Ary Shalizi
@unsequenced.bsky.social
Biologist, book nerd, parent, hype skeptic in no particular order.
Phenotypic screening for cell and chemical biology.
Also, random book reviews at link.
unsequenced.life
Phenotypic screening for cell and chemical biology.
Also, random book reviews at link.
unsequenced.life
“Jeffrey Epstein invited Deepak Chopra to lunch with George Church” is a sentence too wild to contemplate. Would they split one of those mammoth meatballs?
(Chopra had other plans that day.)
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029203.txt.pdf
(Chopra had other plans that day.)
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029203.txt.pdf
November 14, 2025 at 12:54 PM
“Jeffrey Epstein invited Deepak Chopra to lunch with George Church” is a sentence too wild to contemplate. Would they split one of those mammoth meatballs?
(Chopra had other plans that day.)
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029203.txt.pdf
(Chopra had other plans that day.)
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029203.txt.pdf
Text I received from a former labmate last night. Roughly sums up the vibe among molecular biologists I know.
November 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Text I received from a former labmate last night. Roughly sums up the vibe among molecular biologists I know.
What’s the connection between the Cuban revolution, the obesity epidemic, and GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic?
The history of #biotechnology is wild! Currently reading Robert Bud’s fascinating “The Uses of Life,” and came across the following passage:
1/n
The history of #biotechnology is wild! Currently reading Robert Bud’s fascinating “The Uses of Life,” and came across the following passage:
1/n
![Passage from “The Uses of Life”, by Robert Bud. Key section states
“With high sugar prices in the United States during the early 1960s, [Japanese] work [on glucose metabolic enzymes] came to the notice of the Clinton Corn Processing Company, which in 1967 launched a complex enzyme system. It was commercially viable, but it was only in 1974 that Novo, and Gist Brocades in the Netherlands, developed cheap and effective methods. In the United States, this led to the widespread replacement of sunrise in the soft drinks industry. The 1975 glucose isomerase sales of $15m had increased to $40m by 1977 and $50m in 1980.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qvcmzr3ttriadi27yamf6k5v/bafkreigfuu5utq2s7levjktfvujhvg2dtvzisnkwmy6vdonfxt3v6bbv44@jpeg)
October 6, 2025 at 5:27 AM
What’s the connection between the Cuban revolution, the obesity epidemic, and GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic?
The history of #biotechnology is wild! Currently reading Robert Bud’s fascinating “The Uses of Life,” and came across the following passage:
1/n
The history of #biotechnology is wild! Currently reading Robert Bud’s fascinating “The Uses of Life,” and came across the following passage:
1/n
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
“Don’t panic!” (h/t Douglas Adams)
“Don’t panic!” (h/t Douglas Adams)
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
“Don’t panic!” (h/t Douglas Adams)
“Don’t panic!” (h/t Douglas Adams)
Isaac Asimov, I, Robot and Foundation
“Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smells bad.” (h/t Spock)
“Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smells bad.” (h/t Spock)
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Isaac Asimov, I, Robot and Foundation
“Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smells bad.” (h/t Spock)
“Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smells bad.” (h/t Spock)
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
“Elves being a bunch of petty bitches to one another over a handful of sparkly rocks.”
“Elves being a bunch of petty bitches to one another over a handful of sparkly rocks.”
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
“Elves being a bunch of petty bitches to one another over a handful of sparkly rocks.”
“Elves being a bunch of petty bitches to one another over a handful of sparkly rocks.”
Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep
“An extended fan-fiction treatment of the closing chapter of Timothy Ferriss’ Coming of Age in the Milky Way.”
“An extended fan-fiction treatment of the closing chapter of Timothy Ferriss’ Coming of Age in the Milky Way.”
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep
“An extended fan-fiction treatment of the closing chapter of Timothy Ferriss’ Coming of Age in the Milky Way.”
“An extended fan-fiction treatment of the closing chapter of Timothy Ferriss’ Coming of Age in the Milky Way.”
Twofer:
Dan Davies, The Unaccountability Machine
David Runciman, The Handover
“Modernity’s great trouble and advantage is that it works at scale.” (h/t Henry Farrell)
Dan Davies, The Unaccountability Machine
David Runciman, The Handover
“Modernity’s great trouble and advantage is that it works at scale.” (h/t Henry Farrell)
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Twofer:
Dan Davies, The Unaccountability Machine
David Runciman, The Handover
“Modernity’s great trouble and advantage is that it works at scale.” (h/t Henry Farrell)
Dan Davies, The Unaccountability Machine
David Runciman, The Handover
“Modernity’s great trouble and advantage is that it works at scale.” (h/t Henry Farrell)
Ursula K. LeGuin, The Wind’s Twelve Quarters.
“Though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.” (h/t Andrew Marvell)
“Though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.” (h/t Andrew Marvell)
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Ursula K. LeGuin, The Wind’s Twelve Quarters.
