Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
@michaelhendricks.bsky.social
Biologist, McGill University
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
wow, the replies to and QTs of this are... really something. [not laudatory]
The brigades for whom "anti-Zionism should not be equated to anti-Semitism" just immediately becomes "because Zionism is bad, anti-Semitism is good" are out in force on this one.
The brigades for whom "anti-Zionism should not be equated to anti-Semitism" just immediately becomes "because Zionism is bad, anti-Semitism is good" are out in force on this one.
The Talmud teaches that anyone who sustains one soul, has sustained an entire world. For generations, Jewish New Yorkers have sustained our city. Today, we are launching the first-ever municipal Strategy to Combat Antisemitism.
October 1, 2026 at 12:11 AM
wow, the replies to and QTs of this are... really something. [not laudatory]
The brigades for whom "anti-Zionism should not be equated to anti-Semitism" just immediately becomes "because Zionism is bad, anti-Semitism is good" are out in force on this one.
The brigades for whom "anti-Zionism should not be equated to anti-Semitism" just immediately becomes "because Zionism is bad, anti-Semitism is good" are out in force on this one.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
I think a key issue here is that these guys have no idea what 'good' means
When you have no concept of how people engage with music
September 30, 2026 at 1:04 PM
I think a key issue here is that these guys have no idea what 'good' means
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
And once again, real harms imposed on real people must be set aside until after real damage is done in order to privilege the unproven right of Trump to impose those harms
September 29, 2026 at 7:10 PM
And once again, real harms imposed on real people must be set aside until after real damage is done in order to privilege the unproven right of Trump to impose those harms
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
I feel like if AI wants to be in the business of offering medical opinions, then AI companies need to be in the "getting sued for medical malpractice" business too
RFK Jr. says AI can offer patients “a second opinion that is much better informed than any doctor in the country” and has the power to “free us from medical tyranny.”
He spoke at an industry-backed MAHA Summit, whose sponsors included AI companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
He spoke at an industry-backed MAHA Summit, whose sponsors included AI companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
A.I. Is ‘Better Informed’ Than Doctors, Kennedy Tells Industry-Backed MAHA Summit
The health secretary, Vice President JD Vance and other top officials addressed a conference sponsored by corporations, including A.I. companies and others with business before the government.
www.nytimes.com
September 30, 2026 at 12:42 AM
I feel like if AI wants to be in the business of offering medical opinions, then AI companies need to be in the "getting sued for medical malpractice" business too
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Plasma collection in Canada is a bloody mess that needs fixing. It’s time for Grifols, the private plasma collector, to get its act together or get out of Canada, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: Plasma collection in Canada is a bloody mess that needs fixing
The importance of plasma-derived medications can’t be overstated, but integrity of the system is even more crucial
www.theglobeandmail.com
September 29, 2026 at 1:02 PM
Plasma collection in Canada is a bloody mess that needs fixing. It’s time for Grifols, the private plasma collector, to get its act together or get out of Canada, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Find a picture of him from ten years ago. It’s as though someone put a hex on him.
The actual cause is probably dodgy purported anti-aging treatments.
The actual cause is probably dodgy purported anti-aging treatments.
September 29, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Find a picture of him from ten years ago. It’s as though someone put a hex on him.
The actual cause is probably dodgy purported anti-aging treatments.
The actual cause is probably dodgy purported anti-aging treatments.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
“The rate of ectopic pregnancy deaths in states with abortion bans is nearly double that in states where abortion is legal.”
That stat should shame every anti abortionist in the world.
That stat should shame every anti abortionist in the world.
"The US has grown used to the swift and dramatic erosion of women’s health and status that has followed Dobbs," writes @moiradonegan.bsky.social, "to the horror stories and upward ticking body counts, grown into ease, and even a kind of compliant boredom, with women’s death and indignity."
Why has abortion faded from America’s national conversation? | Moira Donegan
The US has already grown used to the horror caused by abortion bans. And Republicans have sought to quash the stories
www.theguardian.com
September 28, 2026 at 8:14 PM
“The rate of ectopic pregnancy deaths in states with abortion bans is nearly double that in states where abortion is legal.”
That stat should shame every anti abortionist in the world.
That stat should shame every anti abortionist in the world.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
This is not a Canada-only problem and that actually makes it worse as countries feel less exposed when they are trending with the mean. Perhaps someone will instead recognize the opportunity? If everyone else is pulling back on R&D investment, your new dollars will go much further if contrarian.
