Cahir O'Kane
@cahirokane.bsky.social
Genetics professor: axon ER & degeneration in Drosophila, spastic paraplegia. Rejoin EU. Not the GAA commentator. Speak only for myself. Gaeilge, Deutsch. Maghera (Co Derry), Cambridge (UK).
https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/okane
https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/okane
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
🚨BOOM!! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 50,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 100,000. If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
🚨BOOM!! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 50,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 100,000. If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Why the two-child limit has to go, in a chart.
November 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Why the two-child limit has to go, in a chart.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
A new probe illuminates endo-lysosomal Ca²⁺ measurements: a role for vesicular IP3 receptors? Anthony Morgan @ox.ac.uk highlights a new reporter for endo-lysosomal Ca²⁺ developed by Calvo et al. (rupress.org/jcb/article/...) in Spotlight: rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellSignaling
#CellSignaling
Direct measurements of luminal Ca2+ with endo-lysosomal GFP-aequorin reveal functional IP3 receptors
Calvo et al. describe a new bioluminescent sensor for measuring luminal Ca2+ in a mildly acidic subcompartment of the endo-lysosomal system. This Ca2+ stor
rupress.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A new probe illuminates endo-lysosomal Ca²⁺ measurements: a role for vesicular IP3 receptors? Anthony Morgan @ox.ac.uk highlights a new reporter for endo-lysosomal Ca²⁺ developed by Calvo et al. (rupress.org/jcb/article/...) in Spotlight: rupress.org/jcb/article/...
#CellSignaling
#CellSignaling
Good.
The Taoiseach found himself on the end of a grilling from local media over the government's immigration policy at the G20 in South Africa yesterday.
www.thejournal.ie/botswana-ire...
www.thejournal.ie/botswana-ire...
Taoiseach feels the heat in South Africa as local radio grills him on immigration
The Taoiseach was questioned a journalist from a Botswana radio journalist whose late grandmother is from Ireland.
www.thejournal.ie
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Good.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old.
www.whatimreading.net
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
It was years ago.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not in a hurtful way.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not with intent.
Did you ever racially abuse fellow pupils?
Not genuine abuse.
😮🫣😬😱 ~AA
Yes, Irish is a great language. Some things are unusual for English speakers, like how consonants & their pronunciation can vary with context & change with grammatical rules, and the spelling system designed to deal with these. But once you're over these, it's just another Indo-European language.
There's been a significant surge in interest in learning the Irish language in Britain, according to those involved in teaching it. One of the largest online education providers in the UK, City Lit, says that Irish is its second fastest growing course
Celtic revival: The growth of Gaeilge in Britain
There's been a significant surge in interest in learning the Irish language in Britain, according to those involved in teaching it. One of the largest online education providers in the UK, City Lit, s...
www.rte.ie
November 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Yes, Irish is a great language. Some things are unusual for English speakers, like how consonants & their pronunciation can vary with context & change with grammatical rules, and the spelling system designed to deal with these. But once you're over these, it's just another Indo-European language.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
what a surprise, majority of fash "Ireland is full" posts on shitter are from outside Ireland
November 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
what a surprise, majority of fash "Ireland is full" posts on shitter are from outside Ireland
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Which of these is the "cause of our division"?
Those who came under the Ukraine Schemes to be protected from Russia's aggression?
Those sponsored to work in the Health and Care sector?
The BNOs from Hong Kong?
The students attending our universities?
Those who came under the Ukraine Schemes to be protected from Russia's aggression?
Those sponsored to work in the Health and Care sector?
The BNOs from Hong Kong?
The students attending our universities?
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood made more explicit her argument that when ethnic minorities face racism, "we have no choice but to ask: what is the cause of our division"
Her answer is the level of net migration, 2019-23 causes racism. (She on Monday said it was caused by the scale of asylum)
Her answer is the level of net migration, 2019-23 causes racism. (She on Monday said it was caused by the scale of asylum)
November 23, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Which of these is the "cause of our division"?
Those who came under the Ukraine Schemes to be protected from Russia's aggression?
