🦋Suckjoon Jun's lab @ Physics, UC San Diego

At the risk of sounding tone-deaf in what feels like a dark time ahead for scientists and many others in the U.S. and beyond, I want to thank @SimonsFdn and colleagues for supporting the risky idea of ‘econophysiology’—and to my future economist mentor, @albertobisin, thank you.

One of my former research assistants was killed by ICE in Minneapolis today😢 Alex was the kindest, sweetest human and a ICU nurse with a bright future ahead of him May his soul rest in peace and this senseless carnage stop💔

Thank you so much!

Excited that our Pew Innovation Fund collaboration with Mike Rust is featured today! Grateful for the chance to push new ideas forward together.

Congratulations to Prof. Akif Tezcan, recipient of the 2026 Alfred Bader Award in Bioinorganic or Bioorganic Chemistry from @AmerChemSociety! This prestigious ACS National Award recognizes his pioneering research at the interface of chemistry and biology. @UCSanDiego @UCSDPhySci

Postdoc opportunity! Join us in heavenly Vancouver (Canada) to develop fundamental nonequilibrium stat mech, thermo, and info theory applied to biomolecular machines and in close collaboration with experiment. Details: sfu.ca/physics/sivakg…

My lecture “Nonequilibrium Field Theories and Stochastic Dynamics” is now on YouTube! Here a short film on my teaching philosophy. Watch lectures here: @PhysicsOfLifeLMU" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">m.youtube.com/@PhysicsOfLife…

New in Nature Physics: In a great collaboration with the Jun Lab at UC San Diego, we demonstrate how Min proteins in E. coli form robust, resource-optimal dynamic patterns, ensuring precise cell division even under varying physiological conditions. 📄 nature.com/articles/s4156…

Since Mr. Hegseth’s nomination last November, I have met with him and carefully reviewed his writings, various reports, and other pertinent materials. I closely followed his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and gathered substantial feedback from organizations, veterans, and Alaskans. After thorough evaluation, I must conclude that I cannot in good conscience support his nomination for Secretary of Defense. I did not make this decision lightly; I take my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent with the utmost seriousness. I commend Pete Hegseth’s service to our nation, including leading troops in combat and advocating for our veterans. However, these accomplishments do not alleviate my significant concerns regarding his nomination. Managing the Department of Defense requires vast experience and expertise as the department is one of the most complex and powerful organizations in the world, and Mr. Hegseth’s prior roles in his career do not demonstrate to me that he is prepared for such immense responsibility. His leadership of two veteran organizations was marked with accusations of financial mismanagement and problems with the workplace culture he fostered. Although he has recently revised his statements on women in combat since being nominated, I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join. Women have served our nation with distinction, overcoming immense obstacles to excel in combat and leadership roles, and they deserve to know that their leader honors and values their commitment to our nation. While the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking do nothing to quiet my concerns, the past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces. These behaviors starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of servicemembers. Men and women in uniform are held accountable for such actions, and they deserve leaders who uphold these same standards. Above all, I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense, and must be prioritized without compromise. The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook. Given the global security environment we’re operating in, it is critical that we confirm a Secretary of Defense, however, I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth.

Former US president Barack Obama came across a choir of Danish girls practicing their singing in their apartment with their balcony doors open. He kindly asked them if they would keep singing for him to enjoy.

Lots of people asking how I would do graduate admissions differently. I don't claim to have a magic bullet, but I can point to some specific things we (US molecular biology PhD programs, although this can probably generalize somewhat) are doing wrong that are easily fixable.

This is so true and we commit the sin every single year.

Saransh will give our first ever yeast talk since the birth of our lab at the #ASCB meeting 2024. Come to the 'Biological Size Control and Scaling' session this Saturday at 9:30 AM! Title: “The topology, shape and size of mitochondrial networks during the cell cycle in yeast"

Yuhai Tu (IBM) gave an impromptu seminar today with great overview on quantitative biology of bacterial chemotaxis for the UCSD biological physics group.

@axplum from @Mattia__Serra ‘s group gave the last Coffee Room Forum of the year today for the UCSD biological physics group on his exciting research. We will see you in the new year! (We will transition to 🦋)

We are also transitioning to 🦋. junlab.bsky.social

@hbozhao gave our second Coffee Room Forum of the academic year for the biological physics group at UCSD. It was wonderful !

BREAKING Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed Vice President Harris: “A candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors… We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that.He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger… I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz. Vote this week. Turn the page and put this junk behind us."

Happy Halloween from Jun lab… …even to you, too, Reviewer #2.