Ann Kerwin coined "unknown unknowns" 10 years earlier than Rumsfeld used it; she writed on ignorance in the medical context.

“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.” The unknown unknowns are why I LOVE science 🧪

Steve Reich's "Clapping Music" and nightingale birdsong.

This, but for all the tech bros searching for AI general intelligence. AI is not clustering per se from a mathematical sense, but… the joke holds.

Loves me some Buju Banton. Also, I keep coming back to the lighting on this video. It is… amazing. Am trying to figure out how many light sources we are dealing with. Buju looks amazing here. A soft spot in the back. A big soft light up top for sure, but… others?

Buju Banton "Driver A" 🎶 #TaxiRiddim

Excellent, concise summary of the threats of recent OMB proposal and suggested action items. DEADLINE TO SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENTS IS JULY 13, 2026 AT 11:59 PM EASTERN TIME elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

“Leaner and meaner” The GOP has always been mean. Mean adj Unkind or malicious: Deliberately unpleasant, cruel, or unfair to others. Stingy or ungenerous: Unwilling to give, share, or spend money.

This piece by @jtimmer.bsky.social does an outstanding job of contextualizing OMB's latest attack on American science. Current OMB policy is already choking American science, as this WSJ op-ed points out. The status quo is moribund. www.wsj.com/opinion/get-...

Are you a scientist or have you benefited from the fruits of research, from new treatments to new technologies? Then you have a job to do. STAND UP FOR SCIENCE. Register for this meeting--then take action. @standupforscience.net

What does the new OMB proposal mean for science? How can we STOP VOUGHT and SAVE SCIENCE together? All of these questions and more to be discussed at the Emergency Science Meeting on June 2nd, 4PM ET, hosted by Stand Up for Science! Register at the link in our bio, or go here: zurl.co/g3vTZ

I love it when you visit in my dreams.

And my own take on some of the key points in what OMB/Vought is trying to do here: "If you wanted to cripple science research and were disappointed that Congress continued to fund it, this is the sort of document you would produce."

The ignorant and self-destructive villainy of OMB's proposal to institutionalize the Trump administration's bigoted politicization of science (FYI, Ars writer @jtimmer.bsky.social is himself a scientist) requires federal rulemaking. That is a slow process; throw sand in every possible gear of it.

"The document itself is an odd grab-bag of micromanaging grant processes, assertion of presidential power, and airing of cultural grievances... Its lack of coherence, however, will not prevent it from causing staggering damage to the US scientific system." 👇 arstechnica.com/science/2026...

those of us who love astrocytes love us some gap junctions. cool video

This is why we fund basic science. You never know from what little curiosity will derive the tools that enable greatness.

Don’t forget gap junctional coupling. Everyone forgets gap junctional coupling, but it’s upwards of at least 25% of the current throughput in some retinal circuits.

I am hiring a PhD student to join our group in Lund, Sweden working on an ERC-funded project to untangle color and polarization vision in some amazing crustaceans – minute water fleas and pugnacious mantis shrimp! Please forward this to promising students. Apply here: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

It does not happen often that a Current Biology review is turned into a YouTube video, but when it is done like this here by Anton Petrov, it is something that should happen more often!👁️👁️👁️ www.cell.com/current-biol... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LP3...

Delighted that a new online talk is up for viewz on Youtube: "Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye". Thanks to Marion Silies and Luisa Ramirez for hosting! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrYJ....

This attack raises an interesting international law issue: In the view of the USG, a use of force against a foreign-flagged vessel is a use of force against that flag state. (USG position during the 1987-88 Tanker War.) In other words, the U.S. just attacked Gambia.

It is insane; prices for hard drives literally doubled in a year. I get why dropbox and alike are upping their prices, but we're left with essentially no affordable options...

In my happy place. @nationals.com Park. Beautiful day. Good game.

