They once told you to never read the comments, but one of the best parts of social media nowadays is reading the comments on official government posts

I've been a fan of @wiringthebrain.bsky.social for many years and notice that he spent a lot of time criticizing epigenetics and now he's laying into gut-brain axis. 🧵 1/

This essential truth applies to vaccine debates, political issues, and public trust of scientists: facts only helps humans justify the choice they are already making. To persuade anyone you must appeal to personal safety and identity first. youtu.be/dtxjpLCVTMQ?...

Which Renaissance painting is this

The first paper for this year's medicine Nobel was NOT published in Science, Nature, or Cell. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medic...

So glad I've spent the last couple of days in the woods immersed in science and teamwork with @virusesimmunity.bsky.social, @yalecii.bsky.social, and colleagues, unplugged from media for the most part

A farewell to the summer with a suggestion from @anderseriksson.bsky.social : it's not Mountain Dew; it's a chartreuse swizzle (Chartreuse, pineapple juice, lime juice and falernum), which is orders of magnitude more expensive (glass from Cognitive Surplus)

intersection of SARS-CoV-2 and beta amyloid gets at concepts that have bugged me for years: 1) that amyloid deposition is an antecedent of infection or host defense, and 2) that spike protein itself may have amyloidogenic properties. science.org/doi/epdf/10....

I made a post earlier about Fluorescence Friday, but some people say it's Fascist Friday because of the ouster of UVA president... to which I say I'm still going to do science for the public interest for as long as I can

People consider the pineal gland to be a Third Eye. Maybe they should have focused on the Subfornical Organ instead - also in the middle of the brain, but with a newly acknowledged pathway for T cell traffic between the gut and the brain that affects behavior #FluorescenceFriday

This seems like a general principle in nature and not mysterious: early rate of return leads to a large inequity over time. That applies to success, wealth, and viral replication www.nature.com/articles/d41...

What I think of every time I hear Trump say "two weeks"

Which Renaissance painter is this #accidentalrenaissance

For this #fluorescencefriday I've got my go-to image of small pain sensing nerve fibers and collagen in the toe, now selected as one of many examples of the "Beauty of Science" for the current exhibit at @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social

A Bouvaldier, because it's been that kind of week

I just want to thank @profgalloway.com for this uplifting commentary on American universities as engines of innovation, as well as his recognition of PhDs as incredible contributors to society and human knowledge. Have a nice weekend youtu.be/r4N7BKtgJHo?...

Today's activity: not exactly Maiden or Master of Puppets

"COVID-19 has killed more Americans than all the wars in the 20th century combined" ~ Shane Crotty, La Jolla Institute for Immunology

Has importing python packages been a major problem to making your code great? Now you can impose TARIFFS on whenever you import a package github.com/hxu296/tariff

Nominations open for a prize in nanometer-scale connectomics, in honor of my friend Jennifer N. Bourne www.sfn.org/careers/awar...

If New Haven is Avelo Air's most important market, they might have shot themselves in the foot by signing up to conduct ICE deportation flights (and then blaming New Haven for their problems) www.nhregister.com/news/article...

Songs of hope wtop.com/montgomery-c...

Whooping cough cases continue to surge in Seattle, and across Washington mynorthwest.com/local/whoopi...

We polled Nature readers to ask if they were thinking of leaving the US for jobs abroad. Three-quarters of them (who said they were US-based scientists) said yes. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The elimination of: grants to study #LongCovid, the Office of LC, & Advisory Committee on LC — have sent a chilling signal. We encourage folks to take the following action led by our partners: 1. Call your reps: win.newmode.net/longcovidcam... 2. Email your reps: actionnetwork.org/letters/long...

Metaphor www.sfgate.com/national-par...

“I am going through hell”: The Trump administration’s mass firings are harming federal workers’ mental health, with major consequences for their lives, families, and communities. 📝: @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social + @aneripattani.bsky.social bit.ly/4c7KoUL

@karaswisher.bsky.social I'm dying for you and Scott to address the gutting of science (and academics in general) under this administration on @pivotpod.bsky.social. You can discuss all tech and economic activity generated by NIH not to mention the novel therapeutics www.science.org/content/arti...

Update from @science.org on termination of grants to study antivirals medications, pan-viral vaccines, and long COVID www.science.org/content/arti...

COVID funding is being terminated

Looks like climate is definitely on the chopping block. So much for RFK saying he was an advocate for environmental causes of chronic illness. I think it only matters if the causes are certain ones. Deepest sorrow and condolences

Mouse midline cerebral cortex, including the anterior cingulate area, motor cortex, and somatosensory cortex. Nuclei in blue and myelin tracts in green. Magenta staining for the c-Fos immediate-early gene as a proxy for sustained neuronal activity. #FluorescenceFriday

Enigmatic Mammal is the name of my new band news.yale.edu/2025/03/11/6...

Researchers in Catalonia followed 2764 people with COVID-19 and found that 23% developed long-COVID. In half of these cases, symptoms lasted at least two years Risk was higher for women, younger adults, and those with severe infection/chronic condition bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

The nominee for NIH director “isn’t sure COVID vaccines killed more people than they’ve saved.” COVID vaccines saved at least 20 million people the first year they were available alone. Please share this with your Senators (call them!).

IMO the purpose of peer review is to improve the scientific literature. Suggest experiments to bolster conclusions, or qualifying statements that acknowledge limitations of the study. Reject if these actions cannot bring the paper to the standard of the journal in question

Looks like NIH Councils are going to resume meeting in April/May

The answers to whether anything is independent of SARS-COV2 infection are probably near zero. Even if antibodies against the virus are undetectable, one will always say "well they have waned" (which goes for both neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies) www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

holy shit this question at the Rep. Chuck Edwards town hall 🔥🔥🔥

CT's Blumenthal is also a NO x.com/SenBlumentha...

One CT senator isn't going along with whatever Chuck cooked up (unless he's changed his mind). His bluesky isn't updated but he's pinned thisbat Twitter x.com/ChrisMurphyC...

"This is a massive loss for neuroscience,” says Cory Miller. By @avaskham.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/funding/u-s-...

There remain people who don't listen to patients and say their symptoms are "not a thing" However, 18% of American adults report a long COVID experience, and 5% are CURRENTLY having symptoms. That's 13 million people. Don't sweep them (or anyone else) under the rug. www.statista.com/chart/31773/...

This message needs to be heard widely.

Without having dove too deep here, I note that certainly 2-3 doses of vax protect against long COVID, but one dose less so - particularly post-Omicron and with known previous infections. It keeps me thinking that repeated SARS-COV2 infections are not independent events regarding LC risk

In fiscal year 2024, the report found, NIH awarded more than $36.9 billion to researchers, supporting more than 408,000 jobs and generating over $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

I'm sad that that we can't talk about all the heros who are pulling out genius moves to "make it work" for even one more trainee or faculty hire. I do hope that we can collect and celebrate all the heros of 2025 sometime in the future. For now, you know who you are; know we appreciate you!

We need to organize--let’s help each other. NIH is cancelling grants, but it's not clear exactly what they're cancelling and why. Without this information, we can't respond. I've started a Google Sheet to track grant cancellations. Please add any canceled grants you know of and spread the word!

Last year, I was overjoyed to receive an NIH NRSA fellowship to study toddler brains and caregiving effects on memory at Columbia. Last night, my grant was terminated.