let us know you'd like to be a contributor Join the waitlist to be notified if you're eligible to use Community Notes.
August 30, 2025 at 1:08 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
🤓 “For too long Europe & China have expected us Americans to do all the cancer-cure-discovering & revolutionary-new-tech-inventing’ What kind of suckers do they take us for? Why on earth we would we let the smartest people in the world work here??” (Sarcastic voice) www.instagram.com/p/DKHvvgkTyF3/
May 26, 2025 at 10:36 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Spotted orbweaver (Neoscona crucifera) on the porch. h/t Seek app from iNaturalist for the ID.
A big ol’ spider close up. In crouch position. Some strands of its web radiating out from its central position at left of frame. Mouthpieces (chelicerae) are readily visible. Two of its many eyes reflect the light from the camera and are hirsute, with individual hairs sticking out. Altogether the arachnid looks fierce and spooky. Alternating bands of dark and light coloration on its hind and forelegs. Zoomed out alternative shot similar to previous photo. A big ol’ spider, less close up but still in zoom. Spider is in crouch position. Many strands of its web radiate out from its central position in frame. Mouthpieces (chelicerae) are visible. Two of its many eyes reflect the light from the camera and are hirsute though hairs are harder to appreciate in this photo than previous. Altogether the arachnid looks fierce and spooky. Alternating bands of dark and light coloration on its hind and forelegs.
November 3, 2024 at 4:51 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
I especially want to acknowledge Lauren A. Henderson, a PhD candidate in my lab at LSUHS. She is a co-first author of the work and SERIOUSLY drove the project forward, identifying a biological role. Hugely creative. I’m learning from her!
A young black woman sitting down with her hands crossed on her lap, wearing a big smile.
October 14, 2024 at 3:29 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Hey y’all (pretentious voice): “I am the artist formerly known as Bluesky user #364,040” 😂 Seriously tho, 10M users! 🎉 @bsky.app !!!
A virtual certificate with text "Celebrating 10M users on Bluesky, #364,040, Jeremy Kamil ‪@macroliter.bsky.social‬, joined on Jul 24, 2023"
October 5, 2024 at 3:55 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Good morning PGH
Giant mural painting of a Greek statue-like man on a solid red brick colored building against a bright blue morning sky, low verdant green hills in background and the scaffolding of Pittsburgh’s Hot Metal Bridge across the Monongahela river at right side. Some car traffic (perpendicular to viewer) also visible as are some electric service wires
October 4, 2024 at 12:51 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
🧪 In Nov 2022 we were at the LA Zoo & this amazing person Muriel Horacek helped my kids spot koalas up in the trees & shared with us about Echidnas— how they can rapidly dig themselves in the ground as a defense, how they lay eggs in a hole & feed their young milk.. www.wsj.com/lifestyle/lo...
Wall St Journal headline and picture of Muriel Horcek, a beautiful gray haired lady in glasses, smiling and holding a koala bear and echidna stuffed animals in her left and right hands .. Text content: At 99 Years Old, Muriel Horacek Has a Calling: Australian Animals Horacek, who works four days a week at the Los Angeles Zoo, has a special fondness for echidnas By Julie Halpert April 16, 2024 at 11:00 am ET Muriel Horacek’s interest in wildlife grew from hiking and helping naturalists do field research around the world. PHOTO: JAMIE PHAM For much of her early adult life, Muriel Horacek’s passion was taking care of her children. Her passion these days: Australian animals. Horacek, who turned 99 last month, had her first job back in 1945, when she worked for a big oil company in human resources. She married a co-worker whose job took them overseas for a number of years.
April 18, 2024 at 1:27 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
🧪 For the next 45 days, our new Advances in Virus Research article is free to download via this link 🔗 “Uncloaking the viral glycocalyx: How do viruses exploit glycoimmune checkpoints?” www.sciencedirect.com/science/auth...
Book cover for Advances in Virus Research vol 118.
April 13, 2024 at 12:52 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Busy(body) Town Mysteries, by Richard Scarry. Lab Leak Edition.
A children’s cartoon cover featuring Richard Scary’s characters.. a hippo, a worm wearing a hat behind him, flanked by two joyful cats and two pigs, one happy and one suspicious. Entitled “Busytown mysteries”
February 29, 2024 at 3:12 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
🧪Brilliant advice from Nobel Laureate Artem Patapoutian.. (syndicated from the bad place, formerly the bird site). “Artem’s rules on how to science”… Also see the Alt text, split between two images). Enjoy!
