Dr Mike Ward
@schroedinger99.bsky.social
Retired data-modeller with background in genetics & philosophy of science. grandfather, sceptic, deracinated cosmopolitan, citizen of nowhere, & angry old man.
Pinned
Dr Mike Ward
@schroedinger99.bsky.social
· Oct 24
The Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics 1
A tree on the Greek island of Kos
michaelaward1.substack.com
michaelaward1.substack.com/p/the-inheri...
Part one of a (probably) six part series. (Three parts written thus far.)
Part one of a (probably) six part series. (Three parts written thus far.)
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
🧪PSA
New notices of #NIH awards now have language allowing grants to be terminated if they no longer “align” with agency “priorities”. This will create uncertainty b/c we can’t count on funding if it can be arbitrarily terminated while a study is in progress.
Via @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social on IG
New notices of #NIH awards now have language allowing grants to be terminated if they no longer “align” with agency “priorities”. This will create uncertainty b/c we can’t count on funding if it can be arbitrarily terminated while a study is in progress.
Via @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social on IG
November 24, 2025 at 6:48 PM
🧪PSA
New notices of #NIH awards now have language allowing grants to be terminated if they no longer “align” with agency “priorities”. This will create uncertainty b/c we can’t count on funding if it can be arbitrarily terminated while a study is in progress.
Via @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social on IG
New notices of #NIH awards now have language allowing grants to be terminated if they no longer “align” with agency “priorities”. This will create uncertainty b/c we can’t count on funding if it can be arbitrarily terminated while a study is in progress.
Via @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social on IG
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Can't seem to get backing for my film project "Noah: The Early Years". They all say the narrative lacks an ark.
November 24, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Can't seem to get backing for my film project "Noah: The Early Years". They all say the narrative lacks an ark.
. @adamrutherford.bsky.social and @matthewcobb.bsky.social on the wireless just now talking about Crick etc al
November 24, 2025 at 9:23 AM
. @adamrutherford.bsky.social and @matthewcobb.bsky.social on the wireless just now talking about Crick etc al
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
(Once again) this is a Brexit reflection. ‘Global’ Britain was meant to mitigate losses from Brexit and surpass EU membership. That ‘vision’ was based on trade deals and liberalised ‘fair’ immigration. The latter is now being dismantled and the former relies on no defunct liberal multilateralism.
Trade folk (including myself) are unconvinced there is much of a growth dividend for Rachel Reeves from agreements with India, EU, and US. Just as there's no evidence of positive impact from independent UK trade policy since 2021. www.politico.eu/article/rach...
Rachel Reeves hopes trade deals can save Britain’s budget. Economists aren’t convinced.
With a difficult budget looming, the chancellor has increasingly turned her gaze overseas.
www.politico.eu
November 24, 2025 at 8:18 AM
(Once again) this is a Brexit reflection. ‘Global’ Britain was meant to mitigate losses from Brexit and surpass EU membership. That ‘vision’ was based on trade deals and liberalised ‘fair’ immigration. The latter is now being dismantled and the former relies on no defunct liberal multilateralism.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Do we really think tinkering with rules about ILR etc will fundamentally change the incentives of those risking their lives, and those of their kids in dinghies? And is legitimising racism by seeing it as a logical reaction to policy failure really takes basis on which to proceed?
November 23, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Do we really think tinkering with rules about ILR etc will fundamentally change the incentives of those risking their lives, and those of their kids in dinghies? And is legitimising racism by seeing it as a logical reaction to policy failure really takes basis on which to proceed?
🧪
And here's the paper, with @statsepi.bsky.social and @deevybee.bsky.social: Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...
Conceptual and methodological flaws undermine claims of a link between the gut microbiome and autism
Claims that the gut microbiome causally contributes to autism regularly appear in
the scientific literature and popular press. Mitchell et al. critically examine influential
studies underpinning these...
www.cell.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:55 PM
🧪
Finally got around to completing @iandunt.bsky.social's and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social's Origin Story mini-series on socialism and can wholeheartedly recommend the whole thing. Very nuanced and (IMHO) entirely correct conclusions at the end. open.spotify.com/episode/3Tn7...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Finally got around to completing @iandunt.bsky.social's and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social's Origin Story mini-series on socialism and can wholeheartedly recommend the whole thing. Very nuanced and (IMHO) entirely correct conclusions at the end. open.spotify.com/episode/3Tn7...
1) My sister in law (originally from Brandenburg) now lives in Schleswig, or possibly Holstein, at any rate, somewhere not too far from Kiel, and I'd long noticed that it's all a bit Danish looking round those parts, and the people are temperamentally more like Scandinavians than Prussians.
November 18, 2025 at 3:28 PM
1) My sister in law (originally from Brandenburg) now lives in Schleswig, or possibly Holstein, at any rate, somewhere not too far from Kiel, and I'd long noticed that it's all a bit Danish looking round those parts, and the people are temperamentally more like Scandinavians than Prussians.
This looks very promising!
Chemists discovered a powerful hidden antibiotic that’s 100 times stronger than existing ones and effective against deadly superbugs.
