Björn W
@wbjorn.bsky.social
A sort of scientist (maths x life sci 🧬💻) | Previously models of ecology, now RNAseq | Into plants, bikes, arts
Background: Vue du Léman by Marcel d'Eternod, 1919
Background: Vue du Léman by Marcel d'Eternod, 1919
Reposted by Björn W
There's a thing I think is going on that we don't have a word for yet, at least I don't. I think it's one of the less noticed themes of 2025, actually.
December 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
There's a thing I think is going on that we don't have a word for yet, at least I don't. I think it's one of the less noticed themes of 2025, actually.
Reposted by Björn W
Inspired in this iconic Guarda course, a group of four Latin American researchers organized the South American version: #EvoSur. The masterminds behind this amazing idea: Paco Majic (Uruguay) @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social, Santi Herrera (Colombia), Caua Westmann (Brasil) and Ana Maria Agapito (Perú).
The 2026 Guarda Summer Course in Evolutionary Biology is now accepting applications. Amazing place, amazing course, amazing opportunity for early grad students.
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
tb.ethz.ch/education/gu...
Summer school:<br> Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
Information about the annual summer school Evolutionary Biology in Guarda
tb.ethz.ch
December 11, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Inspired in this iconic Guarda course, a group of four Latin American researchers organized the South American version: #EvoSur. The masterminds behind this amazing idea: Paco Majic (Uruguay) @hhydrochaerus.bsky.social, Santi Herrera (Colombia), Caua Westmann (Brasil) and Ana Maria Agapito (Perú).
Reposted by Björn W
As 2025 wraps up, we’re looking back at some of the most intriguing microbes that made their scientific debut this year. This blog highlights standout bacterial species that caught our eye. Read the full #FEMSmicroBlog: buff.ly/2wz7k16
#NewMicrobes
#NewMicrobes
December 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
As 2025 wraps up, we’re looking back at some of the most intriguing microbes that made their scientific debut this year. This blog highlights standout bacterial species that caught our eye. Read the full #FEMSmicroBlog: buff.ly/2wz7k16
#NewMicrobes
#NewMicrobes
Reposted by Björn W
bit of a random question, but does anyone here know someone who got a Gatsby Foundation Grant for Plant Science research? I'm considering putting one together and would really enjoy being able to ask some questions about it!
#plantsci
#plantsci
December 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
bit of a random question, but does anyone here know someone who got a Gatsby Foundation Grant for Plant Science research? I'm considering putting one together and would really enjoy being able to ask some questions about it!
#plantsci
#plantsci
Reposted by Björn W
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:53 AM
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
Reposted by Björn W
Interested in applying for a postdoc on wildlife #microbiomes in my lab at Uppsala University, Sweden?
The local Birgitta Sintring Foundation gives out generous 2-year postdoc scholarships to early-career researchers who apply with a PI at the department. Deadline Feb 9.
www.uu.se/en/departmen...
The local Birgitta Sintring Foundation gives out generous 2-year postdoc scholarships to early-career researchers who apply with a PI at the department. Deadline Feb 9.
www.uu.se/en/departmen...
The Birgitta Sintring Foundation – Department of Ecology and Genetics – Uppsala University
www.uu.se
December 9, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Interested in applying for a postdoc on wildlife #microbiomes in my lab at Uppsala University, Sweden?
The local Birgitta Sintring Foundation gives out generous 2-year postdoc scholarships to early-career researchers who apply with a PI at the department. Deadline Feb 9.
www.uu.se/en/departmen...
The local Birgitta Sintring Foundation gives out generous 2-year postdoc scholarships to early-career researchers who apply with a PI at the department. Deadline Feb 9.
www.uu.se/en/departmen...
Reposted by Björn W
One week left to submit an abstract for this! Sun, sea and spectacular speakers - what more can you ask for from a conference?
If you are interested but are being put off by travel costs or fees, get in touch - we will be offering bursaries and fee discounts for selected participants
If you are interested but are being put off by travel costs or fees, get in touch - we will be offering bursaries and fee discounts for selected participants
I'm delighted to announce that the Interdisciplinary Challenges (IntCha) meeting is returning in April 2026! Abstract submission is now open.
We encourage young scientists working at the interface between biology and physics to join us at the IESC in Corsica. Website here: intcha26.sciencesconf.org
We encourage young scientists working at the interface between biology and physics to join us at the IESC in Corsica. Website here: intcha26.sciencesconf.org
December 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
One week left to submit an abstract for this! Sun, sea and spectacular speakers - what more can you ask for from a conference?
