Rohan Williams
@briefutopia.bsky.social
Academic computational biologist, microbial ecology, metagenomics and multi-omics, unashamed scientific generalist, biotech cofounder, Australian lives/work in Singapore
Reposted by Rohan Williams
This is such a shock. Such a smart and generous guy gone too soon.
We mourn the passing of Peer Bork, EMBO Member since 2000: https://www.embl.org/news/embl-announcements/in-remembrance-of-peer-bork/
In remembrance of Peer Bork | EMBL
EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.
www.embl.org
January 17, 2026 at 3:17 AM
This is such a shock. Such a smart and generous guy gone too soon.
Reposted by Rohan Williams
I've long respected Peer Bork's work as top-
tier in the field and always hoped to get to chat with him at a conference someday. Very sad to see this.
tier in the field and always hoped to get to chat with him at a conference someday. Very sad to see this.
very sad news. Peer Bork was one of the leaders of our field, a wonderful scientist, and he's much too young to be gone. www.embl.org/news/embl-an...
In remembrance of Peer Bork | EMBL
EMBL and its community are deeply saddened by the death of Peer Bork, the organisation’s Interim Director General.
www.embl.org
January 16, 2026 at 8:31 PM
I've long respected Peer Bork's work as top-
tier in the field and always hoped to get to chat with him at a conference someday. Very sad to see this.
tier in the field and always hoped to get to chat with him at a conference someday. Very sad to see this.
Reposted by Rohan Williams
You can use fossil gas permitting documents to help track data centre development in the US. This is maybe a lil clue that they're not all running on beautiful clean energy
www.404media.co/researchers-... @404media.co
www.404media.co/researchers-... @404media.co
Researchers Are Hunting America for Hidden Datacenters
The nonprofit research group Epoch AI is tracking the physical imprint of the technology that’s changing the world.
www.404media.co
January 8, 2026 at 2:38 PM
You can use fossil gas permitting documents to help track data centre development in the US. This is maybe a lil clue that they're not all running on beautiful clean energy
www.404media.co/researchers-... @404media.co
www.404media.co/researchers-... @404media.co
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3US... despatches from a bygone world...I had a brilliant and inspired science teacher (Glen McCaffrey) who showed us this short film series in Year 8...small things that can be hugely influential on life's trajectory
The Search for Solutions, Trial & Error - Human-Powered Record & More (1979) | 16mm Film Scan
YouTube video by 16mm Time Machine
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:10 PM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3US... despatches from a bygone world...I had a brilliant and inspired science teacher (Glen McCaffrey) who showed us this short film series in Year 8...small things that can be hugely influential on life's trajectory
Reposted by Rohan Williams
The SCALE of destruction is really hard to fathom. This, obviously, is just one example. It will take a *generation* or more to recover and much will be lost irrevocably. We are watching the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
“The Trump administration is closing NASA’s largest research library on Friday, a facility that houses tens of thousands of books, documents and journals — many of them not digitized or available anywhere else.”
NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:29 PM
The SCALE of destruction is really hard to fathom. This, obviously, is just one example. It will take a *generation* or more to recover and much will be lost irrevocably. We are watching the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... Australia, a society where obnoxious behaviours are infinitely justifiable in the name of 'having a good time'...
For most families, New Year’s Eve is a time to come together. For mine, it’s time for a water-bomb war | Patrick Marlborough
For close to 50 years we’ve waged an ever-escalating battle against one other – and our home town
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:59 AM
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... Australia, a society where obnoxious behaviours are infinitely justifiable in the name of 'having a good time'...
soundcloud.com/saphileaum/s... current listening favourite
Saphileaum - Live At Symbiotica, Nunisi Resort 2021
LINE UP
Saphileaum (Live)
Tedi
Ani Kvirkvelia
V.C.V.S.