The study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧪🧵⬇️
The study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧪🧵⬇️
November 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
This looks very promising!
#bbclaurak Couldn't at least one person point out that the ECHR is not the thing that is preventing us from deporting asylum seekers.
November 16, 2025 at 9:47 AM
#bbclaurak Couldn't at least one person point out that the ECHR is not the thing that is preventing us from deporting asylum seekers.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
The only way this 20 year thing works is if it actually deters. If it doesn’t, it just stores up more and more problems, more and more costs - lawyers, bureaucrats etc - in an ever-accumulating mass.
And there’s no real reason to believe it will deter. Deterrence generally is overrated.
And there’s no real reason to believe it will deter. Deterrence generally is overrated.
November 16, 2025 at 8:45 AM
The only way this 20 year thing works is if it actually deters. If it doesn’t, it just stores up more and more problems, more and more costs - lawyers, bureaucrats etc - in an ever-accumulating mass.
And there’s no real reason to believe it will deter. Deterrence generally is overrated.
And there’s no real reason to believe it will deter. Deterrence generally is overrated.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
November 16, 2025 at 7:04 AM
The golden age of diversity and democracy in Oz.
You (or at least I) learn something new (and interesting) every day:
This week's newly unpaywalled post: What on earth is a “stink pipe”, when it's at home?
When a lamppost isn’t a lamppost
What on earth is a “stink pipe”, when it's at home?
jonn.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:15 PM
You (or at least I) learn something new (and interesting) every day:
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
And has been pointed out, fundamentally, this is about scapegoating vulnerable people who made rational decisions to flee, and you or I would have done the same, but somehow they are "bad people" because they aren't currently British.
(Hell, some used to be British)
(Hell, some used to be British)
November 15, 2025 at 12:02 PM
And has been pointed out, fundamentally, this is about scapegoating vulnerable people who made rational decisions to flee, and you or I would have done the same, but somehow they are "bad people" because they aren't currently British.
(Hell, some used to be British)
(Hell, some used to be British)
🧪
November 13, 2025 at 9:32 PM
🧪
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Liverpool, 1970s, photo by Don McCullin.
November 13, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Liverpool, 1970s, photo by Don McCullin.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
🧪 #scicomm This is an incredible finding. “We think it applies to 100% of lupus cases”
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Epstein-Barr virus appears to be trigger of lupus disease, say scientists
Connection of near-ubiquitous EBV to autoimmune disease affecting about 1 in 1,000 people may spur hunt for vaccine
www.theguardian.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
🧪 #scicomm This is an incredible finding. “We think it applies to 100% of lupus cases”
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
1) Time was that you could simply turn up at our local hospital phlebotomy department (with a note from your GP) and wait in line till they took your blood. The patients had to wait for the next available nurse, but they never had to wait long.
A few moons ago, they replaced this excellent system
A few moons ago, they replaced this excellent system
November 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
1) Time was that you could simply turn up at our local hospital phlebotomy department (with a note from your GP) and wait in line till they took your blood. The patients had to wait for the next available nurse, but they never had to wait long.
A few moons ago, they replaced this excellent system
A few moons ago, they replaced this excellent system
Birthday swag (by @jonnelledge.bsky.social). Let's see how many borders I get through while waiting here at the hospital.
November 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Birthday swag (by @jonnelledge.bsky.social). Let's see how many borders I get through while waiting here at the hospital.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
The BBC is apologising for its Panorama edit. It shouldn’t. First, the narrative is true: Donald Trump *did* incite the Capitol riot. Second, the apology won’t appease those attacking it. So why not at least stand for something?
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
The BBC was right about the Capitol riots. In a sane world, Trump would be in jail
The US President faced impeachment over the violence, and in a world where Republicans had more courage, he would have been found guilty
inews.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 7:05 AM
The BBC is apologising for its Panorama edit. It shouldn’t. First, the narrative is true: Donald Trump *did* incite the Capitol riot. Second, the apology won’t appease those attacking it. So why not at least stand for something?
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Jim Watson's death has predictably triggered a mass of 'wronged heroine Rosalind Franklin', esp on Bsky. This excellent piece by Crick's & Watson's biographers looks back at the actual evidence to give something much more like the story as those who were around in science at the time understood it.
www.nature.com/articles/d41... Another take on it here with more recent research.
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Jim Watson's death has predictably triggered a mass of 'wronged heroine Rosalind Franklin', esp on Bsky. This excellent piece by Crick's & Watson's biographers looks back at the actual evidence to give something much more like the story as those who were around in science at the time understood it.
Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
I met Watson several times, and every time it was replete with sexism and racism, often comically idiotic. We learn nothing new from showcasing his awful bigotry. But there is much still to be understood in the story of biology in the 20th century. This is where my interests lie.
November 8, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I met Watson several times, and every time it was replete with sexism and racism, often comically idiotic. We learn nothing new from showcasing his awful bigotry. But there is much still to be understood in the story of biology in the 20th century. This is where my interests lie.