Paulo E. Abreu

PDB Reaches a New Milestone The PDB now contains more than 250,000 entries

PDB Reaches a New Milestone: more than 250,000 entries

Laurie Anderson with Sexmob's 'Let X=X' is due May 8 on Nonesuch. Anderson and the jazz band Sexmob recorded the 3-LP / 2-CD set—23 songs, including favorites from throughout Anderson’s career, performed in new arrangements, plus one by Lou Reed & Metallica—live on tour: laurieanderson.lnk.to/LetX

Quando as “meninas do Bloco” denunciam, os meninos dos negócios não perdoam. Não é incoerência: é fidelidade aos interesses.

Photo of the cover of the book Alien Roots: Eliane Radigue bt Blank Forms.

Received this yesterday and it kinda hit very hard. Thanks Eliane

S. Epatha Merkerson & Jennifer Koh - "Knee Play 5" | 2018 Kennedy Center Honors YouTube video by The Trump Kennedy Center

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzt-...

I cannot understand the cruelty, the pure evil, of these people. I don't understand how they do it. I don't understand why they do it. I don't understand why they are allowed to do it.

Pop-up AI defacing your article critical of AI captures a lot of what it feels like to work in this space.
@lmesseri.bsky.social

Dear Sir Paul, Re: Royal Society Code of Conduct I am sure that many scientists have written to you about the specific question of Elon Musk’s Fellowship and whether, under the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct, his retaining that Fellowship is appropriate. I will not rehash these issues. Instead, as a female scientist with extensive experience of activities aiming to increase equality, diversity and inclusion in the engineering and physical sciences sector, I am writing to you (in a personal capacity) to ask you to reconsider the statements you have recently made in this context to the UK press about the Royal Society’s Code of Conduct and how it is applied. A 2018 report from the joint National Academies of the United States of America, concluded that “sexual harassment is common in academic science, engineering, and medicine” and that “greater than 50 percent of women faculty and staff and 20–50 percent of women students encounter or experience sexually harassing conduct in academia”. This report described codes of conduct that make clear that sexual harassment is unethical and will not be tolerated as a “powerful incentive for change”. The authors also noted that sexual harassment can have significant and damaging effects on the integrity of research. In my own praxis, I have found that clear and consistently-implemented codes of conduct that address these issues make female scientists and engineers safer, and allow them to focus more effectively on their research. For codes of conduct to have such a positive effect, it is vital that sanctions for actions which transgress the code are meaningful and substantial.

I was hence aghast to realise that in an interview with the Financial Times published on 9/1/26, you appear to have suggested that the Royal Society “should only expel fellows if their science proved “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective””. Moreover, in a further interview with the Guardian on 11/1/26 you suggested that the code “may need to be looked at again”, with the implication that your aim would be to remove the option of sanctions on Fellows for reasons not strictly related to faults or defects in their research. I suggest that changing the Royal Society’s code of conduct so that the likelihood of serious sanctions for sexual harassment is reduced, would directly endanger women who interact with the Royal Society at events or otherwise, and would provide a licence to harass to the already powerful people on whom the Society bestows fellowship. The implications of your words - that under your leadership the only infringements of the code which are likely to receive the sanction of the Fellowship being removed are those related to research misconduct - already risk empowering harassers. You stated, in the Financial Times interview, that “there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances”. Given this awareness of the possibility of bad actors in our scientific community, it is wholly irresponsible to suggest that the Royal Society would not act to sanction these people if they harass more vulnerable scientists. I am hence writing to request that you retract any suggestion that the Society’s Code of Conduct should be changed so that the only reason a Fellow might be sanctioned by the removal of their Fellowship is “faulty or fraudulent or highly defective” research. This action is necessary to safeguard female scientists, a requirement placed on the Society by safeguarding legislation and UK statutory guidance. Yours sincerely, Professor Rachel A. Oliver.

Following coverage over the weekend of Sir Paul Nurse's comments that suggested that the only reason that a Fellow should be expelled from @royalsociety.org is scientific misconduct, I have written to him to explain the risks such an attitude poses of increasing sexual harassment in STEM.

Screenshot from the website with the two "Get the book" options, with the cover for both (the same, orange with white letters, and color stripes) and the author name, one to buy a physical copy and one to download the free ebook, with the option to by Serena a coffee.

former BiGCaT colleague Serena Bonaretti has written the #openaccess book about #python: "Learn Python with Jupyter", now available from various stores and online at https://www.learnpythonwithjupyter.com/

Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive

In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.

The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.

