What is common knowledge in your field, but shocks outsiders? A majority of the world’s insect species have no living expert who can identify them.

Time to post more lichens. 1. Ramalina dilacerata 2. Tuckermanopsis platyphylla 3. Vulpicida canadensis 4. Ramalina farinacea (I believe) All near Spring Lake Road, 100 Mile House, BC. 🌿

I love that a politician can say something like “I believe mice naturally spawn out of grain” and the news will now just treat that as a legitimate line of thought

I don't know if this needs to be said or not but "elected official assassinated in their home" is simply not a thing that happens in this country. 1825, 1889, 1893, 1973. Those are all the ones I can find, ever, before today.

When Archduke Ferdinand got assassinated, nobody was like “oh shit, it’s WWI now” when the Germans first invaded Poland nobody was like “fuck, WWI sequel already?!” Shit just felt like chaos and the clarity of hindsight let us put more solid dates around the start of things… 1/2

Back in the vert paleo archives today, and uncovered this little gem set to Battle Hymn of the Republic "Mine eyes have seen the splitting of the genus I adore, It's been slyly subdivided into families galore And with every publication comes another genus more! The names go rolling on!"

1. Trans troops are now being separated from their jobs, and we have learned what discharge code they are being given: "JDK," a code that was used to remove communists and gay people, and can be seen as a "black mark" on their service. The latest from S. Baum. Subscribe to support our journalism.

After spending decades *accusing* Black women of having babies to get payments from the government, they want to encourage white women to have babies to get payments from the government.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's site is down at the moment. Every time a gov site goes down now it's like 10 percent chance of planned maintenance, 80 percent chance they canceled the wrong contract or otherwise screwed something up, and 10 percent chance they killed it forever.

"Hegseth’s disastrous run at the Pentagon is entirely predictable, the natural result of elevating a co-host of Fox & Friends’ weekend edition to sixth in the line of succession because the president liked his Fox News hits." sixth in the line of succession what the fuck

NSF says investigators can no longer propose to expand participation in STEM for women and underrepresented groups, and are terminating awards on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation. Make science all white and male again!

This is the 30th anniversary of the OKC Bombing. Please let me share a perspective on it. It starts with an Oklahoma geography lesson. 1/n

If you're an NSF grantee who receives notice of cancellation per today's announcement, please get in touch here or via Signal mzahneis.09.

“The National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent decades—and billions of dollars—trying to attract more women and members of underrepresented groups into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Not anymore. Today NSF announced such efforts “are no longer aligned with its priorities”

🚨 PhD Opportunity 🚨 Want to pursue a PhD in a science-friendly country? Univ. of Aukland is seeking a grad student to advance coastal seabed restoration. Tuition fees, research costs, & a tax-free annual stipend of NZ$34,569.  Contact & application details in 🧵 🌎🌾🧪🌿🌱🌊🎓 #GenerationRestoration

Today I lost an NIH grant training clinicians to do research about intimate partner violence with perinatal women. More women are murdered in the perinatal period than die of obstetric complications. I didn't just lose a grant. We lost an entire cohort of people building careers to prevent that.

The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up. If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes. Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.

we are living under fascism right now

B̸̵̘̘̪͉̻̟̹̦͕͍̫͓̌ͭ͗̀͆ͬͩ̂̌ͧͬ̀̆̈́̀͐͊͒͑͐ͣͩ̕͟ͅŲ̸̷̶̡̛͔̲̖̖̩͎͈̓͒ͪ̑̏͂ͦ̀͊ͩ̕_̷͎̞̯͗ͭ̍̎͢͢͡N̴̨̬̣̦̺̗̦̘̹̹̻̞̝̘̞̝ͩͭͦ̔̾́̇ͥ̄ͪ̃̄̿ͫ̏ͫ͒N̷͕̤̹͐̈̔͊̎̚͟͢_͔̮͎̋̍̈́̔Y̮ K̭̻̫̻̦̹̮̼͔̟̤̺͇̠ͧͫ̔̅ͧͧ̍̓́ͦ́̂͗̏ͧ̍̔͑͘͘͢͢Ņ̧̧̛̟͉͓̖͉̻̞͎̱̮̺̝͇̩͗̓̈́͂̌͊͑ͤͤͩ͂ͬ̄͆͐͊ͪͦ͑̿͝͠O̤̝̯̬̾ͧ̒̋̀ͦ̀ͤͦ̋W̨̐̇_̵̸̸̢̦͚͚̼̗̼̪͇̰͖̮̅̈ͣ̀ͨ̇͛̽ͣ́̏ͩ̒̂ͥ̋ͩͭͩ̀͝͠͡ͅͅS̵̵̵̴̴̵̢̛̛͍͓̳̣͉͙͉͉̱ͭ̔̎ͩ̃̅ͤ̿̅ͪ̍ͧ̈͋ͮ̚̕͜͡ͅ_̯ͣ͞ͅ W̶̷̢̢̛̝͈̫̻ͯ̅̓ͭ̏ͩ̚̕͢͟͞H̢̧͍̼̪̝̮̩͖̥ͨ́͐̃́̐͋̏ͭ̚͘Ą̨̳͖̭ͧ̀ͦͨ̐͋ͮ̐̃͟͟͠͠ͅT̵ͬͦ_̷̶̸̸̡͙̝̠̳͉̺͖̬̣̙͚̙̘͙̻͖̱͙̮̆̑ͣͮ̀ͮ̍ͦͣͭ̑͒̏̐̀ͫ̚͠ Y̷͎͍̲͓̘̠̠̬̜͔̗͓͖͗͌ͥͫ̄͋̍̃̆ͣͣ̀̄͛͗͒̀͗͊̆̉̌ͣ̚̕_Ơ̶̶̧̼̫̮̤͚̯̱̼͈͎̮͓̐ͬ͂̏͑͑̔̓̃̽ͩ̓͡͠U̷̡̨̢͙͍̬̥̹̘̦̮̲͉̲̼̲̲̇͆̒̉̀̓͐̍̆̀̒̾̏̎ͬ̇͒̆͘͢͢͞͡͠ D̟̘̤̖̖̻̮̣̪͎̆ͫ̈́̿͆͑̀̓̒ͭ̅ͤ̚̕͘͟͢͠͠I̛̲͋ͤͣ͒͘͡_̸̴̢̜͎̩̥̘̭̲̻͓̺̼͇̘̮̝̏̀̋͂̿͒̋̅̉́̅ͫͫͮͭ̌͜͜͝ͅḐ̷̛̪̠̲̰̳̲̩̺͍̣̩͚̻ͫ̒͐̆ͨ̅̀ͬ͒ͫͭͪͦ̃͂́̈́̚͠͠͞͡͞

