Simen Bruøygard

New paper(s) alert. In two linked papers I argue that we have fundamentally misunderstood the ancestry and evolutionary history of retinal circuits for (colour) vision. Part I @NatureEcoEvo rdcu.be/dwCEj Part II @PLOSBiology doi.org/10.1371/journa…

Today, HQ UK Commando Force hosted Brigadier Terje Bruøygard, the Norwegian Commmmander of the North Brigade, at Stonehouse. He discussed upcoming exercises with Brigadier Duncan Forbes and the further opportunities to partner bilaterally and as members of @JEFnations and @NATO.

Code Yikes!!! The planet is now at 15 consecutive days of record global surface temperatures, likely the hottest 15 days in the last 100,000+ years. Also, today's global temperature of 17.114°C once again breached the Paris agreement, at 1.51°C over the 1850-1900 baseline.

OMG, Land temperatures in Spain surpass record 60C in deadly heatwave causing untold human and nonhuman suffering. Scientists warned this would happen and now it is starting. I am sorry to say, it will only get worse from here. independent.co.uk/news/world/eur…

Heatwave in Europe Mediterranean 5°C hotter than it should be North Atlantic Ocean surface hotter than it has ever been. Why are you not worried about this? This is not weather. This is shattering climate records This is #ClimateChange

A mind-blowing paper has come out today in @Nature In 2016, JC Venter Institute scientists trimmed a bacterial genome to its barest minimum required for life to synthesize what they called a "minimal genome" (science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…). Today, a group of scientists from Indiana University reports how that minimal genome evolved over 2000 generations in comparison to the non-minimal genome. The authors found that even when you reduce a bacterial genome to its absolute minimum where every nucleotide matters, the genome undergoes mutational events generation after generation as much as the non-minimal genome. One simply cannot stop the evolution. Just over 300 days of evolution (equivalent to 40,000 years in humans) the minimal cell has gained everything it lacked in fitness on day one in comparison to the non-minimal cell. When comparing the evolved traits between the minimal and non-minimal cells, the scientists found something striking. The evolutionary process increased the cell size of non-minimal cells but not that of the minimal cell. But that is not the striking part. The scientists were able to identify the key mutation that resulted in cell size evolution. And it turned out that the mutation that helped the non-minimal cells to grow bigger is the same that helped the minimal cells to stay smaller. Growing bigger had a survival advantage for non-minimal cells and not growing bigger had a survival advantage for minimal cells. So, the mutation had a context-dependent effect. This just demonstrates that the evolutionary effects on traits have no absolute direction. All that matter is what is beneficial for the organism's survival. The conclusion of the paper is metaphorically a quote from the Jurassic Park movie: “Listen, if there’s one thing the history of evolution has taught us is that life will not be contained. Life breaks free. It expands to new territories, and it crashes through barriers painfully, maybe even dangerously, but . . . life finds a way". (scienmag.com/artificial-cel…) nature.com/articles/s4158…

My new favourite climate graphic From Jane Morton @SafeClimate's excellent free booklet 'Don't Mention the Emergency?'

It finally happened, breaking 5 sigma, the same statistical threshold physicists used to prove the existence of the Higgs boson. At 2,700,000 km² below the 1991-2020 mean, Antarctic sea ice extent was 5.14σ below the mean, roughly a 1-in-7,400,000 chance.

What do you get when you combine glass, polypropylene, and watercolor? A tribute to the unsung heroes of research: glass laboratory bottles and their blue caps. These versatile containers can hold anything from reagents and chemicals to solutions and tissue culture media. They are simple, but they are indispensable. How many have you broken so far?