HVL (Live)
Ani Zakareishvili (Live)
soundcloud.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
soundcloud.com/saphileaum/s... current listening favourite
www.timeout.com/singapore/ne... very sorry to see this excellent restaurant close its doors...particularly for weekend dim sum. With Kinokuniya on the floor below, it made for a near-perfect Saturday or Sunday...
East Ocean Teochew Restaurant at Orchard to close on December 28 after more than three decades
The management cites the lack of successors as the reason for this closure.
www.timeout.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:51 AM
www.timeout.com/singapore/ne... very sorry to see this excellent restaurant close its doors...particularly for weekend dim sum. With Kinokuniya on the floor below, it made for a near-perfect Saturday or Sunday...
Tanjong Pagar docks, looking south from the SAM cafe. On the right you can see the eastern end of Sentosa, and in the between the gantry cranes, either the western end of Batam or Lumba Besar or possibly Bulan. An unusually clear day for the parts...
December 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Tanjong Pagar docks, looking south from the SAM cafe. On the right you can see the eastern end of Sentosa, and in the between the gantry cranes, either the western end of Batam or Lumba Besar or possibly Bulan. An unusually clear day for the parts...
www.nature.com/articles/d41... an excellent piece by @rochmyaningsih.bsky.social in @nature.com this week about the massive impact of the (under- and mis-reported) recent SEA tropical cyclones...'the world has mostly overlooked this emergency'
The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention
A region unused to tropical cyclones has had three in a week. The world needs to ask why this happened, not look away.
www.nature.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:31 AM
www.nature.com/articles/d41... an excellent piece by @rochmyaningsih.bsky.social in @nature.com this week about the massive impact of the (under- and mis-reported) recent SEA tropical cyclones...'the world has mostly overlooked this emergency'
Carl Gibson-Hill, as seen at the National Library of Singapore
October 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Carl Gibson-Hill, as seen at the National Library of Singapore
Reposted by Rohan Williams
most people don't want politics that hurt other people. we just want a long overcoat like david bowie and affordable housing
October 20, 2025 at 5:46 AM
most people don't want politics that hurt other people. we just want a long overcoat like david bowie and affordable housing
Reposted by Rohan Williams
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Reposted by Rohan Williams
Reposted by Rohan Williams
will we take climate change seriously now?
alaska national guard transporting evacuees in western alaska to safe, warm shelters outside of the region
October 16, 2025 at 1:16 PM
will we take climate change seriously now?
Reposted by Rohan Williams
I read and write, I explore and I question, I design and script and analyse, I interpret and communicate. I do this to train my mind in the hopes of one day generating new knowledge. New knowledge that might even be useful, and that no algorithm can yet be trained on.
Y'all. I just got ChatGPT to do everything in R for this manuscript. I mean EVERYTHING. And it's all legit and reproducible. I'm shook.
How are we mentoring our trainees in statistics now? Who needs to learn coding in R line by line, and who doesn't?
scienceforeveryone.science/statistics-i...
How are we mentoring our trainees in statistics now? Who needs to learn coding in R line by line, and who doesn't?
scienceforeveryone.science/statistics-i...
Statistics in the era of AI
How do we mentor, teach, and do stats when AI can do so much of the work?
scienceforeveryone.science
October 12, 2025 at 8:07 AM
I read and write, I explore and I question, I design and script and analyse, I interpret and communicate. I do this to train my mind in the hopes of one day generating new knowledge. New knowledge that might even be useful, and that no algorithm can yet be trained on.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05195 a wonderful outreach book just posted on on #arXiv by the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA). These personal narratives are hugely important for young people to see their way forward, esp. w/o the presence of immediate role models.
Inspiring stories from women in astronomy in Africa
In preparation for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly (GA) 2024, the first GA held in Africa, the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA) embarked on a visionary project...
arxiv.org
October 8, 2025 at 2:24 AM
arxiv.org/abs/2510.05195 a wonderful outreach book just posted on on #arXiv by the African Network of Women in Astronomy (AfNWA). These personal narratives are hugely important for young people to see their way forward, esp. w/o the presence of immediate role models.