Ardem Patapoutian @ardemp I wrote down my rules on how to Science. I hope you find it useful! Here are my top 13 rules on how to do science (why should it be only 10?): 1. Don't be too busy (Rule #1: No excuses. If you're too busy, you're not being creative). 2. Learn to say no (related to #1). 3. What question to ask: Find the biggest unanswered question that can be approached in the next 5-10 years. 4. Science communication: When you talk about your work, always start by stating what the important open question is (this is fundamental, but very few do it; related to #3). 5. Prioritize: Know when to quit a project (as important as coming up with new ideas). 6. Change fields when the open questions are no longer interesting: Being from a different field allows you to look at problems with a fresh perspective. 7. Ask for help - don't reinvent the wheel. 8. Don't listen to advice if it doesn't make sense to you (this does not contradict #7.. 8. Don't listen to advice if it doesn't make sense to you (this does not contradict #7). 9. Hire people who are smart, efficient, and kind (don't forget about "kind"). 10. Champion the underprivileged. 11. Collaborate with people with very different training and experience. 12. Cultivate friends who tell you when you are wrong. 13. Don't forget why you got into this business in the first place: Science is fun. Minimize the noise that causes anxiety.
January 18, 2024 at 11:30 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Always stoked to chat with NPR, in this case to help answer reader questions re: Covid. "Coronavirus FAQ: Are we in a surge? How do you cope if your whole family catches it?" by @maxbarnhart.substack.com, & with Abraar Karan (Stanford) www.npr.org/sections/goa...
GOATS AND SODA Coronavirus FAQ: Are we in a surge? How do you cope if your whole family catches it? JANUARY 13, 20247:39 AM ET Max Barnhart Image: A street painting in Mumbai, India, reinforces the importance of masks amid a surge of COVID. The photo was taken on January 11. Indranil Aditya via Reuters Connect
January 15, 2024 at 12:53 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Imagine a world without mRNA in our food, mRNA-free fruits and vegetables, mRNA-free farm animals. All our problems would be gone! An mRNA rapture! 😇
JosephLTrahan @JosephLTrahan I will introduce legislation for it to be a felony criminal act to use mRNA in the food and water supply with mandatory jail time... no exceptions. It is proving to be a bio-weapon at best and a proven tool of genocide and suffering at worst. Quote tweet of @iluminatibot • Jan 7 Thanks to the work of Bill Gates and other psychopaths, soon absolutely everything we consume from vegetables, to dairy, to meat will contain mRNA, whether we like it or not. [video still of bespectacled Bill Gates with a play button on it]
January 9, 2024 at 4:08 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Doesn’t render well on my handheld but overall this doesn’t look *that* bad. (But an expected winter wave, yes.. yes indeed.). www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/...
Graph of Covid hospitalizations showing modest uptick in end of 2023 .. but far higher peaks in 2021 and 2022 (biggest being 120,000-140,000, most recent late 2023 one being 29,059.. probably higher with current numbers) source: US CDC
January 5, 2024 at 2:33 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Happy New Year’s! Shot from end of the year hike with the kiddos. Here’s to lots more time outdoors in 2024. 🌞 ⛰️ 🥾
View of Pacific ocean from chaparral covered hills overlooking Santa Monica bay, with city of Los Angeles visible at left in distance… cresting waves breaking on beaches below.
January 1, 2024 at 3:02 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Tide pools are the best. The kids had a blast.
Sunset at tide pools. Sand in foreground, rocks with pools of water reflecting back then the waves and ocean with a pinkish orange sunset and sparse clouds against brilliant sky at ocean horizon. Bright red star fish in a tide pool. 60% or so submerged in water and surrounded by rocks Technically, it is a “bat star” .. Latin name: Patiria miniata Tiny octopus on the move. It’s got a dark body and moving along diagonal trajectory in the frame. Sand and rocks / pebbles beneath it.
December 30, 2023 at 6:34 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Just tap or click the three dots at the upper right of someone’s post.
