Sam Foley
@samuelfoley.com
Physics of membranes and self-assembly || Biophysics postdoc at Johns Hopkins || Previously Penn State -> Carnegie Mellon || for I perplex others not because I am clear, but because I am utterly perplexed myself ||
www.samuelfoley.com
www.samuelfoley.com
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Sam Foley
@samuelfoley.com
· Jun 11
🧪⚛️
Our paper is finally published in Phys Rev Research!
doi.org/10.1103/cnfz...
Can cells make decisions using equilibrium physical principles, without resorting to irreversible, energy-consuming signaling cascades? We say yes, with the help of self-assembling membrane proteins!
🧵(1/7)
Our paper is finally published in Phys Rev Research!
doi.org/10.1103/cnfz...
Can cells make decisions using equilibrium physical principles, without resorting to irreversible, energy-consuming signaling cascades? We say yes, with the help of self-assembling membrane proteins!
🧵(1/7)
Reposted by Sam Foley
Finally a more intuitaive way to learn pLDDT/pAE? 😎
sokrypton.github.io/protein_figh...
(Character idea from @hannes-stark.bsky.social & Alex Waldherr)
sokrypton.github.io/protein_figh...
(Character idea from @hannes-stark.bsky.social & Alex Waldherr)
September 14, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Finally a more intuitaive way to learn pLDDT/pAE? 😎
sokrypton.github.io/protein_figh...
(Character idea from @hannes-stark.bsky.social & Alex Waldherr)
sokrypton.github.io/protein_figh...
(Character idea from @hannes-stark.bsky.social & Alex Waldherr)
Reposted by Sam Foley
And of course OpenAI and Anthropic are running with it too. Rogue AI narratives easily let them off the hook for their sloppy (and embarrassing) development decisions.
While also making it look to their eager investors like they're inventing god...
While also making it look to their eager investors like they're inventing god...
September 13, 2026 at 1:12 PM
And of course OpenAI and Anthropic are running with it too. Rogue AI narratives easily let them off the hook for their sloppy (and embarrassing) development decisions.
While also making it look to their eager investors like they're inventing god...
While also making it look to their eager investors like they're inventing god...
Reposted by Sam Foley
Two types of academic correspondence are “apologies for the delay but I’ll need more time” and “hey do you wanna do this thing with me three years from now”
September 11, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Two types of academic correspondence are “apologies for the delay but I’ll need more time” and “hey do you wanna do this thing with me three years from now”
This is a really nice post about teaching and giving exams now that LLMs are everywhere. Rather CS-focused, but still interesting generally.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
Giving University Exams in the Age of Chatbots
Giving University Exams in the Age of Chatbots par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.
ploum.net
September 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
This is a really nice post about teaching and giving exams now that LLMs are everywhere. Rather CS-focused, but still interesting generally.
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
ploum.net/2026-01-19-e...
I deleted my quote tweet of this yesterday because I figured I ought not react too quickly. But man, this is such a naively simplistic view that it's hard to take seriously.
It enables people to create software so easily that we will be able to move away from the tech monopolies that dominate our lives
September 9, 2026 at 3:56 AM
I deleted my quote tweet of this yesterday because I figured I ought not react too quickly. But man, this is such a naively simplistic view that it's hard to take seriously.
Hyperparameters aren't enough; we need omniparameters
September 8, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Hyperparameters aren't enough; we need omniparameters
Perhaps important to note in Buckmaster's statement: "The program this fits into was not started by us nor was it proposed by a Large Language Model."
Certainly puts a damper on the "zomg AI is solving all of math" narrative being pushed by OpenAI
cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...
Certainly puts a damper on the "zomg AI is solving all of math" narrative being pushed by OpenAI
cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...
September 8, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Perhaps important to note in Buckmaster's statement: "The program this fits into was not started by us nor was it proposed by a Large Language Model."
Certainly puts a damper on the "zomg AI is solving all of math" narrative being pushed by OpenAI
cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...
Certainly puts a damper on the "zomg AI is solving all of math" narrative being pushed by OpenAI
cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...
Very interesting to see news outlets seemingly taking sides on the Navier-Stokes priority dispute right from the start.
September 8, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Very interesting to see news outlets seemingly taking sides on the Navier-Stokes priority dispute right from the start.
Reposted by Sam Foley
here's the aerodynamics of the barbie jet at mach 0.3
August 25, 2026 at 3:06 PM
here's the aerodynamics of the barbie jet at mach 0.3
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Physicist: The cup *was* half full of superfluid Helium-4, but it has climbed the walls of its container and the cup is now empty
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Physicist: The cup *was* half full of superfluid Helium-4, but it has climbed the walls of its container and the cup is now empty
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Chemist: WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU POUR HYDROFLUORIC ACID IN A GLASS CUP?!! I WANT MY CUP BACK!!
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Chemist: WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU POUR HYDROFLUORIC ACID IN A GLASS CUP?!! I WANT MY CUP BACK!!