Those sponsored to work in the Health and Care sector?
The BNOs from Hong Kong?
The students attending our universities?
Those who came under the Ukraine Schemes to be protected from Russia's aggression?
Those sponsored to work in the Health and Care sector?
The BNOs from Hong Kong?
The students attending our universities?
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Tusk slips the knife in right at the end.
November 23, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Tusk slips the knife in right at the end.
The more you feed the white nationalist/fascist crocodile, the more it will come back voracious for more.
After more than 10 years of “the Danish Model”, nativism is hegemonic in the country, the far right polls near level highs again, and the Social Democrats lost Copenhagen and poll at historic low.
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The more you feed the white nationalist/fascist crocodile, the more it will come back voracious for more.
Anti-vax sentiment in the USA affects vaccine development and availability for the whole world
Moderna is most shorted stock in S&P 500 as Americans skip jabs on.ft.com/48vPERR
Moderna is most shorted stock in S&P 500 as Americans skip jabs
Maker of Covid-19 shots has slumped since pandemic as people turn against vaccines
on.ft.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Anti-vax sentiment in the USA affects vaccine development and availability for the whole world
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
This focuses on politics. But we should also care about *outcomes*.
In the UK, migrants (both from EU and elsewhere) are more likely to have a job than the UK born. In Denmark, there's a gap of 15-20%. Similarly for education outcomes.
Why would we want to copy that?
In the UK, migrants (both from EU and elsewhere) are more likely to have a job than the UK born. In Denmark, there's a gap of 15-20%. Similarly for education outcomes.
Why would we want to copy that?
After more than 10 years of “the Danish Model”, nativism is hegemonic in the country, the far right polls near level highs again, and the Social Democrats lost Copenhagen and poll at historic low.
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths!
Me in @theguardian.com
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:31 AM
This focuses on politics. But we should also care about *outcomes*.
In the UK, migrants (both from EU and elsewhere) are more likely to have a job than the UK born. In Denmark, there's a gap of 15-20%. Similarly for education outcomes.
Why would we want to copy that?
In the UK, migrants (both from EU and elsewhere) are more likely to have a job than the UK born. In Denmark, there's a gap of 15-20%. Similarly for education outcomes.
Why would we want to copy that?
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
It’s a sign of how insane the news cycle is these days that this historic failure of government policy got just one day of news coverage this week.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
BREAKING: UK’s response to Covid was “too little too late”. Acting faster could have saved 23,000 lives in England according to the public inquiry.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
November 23, 2025 at 10:07 AM
It’s a sign of how insane the news cycle is these days that this historic failure of government policy got just one day of news coverage this week.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Language - not only one of humanity's distinctive traits, but one of its most amazing and beautiful ones.
Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n
What enables human language? A biocultural framework
Explaining the origins of language is a key challenge in understanding ourselves as a species. We present an empirical framework that draws on synergies across fields to facilitate robust studies of l...
www.science.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Language - not only one of humanity's distinctive traits, but one of its most amazing and beautiful ones.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
This! I have seen lab members and colleagues deploy machine learning with an amazing impact--right now AI means a million things and thus means nothing
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 23, 2025 at 1:27 PM
This! I have seen lab members and colleagues deploy machine learning with an amazing impact--right now AI means a million things and thus means nothing
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies
Ranawat et al. show the cryo-EM structures of Asgard archaeal chromatin assemblies,
revealing that the histone HHoB assembles into both compact closed and extended open
hypernucleosomes. The closed co...
www.cell.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Let’s wrap things up: my commentary on the Asgard hypernucleosomes.
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Congratulations to all the authors of the paper 🍾!
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
Cryo-EM reveals open and closed Asgard chromatin assemblies: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
This week feels historic, for the wrong reasons:
"Trump & Vance's long con has ended.. the con was that they were honest brokers... The Trump administration is now a mouthpiece for Russian demands & an agent to have Russian wishes met."
Their aim is now clear: to snooker Ukraine & Europe.