September 26, 2026 at 3:01 PM
This is not a Canada-only problem and that actually makes it worse as countries feel less exposed when they are trending with the mean. Perhaps someone will instead recognize the opportunity? If everyone else is pulling back on R&D investment, your new dollars will go much further if contrarian.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Paul Wells did some deep diving on the HERD illusion around 18 years ago. I doubt HERD is the excuse not to invest more though, as it doesn’t take long to physically disabuse the situation by a simple tour. But the situation will deteriorate much faster as international tuition revenues collapse.
September 26, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Paul Wells did some deep diving on the HERD illusion around 18 years ago. I doubt HERD is the excuse not to invest more though, as it doesn’t take long to physically disabuse the situation by a simple tour. But the situation will deteriorate much faster as international tuition revenues collapse.
Never bet against elite vanity.
SCOOP: Top researchers at Columbia, Stanford, and others thought they were elected to elite scientific societies alongside Nobel laureates. The catch? The organizations are a sham.
I spent the last month diving deep into a massive academic scam spanning continents, for @nature.com
I spent the last month diving deep into a massive academic scam spanning continents, for @nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
www.nature.com
September 26, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Never bet against elite vanity.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Here's a balanced account of where the microscopy community stands on AI use by this year's Small World in Motion winner. My main issue is that no one seems to have seen the original data despite requests (no mention of it being reviewed by the organizers)
www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
Allegations of AI Use in Nikon Competition Spark Controversy | The Scientist
Microscopists raise concerns about inappropriate AI usage in Nikon's microscopy contest-winning video. Nikon stands their ground, citing no policy breach.
www.the-scientist.com
September 25, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Here's a balanced account of where the microscopy community stands on AI use by this year's Small World in Motion winner. My main issue is that no one seems to have seen the original data despite requests (no mention of it being reviewed by the organizers)
www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
www.the-scientist.com/allegations-...
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
👉 Tenure-track opening in neuroscience @crchum.bsky.social @umontreal.ca
crchum.carrieresante.gouv.qc.ca/poste/profes...
crchum.carrieresante.gouv.qc.ca/poste/profes...
September 25, 2026 at 6:59 PM
👉 Tenure-track opening in neuroscience @crchum.bsky.social @umontreal.ca
crchum.carrieresante.gouv.qc.ca/poste/profes...
crchum.carrieresante.gouv.qc.ca/poste/profes...
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
It’s all stupid and silly until it isn’t.
September 25, 2026 at 8:38 PM
It’s all stupid and silly until it isn’t.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
‼️ attention Canadian health researchers ‼️
#CIHR has posted the Project Grants Discussion Paper and a related *survey*
cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54821.html
Please please participate 🙏
#CIHR has posted the Project Grants Discussion Paper and a related *survey*
cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54821.html
Please please participate 🙏
September 24, 2026 at 6:53 PM
‼️ attention Canadian health researchers ‼️
#CIHR has posted the Project Grants Discussion Paper and a related *survey*
cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54821.html
Please please participate 🙏
#CIHR has posted the Project Grants Discussion Paper and a related *survey*
cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/54821.html
Please please participate 🙏
The "Quebec is full" party wants you* to have more babies. Huh.
*you know who
montrealgazette.com/quebec-elect...
*you know who
montrealgazette.com/quebec-elect...
A PQ government would give parents $350 more a year for third and fourth children
Opponents oppose "baby bonus," accusing Paul St-Pierre Plamondon of drifting to the right.
montrealgazette.com
September 23, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The "Quebec is full" party wants you* to have more babies. Huh.
*you know who
montrealgazette.com/quebec-elect...
*you know who
montrealgazette.com/quebec-elect...
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Around 4:30, I heard Jon Lorsch had approval to turn the system back on. Not clear who gave that approval. Given the impending end of the fiscal year and the many delays this year, the few hour pause could matter.
Reminded me of this stunt from July 2025: www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/t...
Reminded me of this stunt from July 2025: www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/t...
Trump administration reverses course, lifts pause on NIH grant awards
The order applies to the entirety of new and, possibly, ongoing research grant dollars that go to universities and academic medical centers.
www.statnews.com
September 23, 2026 at 1:16 AM
Around 4:30, I heard Jon Lorsch had approval to turn the system back on. Not clear who gave that approval. Given the impending end of the fiscal year and the many delays this year, the few hour pause could matter.
Reminded me of this stunt from July 2025: www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/t...
Reminded me of this stunt from July 2025: www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/t...
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
What. A. Day.
NIH grant-making was paused for several hours today. Not sure who gave the order. But in light of the Friday night Bhattacharya-Vought feud & threatened EO to implement #ScienceDeathPanels, my money is on Russell Vought.
