History shows us the opposite: Undermining and censoring scientists and experts is a central feature of authoritarianism.

A microscopic tardigrade going for a stroll through some algae. Credit: Sinclair Stammers

Well, I'll be damned. It's royalty free and there's already six, generic manufacturers lined up. newatlas.com/infectious-d...

If you push for this censorship nonsense again as the Trump administration declares the very existence of queer people to be inherently pornographic I don't give a shit what party you're in so help me god I will work night and day to get you wretches out of office @schumer.senate.gov

Yes, we’re literally about to zero out funding for every Title VI area studies center at every university in the country, along with FLAS fellowship funding. A generation of human capital that feeds into our diplomatic & intelligence corps that will simply not exist. National security madness.

These are the weak points. You know what to do. First thing tomorrow, use 5calls.org and raise hell.

Another list of orgs that materially support trans people: www.autostraddle.com/this-trans-d...

All gas, no breaks. Only you can make this poll a reality: zohranfornyc.com/events

Ever wonder how many lives have been saved by NIH-funded research - including your own? Enter any medical condition and instantly see how your tax dollars transformed science into survival. www.ourhealthroi.com

I feel like we need to keep saying this because it’s so insane: This is a legal U.S. resident who has been detained for over a month now for his political opinions.

This is how my whole cohort feels being near to defending. 🫠

Incandescent with rage doesn’t even cut it for these feelings.

Wondering if your study section cancelled? I update this sheet daily. As of today, 56/124 study sections that should have met since Jan 2, 2025 have "not met as scheduled." docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I second this! Every little bit is helping. We’ve got this—together.

More from Judge Reyes

Hey neuroscientists: were you, your lab or any of your ongoing projects caught up in any of the latest NIH firings? You can find me on Signal at avaskham.54 if you want to chat. 🧪 #neuroskyence

If you're communicating with your reps on a daily basis right now (as we all should be!), you can directly tell them that this is the language they should use when communicating this in their emails and anywhere in media. Give them the framing they need so everyone understands the consequences.

nice jam you’ve got there, be a real shame if someone pumped it up

The NIH announced it will slash billions of dollars of support to universities and research centers. This is one of the biggest attacks on science we have ever seen. It could dismantle the biomedical research system, shut down clinical trials, and halt development of treatments.

If anyone wants to talk to a linguist about why this list of words banned from federal grants is absurd, please get at me. The point is to make sure that no one can do social science (or really any science) at all. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Yjf5FH/

Erin out here doing the lord's work. Please support and listen to trans journalists on trans issues.

The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH** * Currently paused by Executive Order ** Grant reviews now all canceled www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...

A reminder

I have had 10 undergraduate RAs working with me on Praat segmentation for the last 4 quarters in a row and they are all learning so much and doing such a great job and I am excited for this next generation of phoneticians.

Best pie: lemon merengue Best ice cream: honeycomb (from Van Leeuwen) Best donut: specifically the vanilla-frosted sprinkles cake donut at VG’s Bakery in Cardiff, CA Best bar: lemon bars Best cake: coconut cake from Gramercy Tavern, NYC Best other: milk butterchew from See’s Candies

Sometimes you don’t need to do your own research. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Me: “Wow, production studies are a lot of work. I should do a perception study next.” Me: “Wow, perception studies are a lot of work. I should do a production study next.” Reader, I believe there is no end in sight to this cycle.

“NIH produces an astounding return on investment to the American taxpayer. In Fiscal Year 2022, NIH research funding supported 568,585 jobs and generated $96.84 billion in economic activity — that’s $2.64 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.” www.researchamerica.org/2023-oped-us...

Feel like there’s a lot of new people here so here’s a reintroduction: I’m a phonetician and cognitive scientist interested in how your brain produces, perceives, and learns the sounds of the world’s spoken languages.

Hey #linguistics, I've created a starter pack for phoneticians, speech people, and phriends. If you feel like I've left someone out or you have suggestions, just lmk! I want more spectrograms on my feed so let's make that happen. go.bsky.app/LPrwcbq

I followed a lot of really cool people here, but now the linguists in my feed have disappeared into a sea of people. Oops.

Anyone have a favorite Arabic speech corpus in *MSA* and not a specific dialect? I’ve checked through LDC, but want to know if there are others I should be aware of.

Great! I’ll take it!

📢 New job alert: The Dept. of Psychological & Brain Sciences at UCSB is hiring a new Director for our Brain Imaging Center! Join us in sunny Santa Barbara and please help spread the word! (Full Professor position—due by Dec 2) 🧠 🌊 recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02858

no but unironically if you are young and don't know much about the AIDS crisis and how the queer community mobilized in response to it, now is a fucking awesome time to learn.

Over the next few months, we're gonna see some queer/trans folks go back into the closet/detransition for their own safety, especially in rural areas. This is not the same as assimilation or compliance, and these folks are not "traitors." This is camouflage. This is strategy.

So what’s the over under on deleting accounts on that other website vs. deleting posts and going inactive? I don’t wanna give any traffic, but I also want control of my data and likeness if needed.

The best part about being on fellowship this year is that I get to just delete Canvas entirely from my brain for 12 months.

I have dealt with Qualtrics data output before, and I have ways to make it look good, but they sure did not choose the best format for anyone when it comes to .csv exports.

Today in linguists are NOT KIDDING when we say that your knowledge of language includes the ability to understand sentences that have never before been said. arstechnica.com/science/2024...

My work on Kamala Harris' speech style is featured in today's Berkeley News! news.berkeley.edu/2024/08/06/a...

Taking an actual break from PhD things really does allow your brain to come up with better ideas for the PhD lol

Real weird how the emails all just simultaneously end once the quarter is over (for me, a graduate student).

I can't remember a tech campaign this relentless.

I think in my future syllabi, I am going to say that students can get in touch with me via email OR Canvas, not email AND Canvas.

Some exciting personal news: I've been awarded an Innovative Research Grant (IRG) from the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at UCSD to complete my dissertation, "Neural Bases of Speech Category Learning."

I'm hiring a one-year postdoc in sociolinguistics/phonetics for next year (at Berkeley, with me)! Please share with your networks and students! linguistlist.org/issues/35-13...