Screen shot of @onychomys’ skeet.. showing the menu of options to “translate, copy post text, share, mute thread or report post”
December 26, 2023 at 5:17 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
🧪Very cool new “reference free” sequence data analysis algorithm from Julia Salzman’s lab, SPLASH.. I’m a fan of 2C. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Alignment of SARS-CoV-2 Spike gene in region of S1/S2 boundary (aa 674-698) at codon level resolution … showing multiple codons being used to encode H instead of Q in B.1 lineage variants and their derivatives.
December 15, 2023 at 5:04 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Thanksgiving break. Los Angeles. 2023.
Waterfall (50 ft or more) against Southern California oak chaparral landscape, curtained against verdant green branches and winter rain fed scrub .. the water falls over white (granite?) rock. Into a clear but fairly dark greenish pool. Blue sky and clouds above it all.
November 25, 2023 at 11:39 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
🧪 Do you like 🐢 🐦‍⬛ 🌵🌞? Here’s a cool 16 min long documentary! 🎥 Ravens follow human settlements & attack Mojave Desert Tortoises. As a strategy to train 🐦‍⬛ to avoid 🐢 Ecologists booby-trapp w/ artificial grape flavor “bombs” 3D-printed tortoise replicas 🔗 www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
THE NEW YORKER DOCUMENTARY CAN YOU SAVE ONE SPECIES BY ANNOYING ANOTHER? In "Eco-Hack!," the filmmakers Brett Marty and Josh Izenberg document a conservation biologist's novel strategy for rescuing the desert tortoise: booby traps. Film by Brett Marty and Josh Izenberg Text by Murat Oztaskin July 19, 2023 NEW YORKER [Still image in embedded movie player of a giant desert tortoise almost as if it is walking out of frame into reader’s face] A green laser darts along a dust lot and up - into a tangle of creosote bushes, chasing a flock of ravens, which takes off to escape it. "There, you got 'em," a man behind binoculars says to another, who is operating the laser remotely. In the low light of the Mojave Desert,
November 24, 2023 at 12:28 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
Not sure. But data from Hong Kong BA.2 wave suggests otherwise. Omicron was basically just as deadly in elderly unvaccinated (or poorly vaccinated) people as the originally emergent Dec 2019 virus. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35914518/
Graph showing case fatality rate per age group, from left to right on on x axis: <20, 20-29, 30-44, 45-64, 65-79, >80.. death rates for >80 of 27% and 23% in waves 1-4 (ancestral variants) versus wave 5 “incomplete” respectively. (Around 10% in wave 5 “complete”.) read the paper for further details. Figure 2. Age-stratified estimates of the case-fatality risk for COVID-19 in epidemic waves 1–4 and wave 5 in Hong Kong by vaccination status. Case-patients were classified as having a complete primary series if they had received >2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines >2 weeks before symptom onset (for symptomatic case-patients) or >3 weeks before laboratory confirmation of the infection (for symptomatic case-patients with a missing onset date or asymptomatic case-patients), otherwise as having an incomplete primary series. The COVID-19 vaccines available in Hong Kong included BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech, https://www.pfizer.com) and CoronaVac (Sinovac, https://www.sinovac.c
November 23, 2023 at 5:54 PM
macroliter.bsky.social
benchwork of a different sort
Photo taken from hills over Pacific Ocean.. Silhouette of a person sitting on left side of a bench in front of turquoise post sunset ocean view… city lights against winding coast line. Orange hues against blue sky and a few dark clouds at horizon line.
November 23, 2023 at 4:04 AM
macroliter.bsky.social
Crap.. crossing fingers everyone will be safe. news.yahoo.com/dangerous-se...
AccuWeather Dangerous severe weather, including tornadoes, to target southern US Alex Sosnowski Mon, November 20, 2023 at 7:31 AM PST • 4 min read RISK EXCLUSIVE ACCUWEATHER FORECAST SEVERE T-STORMS INTO TUESDAY AM Tornadoes and hail lasting into the night Damaging wind gusts: 60-70 mph cuWeather Local StormMax: 80 mph SOME MODERATE HIGH 40 EXTREME 40 MEMPHIS LITTLE ROCK 20 20 SHREVEPORT JACKSON 55 10 LAFAYETTE NEW ORLEANS -HOUSTON 10 AccuWeather 19:507 20-NON-2023
November 21, 2023 at 1:28 AM