"They couldn't find 'em. They weren't in the chip-making business, I guess, right?" A little incredible for him to pick semiconductors, of all things, given Lynn Conway's contributions to the field.

...I should not have scheduled a work call for 4 p.m.

The House Select Committee on China is holding a hearing on research security with DOE/NSF/NIH witnesses at 10 a.m. I'll try to follow along and liveblog it here.

Comments on the OMB rule close tonight and MIT has submitted a 6-pg note, arguing it "would substitute political views for scientific judgment, short-term alignment for long-term stability, and insularity for the openness that has been a source of American strength." web.mit.edu/files/MIT-co...

Pre-2023 scientific data equivalent to low-background steel… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-bac...

The Ebola outbreak in the DRC keeps growing at a shocking pace. We're already close to 2000 confirmed cases. Right now: 1926 confirmed cases (incl. 53 new cases in the last 24 hours) 702 of these have died insp.cd/sitrep-n058-...

Admittedly, this does make the OMB inference at NSF and other federal agencies look a little quaint. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/11/u...

New: The National Science Foundation is preparing to claw back some $500 million in funds from some of its core science programs in physics, math, computer science, and engineering in order to fund a project from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Collins: “[M]id-award termination of Federal awards ... would inject uncertainty into the Federal award process ... This uncertainty could disincentivize scientific researchers and institutions from seeking the Federal financial assistance they need to participate in multi-year, lifesaving trials."

It was 2-0 and I felt like it was safe to take my time in getting a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Apparently not

One reason why some legal commentators don't subscribe to legal realism is that it renders a lot of the more interesting legal analysis they might do completely moot. Another reason is apparently that some of them are thick enough to pick up the phone with Isaac Chotiner on the other end.

Today is the 250th anniversary of Boston’s mass inoculation against smallpox on July 3, 1776. The city was effectively closed to commerce from July through September 1776. The mass immunization effort was cheered as evidence of true independence. Here's how I described it in my book:

62% of likely Republican voters 👀

I am very sympathetic to people being upset and throwing ideas out there—especially today—but this is really, really myopic.

NSF is spending more money servicing old grants than making new ones. As of the end of May, more funds flowed to old projects than new, for the first time in recent history. Much of this was for funds planned years ago for new supercomputing structure. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪

Now this is an interesting denial, since last week NSF released its own proposed rules for awards, to be in alignment with the proposed OMB rule change. www.regulations.gov/docket/NSF-2...

NSF grantmaking update Last week ago (6/22) New grants: 1594/4881 — 32.6% of avg. Obligations: 1.8/2.82 billion — 63.8% of avg. Now (6/28) New grants: 1835/5202 — 35.3% of avg. Obligations: 1.9/3.08 billion — 61.6% of avg. Data from grant-witness.us/funding_curv...

A closer look at Dario Gil, who is leading some of the administration's efforts in AI and QIS by @lizziegibney.bsky.social

So long #LHC and thank you for all the collisions 👋 Today, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, comes to the end of an extraordinary chapter in its scientific journey. Find out more: home.cern/cern-bids-fa...

More reporting from @maxkozlov.bsky.social on the political screening process that is slowing public investment in science to a crawl www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Comprehensive recap of a, frankly, strange House Oversight Meeting. Republicans wondered why universities that had paid fines for violating the False Claims Act should be allowed to receive funds, praised OIG officials for prosecuting grant fraud, denied and also defended cuts to research.

Two points: 1. There are 101 mentions to 2 CFR 200 (i.e. relating to the new OMB rule) in this NSF proposed rule change 2. The 15% de minimis indirect cost rate is for institutions without negotiated rates. It is _not_ the same as the 15% cap for unis with a negotiated rate.

🌊 "The US is no longer a reliable global partner in ocean observation." - Brad deYoung ➡️ You've heard about the OOI; now read about the other ocean-observing networks at risk. By me for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Chaps, I have had a go at re-writing the paper" is going to stick with me for a long time.

NSF grantmaking update Two weeks ago (6/8) New grants: 1,471/4,407 — 33.4% of avg. Obligations: 1.70/2.52 billion — 67.4% of avg. Now (6/22) New grants: 1549/4481 — 32.6% of avg. Obligations: 1.8/2.82 billion — 63.8% of avg. Data from: grant-witness.us/funding_curv...

