Maayan Harel 🟣 Visual storytelling for science

Here are a few of the graphics that scientists are regularly asked to make: Visual Abstracts Posters Experiment setups Schematics Presentation slides Did your university ever provide you with any design training? @AcademicChatter #AcademicTwitter #phd

Karma is finally coming for Meta, through the legal system. As we await a verdict in Los Angeles on whether social media platforms were designed to addict young people, it's important to note that TWO courts have already ruled against Meta in the past month. 1) Yesterday, a jury in New Mexico established that Meta's platforms are not safe for kids, and that their design enabled the exploitation of children. This is a watershed moment: This is the FIRST time a jury has evaluated the evidence. The evidence was so compelling that the jury said Meta should pay $375 million dollars in civil penalties for the harms it has caused to New Mexico and its citizens. See here: theguardian.com/technology/202… 2. But it gets worse for Meta: a few weeks ago, in Delaware, a court ruled that Meta's insurance companies do not have a duty to defend Meta or cover its costs in the thousands of lawsuits playing out in California because, under California law, if a company caused harm through "intentional acts" rather than accidentally, the insurers have no obligation to defend that company. Because the documents brought out in the NM and LA trials show intentional actions, Meta loses insurance coverage. That's what the insurance companies asserted, and the judge agreed with them. See here: insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-… Because of these two rulings, the legal and political landscape has changed dramatically. Going forward, social media companies will be judged like any other company whose product design decisions harm children. These two rulings mark a profound shift toward accountability. The legal system is beginning to catch up to what parents have known all along. Many parents are now more likely to get justice for what these platforms have been doing to children for many years.

First cover of 2026 is out! How do symbiotic organisms like corals and cnidarians identify their symbionts as such, rather than as debris/food/ etc? Appropriate symbiont selection is required for sufficient host nutrient acquisition and could even be tailored to increase cnidarian stress tolerance. The research here reveals integrins as important receptors for symbiosis establishment and sheds light on the evolutionary functions of integrins during phagocytosis. Read more at @emboreports Congratulations to Victor A. S. Jones, Megan Ferguson and Annika Guse and co-authors @LMU_Muenchen This was a very fun piece to work on, and a fascinating topic.

this is incredible

A couple of weeks ago I got the chance to speak to graduate students, post-docs and PIs at the @WeizmannScience about how to use visual tools to communicate their science more effectively. This was part of a course in Adobe Illustrator given at the department of Life Sciences. It's really exciting to me to see how the institute is giving better tools to its trainees to achieve publication-level graphics and beyond. I'm hoping to have lots more of these types of sessions! Thanks to everyone who participated and I have a blog post here with lots of resources that can help with scientific figure design, posters, grant figures, and data visualization! maayanvisuals.com/post/visual-co…

Amen

@OdedRechavi @X @grok Agreed. X penalizes posts that share outside links like sharing academic papers. Twitter was once a great avenue for me to find work and make connections with scientists from different fields. Currently I find it pretty useless.

Two options: 1. The @X algorithm is just broken 2. The algorithm intentionally ignores scientists (news, tech & entertainment less effected) It’s probably #1. We heard that they were going to fix it (@grok), but this didn’t happen. Exposure to science is down >90%.

I don't understand how people can be anti-expert. I love people who've been doing their thing for years. I had to buy a suit and the woman who helped me could eyeball me and pick the perfect dress shirt. Everything fit perfectly on the first try. I recently had a pipe burst in my apartment. The plumber was efficient and professional. The investigator from the insurance company was knowledgeable. My default attitude to people, whether it's a university professor or a roofer, is "This is your domain, please educate me."

This is fine.

🥁We are recruiting PhD students/Postdocs with strong proven background in developmental/molecular/cell biology & related areas, for various projects- check out our lab website👇🏼 We offer: competitive stipends, super equipped lab, fun international team! yanivelkoubylab.com

This has been an interesting year, one with lots of opportunities to create! I am so grateful for all of my clients and collaborators. Let's bring on a new year of creativity, peace, love and family #sciart #coverart #academia

Here's the link to the system, try it! qedscience.com @qedScience

So grateful I got to work on last month's cover showing CD8+ T Cells making CRATERs in melanoma tumors. Awesome working with @aya_ludin + Zon lab @HHMINEWS @BostonChildrens @Harvard. The art is a collaboration with @marco_garbelli and myself. Yay mashups!

In the spirit of giving thanks, here are a few things I am grateful for today: 1. A new cover- just in time for Thanksgiving :) but more importantly...

Ethan Neumann, a 27-year-old PhD candidate in my lab, devoted himself to studying #fibrolamellar carcinoma, the cancer that claimed his life last week. Please support his father’s effort to establish an endowed research fellowship in Ethan’s name ⬇️ gofundme.com/f/ethan-neuman…

🙏I’m deeply humbled to be included in Nature’s 10 for 2025. Grateful to my lab members, mentors, colleagues at Weizmann, and to my family and friends for their constant support. Our journey began with a small anomaly in the proteasome, a signal that revealed an unexpected layer of immune regulation. Excited for what lies ahead and committed to translating these insights to benefit human health. @NaturePortfolio @WeizmannScience @ERC_Research @CancerResearch @ICRFONLINE @icrf_toronto nature.com/articles/d4158…

@YMerbl Congratulations Yifat!!!!

Disruptions to protein quality control & degradation processes (UPS, autophagy) lead to protein aggregates. These are toxic to cells and interfere with key processes like proteostasis, cell structure and organelle function, molecule trafficking, oxidative stress & inflammation

I'm excited to share this piece of work on neurodegeneration by the Ciechanover lab @TechnionLive and @RambamHCC I was thrilled to work on these graphics #sciart