Trying to find computational storage options and realizing that science is now competing with the AI bubble... Can't afford RAM or storage at the same time that the Trump administration is taking apart the foundations of science. In some cases, even if I could afford some storage, I can't get it.

#Arsenal Heartbreak.

Reports of an explosion heard around Boston are believed to be a significant bolide/meteor entering the atmosphere, a very large flash was detected by GOES-19 satellite that does not correlate with active thunderstorms. https://t.co/MSDGX6ZnMA

Wow! It was not simple, but we managed to package and ship 3 confocal microscopes from @thecimr.bsky.social to the Sena Institute of Technology in Penyi, Ghana. A massive thanks to all the amazing people at CIMR who helped out, and can’t wait to see these scopes running and producing data at SIT!

"No matter how much we tell ourselves AI is like spell-check, it isn’t. When we use AI to flesh out ideas, we lose the most important part of the writing process: thinking...the effort and the hang-ups are a feature of the human thought process, not a bug" www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

There's also a legal reason to attack peer review of grants. 42 USC § 289a REQUIRES that all grants be peer reviewed. That’s statute. So Project 2025 wants to do an end run around it so they can have political hacks, not the scientific community, determine where the money goes.

<THE ABSOLUTE CHILLS>

I lived in Africa in high school so I was already into those sonics, but this album opened my ears to so many other regions. I saw the WOMAD tour when it came through Ohio in the 90s and it’s still one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to.

Sources was my introduction to world music. Gabriel’s @itspetergabriel.bsky.social WOMAD which evolved into Real World Records curated phenomenal talent from around the world.

The film is stunning. I’ve never understood the banality of the populist part of religions who marginalize inspired art in favor of insipid, safe displays of piety. I hope the book contains discussion of the soundtrack by Peter Gabriel which is in my pantheon of all time great music collections.

A favorite teenaged activity was having some car-owning friend ask who wanted to go with them to run some errand of dubious urgency, and hell yeah that’s what I’m doing for the next few hours.

Sitting in JFK waiting to board a flight and Big Thief's Change is playing on the terminal sound system. Not the introspection is was expecting this morning. Change share.google/urpdCoPA5Zd4...

With Friday strike, over 200 people killed by US military in alleged drug boat strikes. Overwhelming consensus of experts, myself included, assess these to be murder because no armed conflict (and war crime if it were armed conflict). 200 killed also raises serious question: crime against humanity

If you are going to comment on the proposed changes to how science is done in the US, please use this guide. The rules specify that you have to mention the number associated with the proposed changes, and this blog has those. Here is where to comment: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

If I were still faculty, staff, or a donor of the University of Utah, I’d have no faith in the current top level leadership. Q: What did they think would happen with private equity investment? A: Oh, they knew.

On a Friday night, Trump removes all restrictions on driving off road on govt. lands, including National Parks. It’s anarchy.

“The result is a horror show for US science research. Not only is peer review made a secondary consideration, but the new rules would allow any federal agency to cancel any grant at any time based on the vague assertion that it isn’t in the “national interest.” 1/2 🧪 arstechnica.com/science/2026...

My dinner companions had their dinner and were asleep during my dinner, but at least they are cute. Here's one of them.

enjoy dinner with Alice! ellie is having a pre-dinner nap (it’s 530 here)

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.

My dinner companion tonight would like to see pictures of your dinner companion(s).

If so, the Dept of Defense is federal financial assistance So is… Dept of State Dept of Treasury Dept of Justice Dept of Interior Dept of Agriculture Dept of Commerce Dept of Labor Dept of Health/Human Services Dept of Housing/Urban Development Dept of Transportation Dept of Energy Dept of Education

YYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHH! That is a good start.

The was a straight up awesome talk. Beautiful work, @mads100tist.bsky.social , congratulations!

The War on Cancer funded through the National Institutes of Health has turned so many cancers that killed people before their time into treatable conditions. This is one of the important reasons of why we fund science. The loss of this is why the Trump administration must be fought tooth and nail.