Very timely and important- thinking about the microplastics we produce and consume. Also very proud of my mother for her insights in this interview! www.ksmu.org/show/growing...

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

MUST READ thread before Monday night's forecasted G4 / SEVERE geomagnetic storm. Auroras could be seen as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border at times. Widespread mid-latitude displays are possible. Here's what you need to know to have a successful aurora chase tonight! 🧵 #heliophysics #aurora

An impressive number of graduate applications this year used the phrase “curiosity-driven approach” 🤔

Compare the data about how US institutions are ranking globally vs how Republican voters think things are going with American scientific achievements www.pewresearch.org/science/2026...

I've tried and failed a couple times to write a post explaining how serious this would be. NCAR is globally essential to our climate change response. This can't just be replaced. Every scientist in the world will be doing climate research with one hand tied behind their back for at least a decade

This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is

It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick. Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.

Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.

🚨 NASA scientists warn: critical equipment at Goddard Space Flight Center could be discarded during the shutdown, jeopardizing decades of Earth & space science missions. 📢 Act now: agu.quorum.us/campaign/146... #sciencepolicy #saveNASA

"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk

Great article from @virginiagewin.bsky.social showing that across the Federal science ecosystem, research that benefits the American public is being delayed or completely halted, and remaining programs are being consolidated under close partisan political control. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Warning. ⚠️ If you are writing an NSF GRFP, new this year, you need official transcripts to apply. Beware. They will not review applications without official transcripts. ‼️

Glad to see this story covered by the press. I've heard from colleagues that Goddard labs are being moved/closed during the government shutdown while employees are unable to receive notification/e-mail/warnings. There's fear that they'll return after the shutdown & labs will be gone. 🔭

Some charts for those who don't know the extent of the US public (and private) investment in research (particularly in biomedical research) compared to other countries and institutions. The destruction of the US' scientific institutions has global implications.

The US funds the bulk of biomedical research globally by far. It's not like other countries can simply take up the slack. The more likely: people leave research, new people don't become researchers. There is no happy ending. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

The amount of AI generated art in slides at this conference, primarily used by older scientists, is killing me. Scientists please. Don’t use these ai platforms to make your figures or slides. They look bad and I have yet to see them meaningfully improve the message of talks.

I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.

"The secret sauce has been poured down the drain," says David Draper, former Deputy Chief Scientist of NASA, over the recent firing or departure of 1000s of NASA employees, which will be catastrophic for the legacy of the US🇺🇸😖🚀 www.planetary.org/articles/400... h/t @floragraham.bsky.social 🧪

Layoff notices at JPL are going out today. About 11% of the Lab, or 550 people, are being let go. I'm thinking of my friends and colleagues there, some of whom will still be employed after today and some of whom won't. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.

One year ago today, NASA flagship Europa Clipper launched. Today, NASA JPL, which built it, fired another 500 people. (They've lost 25% of workers total.) We're sacrificing scientists and engineers to build concentration camps and gaudy White House ballrooms. NASA is in crisis. America is in crisis.

Are you someone who is interested in astronomy graduate school? This is a list of many/most departments and their expectations for admissions this year. Please feel free to spread it far and wide. If you are doing admissions and you'd like to update your entry, reach out as per the form!

Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

And yet Acting NASA Administrator says the US will beat China to the Moon, establish a permanent lunar presence, and push outward. Newsflash: not on $18 billion we're not. Trump Administration plans to quietly impound the $10 billion Congress restored. NASA is being destroyed right before our eyes.

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget. Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide. Report: osf.io/e8rnc a 🧵

Some people think ChatGPT has a place writing things like news briefs, stuff written to a specific style and tone and, y'know, kinda boring. So Science did a study. ChatGPT failed. Why? It got stuff wrong. "Also, extensive editing for hyperbole was needed." www.science.org/content/blog...

Indeed. Earlier this summer, the White House did this to me, as a scientific expert source in media, and issued a formal statement regarding my personal campaign contribution history in an attempt to discredit my commentary on wildfire, climate, and federal policy. Yet more alarm bells ringing...

NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoc Fellowship apps are OPEN! 🔭 However, app only appears on research.gov if your role "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"! Click "Proposals", "Prepare and Submit Proposals", then "Prepare New". If you do not see NSF 22-621, change role to "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"!

Today @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

If you're an author and haven't yet signed up for the Anthropic settlement, do yourself a favor (and strike a blow against AI) by checking to see if any of your books were involved. www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Among other things, makes a fantastic case for fundamental research. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk94...

If you’ve been paying attention you will know this was their strategy with all of the spending including NASA, NIH etc

You might have heard of this company that wants to put giant reflectors in space to "light up" parts of the earth. It would be catastrophic not just for astronomers, but for...any people or creatures who thrive at night. Have comments? The American Astronomical Society would love to hear from you.

Many institutions who don't have R1 status may not be hit as directly by the federal funding cuts. But stuff like this👇 is disastrous. ILL and archival digitization projects by major universities have made it possible to do serious research (as faculty OR student) at a SLAC. Both are in danger.

very funny that the world's most high profile epic-science-rocket-to-mars guy lost the actual scientists

My latest: The Trump administration is not waiting for the next fiscal year -- or Congress -- to cut climate science at NOAA. A new document details the money it won't spend *this* year on climate research.

NEW: The White House wants to kill off Juno, NASA's mission to uncover Jupiter's secrets. Fortunately, its legacy is clear. Juno's a scientist, but also an artist: it revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky. Me @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

NASA’s acting chief calls for the end of Earth science at the space agency arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

New analysis: NASA is awarding new grants at a significantly lower rate in 2025 than in prior years:

Sign of the times- Michigan State, one of the biggest astronomy programs in the USA, is not accepting ANY applications for its graduate program this year 😖 🔭🧪🎢

As I wrote in @thehill.com, federal science funding isn’t just about labs, it’s about livelihoods. Cuts to NIH, NSF & NASA mean lost jobs today, stalled discovery tomorrow, and fewer opportunities for the next generation. When we invest in research, we are investing in workers and communities. ⬇️

This would mark an extraordinary, unprecedented, and alarming level of interference in what has historically been a fair and systematic process. The previous NCAs were authored by hundreds of scientists who were leading domain experts in their fields. www.cnn.com/2025/08/...

this is why the "oh, everything is gonna be ok after the midterms/next presidential elections" ppl are blowing my mind. what are you even saying, the destroyed satellites aren't going to un-destroy themselves and NASA doesn't have any spares lying around futurism.com/white-house-...

A fun reminder that a loss of 60,000 jobs in and around academia is ~50% more than all coal mining jobs in the entire country.

I’ve been having a few too many conversations like this. Them: Hi Kate, how are things with your work, with the world? Me: the university is under attack, democratic norms being broken in half, so, pretty bad. Them: But everything is going to come back and be okay after the midterms. Me: Uhh, no.

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NEW: i spoke to nine (!) scientists across several disciplines whose work was cited in the new Department of Energy report that downplays the severity of climate change. all of them say their work was misrepresented, cherry picked, and/or lacked context —