The U.S. government has recently convicted multiple postdocs from China for improper shipments of biological materials. Some see a replay of the 2018 China Initiative. https://scim.ag/4txj2hZ

Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine are standing up for science today, May 11th at 8am ET.

The chocolate biz is raising the bar with a lab to assess cacao beans from around the world. (Talk about a sweet gig!) Consumers and farmers stand to benefit from the "Standard of Excellence" program.

The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were designed to study viruses that could jump from animals to people, including hantavirus, but the National Institutes of Health in 2025 said the work wouldn't continue

During a brief ceasefire in March 2025, Haneen al-Amasi visited the Great Omari Mosque library for the first time since the war began. “Entire archives of books, manuscripts and historical documents were burned or shattered in Israeli attacks.” www.middleeasteye.net/news/under-r...

El Centro Molecular de la UPR enfrenta riesgos debido a un estancamiento en la financiación, lo que podría afectar a 42 científicos y 225 estudiantes en su investigación. Es crucial encontrar una solución. periodismoinvestigativo.com/2026/05/upr-...

California Bill Would Create A $23 Billion Fund For University Research

In 1986, John White published "The Mind of a Worm," the first complete wiring diagram of any animal's brain. 7,000+ synapses in C. elegans, mapped by hand. This year he won the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences. And he's donating his share to OpenWorm.

The longest gestation period for an animal belongs to the humpback whale, which after 18 months gives birth to a 3 ton, 25 feet creature. For reference, that is about 3-5X faster than finishing a scientific study (not considering Reviewer 3)

thinking about the gould quote again

On this day in 2019, I witnessed one of the coolest things ever. A lenticular cloud lit-up by a setting sun over the Perito Morena Glacier in Argentina.

I think most people would prefer this. #Science

Some of us were clued in when he called immigrant “rapists”, suggested women needed to be controlled by “grab them by the $&&$” and with the Epstein files, etc, etc, etc, etc….but to each their own.

I am wait for a “Jesus was weak on crime and the Apostles a bunch of losers who mostly died rather than win” message anytime now.

Mark your calendars 🗓️ and stop by this Monday (4/13) at noon for a seminar by @rockefeller.edu's Gaby Maimon, PhD 🥼 on the "Functional Logic of a Cognitive Brain System" 🤔 🧠 Thank you to @dacolon.bsky.social for hosting! 🙌 We hope to see you there!

This 1990 speech by Carl Sagan is timely times two: #war #climate

Funny-Not Funny www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBV...

Semillas de Triunfo, un programa de 10 años, empodera a niñas y jóvenes en STEM, promoviendo el liderazgo y la mentoría en ciencias. teleonce.com/noticias/loc...

Meanwhile, in Europe…

Farewell to an absolute giant of molecular genetics, David Botstein www.online-tribute.com/DavidBotstein

NIH is not issuing awards. You may think that it's because they it is coming up with new directions of research...The apposite is true. Here is a graph showing how many fewer new funding opportunities that NIH has posted over time. -91%, a trend that started on Jan 2025.

Una hormiga reina congelada en el tiempo: nueva especie de hormiga hallada en el ámbar dominicano. 🐜 www.rexmolon.es/rexmolon-pro...

Great thread, worth the read in its entirety

Word

The Epstein files document what many women researchers have long experienced but rarely seen laid bare so starkly: exclusion operating behind closed doors, shaping who gets funded, invited, mentored, and taken seriously. How many of these networks, norms, and gatekeepers remain in place?

Mantis religiosa de cabeza cónica. Empusa pennata. Foto de Marta Albareda.

This one hits hard.

I know this makes me an extremist but I think our baby concentration camps should be abolished.

Today, the Trump administration repealed the endangerment finding: the ruling that served as the basis for limits on tailpipe emissions and power plant rules. Without it, we’ll be less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change—all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money.

Big @bostonglobe.com / MassINC Polling survey out this morning. "They came to Massachusetts to cure disease. Now they’re packing up their labs." We surveyed NIH funded scientists in Massachusetts about federal funding cuts & policies. Here's what they told us. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/09/m...

😂

Can we make brains “smarter”? By boosting mitochondrial metabolism in neurons of memory circuits, we improved memory in flies and mice. Thrilled to see this work out - congrats to @amrapalianjali.bsky.social for spectacular work, and to all lab members for invaluable contributions!

Rep. Delia Ramirez to DHS officials: "I have as much respect for you as I do for the last white men who put on masks to terrorize communities of color. I have no respect for the inheritors of the Klanhood and the slave patrol. Those activities were criminal and so are yours."

must read

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show will be interpreted by Celimar Rivera Cosme into Puerto Rican Sign Language, a unique dialect used on the island that academic researchers and other experts consider endangered.

When I was growing up, many songs played over the airwaves in Puerto Rico were in English. I did not understand most of the words. I have to be frank, for many I still don’t. But, I enjoyed them and don’t remember complaining about it. I think that is the case for most of the World.

Bad Bunny gives Super Bowl viewers two choices: crash out or tap in

We are watching in real time who some scientists are willing to sacrifice in favor of access to funding: early career researchers, trainees, scientists from historically excluded groups and immigrants.

The public made noise for Liam Ramos and it got him released from Dilley. Now we must make noise for 7 year old Diana Crespo. Her parents were taking her for emergency medical care when ICE grabbed them, and she’s rotting in the camp sick and exposed to measles. Get them out!

Neil H. Shubin has been elected as the next NAS President! A leading evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin will succeed Marcia McNutt on July 1. The Academy also named Cherry Murray as International Secretary and elected new councilors. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/2026_pr...

You can ignore science, but science will never ignore you. Measles incidence in the United States.

Very few people in the history of our species have saved as many people's lives as William Foege, who designed and lead the global elimination of smallpox, a highly contagious disease that killed 1 out 3 people it infected. ✊ www.scientificamerican.com/article/smal...

“Freedom is not free. We have to work at it. Nurture it. Protect it. Even sacrifice for it.”

Please share. 💔

Videos verified by The New York Times show the man federal agents shot and killed in Minneapolis on Saturday was holding a phone, not a gun, before the agents took him to the ground and shot him. At least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

“.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...