It is #TaxonomistAppreciationDay today! A big day for Carl Linnaeus, who we happen to care about (just a little.) 100 years before Darwin's evolutionary theory was published, Linnaeus was classifying animals based on shared traits. He created #SystemaNaturae in 1735, and we still use it to this day!

Ridiculous, disgusting, and dangerous But it doesn't surprise me. Haircuts matter-- they're as anxiety-inducing to me as dentist visits are to family, because it's so hard to convince hair stylists that I should be allowed to have a gender nonconforming cut ("but it would be prettier if...")

You're absolutely right, I will watch

look at this guy Black-headed Gull, Kensington Gardens, London March 2025 🪶

floor plan of my new house

Failed my goal to make it through the work week without crying for the 8th time

NEW REPORT: Our latest analysis links nearly one-third of sea level rise today to emissions from 122 fossil fuel producers and cement manufacturers—and shows these emissions have guaranteed additional sea level rise for years to come.

If you have a federal grant, I *highly* recommend going to this Friday's webinar on responding to grant terminations. Lisa Brown, former general counsel at Dept of Ed, will present along with other lawyers. Friday, March 21, 2-3 pm. More info & register here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/regist...

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

1. Incredible ruling! An Ohio appeals court has ruled that trans care is healthcare, strikes down youth trans care ban! It made the ruling using the Republican-passed "health care freedom amendment" meant to overturn Obamacare! Subscribe to support my journalism. You'll want to read this one.

"If it continues like this, the United States will not score as a democracy when we release [next year's] data" — Staffan Lindberg, head of the Varieties of Democracy project, run out of Sweden's University of Gothenburg Source: t.co/4hMH5o9iGb

BREAKING: A court overturned Ohio's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. This is a critical victory for trans rights.

This is horrible to post, but I may as well post it. We are essentially shutting down research operations in my group, which is focused on treatments for pediatric brain cancer. I’m a well funded investigator, and there’s no choice. Science can’t function without the stability of NIH

as I tell my Genetics class every year, this breakthrough is based on 70 years of NIH-funded, basic research, commercialized by biotech bsky.app/profile/need...

This is your annual reminder that you should visit your older relatives and help them clean out their pantries. Botulism express over here 😬

Another way the dictatorship might kill you. This is from a friend who is a retired air traffic controller.

There you have it. The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index (www.policyuncertainty.com) just hit an all-time high, surpassing its previous high from May 2020 - the teeth of the #COVID pandemic. Consequences: worse investment climate, higher risk premia, (likely) higher interest rates...

The gremlins

This shit doesn’t happen in France and I’ll tell you why: the rich went too far once and they cut all their heads off and now, when those in power fuck workers over, the French stop working. Don’t forget your real power Americans. They don’t let you have unions for a reason.

🧪👇

This is why so many Jews are skeptical of the national GOP claim of support — it rings hollow & opportunistic. Vance visits a Nazi concentration camp, lays a wreath at a statue stating “Never Again,” calls it an “unspeakable evil,” & then promptly meets with & promotes a German Nazi-aligned party.

“The thing that I can’t get over is that the actual richest man in the world directed my fucking firing. I make $50k a year and work to keep drinking water safe. The richest man in the world decided that was an expense too great for the American taxpayer.”

Dear federal scientists: If you have been affected by the probationary firings and would be willing to speak with Science, please reach out to me by email ([email protected]) or on Signal. We can guarantee annonymity.

There’s a real chance that we staring down a new pandemic in the form of bird flu. It could never happen or happen in the coming months. And we are in the process of decimating our core national public health and infectious disease service.

In case you doubted how much of a dictatorship we're living under

Today, the USDA lost experts in Psylloidea, Thysanoptera, Cerambycidae, Hymenoptera, Pseudococcidae, and Malacology. This is a devastating loss of expertise, occuring without warning. Their union's official statement on the issue can be found here: aginspectors.org/2-14-2025-a-... #entomology 🧪

This was one of RFK Jr.’s first orders after being sworn in. Just an astonishing denial of science and will cause so much pain to the 45 million Americans facing mental health challenges.

It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too. EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them. Here’s our shareable guide ⬇️: (pt. 1/2)

I maxed out my credit card, emptied my savings account, and took out a loan to move from Alabama to Bethesda, MD. I don’t even qualify for unemployment since I’ve only worked at NIH for a month. I will be financially and medically devastated. Seeking suggestions for anywhere that’s hiring!!