Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

Today I Learned: Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning, three facts I learned the day before. medium.com/@samredhaired/… Joined December 2016

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

4 weeks ago

@NikoMcCarty How are they so much protein by mass?? Isn't 50% high even for a non-plant?

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@Galaxriel @NikoMcCarty Chloroplasts can emit light in the dark (basically exactly the reverse process they use to capture it), but with orders of magnitude less power than they capture. Where would the energy come from?

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

a month ago

@Galaxriel @NikoMcCarty (2) rely on breaking down high-energy compounds in ways that converts stored chemical energy to photons. Remember - the total energy output of a mushroom is very small. Even if they could make photons from ATP, they couldn't make many.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

a month ago

@Galaxriel @NikoMcCarty Luminescent proteins work one of two ways: 1) fluorescence or 2) production of an autofluorescent molecule. (1) Works by absorbing photons and releasing at another wavelength - good for making a glowy color, but not net-illuminating.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

2 months ago

@ProvenReserves This... sounds like it's working as intended? You're providing a service (battery storage and power smoothing), so you get paid for it. That's how providing services is supposed to work.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

3 months ago

I wrote a thing! Rates of evolution have always confused me a bit. Like, which is faster, evolving drug resistance in bacteria or domesticating animals? Here, I compare rates using a unified scale (# of generations) that makes them all comparable: asimov.press/p/metaphors-ev…

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

3 months ago

@I_Rubio_Somoza Are you expressing the gene sequence? If so, is it constitutively expressed or inducible? Strong expression, even of small stuff, can put a lot of pressure on the host to break it.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

5 months ago

@szetoinsitu @AsimovPress Is "cell wall to nucleus in 50 nanoseconds" more intuitive, or less intuitive? I think they both have their uses. Though "wall to nucleus" implies they can fly in a straight shot, which is very far from the truth.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

5 months ago

I wrote a thing! If you're interested in the speeds at which things happen in molecular biology, check out the second entry of my quantitative metaphors series in Asimov Press:

Asimov Press @AsimovPress

5 months ago

A cell is an incredibly crowded and quick place. Sugar molecules fly through at 250 mph. Each protein collides with ten trillion water molecules per second. It is difficult to understand biology, in part, because these speeds boggle the mind. For our column today, author Sam

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

5 months ago

Another year, another set of book reviews. Here are the books I read in 2025, and my thoughts about them. medium.com/@samredhaired/… Top book: "Embassytown" by China Miéville. Close second: "The Best of Greg Egan" by Greg Egan (20 short stories by the master).

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

7 months ago

@josiezayner @mcapel4 What do you think is the ratio of work done in fruit flies to work done in mice?

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

7 months ago

@johndillon2022 @60Minutes Science has huge RoI but it's diffuse and long-term, therefore difficult to capture by a private funder. Mostly impossible to do with venture capital, but stupidly efficient at generating society-wide value for a large, non-profit-motovated org like the government.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

@mikpom123 @AsimovPress 34 unmetaphorical millimeters is pretty damned long to a cell! And that's one chromosome - one set of 46 gets into the meter scale. (And if you start adding together all the DNA in your body...)

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

@bryanlehrer Noted.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

My latest article for Asimov Press is out!

Asimov Press @AsimovPress

8 months ago

Most metaphors in biology are qualitative and vague. "DNA is the blueprint of the cell." OK but, like, how big is that blueprint? For our latest essay, @ClamonsSam gives a bunch of QUANTITATIVE metaphors to help you understand the sizes of biology, from molecules to cells. He

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

@FilmLadd If I had Klingon teeth? Idk.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

@nfinf5 Also, this stuff is hard to get right the first time.

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Sam Clamons @ClamonsSam

8 months ago

@nfinf5 I think you overestimate the amount of poor-quality thinking out there. Never attribute to malice what could be just as well explained by incompetence.