“Though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.” (h/t Andrew Marvell)
“Though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.” (h/t Andrew Marvell)
Elinor Ostrom, Governing The Commons.
“Every happy commons is alike, but every tragic commons is tragic in it’s own way.”
“Every happy commons is alike, but every tragic commons is tragic in it’s own way.”
September 26, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Elinor Ostrom, Governing The Commons.
“Every happy commons is alike, but every tragic commons is tragic in it’s own way.”
“Every happy commons is alike, but every tragic commons is tragic in it’s own way.”
If you’d asked me on this day in 2005, “what will you be doing in 20 years?”
“Filling out an online form to join a class action against an AI company that used my thesis publications without permission” would not have been on the bingo card.
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
“Filling out an online form to join a class action against an AI company that used my thesis publications without permission” would not have been on the bingo card.
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
August 29, 2025 at 3:02 PM
If you’d asked me on this day in 2005, “what will you be doing in 20 years?”
“Filling out an online form to join a class action against an AI company that used my thesis publications without permission” would not have been on the bingo card.
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
“Filling out an online form to join a class action against an AI company that used my thesis publications without permission” would not have been on the bingo card.
www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au...
Haldane wrote something quite similar. It’s a good quip, and I could absolutely picture him using it in conversation.
August 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Haldane wrote something quite similar. It’s a good quip, and I could absolutely picture him using it in conversation.
The New Empire of AI, in 1 sentence:
“A hasty collage of other, better books.”
“A hasty collage of other, better books.”
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The New Empire of AI, in 1 sentence:
“A hasty collage of other, better books.”
“A hasty collage of other, better books.”
Doppegänger, in 1 sentence:
“We contain troubling multitudes.”
“We contain troubling multitudes.”
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Doppegänger, in 1 sentence:
“We contain troubling multitudes.”
“We contain troubling multitudes.”
Algorithms of Oppression, in 1 sentence:
“Racism: there’s an app for that!”
(Or possible “all apps are for that!”)
“Racism: there’s an app for that!”
(Or possible “all apps are for that!”)
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Algorithms of Oppression, in 1 sentence:
“Racism: there’s an app for that!”
(Or possible “all apps are for that!”)
“Racism: there’s an app for that!”
(Or possible “all apps are for that!”)
The Three-Body Problem, in 1 sentence:
“I know that you know, that you know that I know that you know that humanity must be destroyed.”
“I know that you know, that you know that I know that you know that humanity must be destroyed.”
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
The Three-Body Problem, in 1 sentence:
“I know that you know, that you know that I know that you know that humanity must be destroyed.”
“I know that you know, that you know that I know that you know that humanity must be destroyed.”
Frankenstein, in 1 sentence:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster, improperly made, must be in need of destroying its maker.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster, improperly made, must be in need of destroying its maker.”
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Frankenstein, in 1 sentence:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster, improperly made, must be in need of destroying its maker.”
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single monster, improperly made, must be in need of destroying its maker.”
Empire of AI, in 1 sentence:
“Sometimes, it’s ok to hate the player and the game.”
“Sometimes, it’s ok to hate the player and the game.”
August 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Empire of AI, in 1 sentence:
“Sometimes, it’s ok to hate the player and the game.”
“Sometimes, it’s ok to hate the player and the game.”
Kara, Cobalt Red.
“For the longest time I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes.”
“For the longest time I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes.”
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Kara, Cobalt Red.
“For the longest time I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes.”
“For the longest time I wouldn’t believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes.”
Eubanks, Automating Inequality.
Algorithms turn the safety net into a dragnet.
Algorithms turn the safety net into a dragnet.
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Eubanks, Automating Inequality.
Algorithms turn the safety net into a dragnet.
Algorithms turn the safety net into a dragnet.
Bender & Hanna, The AI Con
The book of the movie of the story of the musical of the podcast “Ridicule as Praxis.”
The book of the movie of the story of the musical of the podcast “Ridicule as Praxis.”
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Bender & Hanna, The AI Con
The book of the movie of the story of the musical of the podcast “Ridicule as Praxis.”
The book of the movie of the story of the musical of the podcast “Ridicule as Praxis.”
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.
The rich are different from you and me, they can afford looser morals.
The rich are different from you and me, they can afford looser morals.
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby.
The rich are different from you and me, they can afford looser morals.
The rich are different from you and me, they can afford looser morals.
Wynn-Williams, Careless People.
“Look what they make you give.”
“Look what they make you give.”
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Wynn-Williams, Careless People.
“Look what they make you give.”
“Look what they make you give.”
Atwood, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam.
Two books, one sentence:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time.”
Two books, one sentence:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time.”
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Atwood, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam.
Two books, one sentence:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time.”
Two books, one sentence:
“God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time.”
Quinn, How the World Made the West.
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
July 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Quinn, How the World Made the West.
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”