What if cancer, already one of the deadliest diseases known to the animal kingdom, suddenly became contagious?
Among certain species it has. Now, it’s happening in the Salish Sea.
Read the full story Eli Voorhies at the link below.
salish-current.org/2026/02/19/c...
2nd- or 3rd-year PhD student? Applications for @hhmi-science.bsky.social's #GilliamFellows Program open 9/1! Robust dissertation support, an incredible community of scientists, tailored professional development (for you *and* your faculty thesis advisor), & so much more. Bookmark bit.ly/4qQArRh!
Researchers in the US might be having feelings about writing grants atm-I know I am!
We still need to write them. In this Evolution Exchange, I again chat with Sam Scheiner, who summarizes how to write a competitive proposal.
His advice is gold, and helpful regardless of funder. Pls RT!
Reading through @carlbergstrom.com’s Bullshit Machines. In LLM space, “go to the ED” and “don’t go to the ED” are actually pretty close, and both LOOK LIKE a valid answer. The goal of the bot isn’t to be right, just to convince you that it is. Whether you live or die is irrelevant.
Today in
@science.org:
We are pleased to present our last work entitled:
"Concurrent L1 retrotransposition events promote reciprocal translocations in human tumorigenesis"
by Zumalave et al.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds.
New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October.
(h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)
Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Applications are open for PREP Bio at the University of Oregon! A great opportunity for postbacs looking for additional research experience while preparing for graduate school. More here: cas.uoregon.edu/UO-PREP-Bio
Was it a coincidence that AMC was showing War Games today?
ABCO!
Now it would be really retro if it had the old “Alpha-Beta Company” logo
NIH reports on ESI support in FY2025 drugmonkey.wordpress.com/2026/02/22/n...
Alita Burmeister (@aburmeister.bsky.social) is looking to hire a postdoc (or potentially a PhD student) for projects on phage resistance and evolution. The position description is posted to the Eco-Evo Jobs wiki and also available on her lab's website (arburmeister.weebly.com).
@salish-current.org
Very beautiful story and thread
Thanks, Eli Voorhies, for writing up a piece about our work on transmissible cancers in clams and cockles in Puget Sound with James Dimond @wwu.edu , PSRF, and @suquamish.bsky.social
salish-current.org/2026/02/19/c...
Great scientists (and great collaborators) over at Puget Sound Restoration Fund are spreading the word about a job posting for a Microalgae Production Lead or Technician at their conservation hatchery at NOAA’s Manchester Research Station on the Kitsap Peninsula.
restorationfund.org/aboutus/join...
Methods Section Poll:
A. 100% Passive voice (primers were used)
B. 100% Active voice (we used primers
C. Whatever, as long as it is clear
(Inspired by team editing a manuscript that has a bit of both and arguing about whether it needs to be switched to consistently use one voice)
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
Bookmarked to answer later
Holy shit: it's an RFP for the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology (PRFB). Hello old friend www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
One of the most valuable comments I heard in grad school was in a mock review panel when the guest prof said, basically, sometimes reviewer comments are real concerns and you can get funded by fixing them, and sometimes they just didn’t think it was interesting and had to write something.
Condolences to nearly everyone in ecology and evolution today on your grant rejection!
Has anyone had any success with arguing this? Last year the returns without review were a brick wall, but this year it looks like they at least have a suggested contact email in the rejection letters.
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Of Barriers and Loops—How Evolution Limits Most Cancer Risks to Older Ages url: aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscov...
Finally out! We studied the retinas of the longest-living vertebrate, the Greenland shark, and found that the retinas remain remarkably healthy in animals around 150 years old. What is the mechanism? It may be a highly efficient DNA repair system. Enjoy!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
I love that one of the other sites is feeding me a lot of Bill Nye content today because tomorrow is NYE.
Federal funding cuts are having real consequences for biomedical research — including at PNRI. Long-term studies can’t simply be paused. Through Dec. 31, every gift is matched dollar-for-dollar. 👉https://bit.ly/4j1GTma
#raredisease #T1D #supportscience #genetics
