Here's my latest contribution to the @nytimes "Lost Science" series. Brenna Henn's sweeping study of African genetics has been frozen. Gift link: nyti.ms/3Ypmm1A

This was published in the dead week between Christmas and New Year’s. If you work in education & were, reasonably, taking a break, maybe you missed it. Don’t miss it.

Thank you, @captmarkkelly.bsky.social for using your privilege to speak truth to corrupt power!

BREAKING: The Wyoming Supreme Court permanently blocked abortion bans in the state. Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming.

Five years ago, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Outnumbered and assaulted, officers stood their ground to protect lawmakers and defend the peaceful transfer of power. Today, we honor those who upheld the Constitution on one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.

Under the microbial defense theory of Alzheimer's the idea is that beta amyloid, the protein congregation that causes neuron death and contributes to dementia, are a form of antimicrobial defense. 2 🩺🧠

In a study following 23 million people age 18-59 (pretty young) for 4 years…despite the fact that the ones who got the COVID vaccine were overall older and sicker at baseline, they not only had 74% lower risk of dying from COVID than the unvaccinated but 25% lower risk of dying from any other cause!

@gallego.senate.gov and @captmarkkelly.bsky.social!

1991 and 2003 me:

New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

This is pretty succinct

Here's the link to our #OpenAccess study, "Plague History, Mongol History, and the Processes of Focalisation Leading up to the Black Death." doi.org/10.1017/mdh..... www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

This brainrot is more responsible for the rise of authoritarianism in the US than any of the wokeness it will not shut up about

We need to know how genes work. And his research is so interesting! Cutting off funding to this type of research is typical MAGA denialism and pettiness. Science, curiosity, and nature doesn’t work that way.

Grateful to the American Boccaccio Association for including notice of my #OpenAccess teaching module in their latest newsletter! The Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic Through the Eyes of Ibn Battuta, is designed for introductory history courses. www.history21.com/owit-module/...

Smith straight out of the gate making it explicitly clear that in BOTH of Trump’s federal criminal cases, there was “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” and that Smith’s team would have prevailed at trial.

I've just been re-reading the best recent genetic study in pandemic history, & it remains this 2024 pre-print from the @pasteur.fr in Paris, led by postdoc @gmasfiol.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... As important for the 2nd as for the 3rd pandemic. Here's hoping for a 2026 release! 🧪

New on the site! Get prepped and ready for pre-Code movies on TCM in January. Thin men! Penguin pools! A surprising amount of Johnny Mack Brown! Enjoy! #tcmparty pre-code.com/pre-code-mov...

A nice thread in which an actual expert patiently explains why the Secretary of Health and Human Service is not simply a liar, but an especially stupid one.

"Academics literally cannot make genAI go away" we also can't make underage drinking go away and we're not advocating for installing bar carts in every classroom.

At least 11 congressmen from 1865-1871 were arguably not citizens under Trump's interpretation of 14th A, our research finds. Yet no one challenged their eligibility to serve. Why not? Obviously, b/c no one who drafted or ratified the 14th A shared Trump's view. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

225 years ago on Christmas Day 1800, Thomas Jefferson, learned of the first successful vaccination in the U. S., and wrote: "every friend of humanity must look with pleasure on this discovery, by which one evil the [more] is withdrawn from the condition of man." founders.archives.gov/documents/Je...

All I want for the holidays is for our own government to stop hurting people.

Made an American/German/Mexican Xmas eve dinner. Tamales made few days ago. Today: sweet and sour red cabbage, short ribs, green bean casserole. Stollen rising to bake for Christmas morning! Whew

If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career

Ötzi and a 45,000-year-old Siberian were both infected with a cancer-causing strain of HPV. This is fascinating, and a reminder that we have a vaccine that *prevents cancer* and everyone eligible should get it.

Hats off to UCBerkeley for training students to collect evidence of war crimes!

What also gets me about this is that Weiss thought 60 minutes reporters *would not be able to get Miller’s contact information* Ahem. Sweetie, they’ve been doing investigative journalism for almost 60 years. And bravo. You know a fascist up close and personal. Fire Weiss.

Rick Steves is a man of the moment!

"We here at Bank of America remember a time when a woman couldn't get a credit card without her husband's approval. Wouldn't that be fun again?"

This needs little attention, but I am curious: why are they using a photo from 1964 of fans screaming for the Beatles?

Will an anthropologist be able to identify your sex and gender from your bones 100 years from now? I sure hope so! Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve. www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...

Dems who are willing to throw communities under the bus, including trans communities, we see you. I won’t forget come election time.

FOUR REPUBLICANS just signed the House Democratic discharge petition to force a House vote on the Hakeem Jeffries bill to extend health care tax credits for 3 years: Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Mike Lawler (NY), Rob Bresnahan (PA), and Ryan Mackenzie (PA). Gives it the required 218 signatures. Huge news

What the actual fuck, @gallego.senate.gov and @captmarkkelly.bsky.social ???

one of the great, pernicious myths perpetrated about higher ed—which media, higher ed administrators, politicians, and a number of faculty are complicit in spreading—is that humanities departments close due to some combination of cratering student demand and unjustifiable cost. It’s not true

This change will result in more opaque decisions where subject area experts have less input. And feedback to grant submitters will be significantly reduced. It’s a step backward. And it’s a direct result of their reorganization and reduction of the NSF.

It’s the first night of Hanukkah and the world seems like a very dark place. But we can bring light to the darkness. We can fight for each other and make goodness, love, and community shine through. Show me your menorahs and let’s light up the timeline!

The Irish were not considered White during the Irish Potato Famine. The Italians weren't considered white at the turn of the century. andscape.com/features/whi...

Since Governor Katie Hobbs took office, Arizona’s economy has grown by more than 100,000 jobs, with the lowest unemployment rate in Arizona history. It is now a manufacturing hub with billions of dollars in private investment. We need to keep her in office. Re-Elect Katie Hobbs Governor of Arizona

Student produce a final meme for my osteology class. This year, I got a 67 meme! And it made sense!

"Faculty grew too powerful and too romantic about their role in society" Sure, that's what's wrong... 😑

I got the shots this year. It didn’t hurt any more than other vaccination. That is, not much. DO IT

It is actually a huge problem that ACIP is so discredited that insurance and health organizations are simply ignoring them now. But also, a good thing that matches their statements about if they try to fuck around with the vaccine schedule.

For real, I use this in my genetics lectures as a prime example of how not every gene an organism has is expressed in the phenotype by default. Everyone's got the blueprints to be something else, we just don't use them all at the same time.

This review of the current state of knowledge about the origins or intermediate hosts of pathogens that have historically affected humans is valuable. A couple of comments below. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #histmed #aDNA

New study finds that public health messages that acknowledge uncertainty and explain the scientific process lead to greater perceived trustworthiness and understanding compared to basic fact-based messages. journals.lww.com/jphmp/abstra...

Last night, President #JoeBiden spoke to young people scrolling social media wondering if they’ll ever be loved, marry, have a family, or be accepted for who they are. His message: Just be you. You are loved. This is what leadership with empathy and decency looks like.

Further evidence that widespread covid vaccination is better for everybody.