There really is a tweet for everything

“The chaos of 2025 has been replaced with coordinated, systematic, institutionalized destruction in 2026. “

Checked out, out of touch, and disengaged with its mission and people is not the leadership America needs from the Sec. of HHS: 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/u...

We are moving into a new scary era as scientists www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/w...

I have often been critical of the leadership @aaas.org but they just took action on the new OMB rules that will politicize science, speaking out and notifying members. I hope all take the time to follow their advice, contact Congress, and most important, post a comment www.aaas.org/news/aaas-st...

It’s truly astonishing to see how comprehensively the US government is tearing down every part of the system that has made it up until now a world-leading power in science, research, and technological development. The entire world will suffer from this wanton destruction.

Grant application reviewers would also be allowed to consider an applicant’s activities outside science, including advocacy and organizational affiliations. That provision is a “really severe attack on First Amendment activities,” Delawalla says.

“It is catastrophic,” says Colette Delawalla, founder and CEO of the nonprofit advocacy group Stand Up for Science. “And I do not use that word lightly.” cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

What brainiac decided to paint the reflecting pool almost black? There is a reason why pools aren’t painted black.

I deeply regret reading this piece--but also feel compelled to point out that it contains this absolutely spectacular example of Both Sides-ing it. An NYT all-timer "influencers who are accused of human trafficking and rape" are "functionally equivalent" to feminists

1/ 🧵 OMB is advancing a proposed rule that would destroy the American scientific enterprise. Randos keep disagreeing with my 'here's how to fight it' I do this for a living. So before the "how," here's the "who" --- and why you should listen to me on this one.

The US military has now murdered 200 people in small boats in the waters off South America. Local fishing communities have been upended.

"If you wanted to cripple science research and were disappointed that Congress continued to fund it, this is the sort of document you would produce." arstechnica.com/science/2026...

Megathread about responding to new OMB grant funding rules (feel free to add/link more!) I was collecting these for me, but figured I'd round 'em up for everyone 🧪 What's the problem? arstechnica.com/science/2026... elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

“Peer review, open competition, and institutional autonomy were the pillars of that system. This proposed rule dismantles all three”

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

I’m doomed www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/...

From public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf - excerpts that need to be read immediately 1/

Our NIH-funded research - including as part of CREID - developed, deployed, and established capacity for many of the core tools and countermeasures used during outbreaks. Diagnostics, sequencing, monoclonals and vaccines. As we're facing a new foe with none of those, all that work, defunded. Gone.

This is exactly it. Ask them if their kids are too soft and weak to learn about real American history. Ask them why they're so triggered by trans people existing. Ask them if they need a safe space from rainbows.

Wanna hear a funny joke? Purchasing office: "Are there any royalties associated with this manuscript being published?"

Yes, I'm very depressed at the moment but that's only because everything in US science is worse than we think it is.

lol I thought this was going to be about the more understandable but still fraught debates about removing offensive language in older books. But they're just stuffing them with new pop culture references?

How could they have missed the efforts of my friend Jess Wade in ensuring women are represented on Wikipedia? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jess_Wade

Remember when we used to laugh at the Russians and North Koreans for shit like this?

Maybe the US should not have pulled out of WHO. We generally led the response to these outbreaks.

"No vaccine exists. No therapy exists. The virus circulated undetected for six weeks. Cross-border spread is confirmed. Healthcare workers are dying." www.reuters.com/business/hea...

(1) Overall impact scores will be binned into THREE bins: Top 25%, 25-50%, and >50%. (2) Overall impact scores will be retained but will NOT BE SHARED with program officers, advisory councils, or institute/center/office (ICO) leadership. 2/3

Milli Vanilli AKA the fraud lip syncers? I guess it's on point.

I heard from several sources yesterday that NIH is planning to release a Request for Information (RFI) that apparently will include this: Scores and percentiles for NIH grant applications will not be shared with applicants although they will be provided to NIH program officers and staff. 1/3

NIMHD is barely functioning. They have made 3 new and competitive renewal grants thus far in FY2026. Sadly, I do not believe that moving these experienced staff from NIAID to NIMHD is intended to strengthen NIMHD, but rather is a cynical move to discourage the transferred staff. I hope I am wrong.

NIH has allocated just 33% of its normal budget this year, putting critical medical breakthroughs at risk. Johns Hopkins President Ron Daniels and University of Kansas Chancellor Dr. Douglas Girod are calling on the government to release it before the damage becomes permanent. https://bit.ly/4f3GuzR

Ironic

A masked man in an armored vehicle, dressed as if he is in the middle of a war zone, training a weapon on unarmed protestors. This is simply incompatible with democratic expression.

Naming your biology LLM after Rosalind Franklin is… hell is not hot enough

I heard that the the NIA is only moving grants forward with scores of 2%ile or less. I hope that's not true.

I've been dealing with this for months now. Our PO dropped this "clarification" as my center was preparing our RPPR, requiring us to completely blow up our publication list and giving us "solutions" that didn't work.

I'm sure our PO is doing his best to implement half-baked policy. But the part that actually offends me is the lie that this is just enforcement of already existing policy. No, it's not. It's new. It's a redefinition of what constitutes a "foreign component".

There are days when I miss being an editor. I loved writing headlines. Whoever did this, I hope they took the rest of the day off.

It’s funny how billionaires have cooked their brains so much that they think Nashville is on par with Shanghai

You have until May 26 rfi.grants.nih.gov/?s=6998c3a23...

New STAT story about delays in filling open NIH institute director positions. www.statnews.com/2026/05/20/n... 1/3

"Applications should be formatted as bullet points and will be capped at ~300 words." If this were widespread, I would be submitting SO MANY GRANTS. www.biswasfamilyfoundation.org/science/fast...

Polymarket is going to have a field day with this

I've been assured that this is purely a humanities issues, & will never bedevil STEM. Hmm. As Shel Silverstein put it: The Slithergadee has crawled out of the sea. He may catch all the others, but he won’t catch me. No you won’t catch me, old Slithergadee, you may catch all the others, but you wo-

Paging Sir Chortlemuffin. Sir Edward Chortlemuffin to the white courtesy telephone. Thank you.

www.bmj.com/content/393/... Amazing. Biggest fumble I've seen in a long time.