Wonderful read about the work ethos among 1980s Xerox service technicians and the importance of practical wisdom and storytelling. That’s what drew me to the community of multiphoton microscope tinkerers, and it explains why I find meaning in the unglamorous process of troubleshooting.

Applications are now open for the SWC Systems Neuroscience PhD Programme.

Join us in London!

🧠 World-class neuroscience training
💰 Fully-funded 4-year programme
🖥️ Close links to @gatsbyucl.bsky.social

Apply by 3 Nov: www.sainsburywellcome.org/web/content/...

Always nice to see in (pre-)print what our clients investigate with their INSS Assisted DIY microscope. Congratulations, @alexegeaweiss.bsky.social @bturner-bridger.bsky.social @petrznam.bsky.social @flor-iacaruso.bsky.social and all co-authors.

...all due to passion and the enthusiasm of the wonderful TAs and lecturers that make TENSS happen (only some with handles here): @pgupta-cshl.bsky.social @open-ephys.org @antblot.bsky.social @brunopichler.bsky.social @mtkostecki.bsky.social @neuroetho.bsky.social @alecamera.bsky.social

Fantastic work (as always) from Che-Hang Yu and colleagues in Spencer LaVere Smith's lab. Very neat method to increase scan speed and/or FOV in 2p microscopy. Commercially available from @pacificoptica.bsky.social. I'd love to build this for a client at some point! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Part 2

I've been working with Class 4 lasers for 25 years and I have yet to meet someone who gets genuinely excited about laser safety risk assessments. Thanks to artificial intelligence you can now create a pep talk from two artificially excited narrators to prepare you for the dullest of tasks 😂

That was a fun project! Thanks to Rob Lees, Adam Packer, and all the co-authors for inviting me to participate.
rdcu.be/edQXi

The information came from Conoptics' official UK distributor. Quite a trustworthy source, not just random hearsay.

Question for my multiphoton friends: I've heard that Conoptics, manufacturer of Pockels Cells for laser power attenuation, will cease trading in June 2025. But I can't find any official announcement about this. Can someone confirm whether this is true or not?

RIP Garth Hudson. Thanks for inventing the wah-wah clavinet sound! youtu.be/NKu0OTDvQ-w?...

Interested in understanding how things work? In particular the tools you use to study the brain? Join us at TENSS 2025 where we brainstorm ideas, build and debug microscopes, electrophysiology and behavior rigs amidst the picturesque Transylvanian hills! tenss.ro
Apply by: February 16th!

Merry Christmas!

Also in 1885, a different Paul received a patent for a very different perforated disc. The idea for an "electrical telescope" had struck Paul Nipkow on Christmas Eve of 1883. It enabled the first demonstration of television in 1926 and is still in use today for spinning-disc confocal microscopy.

My wife found this Christmas tree stand in my parents' basement. It's a Kalliope Gloriosa stand with integrated music box, manufactured in 1904. The principle of using a perforated disc to pluck tuned lamellae to produce musical notes was patented in 1885 by Paul Lochmann.

Pls reskeet! Just five more days to apply for this cool (admittedly, I'm biased) and fully-funded #PhD project in our lab!

Have you ever wondered how memories are processed downstream of the #hippocampus and how this is affected by #Alzheimer's? We believe we may find some answers by riding all the way down the fornix to the mammillary body. Apply here for a fully-funded #PhD with us: ovgu.b-ite.careers/56yvk