For an hour, Jon, Simon and I explained how devastating the proposed cuts will be, not just to the science that we can do, but also the scientists who are the lifeline of the UK economy. Simon made the excellent analogy that cutting funding for ECRs is like chopping the roots off your tree.

This is deeply disturbing.

My grandfather served in the Navy during WWII escorting Liberty ships across the Atlantic. I have his hand written letter describing a harrowing day when he saw many ships in his convoy destroyed by Uboats. I wouldn't be here if he'd been on the next boat over.

I'm not sure I've ever seen someone sick with the measles in my lifetime, but I went to get a coffee in Mill Hill this morning and saw a very sick one year old with a bad face rash sitting in the cafe's public outdoor patio. 👀

Quoting the Borg is a pretty big tell that you're on the wrong side of this debate.

This is my district. Worth pointing out Rodney Sadler isn't just a rhetorical activist; he's actually been arrested at protests. Contrast with Cunningham, whose vote was "decisive" because it gave the GOP the final vote they needed to *override the governor's veto* of the ICE compliance bill.

Made it so this now works much better on mobile. A pretty bleak map!

More voters cast early ballots in North Carolina’s 2026 midterm primaries than in the 2024 presidential primary, a stark display of voter interest — and a result driven by a huge surge in Democratic voter participation even as Republican turnout fell slightly. By @kingdollar.bsky.social #ncpol

Brought to you but the guy who said COVID would be over "by Easter":

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed…Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.” —President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

February 27, 2003 Wolfowitz: Iraqis Will "Greet Us As Liberators" www.c-span.org/clip/house-c...

For #WomensHistoryMonth: Let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Sally Ride (1951-2012), Ph.D. physicist, educator, and the first U.S. woman in space. As a member of the Rogers Commission, she helped bring to light the O-ring failure that led to the Challenger disaster. 🎢⚛️⭐️🔭🧪🪐 1/3

UNC will 'scrap' policy that allowed University to secretly record instructors share.google/bEsl6GXZ8lIn...

There's still time to get to the polls and vote today in NC!

I'm old enough to remember when interdisciplinarity was what all the universities were begging for. Time is a circle. Silos are back. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

NSF has greatly reduced its reliance on rotators, scientists on leave from their academic jobs to work as senior administrators or program officers. Only rotators with “skills to support the president’s priorities in AI and quantum” had their annual contracts extended www.science.org/content/arti...

Yes.

"Browns Valley has a Carnegie Library (pictured), a reminder of a time when the fantastically wealthy tried to make the world a better place instead of draining the earth's oceans to make AI slop that your high school bully shares on Facebook."

An excellent summary of the latest satellite proposals threatening the night sky & how to voice concerns. astrobites.org/2026/02/26/r...

This is also how I feel about eggs. 😂

Could a vaccine prevent dementia? Shingles shot data only getting stronger. arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

I cannot wrap my head around why anyone at all, much less a majority of elected legislators, would choose to use their limited time on this Earth to inflict cruelty like this on other people.

So much wrong here: 1. There was some new hiring, so this number is off by about 100K 2. Unlike most businesses, personnel spending is a tiny fraction (5-6%) of federal outlays 3. Spending has actually increased 4. Many have noticed worse services! donmoynihan.substack.com/p/a-year-on-...

Because it's been a while, here is an update of my plot on the altitude of the Hubble Space Telescope versus time

Here's a story about his death www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/b...

Couple takeaways: -more info about GRFP stats on Friday -NSF plans to hire because they lost too many staff to DRP -big emphasis on presidential priorities (AI and quantum 'frontiers' in the director's office) -a lot about reducing bureaucracy, not a ton of justification

National Science Board meeting starts in 20 mins—I'll try to follow along and do some live coverage. Open session will discuss merit review and changes to agency management/decision-making.

Is this bad

The FCC just opened public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch a million satellites to do AI compute in space. Under the current proposal, an environmental review won't be required. Please consider submitting a public comment to oppose this damaging plan. darksky.org/news/two-sat...

This is not meant to save money or manpower. PreCheck et al was designed to reduce manpower & streamline the process. This is meant to inconvenience as many people as possible, specifically those who paid directly to support the program.

I'd like to hear this piece read aloud to a large crowd of people who still understand the purpose of a university.

My friend, the brilliant essayist Will McGrath, wrote an essay about the beauty of resistance in all its forms here in Minneapolis. "Everyone is doing his part here, each to his ability. This is easier to accomplish, it seems, when joy and love are the engines." 🎁: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/o...

Looks like at least some Canadians are still buying American exports. (Don't do this, Canada. It's a trap.) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/w...

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

This local Wolfdog joined an Olympic ski event and triggered the finish-line camera. This is Nazgul. He snuck into a cross-country skiing sprint this morning and raced the homestretch with some competitors before being escorted home. 14/10 someone get him a medal

"The New York Times columnist on the sins of the educated class, what Trump gets right, and why he’s leaving the newspaper to take a new job at Yale University." LOL. This guy.

‪Will Bunch‬: I have the first interview with the 36-year-old South Jersey man whose tearful protest against an ICE raid at a school bus stop has been watched more than 3 million times. How a non-political Eagles fan Everyman became the face of ICE resistance www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...

In 2003 I had the privilege of hearing Jackson speak at a teach-in protesting the war in Iraq. There he encouraged UChicago students to advocate for peace but also to be more engaged with the local community & invited us to attend a Rainbow PUSH Coalition meeting. I went w/ a friend the next week.

Being totally on brand while we're out at the pancake place for the big kid's birthday

Here at Penn State, we rejected Simple Syllabus until they agreed to certain data protection concessions. So don't blame the company. Blame the universities adopting the tech. Universities should be protecting their students and professors — and academic freedom, of course.

That part of grad school when you'll do anything to not be writing.

Lights are out.

This baby herniated a disk two weeks ago, resulting in a very sad and scary late night emergency vet visit. It wasn't looking good at first, but after a lot of rest and meds she (and her humans) are finally doing much better ❤️🐈

We have PhD positions open in my group at Macquarie for radial velocity exoplanet projects!

"When Musk & Hegseth argue that a racially diverse nation is inherently weak, they're not returning us to some long-established American tradition from which we've recently strayed. They are, instead, parroting the exact same propaganda that Nazi Germany promoted against America during World War II"

Sign here to call on the UNC Board of Governors to Protect Academic Freedom, and Vote No to Revising the UNC System Code: actionnetwork.org/petitions/pr...

Important story. Also important to note that "UNC" administrators cannot secretly record faculty. UNC Chapel HIll administrators can. This isn't just a semantic difference--it's the difference b/w a policy applying to 1 campus or 16 campuses. #HigherEd #AcademicSky #ncpol

Early voting starts today and runs through Saturday, February 28. Find your polling place here: iwillvote.com?state=NC #ncpol #ncpolitics #election2026 #bluewave #ncdemocrats

"People familiar with the episode said the use of the technology was not coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration. Officials targeted what they thought was a drug cartel drone, but turned out to be a party balloon, they said." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...