Adria LeBoeuf
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adriatica.bsky.social
Adria LeBoeuf
@adriatica.bsky.social
I study #socialfluids. Ponderer of the #behavior of myself & other organisms. #SocialInsects / #DistributedMetabolism / #CollectiveBehavior / #CompBio Assoc. Prof @ University of Cambridge; previously Fribourg, Weizmann, Lausanne, Rockefeller, UCSB.
Applications close for this 4-year postdoc on Feb 9th (2 days!). The associated post for a technician should be online next week 👀
February 7, 2026 at 11:16 AM
This clear and thorough piece on higher education funding in the UK really helps clarify the current shifts and the mess we are in.
The way UK govt funds science is in the midst of a major transition, with creation of a much more direct link between government priorities & UKRI research funding.

My attempt to set in context the biggest upheaval in UK science funding policy since the 1980s:
softmachines.org?p=3252
UK science policy in transition – Soft Machines, by Richard Jones
softmachines.org
February 7, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
This is a beautiful case of how real science happens & serious scientists work. Kudos to both set of authors: “This has been a humbling experience, but one that speaks to the self-correcting nature of the scientific endeavor.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
RETRACTED: Integrative phylogenomics positions sponges at the root of the animal tree
Determining whether sponges or ctenophores root the animal tree has important implications for understanding early animal evolution. Here, we examined support for these competing hypotheses by constru...
www.science.org
February 6, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
From Permits 📜 to Samples🧪🧬

Addressing Key Challenges for High-Quality Reference Genome Generation in Europe🧬🇪🇺

Now published in Mol Ecol Res!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Thanks to the @ergabiodiv.bsky.social team!!!🙂
January 22, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
A new paper, "Honeypots: a review of repletism across the ants" from our lab was published today, with grad student Bianca Nogueira as first author, and co-authors DiemQuynh Nguyen, @adriatica.bsky.social, and @haidomyrmex.bsky.social.

It was a labor of love!
doi.org/10.25849/myr...
🧵
February 4, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Congratulations to my amazing brother @remyleboeuf.bsky.social for winning a best instrumental composition at the #grammys !!! You are incredible.

Now both my brothers have won Grammys. I need to step it up somehow…
February 1, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Excited to share a new piece of work in @embojournal.org

Parasitoid wasps hijack a bacterial gene that governs venoms against host. Coauthors include @rokaslab.bsky.social and others.

Read more from: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A bacterial gene acquired by parasitoid wasps contributes to venom secretion against host defence - The EMBO Journal
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important source of gene innovation in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Several genes acquired by hosts of parasitoid wasps via HGT have been reported to prot...
link.springer.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
We need to be shouting about the effects of this on junior researchers from the roofs, writing to our MPs. We are risking a "missing generation" of researchers.
February 1, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Hey Everyone, the abstract submission deadline for the International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects #IUSSI26 is only four days away. Send in your contribution now!
iussi2026.org
XX. International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects
Visit the post for more.
iussi2026.org
January 27, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
1. From lung cancer to climate change, capitalist governments are notoriously slow to recognize and remedy the negative externalities generated by corporate activity.

Generative AI is no exception. Large language models are proving a disaster in numerous spheres of public life.
January 28, 2026 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Hard to read but important👩‍🔬💪

📉Women are still underrepresented in #academia, their papers with longer review time than men’s. What are steps to #CloseTheGaps? Transparency, accountability are not optional if we’re serious about #WomenInScience @womeninstem.bsky.social

@PLOSBiology: plos.io/4658FZN
January 21, 2026 at 12:29 PM
🤯 biology is amazing
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
January 21, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
The Joy of Becoming Worthless…except to each other rushkoff.substack.com/p/the-joy-of...
The Joy of Becoming Worthless…except to each other
Life after capitalism may not suck for humans
rushkoff.substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Seeking scientist volunteers for the 2026 spring semester! Want to practice science communication and help author a 🌟comic🌟 about your research? Apply by 1/25. Please share widely. bit.ly/comicscollabspring2026
January 15, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
New work from @miyapan.bsky.social and our team, bringing ant, bee, and wasp labs together. @chuanxinyu.bsky.social shows that the ANTSR locus we discovered in ants has determined sex for 150+ My across bees and stinging wasps 🐜🐝, despite virtually no sequence conservation 😮 doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
January 6, 2026 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Excited to share Alison's @alisonkickuth.bsky.social paper from the lab out in @nature.com this week! We uncovered how a mechanical ratchet mechanism drives cytokinesis in early #zebrafish embryos. Read more in this thread 🧵 and at www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🤩
@poldresden.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de
January 7, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
if this reporting is accurate, this is a five alarm fire, EU has credible information that US preparations for an invasion have begun and is ready to act forcefully in concert
January 11, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Last weekend to apply!
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨

Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social

- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun

Deadline: 14/1/2026

Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
January 9, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The deadline to apply for PhD positions with me (or anyone in my department!) are coming up: Jan 7th.
www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/study/postgr...
Introduction to Postgraduate Courses | Department of Zoology
Postgraduate study in the Department of Zoology We have about 100 postgraduate students working on an MPhil or PhD in Zoology at any one time and they form a strong and lively community.
www.zoo.cam.ac.uk
January 3, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Great thread. The last things that I think are essential to consider are 1. the AI -> deskilling and dangerous loss of digital sovereignty and 2. Long reach of impending demographic change
It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
January 2, 2026 at 10:31 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
21st Century Book burning.
January 2, 2026 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Adria LeBoeuf
New paper in Science Advances!

Ants traded strength for numbers, and it worked 🐜

Our study comparing 500+ ant species shows how the evolution of cheaper workers fueled bigger colonies and faster diversification, shaping ants’ rise across the planet.

🔗To read here: doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx8068
December 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM