May Britt, 91, Dies; Her Marriage to Sammy Davis Jr. Sparked Outrage in 1960 (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/m...

From wine tastings to food delivery to a vegan cooking channel - the far right is luring people in via affiliated interests everywhere www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Finished at last! After at least a decade in the “work in progress” pile I finally finished my appliqué engineering quilt. Silver lame fabric for the cracking fluidized bed cracker and distillation column #scienceart #nerdart #chemicalengineering #chemicalengineeringlife #appliquequilt

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison. Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.

Thinking about all the paramedics, and all the nurses and doctors in the ED's, operating theatres and ICUs (and the support staff) - we are enormously lucky to have them.

The ARC have announced they’ll be running another round of Laureate Fellowships and Discovery Indigenous projects next year. These schemes were “paused” pending the review of the ARC grants system. Seems that is taking longer than expected … whoda thunk it? From www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...

Thousands of academics and students in New Zealand and Australia are poised to lose access to Elsevier journals next year www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Librarians versus the world. Blogpost from @researchwhisperer.bsky.social about the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL) decision to pause negotiations with Elsevier. researchwhisperer.org/2025/11/25/l...

Alert for DP27 EOI applicants who “hold an Industry Fellowship in 2025”: ARC has contacted research offices advising that if the Fellowship will “remain active beyond the DP27 project assessment date (1 July 2027)” then you can only be listed on one (1) DP27 EOI. On the very eve of submission😱🙄

#CentresOfExcellence #CE26 announcement cont.: Outcomes summary: Approved / requested (%) Apps: 8 / 18 (44.4%) Funds: $279.85M / $629.77M (44.4%) Approved grants requested $279.85M; 100.0% provided. /bot

ARC says they’ll announce Centres of Excellence outcomes tomorrow (Tuesday 9th Dec). This is more than 2 months late, most likely due to the new security checking requirements for ARC grants. Centres of Excellence grants also need to have been approved by the Minister.

A great podcast about Research Integrity - old and new- from Cautionary Tales by @timharford.ft.com pca.st/podcast/ba99...

A *huge* vaccine victory. I've been writing on this for years; Australia has seen remarkable progress in cervical cancer prevention with the HPV vaccine. I love seeing science triumph like this.

If Quantum Computing Is Solving “Impossible” Questions, How Do We Know They’re Right? Researchers at Swinburne have developed a fast new way to check whether certain quantum computers, specifically Gaussian Boson Samplers, are actually producing the results they claim, without waiting millennia…

Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad

Something is wrong when the government doesn’t sufficiently fund the CSIRO, yet continues to increase subsidies for fossil fuel producers. Annie Wilson, Inverloch The Age, letters

Harvard has started a new investigation into ties that former Harvard president Larry Summers and others at the university had with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the university announced Tuesday.

The CEO said the following at the ACSD event in Canberra (paraphrasing): New schemes are with the minister to be progressed to completion hence they cannot promise a timeline. ARC expects a transition period of up to 3 years. Current Schemes will likely be phased out gradually?!.

#CentresOfExcellence #CE26 ARC has "postponed" announcement of Centres of Excellence outcomes! It says "due diligence checks" are still being carried out on some applications. www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...

We might also remind journalists on how to effectively report on these groups - crucially not doing the neo-Nazis' promotional work for them. write.as/thewhiterose...

National Socialist Network rallied with police permission at NSW Parliament. The state remains ineffective in responding to the advancement of neo-Nazi groups. Here are their faces sent to us by community members - help us ID them! write.as/thewhiterose...

Organic Kale sales vs Autism diagnosis rates. www.wmbriggs.com/post/58413/

Exactly. Why didn’t the government stop this in 1996 when the Farmer sisters bravely reported Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell??? That was 29 years ago. Inexcusable. #BelieveWomen #believeGirls www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/u...

Harvard secures a win in the fight with Trump over federal research funding. A federal judge said the Trump admin "used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities."

The @eurekaprizes.bsky.social Eureka Prizes are always amazing. So many great people doing great work - and I love the Glam Sydney Town Hall venue! #EurekaPrizes

🏆 Octopus and Ice Sheet Team @marine-omics.bsky.social is awarded the Aspire Scholarship Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research. Learn more: youtu.be/8H3bCE6wfjM #EurekaPrizes @janstrugnell.bsky.social @lausally.bsky.social @nick-golledge.bsky.social

🏆 Passport2Recovery @flindersuniversity.bsky.social is awarded the Department of Industry, Science and Resources Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science. #EurekaPrizes Learn more: youtu.be/nBNEAv0fDIU #EurekaPrizes

🏆 Dr Kamal Kant Gupta and Dr Jafar Shojaii are awarded the Department of Defence Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia. #EurekaPrizes Learn more: youtu.be/vuiDwHJ2AB4

To read the 337-page transcript of Ghislaine Maxwell’s interview with the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, is to be horrified, even enraged, by Maxwell’s brazen airbrushing of her conduct, and by Blanche’s placid acceptance of her rendition of events.

The new head of the CDC, Jim O’Neill, has no degree in science or medicine, and has pushed unproven treatments for COVID like ivermectin. This is so incredibly dangerous.

The new ICE song by Jesse Welles nails it. ICE isn’t recruiting heroes, it’s recruiting the bitter, the rejected, the ones desperate for a badge to cover their failures. Losers with power become the most dangerous kind. (c/o Caroline Codsi)

An M.I.T. study found that 95% of companies that had invested in A.I. tools were seeing zero return. It jibes with the emerging idea that generative A.I., “in its current incarnation, simply isn’t all it’s been cracked up to be,” johncassidysays.bsky.social writes.

The National Socialist Network / White Australia neo-Nazis are expected to gather in Bacchus Marsh this morning ahead of their national conference and weightlifting competition this weekend, following last night's stunt in Melbourne.

ARC say they’ll announce Linkage Projects & Laureate Fellowship by end of the month. Next Linkage Projects deadline (2025 round 2) has been pushed back accordingly. Better later than never, I guess 🙄. And the sort-of reason given sounds … weird, given that the new legislation started last July.

Trump’s Cuts to N.I.H. Grants Focused on Minority Groups Are Illegal, Judge Rules www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/u...

Fear and confusion mounted quickly on Thursday as international students, who make up more than a quarter of Harvard's enrollment, sought clarity or reassurance.

Breaking News: A federal judge blocked President Trump’s attempt to dismantle the Education Department and ordered officials to reinstate thousands of fired employees.

Breaking news: The US has been stripped of its top-notch triple-a credit rating by Moody’s on concerns about rising levels of government debt www.ft.com/content/e456...

No notes. h/t @ianbremmer.com

🤮

Thank you, Australia.

Many major institutions - 100s of academic leaders - are organizing against trumps government overreach. Harvard is one such institution 👇🏽

The Australian people speak, delivering Anthony Albanese "a win for the ages".

The comprehensive nature of this win gives Anthony Albanese the chance to change the narrative of our politics.

The US president draws widespread criticism over an image posted to his Truth Social platform that shows him depicted as the pope seated in an ornate chair, dressed in formal papal clothing.

The Coalition is set for its worst result at a federal election after a crushing loss. Anthony Albanese last night claimed victory after swings across the country.

What’s really happening on college campuses — according to a former college board chair 👇

Students protested President Trump’s attacks on Harvard on Thursday, but at town hall meetings, defiance mixed with uncertainty as faculty members examined the toll of the White House’s actions.