Brian Dilkes
Takes things apart to figure out what's inside.
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes[Not loaded yet]
- Reposted by Brian DilkesTo all the non-academics who don't understand the point of academic freedom and don't care to learn about it, let me give you a factor you might care about: Tenure is the biggest reason you get my services at a steep discount over my private sector value.
- No Tenure for Oklahoma. Instead, faculty will be on "renewable contracts “tied to teaching effectiveness, student completion, job placement, and economic alignment.” #academicsky
- Reposted by Brian DilkesI’m excited to learn more about Percy Julian, a chemist that worked out methods to synthesize human hormones from plant sterol precursors and to generate high quality industrial soy protein #BlackHistoryMonth 🌱🧪 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_L...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesNew paper out - fun collaboration with @wcratcliff.bsky.social & led by the wonderful Tony Burnetti! IMO, a rare clear example identifying the mechanism underlying priority effects at macroevolutionary scales. Also, continuing to justify my PhD from a plant lab 🍃 www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes🚨New Publication Alert🚨 Authors: Asher Hudson, Maggie Wagner, and Peter Balint-Kurti Maize Hybrids Exhibit Reduction in an Elicitor-Triggered Defense Response Compared to Their Inbred Parents | #MPMI apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/10.1094/...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesSuccessful Predictive Modeling of Pollen Fitness Phenotypes Is Enabled by Measures of Expression Specificity By Sebastian A.F. Mueller, Zuzana Vejlupkova, Molly Megraw, John E. Fowler doi.org/10.64898/202... via bioRxiv #PlantScience
- Reposted by Brian DilkesNew paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government every year from 1994 to 2023. The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets. ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes“The masses of the people, however, did not realize how much the industrial tycoons, the Army and the State were benefiting from the ruin of the currency.” — William L. Shirer, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany”
- Reposted by Brian DilkesHere, we explore the protein-protein interactions between monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthetic enzymes. This work was the result of strong effort by Chloe Langley, who Allwin McDonald and I had the privilege to work with. Congrats to the team! ACS Chemical Biology pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Brian DilkesWhat a wonderful interview with Greg Ketter -- someone who clearly deeply cares about community and books -- and great questions from @zachrabiroff.com!
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes“in theater” is a crazy way to describe minneapolis
- Reposted by Brian DilkesLooking for an architectural illustrator (paid work) -- someone with a basic ability to sketch out low-detail building types, simple sections, site plans, diagrams, and so on. Drop a link to your website/portfolio if interested. Including some general vibe examples.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesAccording to Tacoma, WA area Redditors, this was the work of ILWU Local 91 in Oakland, CA
- Reposted by Brian DilkesPlease forward this REU opportunity (paid summer internship) to undergraduates interested in plant biology and related fields etap.nsf.gov/award/7573/o...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesI don't keep doomers in my feed but since apparently some folks do: "celebrate each and every win, loudly" is Organizing 101
- Reposted by Brian DilkesHey, anyone I know every apply to an Institute of Library & Museum Sciences grant for museums (bot gardens, nat hist collections esp)? Would love to see an application example!
- Reposted by Brian Dilkesand by the way, i’m not just saying this as rhetoric. that is actually what the numbers are, and i’m qualified to say that, as someone in the field
- Reposted by Brian DilkesComics retailing legend Greg Ketter standing up to ICE in Minneapolis. Yes, that's tear gas. He's 70 years old.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesNonviolence is, in fact, working. This administration is weaker than it was a year ago. More and more of the public is becoming galvanized against it; its agents are being impeded.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesLecture alert! Wed. Feb 25th, I'll be giving a talk I've been working on for many months: "The Magic Hype: Andy Warhol and Trans Visibility in the 1970s" at the Dia Foundation in Chelsea. In coordination, Dia will have three days of screenings of Warhol films. diaart.org/program/cale...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe Star Tribune reports that federal agents "attempted to order local police from the scene" where a man was shot and killed by feds this morning, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara refused and "instructed his officers to preserve the scene."
- Reposted by Brian DilkesI'm on the Green Line towards downtown Minneapolis ICE OUT protest. The train filled immediately. Even 20 stops away from our destination we reached capacity. People are cheering at every stop when they see people waiting to board because we are all starting to realize how big this is.
- Another example of o2 controlling endosperm starch. Endosperm starch _also_ modifies o2 mutant hardness in flint corn. Replicated across many labs and decades: the physical interplay between storage structures determines kernel structural properties. Beautiful endosperm always a joy.