If you are interested but are being put off by travel costs or fees, get in touch - we will be offering bursaries and fee discounts for selected participants
If you are interested but are being put off by travel costs or fees, get in touch - we will be offering bursaries and fee discounts for selected participants
Reposted by Björn W
Great opportunity for those interested in fundamental questions in evolutionary biology and mathematical models: postdoc opening in Laurent Lehmann’s group @unil.bsky.social. We have a lively community of theorists here in Lausanne with good interactions across groups. Join us ! Please RP
Open postdoc position in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, focusing on mathematical models of social traits. Details: https://tinyurl.com/37uhtbne #postdoc
December 1, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Great opportunity for those interested in fundamental questions in evolutionary biology and mathematical models: postdoc opening in Laurent Lehmann’s group @unil.bsky.social. We have a lively community of theorists here in Lausanne with good interactions across groups. Join us ! Please RP
Apologies to our hylobatid cousins who are surely better at critical thinking, but "look like a confused gibbon" is a great mental image
It's shockint how much I am seeing more and more people who very clearly don't know the basics. Like I expect it from the finance bros like musk or theil, but ive met PMs who absolutely believe the LLM is a god like entity, but look like confused Gibbons the minute I explain how they really work.
November 19, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Apologies to our hylobatid cousins who are surely better at critical thinking, but "look like a confused gibbon" is a great mental image
Reposted by Björn W
If you talk about philosophy of science in interpretability papers you get to learn some incredible facts about what can go wrong with simple causal ablation studies
November 18, 2025 at 11:54 PM
If you talk about philosophy of science in interpretability papers you get to learn some incredible facts about what can go wrong with simple causal ablation studies
Reposted by Björn W
"Vienna researchers retrieved all #whatsapp numbers. The 3.5 billion profiles represent the largest data leak in history"
"...downloaded all 77 million profile pictures visible to everyone—a proud 3.8 terabytes in total. In a random sample of half a million images drawn from this, a facial […]
"...downloaded all 77 million profile pictures visible to everyone—a proud 3.8 terabytes in total. In a random sample of half a million images drawn from this, a facial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 19, 2025 at 5:52 AM
"Vienna researchers retrieved all #whatsapp numbers. The 3.5 billion profiles represent the largest data leak in history"
"...downloaded all 77 million profile pictures visible to everyone—a proud 3.8 terabytes in total. In a random sample of half a million images drawn from this, a facial […]
"...downloaded all 77 million profile pictures visible to everyone—a proud 3.8 terabytes in total. In a random sample of half a million images drawn from this, a facial […]
Reposted by Björn W
From @csoneson.bsky.social , @markrobinsonca.bsky.social & colleagues in @plos.org #Computational #Biology | Building a continuous #benchmarking ecosystem in #bioinformatics | #Education 🧬 🖥️ 🧪 🔓
⬇️
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
⬇️
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Building a continuous benchmarking ecosystem in bioinformatics
Benchmarking, which involves collecting reference datasets and demonstrating method performance, is a requirement for the development of new computational tools, but also becomes a domain of its own t...
journals.plos.org
November 15, 2025 at 5:11 PM
From @csoneson.bsky.social , @markrobinsonca.bsky.social & colleagues in @plos.org #Computational #Biology | Building a continuous #benchmarking ecosystem in #bioinformatics | #Education 🧬 🖥️ 🧪 🔓
⬇️
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
⬇️
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
Reposted by Björn W
Europe’s policy makers continue to echo corporate hype and tech CEOs' speculations about “AGI” and “superintelligence”. In this piece, @krisshrishak.bsky.social & I call on our policy makers to be grounded in empirical evidence
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
AI Hype Is Steering EU Policy Off Course | TechPolicy.Press
Kris Shrishak and Abeba Birhane say policymakers should stop peddling in unscientific discourse about "AGI" and "superintelligence."
www.techpolicy.press
November 17, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Europe’s policy makers continue to echo corporate hype and tech CEOs' speculations about “AGI” and “superintelligence”. In this piece, @krisshrishak.bsky.social & I call on our policy makers to be grounded in empirical evidence
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
www.techpolicy.press/ai-hype-is-s...