Reposted by Rohan Williams
Introducing AutoOpenRaman, an automated, inexpensive microscope setup for Raman spectroscopy! We recapitulated many features of expensive commercial systems using economical hardware and open-source software 🧵 [1/8]
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource...
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource...
AutoOpenRaman: Low-cost, automated Raman spectroscopy
We developed AutoOpenRaman, an automated, inexpensive microscope for Raman spectroscopy. We recapitulated many features of expensive commercial Raman spectroscopy systems using economical hardware and...
research.arcadiascience.com
September 16, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Introducing AutoOpenRaman, an automated, inexpensive microscope setup for Raman spectroscopy! We recapitulated many features of expensive commercial systems using economical hardware and open-source software 🧵 [1/8]
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource...
research.arcadiascience.com/pub/resource...
Reposted by Rohan Williams
Non-Conventional Yeasts as a Source of Genetic Diversity and Biotechnological Potential | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Non-Conventional Yeasts as a Source of Genetic Diversity and Biotechnological Potential | Annual Reviews
Most of our current knowledge about yeast is based on the workhorse Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, can this yeast represent the vast array of natural yeast life-forms? This review discusses signif...
www.annualreviews.org
August 29, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Non-Conventional Yeasts as a Source of Genetic Diversity and Biotechnological Potential | Annual Reviews - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
aka a 'bullshit artist'...to evoke an old Australian phrase...
The people dominating our political landscape, culture, and economy are just so stupid and full of shit it's almost impossible to describe
August 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM
aka a 'bullshit artist'...to evoke an old Australian phrase...
really sorry to see the #theprojector #singapore shutting down...great films, spaces and vibes...the pop-up at Riverside Point was my favourite. Blade Runner at the Pasir Panjang Power Station was unforgettable. Thanks to everyone involved, esp. the volunteers, and good luck for future ventures
The Projector at Golden Mile Tower shuts down on Aug. 19 after 11 years - Mothership.SG - News from Singapore, Asia and around the world
mothership.sg/2025/08/proj...
mothership.sg/2025/08/proj...
The Projector at Golden Mile Tower shuts down on Aug. 19 after 11 years
The Projector shared that it will enter voluntary liquidation.
mothership.sg
August 19, 2025 at 6:54 AM
really sorry to see the #theprojector #singapore shutting down...great films, spaces and vibes...the pop-up at Riverside Point was my favourite. Blade Runner at the Pasir Panjang Power Station was unforgettable. Thanks to everyone involved, esp. the volunteers, and good luck for future ventures
Sunday afternoon walk at Marina Coastal Park #Singapore
August 18, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Sunday afternoon walk at Marina Coastal Park #Singapore
the @economist.com has a good summary of this disappointing episode
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
August 17, 2025 at 7:12 AM
the @economist.com has a good summary of this disappointing episode
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Reposted by Rohan Williams
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the A-bombing of Nagasaki. In this podcast, Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki discusses the importance of pursuing a culture of peace: "We have to move forward, even if it is one little step" "to realize a world without nuclear weapons" open.substack.com/pub/annelise...
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki
On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing, Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki calls on the world to remember—and act.
open.substack.com
August 9, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the A-bombing of Nagasaki. In this podcast, Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki discusses the importance of pursuing a culture of peace: "We have to move forward, even if it is one little step" "to realize a world without nuclear weapons" open.substack.com/pub/annelise...
Picked up a book request at the Central Library this afternoon and decided to back walk to the Life Sciences Institute via Kent Ridge Road…an isolated and vaguely haunting stretch of high road positioned between the north and south sides of #NUS campus
July 16, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Picked up a book request at the Central Library this afternoon and decided to back walk to the Life Sciences Institute via Kent Ridge Road…an isolated and vaguely haunting stretch of high road positioned between the north and south sides of #NUS campus