- 🌽🧬 RESEARCH 🌽🧬 Opaque2 binds to the promoter of AGPL2 to activate its expression and increase the accumulation of starch in sweet corn kernels, thereby increasing their hardness and affecting their quality - Chen et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪
- Reposted by Brian DilkesA neighbor to the South Shore building said they suspected this may be the case, back in November when the then-tenants announced they were unionizing. “This is an attempt at gentrification. Point-blank, period,” they said.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe House Ethics Committee found that Matt Gaetz did all of the horrible things previously claimed—sex trafficking minors, prostitution (including of minors), drugs, drunk driving, obstruction, the works. The Florida Bulldog has secured and published the House report this evening.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesPew Research Institute (2023): • Red State Texas has about 2.1 million undocumented immigrants • Red State Florida has 1.6 M undocumented immigrants • Blue State Minnesota has 130,000. And yet only Minnesota is being occupied by masked thugs over "immigration." It's *not* about immigration.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesCeci n'est pas une food replicator.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesI have to reiterate that this is an excellent example of why anti-vaxxers are a danger to every single person in the community. They believe their “medical freedom” supersedes your freedom from contracting infectious disease. And with RFK Jr. at the helm, they are right, so take precautions.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe most common origin for the Montreal-style bagel is Chaim Seligman who is said to have brought the bagel to Montreal where he had a bakery next to Schwartz's Deli around 1900. Each day, he put his bagels in a pushcart and walked around the neighbourhood selling them. 🧵 5/8
- Reposted by Brian DilkesSaint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning. I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesIt’s actually three guys but they’re all Peter Sellers
- Reposted by Brian DilkesOne of Freundlich's sculptures was made the primary promotional image for the Nazi Party's Degenerate Art Exhibiton in 1937, a period during which his entire scene was villainized and persecuted by the Third Reich. Freundlich would be killed at the Majdanek concentration camp a few years later.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesSpotted beebalm (Lamiaceae: Monarda punctata) can be found throughout much of eastern North America, often in sandy soil. The large white bracts that surround the smaller flowers attract many pollinators, especially wasps. Indiana Dunes National Park, Indiana, 11 Aug 2012.
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes"This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation." A summary if/then/else that applies broadly across science, policy, and rule of law.
- Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG... www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesVideo message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG... www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesWhat can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThis was the 2025 harvest from my mini-maize experiment. These were the largest cobs out of an F2 population constructed by crossing Fast-Flowering-Mini-Maize Line-A (FFMM-A) and Blue Jade Sweetcorn.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesCommon Sense, published 250 years ago today.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesIn the latest on Unprofessoring, I argue that I--and we--need ways to talk about the sensations of thinking and learning! unprofessoring.substack.com/p/towards-a-...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesWe put out a call for #ICEOutForGood vigils 24 hours ago. There are now more than 1000 events taking place across the country this weekend. Find yours: www.mobilize.us?tag_ids=2913...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesHere’s a comment for the people who are upset that MN hasn’t charged Jonathan Ross already: If you just Leeeroy Jenkins this shit you will lose and you will empower fascism and murder. It is indescribably hard to prosecute cops for murder. It is even hard when the murder is ON VIDEO. /1
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says they've been informed by the FBI that US DOJ has said FBI will solely lead the investigation into Renee Nicole Good's killing by a federal officer. State investigators no longer have access to "case materials, scene evidence/investigative interviews"
- Reposted by Brian DilkesMINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota investigators say they can't access evidence after fatal ICE shooting and FBI won't work jointly on probe. @reuters.com
- Reposted by Brian DilkesMy wife, a Minneapolis native, reminding me it's dead of night in Minnesota in January, below freezing, and there's thousands of people outside
- Reposted by Brian DilkesFellow biologists, this is a poem that discovers the tonal beauty of the word "ribosome"
- “i want back my rocking chairs, / solipsist sunsets, / & coastal jungle sounds...” A poem by Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered by ICE earlier today. lithub.com/renee-nicole...
- Reposted by Brian Dilkes“We did our absolute best to get the best possible outcome from these products.” but “The biggest surprise of anything is that nothing worked anywhere,” says Naeve. “Even among cynical people like me, that was really shocking.” Me too. blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2026/01/do-b...
- surprise face /s
- “We did our absolute best to get the best possible outcome from these products.” but “The biggest surprise of anything is that nothing worked anywhere,” says Naeve. “Even among cynical people like me, that was really shocking.” Me too. blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2026/01/do-b...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesThe defense-inducing compound N-hydroxy pipecolic acid is a major substrate for the methyltransferase PbBSMT of Plasmodiophora brassicae academic.oup.com/jxb/advance-...
- Reposted by Brian DilkesOur new year starts of course with new preprint on brassinosteroid signaling tinyurl.com/nhzcfkxd. We re-analyzed the function of Kelch phosphatases, which were previously characterized as protein tyrosine phosphatases that dephosphorylate the critical pTyr200 in the GSK3 kinase BIN2. (1/6)
- Reposted by Brian DilkesAcclaimed banjoist Béla Fleck is pulling out of three Kennedy Center concerts, joining a growing number of musicians canceling events after the board voted to add President Trump’s name to the venue.
- Reposted by Brian DilkesTarr's films were long, dark, and often abstract explorations of everyday life and politics. n.pr/4pqwEcG