"Trump & Vance's long con has ended.. the con was that they were honest brokers... The Trump administration is now a mouthpiece for Russian demands & an agent to have Russian wishes met."
Their aim is now clear: to snooker Ukraine & Europe.
Read this and weep. A clear and depressing takedown of the Quisling Trump administration, its abject subservience to Russia and betrayal of Ukraine, and by extension, all of us in NATO. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Weekend Update #160: The US Becomes A Mouthpiece To Pass On Putin's Demands
Vance To The Fore; The 28 Points—Is It More Interesting Who Backed Them?
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This week feels historic, for the wrong reasons:
"Trump & Vance's long con has ended.. the con was that they were honest brokers... The Trump administration is now a mouthpiece for Russian demands & an agent to have Russian wishes met."
Their aim is now clear: to snooker Ukraine & Europe.
"Trump & Vance's long con has ended.. the con was that they were honest brokers... The Trump administration is now a mouthpiece for Russian demands & an agent to have Russian wishes met."
Their aim is now clear: to snooker Ukraine & Europe.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
the last 24 hours on X, summed up:
November 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
the last 24 hours on X, summed up:
Meanwhile, in Gaza. When will international journalists be allowed in again?
How AP News whitewashes genocide.
TESTING THE CEASEFIRE??
Israel is *BREAKING* the ceasefire. Do you really think this would be the headline if Hamas killed 24 Israelis?
AP doesn’t even have the integrity to say Israel killed Palestinians. “Are dead” is passive to avoid attributing liability.
TESTING THE CEASEFIRE??
Israel is *BREAKING* the ceasefire. Do you really think this would be the headline if Hamas killed 24 Israelis?
AP doesn’t even have the integrity to say Israel killed Palestinians. “Are dead” is passive to avoid attributing liability.
November 23, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Meanwhile, in Gaza. When will international journalists be allowed in again?
So Trump, Rubio and Witkoff - three finer gentlemen you never could encounter - have been pushing a Russian plan without saying so. Makes them Russian foreign agents.
So the US was aware that the world thought the document was US endorsed, yet waited until now to clarify that it wasn't?
How could the US have communicated to Ukraine that they had to accept the proposal or lose US support without clarifying that the Russian proposal wasn't actually their proposal?
How could the US have communicated to Ukraine that they had to accept the proposal or lose US support without clarifying that the Russian proposal wasn't actually their proposal?
November 23, 2025 at 10:10 AM
So Trump, Rubio and Witkoff - three finer gentlemen you never could encounter - have been pushing a Russian plan without saying so. Makes them Russian foreign agents.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
This is an important and heartfelt letter. Unfortunately there has been a real blindspot among some people on the British and European left. We should oppose imperialism and fascism, wherever they occur.
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
An Open Letter to Zarah Sultana
Galina Rymbu, an activist living in Ukraine, responds to Zarah Sultana's recent remarks on support for Ukraine.
heckle.scot
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 AM
This is an important and heartfelt letter. Unfortunately there has been a real blindspot among some people on the British and European left. We should oppose imperialism and fascism, wherever they occur.
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
heckle.scot/2025/11/an-o...
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
So the line is that he wasn't getting paid for any of this
November 22, 2025 at 5:33 PM
So the line is that he wasn't getting paid for any of this
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
People know exactly what‘s going on.
Why do people think England flags have been raised on lampposts?
White adults
National pride: 26%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 49%
Both: 19%
Ethnic minority adults
National pride: 15%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 55%
Both: 20%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
White adults
National pride: 26%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 49%
Both: 19%
Ethnic minority adults
National pride: 15%
Anti-migrant/minority sentiment: 55%
Both: 20%
yougov.co.uk/society/arti...
November 22, 2025 at 8:51 PM
People know exactly what‘s going on.
Reposted by Cahir O'Kane
“I’ve realised that the real divide ain’t left and right - it’s up and down”
Oh dear,
When Country Music is Coming out with these lyrics, Republicans better watch out.
When Country Music is Coming out with these lyrics, Republicans better watch out.
November 22, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“I’ve realised that the real divide ain’t left and right - it’s up and down”