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Roli Roberts

@roliroberts.bsky.social

4.5K followers 8.3K following 280 posts

Senior Editor at @plosbiology.org; Scientist, Humanist, Optimist and Recovering Academic. All opinions my own.

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Roli Roberts @roliroberts.bsky.social · Dec 16

IT'S OFFICIAL! From today, @plos.org and its journals are no longer posting on Twitter/X. If you want to carry on hearing about great science in our journal, follow @plosbiology.org on Bluesky here: bsky.app/profile/plos...

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Roli Roberts @roliroberts.bsky.social · 2d

As a kid growing up in rural Africa, I was aware of tsetse flies when we splatted their bodies full of our blood, but if I'd known that the #trypanosomes that they carry looked like this creepy pic from @mariezelena.bsky.social @mbonhivers.bsky.social &co, I would've been much more scared...

PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 5d

The flagellar pocket collar (FPC) is a cytoskeletal structure essential for nutrient uptake & immune evasion in #Trypanosome. @mbonhivers.bsky.social &co use U-ExM to provide novel insights into FPC biogenesis, and reveal 2 unknown cytoskeletal structures @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4n3bWi6

A Trypanosoma brucei cell visualized by confocal microscopy after ultrastructure expansion. The cell was immunolabelled for the BILBO1 protein (yellow) and stained with fluorescent NHS-ester (grey). The flagellar pocket is highlighted in pink. Credit: Marie Zelená

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 4d

in 2011, the president of antifa hired me to give fashion consultancy to the organization. i recommended everyone wear navy suits with tan shoes, dress sneakers, and golf polos with slim chinos. if you arrested everyone today wearing these things, you'd destroy antifa

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CajunBlueAZ ⚜️🇺🇸 🇺🇦 @cajunblue.bsky.social · 6d

🚨🚨🚨Chicago - NOW!🚨🚨🚨
1/2

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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 6d

I can’t believe I have to say this, but historically, masked men who kidnap families in the middle of the night are usually not the good guys.

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 7d

#WarRavagedPortland

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Matthias Eberl @eberlmat.bsky.social · 7d

“I tell my children this is the best country in the world to be black – because it’s a country that sees people, not labels.”

Kemi Badenoch, 2023

“In the hour and a half I was filming news there I didn’t see another white face.“

Robert Jenrick, 2025

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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 8d

Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘October’
(From a 1958 calendar by the always fabulous Ronald Lampitt)

A scene on a busy, beautifully tended allotment. The star of the scene is the wonderfully delicate, slightly hazy October light.

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Greg Copenhaver @copenhaverlab.bsky.social · 8d

The @uncchapelhill.bsky.social Department of Biology is searching for tenure-track Assistant Professor in Plant Molecular Biology. Chapel Hill is a wonderful place and Biology is an amazing group of people. To apply, see:
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

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Dan Routledge @droutledge.bsky.social · 9d

In our latest Editorial, PLOS Medicine Executive Editor Helen Lumbard and I call for the scientific community to tackle research fraud and paper mills head on by creating robust systems of data sharing and transparency 🧪 #PLOSMedicine #datasharing #openscience
@plos.org

📄➡️ plos.io/4nDKQ2c

Open science and transparency are our strongest tools in the fight against fraudulent publishing activities

PLOS Medicine Executive Editor, Helen Lumbard, and Senior Editor, Front Section, Daniel Routledge, call for the scientific community to tackle research fraud and paper mills head on by creating robust...

journals.plos.org

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Felicity Hannah @felicityhannah.bsky.social · 12d

This article manages to name her husband before it names… her.

Article reads:
Woman named as Archbishop of Canterbury in historic first

The 63-year-old archbishop-designate is married to Eamonn Mullally, with whom she has two children. Originally from Woking in Surrey, she was the UK's chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004.

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 12d

How many times did we read in the media that electric vehicle sales were down or stalling?

Look at the actual figures - the opposite is the case.

Often journalists pick one quarter or month to make such claims. What matters are annual sales.

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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 11d

Measure Twice, Cut Once

xkcd.com/3149/

Comic. “Measure [Twice], cut [Once]” -Carpenty Proverb. [Scatter plot with number of measurements on y axis and number of cuts on x axis. Points in a descending line on graph: surveyor, surgeon, good carpenter, careless carpenter, really bad carpenter, serial killer]

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eLife @elife.bsky.social · 12d

🌱 Using ‘compelling’ methods, including #CryoET, researchers mapped spinach thylakoid membranes at single-molecule precision, revealing how photosynthetic complexes are organised and settling long-standing debates on chloroplast architecture.
buff.ly/P8ZTl0A

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 13d

If you hate the Pope because he is too “liberal”, I have some very bad news for you about Jesus.

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LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 15d

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 15d

Compelling and quite disturbing...

LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 15d

Land of the free. Home of the brave.

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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 15d

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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 16d

1. More Americans work at the Cheesecake Factory than in the entire coal industry, and that won't change. It's because of automation, not snooty libs.

2. Coal energy is now more expensive than wind and solar.

3. So this means: higher energy prices, more pollution, no jobs benefit. Genius!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16d

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Fox: "We're announcing today expanded programs to help the American coal industry. We're helping it because for years it has been under assault. It was out of fashion with the chardonnay set in San Francisco, Boulder, and NYC ... coal just makes the world go round."

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Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 16d

Incredible pairing of text and chart

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 20d

Like any bully, Trump is fundamentally a coward.

When he feels humiliated, he lashes out.

Every authoritarian action he is taking must be understood against the backdrop of his declining popularity.

He feigns strength, but he's operating from a place of weakness.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 20d

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 20d

An important message from my wife, a leading breast imaging researcher, and a 10+ year survivor of invasive breast cancer found because she knew enough to advocate for her own effective breast cancer screening.

drwendieberg.bsky.social @drwendieberg.bsky.social · 21d

Today is #WorldDenseBreastDay! Educate yourself and those you love about the higher risks of missed cancer on mammograms and of developing breast cancer. Great resources @densebreastinfo.bsky.social @densebreastscanada.bsky.social. Thank you @bcrfcure.bsky.social for supporting our research!

DenseBreast-info.org @densebreastinfo.bsky.social · 21d

📻 Healthcare providers! ICYMI: DBI’s Chief Scientific Advisor, @drwendieberg.bsky.social, joined Dr. Miriam Green on SiriusXM to cover #DenseBreasts, supplemental screening, and insurance coverage. Don’t miss these insights!

Catch it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVG9...

#WorldDenseBreastDay

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21d

Kimmel: "This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."

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Dr Rachel Clarke @drrachelclarke.com · 21d

Please, @theguardian.com, stop writing headlines that give credibility to Trump’s baseless medical misinformation. The way you’re reporting this makes you part of the problem.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 21d

Is paracetamol safe during pregnancy and does it have links to autism?

US president’s claims around painkiller also known as Tylenol contradict scientific consensus

www.theguardian.com

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London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine @lshtm.bsky.social · 22d

Paracetamol use during pregnancy does not increase risk of autism

Laurie Tomlinson explains best available evidence shows #paracetamol safe to take during pregnancy & urges parents to seek reputable sources of information, & medical advice from GP.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...

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