Reposted by Björn W
🌾🌱🍄🦠🔬🧬
Seed health monitoring is key for reducing yield losses and prevention of disease spreading in agriculture... yet the detection of asymptomatic pathogens with complex life cycles, such as 𝑈𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑎 in barley, is difficult to perform successfully.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Seed health monitoring is key for reducing yield losses and prevention of disease spreading in agriculture... yet the detection of asymptomatic pathogens with complex life cycles, such as 𝑈𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑎 in barley, is difficult to perform successfully.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A new molecular seed assay to predict Ustilago nuda field infection levels - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A new molecular seed assay to predict Ustilago nuda field infection levels
www.nature.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
🌾🌱🍄🦠🔬🧬
Seed health monitoring is key for reducing yield losses and prevention of disease spreading in agriculture... yet the detection of asymptomatic pathogens with complex life cycles, such as 𝑈𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑎 in barley, is difficult to perform successfully.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Seed health monitoring is key for reducing yield losses and prevention of disease spreading in agriculture... yet the detection of asymptomatic pathogens with complex life cycles, such as 𝑈𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑜 𝑛𝑢𝑑𝑎 in barley, is difficult to perform successfully.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Björn W
Very happy to share our recent work @cultivarium.bsky.social on genetic tools for Ideonella sakaiensis, a (Betaproteo-)bacterium that degrades PET plastic.
We identified a plasmid vector for the strain and generated a large RB-TnSeq library, screening for genes impacting plastic degradation.
We identified a plasmid vector for the strain and generated a large RB-TnSeq library, screening for genes impacting plastic degradation.
November 12, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Very happy to share our recent work @cultivarium.bsky.social on genetic tools for Ideonella sakaiensis, a (Betaproteo-)bacterium that degrades PET plastic.
We identified a plasmid vector for the strain and generated a large RB-TnSeq library, screening for genes impacting plastic degradation.
We identified a plasmid vector for the strain and generated a large RB-TnSeq library, screening for genes impacting plastic degradation.
Reposted by Björn W
New PhD position in my lab at @uniofbath.bsky.social (with both @tweethinking.bsky.social & Dr Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun)!
We're looking for someone keen on bioinformatics and microbiome evolution.
Important info below on eligibility & URSA competition funding👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
We're looking for someone keen on bioinformatics and microbiome evolution.
Important info below on eligibility & URSA competition funding👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
The overlapping microbiome: ecology, function and resilience beyond species boundaries at University of Bath on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - The overlapping microbiome: ecology, function and resilience beyond species boundaries at University of Bath, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
New PhD position in my lab at @uniofbath.bsky.social (with both @tweethinking.bsky.social & Dr Bethan Littleford-Colquhoun)!
We're looking for someone keen on bioinformatics and microbiome evolution.
Important info below on eligibility & URSA competition funding👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
We're looking for someone keen on bioinformatics and microbiome evolution.
Important info below on eligibility & URSA competition funding👇
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Björn W
Postdoc position(s) available!
Work on:
- Muskox movement ecology
- Ecosystem & carbon dynamics
These can be done back-to-back for someone keen on both topics or split into two separate roles.
📄 Full details in the attached flyer!
#AcademicJobs #PostdocPositions #Ecophysiology #EcologyJobs
Work on:
- Muskox movement ecology
- Ecosystem & carbon dynamics
These can be done back-to-back for someone keen on both topics or split into two separate roles.
📄 Full details in the attached flyer!
#AcademicJobs #PostdocPositions #Ecophysiology #EcologyJobs
November 12, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Postdoc position(s) available!
Work on:
- Muskox movement ecology
- Ecosystem & carbon dynamics
These can be done back-to-back for someone keen on both topics or split into two separate roles.
📄 Full details in the attached flyer!
#AcademicJobs #PostdocPositions #Ecophysiology #EcologyJobs
Work on:
- Muskox movement ecology
- Ecosystem & carbon dynamics
These can be done back-to-back for someone keen on both topics or split into two separate roles.
📄 Full details in the attached flyer!
