OMG Some US doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding www.nature.com/articles/d41...

💔This is a heartbreaking story. We support our students, whatever their identities, and we deplore the political environment that is making their experience in Texas public universities so painful—while also harming the learning environment for everyone. www.texastribune.org/2025/10/21/t...

That’s seven. @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/us/uni...

“regardless of whether the precise number is 5, 6, 7, or 8 million, Saturday’s events are very likely the biggest single-day protest event since 1970, surpassing even the 2017 Women’s March.” www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...

Philadelphia is what Democracy Looks Like. Thank You @nbcphiladelphia.com @indivisiblepa.bsky.social @indivisible.org @maddow.msnbc.com #IndivisiblePA

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

You know it’s nothing but good vibes when Philly Elmo shows up #nokings

A helicopter shot of No Kings protesters marching to Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Our Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves over what we have allowed America to become under the fascist authoritarian rule of Trump. 🙌💪👏✊️🇺🇸👇

🔥👑 NO KINGS. NO TYRANTS. NO WAR ON SCIENCE. Evidence beats edict. Always has. Philadelphia was born in rebellion against monarchy. Let’s do it again. 📅 Saturday, Oct 18 — NO KINGS Rally 📍 Philadelphia City Hall, 12 PM and Nationwide www.nokings.org

A university that signs the “compact” is one that acknowledges its own inability to compete and succeed based talent and merit. It would signal insecurity and mediocrity to current and future students and faculty. Say no. Recruit the best people, protect their freedom and support their hard work.

Panelists included Mallory Harris (of #SCIMaP and UMD-College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences), whose work has been essential to assessing the community-level impacts of federal cuts to science. Preprint: www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... Panel: www.statnews.com/2025/10/16/f...

🙌 Penn rejects Trump’s compact!! www.inquirer.com/education/pe...

🔥👑 NO KINGS. NO TYRANTS. NO WAR ON SCIENCE. Evidence beats edict. Always has. Philadelphia was born in rebellion against monarchy. Let’s do it again. 📅 Saturday, Oct 18 — NO KINGS Rally 📍 Philadelphia City Hall, 12 PM and Nationwide www.nokings.org

Proud of the Penn faculty!!! www.inquirer.com/education/up...

Scientists lose jobs and grants as US government shutdown takes a toll

Courtesy of colleagues at Penn

You know they’re worried about this weekend’s turnout at the No Kings rally when they’re already making comments about it. Who’s ready for Saturday?

"Conversion therapy" is a polite name for something that isn’t conversion and isn’t therapy. It’s abuse.

“At its core, Chiles v. Salazar is not about protecting speech. It is about pathologizing LGBTQ identities ... It rejects decades of scientific consensus and ethical guidance in favor of a worldview that seeks to make society less safe and less inclusive.” open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

“The Death of Public Health” Jonas Salk saved millions with a polio vaccine. He gave it away to help humanity. Today, venal and yes, evil billionaires—Koch to Musk to Peter Thiel—are fully behind destroying American society for profit. They want you poor, sick, and desperate. We must stop them.

BREAKING: Some of the layoffs at CDC are being REVERSED. Here is my updated story. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

We have a judicial crisis in the US.

You would not fire these people—including the staff of the hugely, HUGELY important 'Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report'—if you cared at all about public health, if you wanted people to live. And you would not let your thuggish henchmen fire people like this if you were a responsible president.

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

Thoughtful and well-informed op-ed from @ianlmorgan.bsky.social Definitely worth a read! www.the-scientist.com/nih-leadersh... 1/2

Vanderbilt students and faculty know the right answer to Trump's "compact" for #highered. Why doesn't their Chancellor? #academicsky #edusky

Students and faculty at Brown know the right answer to Trump's "compact". But 9 days since the letter went out and no response from their board and administration. Does deciding whether you want to abandon #academicfreedom and integrity really take this much time? #academicsky

MIT Rejects Trump's "Compact" This is how you do it. JUST. SAY. NO. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale docs.google.com/document/d/1...

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration. MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone." orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Over 100 Brown U students & 20 faculty members gathered outside the campus today to demand that the university reject Trump’s loyalty oath compact. Professors & students taped their mouths shut to symbolize the compact’s threat to free speech, #academicfreedom & diversity of thought. #DefendHigherEd

Rutgers Professor @mark-bray.bsky.social, who studies & writes about Antifascism,Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats By the time he & his family reached the gate, their tickets were cancelled. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n... flagrantly & appallingly lawless. Hope he & his family are ok.

Hey US scientists, the NY Times wants to hear from you if you've had your funding cut. 🌊🧪

Trump's dictatorship is time for making moral choices I talked to the top climate scientist, Penn's Michael Mann, about his great new book - and why he sacrificed a key university post in order to keep speaking the truth against anti-science lies My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/scie...

🔬10 out of 8 scientists agree RFKJ should be fired 🧪 This can happen when your incompetence is so large it generates mass.

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

Six former US Surgeon Generals all came together to issue a joint statement about the tremendous harm RFK Jr poses to the health of Americans. Meanwhile who did RFK Jr pick as Surgeon General? Casey Means. A wellness influencer who isn’t even a practicing physician.

In an extraordinary joint statement, 6 former U.S. Surgeons General warn: RFK Jr. is "endangering the health of the nation.” We’ve previously called for RFK Jr.’s resignation, this moment confirms why. Patient health must come before politics. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

They want to take away pay that they said we would get in furlough emails. It’s not like we don’t want to be working right now. And excepted employees are working without pay right now. In answer to the question below, pissed.

I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events. Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... 1/14

PubMed Update (no pun intended) Publications with Pub Date 8/1//24 62209 9/1/24 64765 10/1/24 68211 8/1/25 61610 9/1/25 63719 10/1/25 35936 (as of 10/2/25) 10/1/25 38673 (as of 10/6/25, 8:00 AM) It appears that ~40% of the expected number of publications are missing for 10/1/25 1/2

This is an easy one, Jameson. JUST SAY NO. "J. Larry Jameson said the school will evaluate a proposed compact from President Donald Trump’s administration based on the school’s values and mission... freedom of inquiry and thought, free expression, non-discrimination" share.inquirer.com/jTf7PW

"Each concession leaves institutions more entangled with the federal government and more vulnerable to future coercion. Resistance must be strong, early, and sustained, or the space for resistance will vanish." Read our latest blog post by @dramandar.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/philadel...

This week we lost Dame Jane Goodall, animal rights champion and friend of the chimpanzees. Her work — including books, scientific breakthroughs, and establishing sanctuaries — made our world a better place for all living beings. May her memory be for a blessing. Shabbat Shalom.

Would you agree to FORMALLY SURVEY THE IDEOLOGIES OF FACULTY IN EVERY DEPARTMENT OF YOUR COLLEGE, and to "transform or abolish" any that "belittle" "conservative ideas"? That's what Trump's "Compact for Academic Excellence." demands. #edusky #academicsky www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...

Each Friday, I summarize what is happening to American science & higher ed. 🧪 This was Week 37: - 9 universities face loyalty oath (“compact”) - government shutdown - impact on services & fear of further RIFs - four NIH directors officially fired & so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

I think more state governors should follow Newsom’s lead and tell the universities that if the uni signs on to the felon’s curriculum agenda then state funding will be terminated. Fight fire with fire.

A new banner on PubMed about the (potential lack of) updating. Some recent papers have been posted but it is not clear if some are missing. I will be tracking this going forward.