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Psychologist: In a sample of White psychology students (n = 26, 80% women), a cup was rated as significantly fuller after a positive mood induction intervention then before (p = .049). One limitatiom is the lack of a control group.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Psychologist: In a sample of White psychology students (n = 26, 80% women), a cup was rated as significantly fuller after a positive mood induction intervention then before (p = .049). One limitatiom is the lack of a control group.
August 22, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Physicist: The cup *was* half full of superfluid Helium-4, but it has climbed the walls of its container and the cup is now empty
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Physicist: The cup *was* half full of superfluid Helium-4, but it has climbed the walls of its container and the cup is now empty
These are the kinds of diagrams I want in the math books I read
Taken from "Tubes", 2nd Ed. by Alfred Gray
Taken from "Tubes", 2nd Ed. by Alfred Gray
August 19, 2026 at 6:24 PM
These are the kinds of diagrams I want in the math books I read
Taken from "Tubes", 2nd Ed. by Alfred Gray
Taken from "Tubes", 2nd Ed. by Alfred Gray
Some fun with parallel curves
August 18, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Some fun with parallel curves
Hopkins sent out a fairly obvious phishing attempt as a training email, and it's rather distressing that there's now a thread in the JHU subreddit full of people complaining about getting caught by it and being required to take anti-phishing training.
July 28, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Hopkins sent out a fairly obvious phishing attempt as a training email, and it's rather distressing that there's now a thread in the JHU subreddit full of people complaining about getting caught by it and being required to take anti-phishing training.
Reposted by Sam Foley
CMU biophysicists are flipping the script on cell membrane dynamics. They’ve developed a new theoretical framework that links membrane stress to lipid flip-flop, uncovering a key driver of membrane asymmetry. 🧪⚛️
www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
CMU Researchers Capture the Randomness of Lipid Flip-Flopping
Cell membranes are dynamic, two-sided structures made of asymmetric lipid layers. While lipids can randomly flip-flop from one layer to the other, membrane proteins sort lipids between the two sides. ...
www.cmu.edu
July 23, 2026 at 5:54 PM
CMU biophysicists are flipping the script on cell membrane dynamics. They’ve developed a new theoretical framework that links membrane stress to lipid flip-flop, uncovering a key driver of membrane asymmetry. 🧪⚛️
www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-eve...
Oh boy, I better go find a phone book!
July 17, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Oh boy, I better go find a phone book!
It's so funny to read a (science fiction/fantasy) novel written in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and get to a chapter that's just a completely undisguised complaint about how annoying this newfangled "TSA" is.
July 12, 2026 at 4:56 PM
It's so funny to read a (science fiction/fantasy) novel written in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and get to a chapter that's just a completely undisguised complaint about how annoying this newfangled "TSA" is.
Reposted by Sam Foley
This sums up the frantic and coerced deployment of "AI" throughout public and private sectors. Results of even cursory audits are horrifying every time, invariably paired with forced adoption and retaliation for asserting professional norms. Colonialism is a cherry on top.
July 8, 2026 at 11:11 PM
This sums up the frantic and coerced deployment of "AI" throughout public and private sectors. Results of even cursory audits are horrifying every time, invariably paired with forced adoption and retaliation for asserting professional norms. Colonialism is a cherry on top.
When you're rapidly approaching the grant deadline and finally have a complete draft
Paper Squidward Reacts to Paper
Alt: Disheveled, not-okay Squidward kisses a stack of papers
static.klipy.com
July 8, 2026 at 9:50 PM
When you're rapidly approaching the grant deadline and finally have a complete draft
Watching a required university training video and... is Sameer here living in Cyberpunk 2077?
July 7, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Watching a required university training video and... is Sameer here living in Cyberpunk 2077?
Reposted by Sam Foley
Is there a nice (standardized) way to indicate or hint at the integration measure of the functional when writing down a functional derivative? I find it annoying that I can't deduce the units of a functional derivative at a glance the same way I can for ordinary derivative expressions
July 6, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Is there a nice (standardized) way to indicate or hint at the integration measure of the functional when writing down a functional derivative? I find it annoying that I can't deduce the units of a functional derivative at a glance the same way I can for ordinary derivative expressions
Is there a nice (standardized) way to indicate or hint at the integration measure of the functional when writing down a functional derivative? I find it annoying that I can't deduce the units of a functional derivative at a glance the same way I can for ordinary derivative expressions
July 6, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Is there a nice (standardized) way to indicate or hint at the integration measure of the functional when writing down a functional derivative? I find it annoying that I can't deduce the units of a functional derivative at a glance the same way I can for ordinary derivative expressions
Reposted by Sam Foley
The 4th of July.
Reservoir Hill. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Reservoir Hill. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
July 4, 2026 at 11:50 PM
The 4th of July.
Reservoir Hill. Baltimore, MD. 2026.
Reservoir Hill. Baltimore, MD. 2026.