I learned of the pause from a colleague around 11:30. 🧵
NIH grant-making was paused for several hours today. Not sure who gave the order. But in light of the Friday night Bhattacharya-Vought feud & threatened EO to implement #ScienceDeathPanels, my money is on Russell Vought.
I learned of the pause from a colleague around 11:30. 🧵
September 23, 2026 at 1:16 AM
What. A. Day.
NIH grant-making was paused for several hours today. Not sure who gave the order. But in light of the Friday night Bhattacharya-Vought feud & threatened EO to implement #ScienceDeathPanels, my money is on Russell Vought.
I learned of the pause from a colleague around 11:30. 🧵
NIH grant-making was paused for several hours today. Not sure who gave the order. But in light of the Friday night Bhattacharya-Vought feud & threatened EO to implement #ScienceDeathPanels, my money is on Russell Vought.
I learned of the pause from a colleague around 11:30. 🧵
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
From the new info my bet is fluo labeling inference pushed to 11. Hallucinating nonsensical DAPI nuclei, mitochondria stain, membrane labeling from a kind of phase contrast image: wrong localization, wrong scale, wrong movement. Keeping this movie as SWiM winner is a disgrace to the competition
The might have also added a scale bar (not sure if that was there before?). This would make the blue structures very small.
September 22, 2026 at 8:48 PM
From the new info my bet is fluo labeling inference pushed to 11. Hallucinating nonsensical DAPI nuclei, mitochondria stain, membrane labeling from a kind of phase contrast image: wrong localization, wrong scale, wrong movement. Keeping this movie as SWiM winner is a disgrace to the competition
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
Exactly! And as I noted in a note to Nikon on Linked-In, they provided no information about the false coloring. Are nuclei in blue? Are mitochondria magenta? What are the red filaments. Without some knowledge of this, determining whether this is even plausible is impossible
September 22, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Exactly! And as I noted in a note to Nikon on Linked-In, they provided no information about the false coloring. Are nuclei in blue? Are mitochondria magenta? What are the red filaments. Without some knowledge of this, determining whether this is even plausible is impossible
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
This is the updated part. Looks like the movie is an AI-generated fluorescence image from a non-labeled acquisition technique. No indication that the Small World jury and organizers have requested and verified the raw data (as mentioned as a possibility in the competition rules)
September 22, 2026 at 8:21 PM
This is the updated part. Looks like the movie is an AI-generated fluorescence image from a non-labeled acquisition technique. No indication that the Small World jury and organizers have requested and verified the raw data (as mentioned as a possibility in the competition rules)
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
When I first moved to Calgary in 2006, I would regularly tell people outside Alberta that things were weird but not as weird as they seemed from the outside. Now I tell people that they're weirder.
At the conference I attended this weekend there were a lot of panels on Alberta, the referendum, separatism, etc. To be clear, there were very sober, thoughtful experts, and my takeaway was this:
1/n
1/n
September 21, 2026 at 8:20 PM
When I first moved to Calgary in 2006, I would regularly tell people outside Alberta that things were weird but not as weird as they seemed from the outside. Now I tell people that they're weirder.
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
I'm not saying others didn't know this. I'm not saying at different points I didn't think aspects of these things. I'm saying the overwhelming evidence is THAT stark. This isn't nuanced, it's nefarious. Evil grievance politics. 3/3
September 21, 2026 at 6:00 PM
I'm not saying others didn't know this. I'm not saying at different points I didn't think aspects of these things. I'm saying the overwhelming evidence is THAT stark. This isn't nuanced, it's nefarious. Evil grievance politics. 3/3
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
What's happening in Alberta is even more batshit than I ever thought. Danielle Smith is a dangerous psychopath, and the AB separatist movement largely exists because COVID broke far-right brains, and is led by Christo-fascist religious white nationalists, relying on dark money.
2/n
2/n
September 21, 2026 at 5:59 PM
What's happening in Alberta is even more batshit than I ever thought. Danielle Smith is a dangerous psychopath, and the AB separatist movement largely exists because COVID broke far-right brains, and is led by Christo-fascist religious white nationalists, relying on dark money.
2/n
2/n
Reposted by Michael Hendricks 🇨🇦
If Democrats continue to focus on elite issues like the price of diesel fuel instead of on kitchen table issues like chem trails and racial purity, they're going to get walloped in November.
September 21, 2026 at 5:56 PM
If Democrats continue to focus on elite issues like the price of diesel fuel instead of on kitchen table issues like chem trails and racial purity, they're going to get walloped in November.