#AcademicJobs #PostdocPositions #Ecophysiology #EcologyJobs
Reposted by Björn W
flat out lies. these tech ceos take regulators and the masses for fools
![“If you want to know how a model will behave, the only way of doing it is to run it,” Mensch also suggested. “You do need to have some empirical testing, what’s happening. Knowing the input data that has been used for training is not going to tell you whether your model is going to behave well in [a healthcare use-case], for instance. You don’t really care about what’s in the training data. You do care about the empirical behaviour of the model. So you don’t need knowledge of the training data. And if you had knowledge of the training data, it wouldn’t even teach you whether the model is going to behave well or not. So this is why I’m saying it’s neither necessary nor sufficient.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:26hkfmtr7jrchexamh7hk6rz/bafkreibp7oaeovg7xt43dlk3qtmkft6irldgf44tz75sbaiqvoqdq4kpjy@jpeg)
November 12, 2025 at 10:38 AM
flat out lies. these tech ceos take regulators and the masses for fools
Reposted by Björn W
The COPOut Podcast has been launched! Tune in for apocalyptically optimistic climate conversations that critically assess the climate regime and what's needed to address the climate crisis. Full details here: cece.american.edu/cece-launche...
November 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The COPOut Podcast has been launched! Tune in for apocalyptically optimistic climate conversations that critically assess the climate regime and what's needed to address the climate crisis. Full details here: cece.american.edu/cece-launche...
Reposted by Björn W
📅Our speaker next week is Violeta Calleja-Solanas @violetacalleja.bsky.social (Estación Biológica de Doñana):
⭐The effect on stability of the temporal variability of species interactions⭐
Zoom Link: iite.info/seminar/
Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...
Open to all, see you there!
⭐The effect on stability of the temporal variability of species interactions⭐
Zoom Link: iite.info/seminar/
Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...
Open to all, see you there!
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
📅Our speaker next week is Violeta Calleja-Solanas @violetacalleja.bsky.social (Estación Biológica de Doñana):
⭐The effect on stability of the temporal variability of species interactions⭐
Zoom Link: iite.info/seminar/
Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...
Open to all, see you there!
⭐The effect on stability of the temporal variability of species interactions⭐
Zoom Link: iite.info/seminar/
Global times: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/f...
Open to all, see you there!
Reposted by Björn W
Bicycles - Why you might need more than one
Artist: Dave Walker
Artist: Dave Walker
November 10, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Bicycles - Why you might need more than one
Artist: Dave Walker
Artist: Dave Walker
Reposted by Björn W
Mexico Versus Nazis is a theme that’s really resonating with me of late
October 30, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Mexico Versus Nazis is a theme that’s really resonating with me of late
Reposted by Björn W
Modelling Like an Experimentalist - Drake - 2025 - Ecology Letters - Wiley Online Library share.google/bxJ75avX2ky4...
Modelling Like an Experimentalist
Dahlin et al. (2024) apply experimental thinking to a model of mosquito-borne disease transmissions.
share.google
November 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Modelling Like an Experimentalist - Drake - 2025 - Ecology Letters - Wiley Online Library share.google/bxJ75avX2ky4...
Reposted by Björn W
🦠🧫🧪🔬🌍🐝 🧬🖥
Awesome work led by Malick Ndiaye on paired strain-level #microbe - #phage metagenomes of SINGLE #honeybee guts, revealing diversity correlations at genus level...
#Microsky #host-microbe
Awesome work led by Malick Ndiaye on paired strain-level #microbe - #phage metagenomes of SINGLE #honeybee guts, revealing diversity correlations at genus level...
#Microsky #host-microbe
🐝🦠 New paper: rdcu.be/eOf7A
Phages may drive microbial diversity, yet we often don’t even know how phages & bacteria correlate in nature. Our new study tackles this in the honeybee gut, thanks to the great work of PhD student @malickndiaye.bsky.social at @dmf-unil.bsky.social @fbm-unil.bsky.social
Phages may drive microbial diversity, yet we often don’t even know how phages & bacteria correlate in nature. Our new study tackles this in the honeybee gut, thanks to the great work of PhD student @malickndiaye.bsky.social at @dmf-unil.bsky.social @fbm-unil.bsky.social
Phage diversity mirrors bacterial strain diversity in the honey bee gut microbiota - Nature Communications
Authors analyse paired viral and bacterial shotgun metagenomics data from individual honeybee guts, revealing modular, nested phage–bacteria networks, with viral diversity mirroring bacterial strain c...
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:46 AM
🦠🧫🧪🔬🌍🐝 🧬🖥
Awesome work led by Malick Ndiaye on paired strain-level #microbe - #phage metagenomes of SINGLE #honeybee guts, revealing diversity correlations at genus level...
#Microsky #host-microbe
Awesome work led by Malick Ndiaye on paired strain-level #microbe - #phage metagenomes of SINGLE #honeybee guts, revealing diversity correlations at genus level...
#Microsky #host-microbe