Garffeld

Terrible news. The need for independent, non-profit science journalism only ever seems to grow.

"Møller’s paper has been cited 120 times, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science, and generated coverage in the Washington Post (“Wait, why are there so few dead bugs on my windshield these days?”)" Not great to recognize a retracted paper well out of your area because it went that viral.

Important scoop from Jeff, but I confess I don't really understand the X-labs as an explanation for cuts. It's 1.5 billion over ten years, so in theory it shouldn't be more than 150 million this year.

BREAKING: DOJ refuses to submit the declarations that were requested on June 12 and due by today to end the anti-weaponization slush fund litigation, citing “serious separation of powers concerns.” Further, DOJ says that what has already been provided should be enough (relitigating a lost argument).

NSF's grantmaking is miserly when compared to recent years, but when compared it to the historical record, we see it's a radical break from the long-term consensus of investing in scientific innovation. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... #NSF 🧪

François Englert (1932 – 2026) It is with great sadness that we announce that Belgian theoretical physicist, François Englert, has passed away at the age of 93. Read more: home.cern/francois-eng...

The Large Hadron Collider from Sept. 2008 to Nov. 2009:

"DOE typically receives a few hundred responses to major research solicitations, he said, but the first Genesis Mission solicitation generated approximately 5,000 submissions."

The Times is reporting that NSF is going to stop dismantling the OOI, following bipartisan (read: Sen. Murkowski signed onto a letter) backlash.

I took a break from science policy to step back and write about the beguiling mystery of dark matter and how much we've learned about how little we know. A spoiler: It's a story without an ending. No one's directly detected dark matter yet, and there's no guarantee of when that will happen—or if.

A revealing bit of friendly questioning from Kennedy about how OMB's rule change will empower political appointees to block 'stupid stuff'.

My latest for @science.org: There's been a lot left out of stories about Ocean Observatories Initiative, which has long faced questions over its cost. But even with that, no one -- including marine institutes in red states -- wanted NSF to make changes without thorough scientific review.

We are hiring for a science policy news editorial director here at AIP. This position will coordinate coverage across our renowned FYI science policy news service and Physics Today. This is a new and exciting thing, and if this is your wheelhouse, take a look! workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...

Interesting point in a longer article about the state of science, which probably deserves its own feature (or book). Metrics about declining productivity come from science of science studies that look for novelty in citation trees which, well... 🤷‍♂️ www.scientificamerican.com/article/amer...

Noticeable departure from the current message being delivered by NASEM leadership.

The inside story on how fossil fuel allies attacked a forthcoming NASEM report — & the experts producing it — on attribution science, a research field with big implications for climate lawsuits. With the great @corbinhiar.bsky.social and @lesleyclark.bsky.social 🔥 www.politico.com/news/2026/06...

New: NSF is tightening its conflict of interest rules in what could be a headache for the understaffed agency. Starting in August, reviewers will no longer be able to participate in a panel with any proposals from their own institution. My reporting for @science.org:

NSF grantmaking update Last week (5/31) New grants: 1,355/4,125 — 32.8% of avg. Obligations: 1.50/2.34 billion — 64.1% of avg. Now (6/8) New grants: 1,471/4,407 — 33.4% of avg. Obligations: 1.70/2.52 billion — 67.4% of avg. Data from grant-witness.us/funding_curv...

NEW: Major posts are vacant. Waves of scientists are gone. Ebola looms. My look at how RFK Jr. manages HHS: “If the C.E.O. lacked deep expertise in the company’s business and the leaders of its most important divisions were missing, investors would revolt." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/u...

Update: The flag on Princeton's grants was removed on June 4, around the same time NSF got this letter from Democrats on the House Science Committee, demanding details. democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...

The Thermo Fisher situation keeps getting worse. We've now collected 450+ problematic images presented as verification data in TF's antibody catalog. This includes: 🖌️ Dozens more images with duplications or painting 🖨️ Hundreds of blots that all share the same background (behold slideshow below)