Jessica Mark Welch

overlooking a series of circular water filled tanks of a sewage treatment plant at night. lights line a long brick building on the horizon as a blue-black sky is stark behind a veil of thin puffy clouds in the distance.

good night, sewers.
good night, streams.
good night, operations and maintenance teams.
good night, settling tanks.
good night, stream banks.
good night, engineers, scientists, crews, managers, inspectors, analysts too.
a good night for us means serving with care.

good night, sewers, everywhere.

Bacterial Schlafen proteins mediate phage defence Nature Microbiology, Published online: 09 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02277-8This study highlights that Schlafens are ancient, mechanistically conserved immune effectors that mediate antiviral immunity in organisms ranging from humans to bacteria.

Out Now! Bacterial Schlafen proteins mediate phage defence #MicroSky

Water mass specific genes dominate the Southern Ocean microbiome - Nature Communications Southern Ocean microbial communities are less well studied. Here, the authors generate a circumpolar-scale gene catalog from 218 metagenomics samples revealing broadscale uniqueness and water-mass–spe...

Water mass specific genes dominate the Southern Ocean microbiome www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs 🌊

Viral BONCAT-FACS and single virus genomics. academic.oup.com/ismecommun/a...

🔬 Falmouth showed up on Stand Up for Science Day of Action! We heard from expert scientists based right here in Woods Hole reminding us exactly what’s at stake. Science isn’t partisan. It’s survival.
#StandUpForScience #IndivisibleFalmouth #FalmouthMA
#resist
#defenddemocracy

Given that clonal biofilms of single bacterial species rapidly diversify into niche specialists, how do biofilms of multiple species evolve?
A 🧵 featuring new collaborative pubs:
1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
2. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In case you missed it: our review titled "Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities" is out! 🚨

Let me hit you with some highlights on why spatial structure matters. (and why you should care!)

Sharing is appreciated 🙏 🧵👇

doi.org/10.1093/fems...

NEW RESEARCH ➡️: Scientists in the Datta lab have revealed that microbial nutrients, such as glucose, play a crucial role in antibiotic efficacy. Their findings provide a unique framework for developing novel medications and investigating antibiotic resistance.

https://bit.ly/4aKGUJ3

H.A. Brown Elementary School Mural By Skype a Scientist

A week ago I found out that the grant I was confident would fund our spring mural will not, bc we're 2 blocks too deep into Kensington. This STINKS.

This project rocks bc it's community driven, biodiversity-focused (& more! read on!)

We're raising money to make it happen
givebutter.com/KenzoMural

This one hits hard.

We’re at 10% of the way funded! Thank you to everyone who supported us so far 🥰

We had our community meeting last night where neighbors voted on the artist and theme! That vote is open until Friday then we can start designing the mural.

Help us fund this project here!

givebutter.com/KenzoMural

If they want us to show ID to vote, then they should provide a free ID card to every voter.

Wow.

a slide with 3 pictures of schools with brightly colored murals stacked on top of one another under the words "Schools in service area". On the other side of the slide, a blank wall of a school under the label "Our partner"

Alright bsky science + art community, I need your help.

I was p confident we could get a grant to fund our upcoming biodiversity mural in Kensington. Last night, they called to say our partner school is 2 blocks outside of their service area.

But ya know what? We're gonna do it anyway.

H.A. Brown Elementary School Mural By Skype a Scientist

Science + Art appreciators, we need your help!

We're working with the E. Kensington Neighbors Assn & H.A Brown school to create a community-driven mural on the biodiversity of our Philly neighborhood!

We need your help to fund this project
givebutter.com/KenzoMural

Here's why this is important ⬇️

One of the better ideas I’ve seen. Scott Galloway with his “Resist and Unsubscribe.
Resistandunsubscribe.com

Happy Darwin Day to all! To celebrate can you comment with your favorite paper on evolutionary biology from the last few years? Whatever comes to mind and whichever paper that really changed your view of evolution.

End of year science thread: a few memorable papers that came out this year. Last year I didn't include any paleontology, but this time I'll start with a paper about early animal evolution that I absolutely adore, although I'm biased as a friend of the authors @egmitchell.bsky.social 🧪

1/7

Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Victor Ambrose supports the Impeachment & Removal of RFK Jr. Contact your representative by visiting: standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr or by visiting the link in our bio to demand that your rep co-sponsor the articles of impeachment against RFK Jr.!
#RemoveRFKJr

Bad Bunny sends a message at the Super Bowl:

"God Bless America"

"The only thing more powerful than hate is love"

wow, Donald Trump really rethinking his meeting with those three witches

Emil Ruff Leads Team to Explore Dark Oxygen Through NASA Collaborative Award | Marine Biological Laboratory For more than a century, textbooks asserted that molecular oxygen (O2) on Earth is produced almost entirely by photosynthesis, through plants and microbes. But discoveries over the past decade have ov...

Meet "OxyMoRon" our 5-year NASA ICAR program to study dark oxygen production in Earth's hidden ecosystems. We have multiple positions and are happy about collabs.

Co-PIs:@valdeanda.bsky.social @microbiaki.bsky.social @valiergaly.bsky.social Ranjani Murali, Scott Wankel

www.mbl.edu/news/emil-ru...

Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage

The Purged Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.

For some reason, very few people these days will stand up and say it, but: the US federal bureaucracy is one of the great wonders of the world, staffed with incredibly diligent people who do their jobs well and care deeply.

Trump's destruction of the federal apparaus was a historic crime.

An image of a sunset along Surf Drive in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The clouds are dark purple and orange, the sky behind them is yellow, and clouds and sky are reflected in shallow water with ripples breaking up the reflection.

Sunset along Surf Drive in Falmouth, Massachusetts

Thank you for calling the Doomscroll Hotline. Please listen carefully as our crises have changed.

If your call relates to fascist operations, press one.
For economic meddling, press 2.
For the possibility of conflict with NATO, 3.
For acts of war without declaration of war, press 4.
For climate...

At last night’s candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good, Bishop Rob Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire announced he had asked the clergy of the diocese to get their affairs in order and to make sure they have their wills written ...,

Bluesky community! This is my official NYC mayor account. I’ll be posting updates on what’s happening at City Hall and how we’re delivering for New Yorkers. It’s great to be here.

Post from Amanda Gorman’s Instagram that says amandascgorman Minneapolis, Minnesota For Renee Nicole Good Killed by ICE. on January 7, 2026 by Amanda Gorman They say she is no more, That there her absence roars, Blood-blown like a rose. Iced wheels flinched & froze. Now, bare riot of candles, Dark fury of flowers, Pure howling of hymns. If for us she arose, Somewhere, in the pitched deep of our grief, Crouches our power, The howl where we begin, Straining upon the edge of the crooked crater Of the worst of what we've been. Change is only possible, & all the greater, When the labour & bitter anger of our neighbors Is moved by the love * better angels of our nature.

Amanda Gorman wrote this poem for Renee Good and that’s it for me tonight.

Wonderful news to start the new year!