The people have asked. So here is my concise explanation of what went down. What did the Lasker research paper in @bmj_latest find and what is Lasker? •             Lasker is a medical research award of huge international importance •             This academic paper showed that 5% of Lasker winners are women and this is UNCHANGED since 1946. •             Most of recipients were white 95.7%. •             Only one non white woman has received it over seven decades. This was a collaborative paper - @Yale @Harvard @HarvardHealth @UCLA @UofCalifornia @VUMChealth @UTAustin Written by Jeremy Jacobs @jwjacobs12 @LorinBibb @path_brian Elizabeth Allen  Dawn Ward @DrGSBooth1 @JulieSilverMD Brian D Adkins. What happened to me? •             I applied to the NIHR (largest UK funder for medical research)for a doctoral fellowship in 2019 just before covid hit. •             In my feedback from a predominantly white male interview panel (with no people of colour) I was told: ◦              “Has 8 publications in last 10 years which shows some research output nut not a great deal (sic). I would expect more from a research active medic in such a period.” ◦              “No grants (time out with two pregnancies)” ◦              “Training is very London based” •             I had 8 publications in that period including a first author publication @TheLancetPsych and this was whilst doing psychiatry training and raising a young family. I had also completed a Masters in Science in mental health research at UCL @MentalhealthMSc , in my maternity leave, for which I received a distinction and I had won psychiatry trainee of the year @rcpsych awards in 2019. For context, whilst I was being assessed for my accomplishments over a 10-year period, when taking account for maternity leave and less than full time training - I worked for three years. In judging me by the years across which the training took place, rather than the time spent in training, I was unfairly penalised for taking maternity leave and working less full time. •             The year I applied the application was deemed fundable but due to Covid and “to the financial restraints at this time, only the top-ranked candidates were funded.” •             I wrote a formal response with the backing of my Professors @UCLPsychiatry @UCLeHealth (Prof Elizabeth Murray and Prof @osborn_ucl ) to the @NIHR after their public announcement to improve diversity and inclusion in health and social care research, as we believed that the comments I received were not in accordance with the NIHR’s stated broader aims. The NIHR responded saying they would organise a phone call to think about my formal response and whilst I gave my availability I received no phone call despite my follow up emails. What happened next? For context I wrote to them in November 2020. It was only when I read the Lasker paper that it lit a fire in me- that said 'no this is not ok'. The lasker paper- made me realise that these are structural endemic problems that will only be addressed through structural changes. How did Twitter help? It has taken a Twitter movement for NIHR to respond and offer a date. What next? I am meeting with NIHR this Friday. I just wanted to a moment of gratitude. Thank you to authors of the Lasker paper- it was a life changing and defining moment when I read it. I decided that I would no longer be silent and that actually I am good enough. It was the system that failed me. Thank you to Twitter family for supporting this. Any conflict of interest? Well.. in a bizarre moment of weird cosmic fate. My mother in law told me to send my BMJ response to my husband's cousin in law. She lives in NYC and I thought she worked for Nature and may want to speak about discrimination in academia. I sent a brief message like FYI this is happening. We had a tense message exchange about the Lasker paper and I had absolutely no idea why. It transpired that she works for Lasker in a senior role. Why am I telling you this all? Because this is not about Lasker. These are endemic issues in academia that require structural changes. We need more diverse decision makers and more inclusive assessment criteria. Nothing changes if nothing changes. To be clear I am married to a white male and I have received the support of people in academia (which includes many white men!). This is not about white men. This is about equity. My 9 year old daughter explained it to my 7 year old- it should be 50/50 "imagine if I ate all the chocolate and left you with a tiny square". There is an ocean of discrimination and bias in academia and the NHS. This isn't a personal complaint for me- I have left academia with a content heart- I started my ACF with NIHR in 2013- I have thoroughly enjoyed most of the journey. I loved doing MSc at UCL and these are skills I use everyday with my team and the patients I work with. This is for the next generation. Prof Elizabeth Murray once told me if I was to be pregnant when applying for funding it may be worth concealing it- she said “ of course this shouldn’t affect things but sadly it does currently” She too hoped for change. In the words of senior female clinical academic “In my career I have found academia to be light years behind the NHS on discrimination and stereotyping and.. as we know the NHS is no beacon perfection”. I am writing this in memory of Elizabeth- born 8 February 1960; died 7 April 2023- who taught me and many other women to be the best that they can be. Your light continues Elizabeth. We need to speak out. theguardian.com/society/2023/a… #MedTwitter #MedicalStudents #academia Special thanks to @soniajohnson (who told me to join Twitter after I published my first paper when I looked reluctant she said "it's not showing off its dissemination" @wendyburn - An A* human and psychiatrist.@DrLadeSmith @raj_psyc @shrinkgrowskids @guardian @Elisabray

@DavidBassett3 @UniversitiesUK @KingstonUni Literally nobody who supports trans rights thinks that "biological sex doesn't exist". This is a strawman made by bigots who can't defend their views (because they are indefensible) so they make up a BS argument and attack that. Biology exists, and so does identity.

@UniversitiesUK @KingstonUni If LGBTQ+ is synonymous with twisting meanings of words then who knows. It shouldn’t be so hard for universities with medical schools and biology departments to say that biological sex exists, is not assigned, is not gender and underpins both gay and female rights. Get on it.

Are we living in a post-LGBTQ+ rights age? Sebastian Bromelow, former EDI partner at @KingstonUni explores how universities should celebrate the successes of the LGBTQ+ community but also respond to the challenges🏳️‍🌈 loom.ly/riox9IY #PrideMonth

The call on the European Commission to phase out use of animals in science does not recognize that modern medicine builds on animal studies. Banning animal studies would put an end to medical research in Europe. #Pledge4Science @EU_Brain @KISNeuro @MayBrittMoser @ERC_Research

@UniversitiesUK Yes it's regrettable, but what's also regrettable is not offering fair wages and working conditions

It’s deeply regrettable that some students - less than 2%* of those in their last year at most universities – will receive their final grades later than usual. Interim measures mean students can still progress with their studies and careers *ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/…

This isn't the first time "self reported" metrics (asking reactionary, transphobic parents about their trans teenagers in anti-trans forums) have been used to dismiss trans identity journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

Lmao we have to stop pretending like asking people on transphobe forums about their opinions on trans people counts as science. At least they were silly enough to mess up the technicalities (transphobes are often not the brightest) link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Yesterday's main focus for me was Antarctic sea ice extent, but I want to follow up by posting the latest sea ice anomaly chart. The slow growth of Antarctic sea ice in 2023 continues. Today's sea ice extent reached a new modern record for statistical rarity (1-in-180,000):

This is absolutely bananas. There is NOTHING like this on the instrumental record. Its likely impact is probably immeasurable. But is it leading our news bulletins & on newspaper front pages? Nope.