Comic. Panels up to the 10-year point are grayed out. New panels since the Ten Years comic, which chronicles the first ten years of PERSON 1's journey with cancer: (1) [two people in bed] PERSON 1 (woman): One more chapter? PERSON 2 (man): Don’t we both have to get up early? PERSON 1: Nnnnnggggh PERSON 2: Sure, good point. (2) [many people wearing masks, walking while looking at graphs on their phones] (3) [birds landing on people] PERSON 2 in beanie and scarf: Hah! They like *my* seeds best. PERSON 1 in scarf holding phone with a bird sitting on it: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one? (4) [two people rowing boats with tree landscape] (5) [Person 1 carries overflowing stack of things to Person 2 in bed] PERSON 1: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a– PERSON 2: It was just Appendicitis, I’m really– PERSON 1: *It is my turn to take care of you and I am going to do it right!* (6) [Two people in car] (7) [still in car) PERSON 1: Oh my god. PERSON 2: Oh my god. (8) [car driving] PERSON 1: Pull over! PERSON 2: I am! (9) [both people get out of car] (10) [Large colored panel of aurora borealis over water with both people looking on] (11) [Person 1 sits against tree while Person 2 lies on the ground] PERSON 1: Fifteen years. No sign of the cancer. (12) I *am* having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I’m losing my close-up vision. PERSON 2: Yeah. Me too. (13) PERSON 2: I think we’re getting old. (14) PERSON 1: I guess that’s okay. PERSON 2: It’s all I wanted.

Fifteen Years

xkcd.com/3172/

William S. Burroughs - A Thanksgiving Prayer YouTube video by williamburroughsVEVO

William S. Burroughs: A Thanksgiving Prayer www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLSv...

Journalists.

It's not "unproven"

It's "bullshit"

Many EU member countries have a rich colonial past, e.g. France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium... (I know, Germany too - but this is off my topic here.) Do you know any museum from any of such country who would be interested to work with us on a European funded project about taking […]

Pois … É muito confuso tudo isto…

Ministro anuncia aumento de quase 40 milhões de euros para a FCT em 2026 Fernando Alexandre anunciou um aumento da verba para a Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – mas só nas verbas oriundas de impostos. Ministro garante nova Lei da Ciência até ao final do ano.

Ministro anuncia aumento de quase 40 milhões de euros para a FCT em 2026
No discurso de encerramento, o ministro com a tutela da Ciência anunciou um aumento de 8% no orçamento da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) para 2026.
www.publico.pt/2025/07/11/c...

Hey @nature.com What's up with your share buttons? Can we please also get 🦋 and 🦣 options to not exclusively promote the network of the guy who has done more than most to harm US science?

Comic. The Three Types of Unsolved Physics Problem (First panel) Vague. PERSON [next to curved diagram] What is the nature of time in quantum gravity? Is it a background parameter, a dynamic aspect of spacetime, or an emergent phenomenon? (Second panel) Precise. PERSON 2 with short hair [device with equation below: 71Ga + νe → 71Ge + e- .] Why does the *S.A.G.E.* Gallium Neutrino Capture Experiment produce only 75% as much germanium as predicted? (Third panel) Cursed. PERSON 3 with white hat [rectangular block with hairs growing out of it labeled Zinc Whiskers] Why does some metal randomly grow hairs? It keeps causing short circuits and we have no idea what’s going on. OFF-PANEL: Is this a joke? PERSON 3: No! Please help!

Unsolved Physics Problems

xkcd.com/3115/

Experimental data on the MO energies ? That is contradictory as MO energies are not observables...

How does the right tear down progressive societies? It starts with a joke | George Monbiot Whether it’s bloodshed at Glastonbury or starving people on benefits, their ‘irony poisoning’ seeps obscene ideas into the range of the possible, says Guasrdian columnist George Monbiot

Obscene ideas are injected into public life with "humour" ... and then enacted. My column this week is pegged to the recent calls in the Spectator to murder people at Glastonbury, and on GB News to starve and shoot disabled people.
You could call it wink murder.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Big hug!

5-panel comic. (1) [teacher with long hair next to whiteboard] TEACHER: I’m supposed to give you the tools to do good science. (2) [teacher addressing students] But what *are* those tools? Methodology is hard and there are so many ways to get incorrect results. What is the magic ingredient that makes for good science? (3) TEACHER: To figure it out, I ran a regression with all the factors people say are important: [embedded list in sub-panel, cut off at end] Outcome variable: correct scientific results. Predictors: collaboration; skepticism of others’ claims; questioning your own beliefs; trying to falsify hypotheses; checking citations; statistical rigor; blinded analysis; financial disclosure; open data (4) TEACHER: The regression says two ingredients are the most crucial: 1) genuine curiosity about the answer to a question, and 2) ammonium hydroxide. (5) STUDENT: Wait, why did *ammonia* score so high? How did it even get on the list? LONG HAIR: ...And now you’re doing good science!

Good Science

xkcd.com/3101/

First time making scallion pancakes!

the github link is not correct

“I hate people when they’re not polite”

It’s here!!!

Lastly to round up the 🧵: Science works doesn't mean every scientific study produces a fact ready for public consumption. Scientific work is incremental, iterative, nonlinear, slow, imperfect, relentless. Continuous improvement upon what was. Science works not despite but because of many failures.

- where Indigenous peoples used whole cacao beans, sugar, and spices to create chocolate drinks - contrast with today’s focus on sustainable, ethical sourcing and the production of plant-based, premium, and artisan chocolates."

Really confused by this phrase, why the contrast ? Indigenous peoples were not using sustainable or ethical methods? Really confused...
"The evolution of chocolate over the centuries has been truly remarkable. Early preparations in Central America before the 1800s -

Really interesting read. Thanks for sharing.