People watching at the DMV: at least 70% of the people did not have the NJ required six points of ID. I think I brought 20 points just in case.

On the unintentional comedy scale, this was 10 of 10 for me.

UNC Admin Can Now, Officially, Secretly Record Faculty

I can’t stop laughing about “and from New Jersey”

It is absolutely outrageous that Moderna’s flu vaccine was met with a “refusal-to-file” even after their approved their protocol with FDA and carried out the trial as agreed. This vaccine works better in older adults than the current flu vaccines. apnews.com/article/mode...

This is a catastrophic unforced error. It was quite something to hear @ohsunews.bsky.social President Shereef Elnahal equate the shambolic lies of fringe groups (“others”) with the heartfelt & credible testimony of the scientists & veterinarians in his employ. “Teammates” don’t support rivals.

JUDGE JOHNSTON: “Today, immigrants are being detained without due process. Tomorrow, under the Government’s interpretation of the law, American citizens could be subject to the same .. This Court will not allow such an unraveling of the Constitution.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NEW: Statement from NAACP president "Donald Trump’s racist video is disgusting and utterly despicable. Trump is obviously desperate to distract us from the Epstein files and his rapidly failing economy. You know who isn’t in the Epstein files? Barack Obama"

Many of my science colleagues are not speaking out-I suspect due to the fear Phil notes, that they'll targeted for loss of funding. I hope they read this account of what happened at a faculty meeting at Frankfurt University in 1933 as the Nazi's took control 🧪 www.facinghistory.org/resource-lib...

Can’t see valid elections happening, personally. Too many important people are staring at impeachment and jail time.

These are the curves for new and competitive renewal grants. The number of new awards is increasing slightly, but only slightly. 17 out of 25 institutes and centers with funding authority have now made awards. 3/4

But, as they say, there is no time like the present [OK, maybe the 1930s if you want to nitpick] But, with some data wrangling, my first NSF Funding Curves! 2/3

America: where you can sell a random “wellness” drink at CVS, claim it “may” somehow “reinforce” your immune system, and literally call it “The Flu Shot.”

one of my strongest beliefs is that we're in our situation right now bc some of the most prominent talking heads (e.g. joe rogan, andrew schulz) are learning about politics in their 40s and 50s, instead of their teens and early 20s, and we have to go along for the ride as they learn basic things

Word of the day: phronesis

NIGMS will have council meeting tomorrow. You can watch the open session here. nigms.nih.gov/node/145911

hey wanna see 39 seconds of perfect video editing?

After Trump’s Greenland fiasco, just 17% of Danes see the US as an ally, a new poll shows. 60% view the US as an adversary. The stupidity of Trump on show: burning down allies for literally no gain.

I appreciate how easy it is to use. I also think SciENcv is a great equalizer: it makes everyone's CV look like garbage. Win-win for ease and equity!

H.R.792 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): This bill directs the National Park Service to add the figure of President Donald Trump to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

"NIH will provide a warning when the Common Forms are not used but will not withdraw applications that don’t comply with the use of the Common Forms. We expect the leniency to be in place through May 2026" grants.nih.gov/faqs#/common...

Institutes and centers who have not yet made any new and competing awards in NIH Reporter have been focussing on non-competitive awards. NIAID has made 689 non-competitive awards, more than any other institutes. NCI has made 500. NIGMS has made 348.

New and Competitive renewals These are still be made VERY slowly. Only 75 awards have been made through 1/23/26. These are now from 7 institutes and centers (NIA (45), NINDS (16), NIDDK (5), NIDCR (4), NIDCD (2), NHLBI (1), and NCATS (1)). 3/3

We have an HIV denialist running the US federal health system: RFK Jr He says HIV does not cause AIDS & says it’s (I quote) the “gay lifestyle” He pushes his kooky HIV denialism in his book “The Real Anthony Fauci” See @aetiology.bsky.social’s superb article (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...)

Love that this post highlights a classic Neuro Monty Pyton theory of Andrew Huberman: “the head shape” theory Congratulations to CBS for hiring their first neurocomedian

Yup. I’m writing a proposal I really love. Lots of great data. And I feel absolutely hopeless about its chances for funding.

As Dave rightly points out, resubmission absolutely feels brutal in this moment. Futile. It has the distinct feeling of buying a lottery ticket - it feels like a scam and winning feels out of reach.

I have been thinking about Dave's comment a lot over the last 12 hours. This round has been brutal, good scores are few and far in between (and still not sure if they're even fundable) so as I am meeting with clients, I have been pondering myself what other strategies are there.

Scientists bullshitted about vaccines during COVID — and it cost us dearly. We overextended the biomedical literature to cover psychosocial issues those studies never addressed. The public correctly called bullshit, and they stopped trusting us to help them distinguish bullshit from truth. Hence.

#Iran Uprising: Continued Resistance in Cities While the clerical regime attempts to suffocate the flow of information, its own officials have begun admitting to the organized nature of the resistance &the precariousness of their security apparatus. @chadbourn.bsky.social

Maher Tarabishi, who has been detained by ICE since October, was the primary caretaker of his disabled adult child, Wael. On Jan. 23, Wael died from complications related to Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition. ICE has now denied Maher’s request to attend his funeral, his attorney says.

Trumpists believe that America is the greatest country in the history of the world because of our liberty and you deserve to die if you exercise that liberty. They are human in a manner of speaking, I guess.

Reminder that, as of the latest reports, Liam Ramos is still in prison in Texas - now for 5 days. His parents are legal asylum seekers with no criminal record.

Even people who score well (10th or even 5th %ile) are left without funding. Where do we go from here?

But the 70% triage line is absolutely demoralizing (and I'm sorry, but the "competitive" designation is doing nothing for me)

Abroad? I don't know. Sitting on a 9th and a 5th percentile R01 that both are not funded and PO advised to resubmit. But we can only submit 6/year. And I have already 3 in (2 R01 and a P01).

I don't know what the path forward looks. It's clear that we're fighting for scraps and that many are going to be left with nothing.

This round of grant reviews has been the most brutal of my career.

The Senate may choose to vote together on the DHS and LHHS bills. Thus, a filibuster on DHS may mean no funding for NIH. What my colleagues are saying: “Shut it down, public health will understand. I’ll work without pay again.” - anonymous NIHer

The video of ICE murdering the guy in Minneapolis is horrific. I won’t post it here.

Director of the Emergency Management Department Rachel Sayre: “My background is in international humanitarian response in conflict zones in Yemen, Haiti, Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine. “What I've seen here is what I've seen there. A powerful entity violently and intentionally terrorising people...”

The lies are intensifying. Department of Homeland Secretary Secretary Kristi Noem: "This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement."

WHO removing Us Flag

We don't need councils anymore. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Heartbreaking

AZ folks: going on a mini vacation in February to the Tucson area. What are some must-do things? Hiking the Catalinas is already on the itinerary. I will have a car.

mRNA neoantigen vaccines appear to be working for multiple cancers feeds.issuerdirect.com/news-release...

This photo by Lauren Gillieron is striking.