Visionarium XXIII in Tvärminne, Finland bryanwjones.com/2025/09/visi...

I'm old enough to remember when Trump casually disclosed the capability of our spy satellites in the open... just yammering his jaw like he always does.

CIA peeps be all... <FACEPALM>... <ROLL FOREHEAD ON DESK>... "I just can't with this guy...".

Anyone driving from the Bay Area to/through Knoxsville who can take a couple of anvils?

Muhammad Ali — Neil Leifer, 1974

AI's Grand Illusion: The Uncomfortable Parallel to Alchemy and Sophistry www.ocrampal.com/from-sophist... #philosophy #science #psychology #AI #intelligence #physics #biology #philmind #philsci #philsky #philpsy #neurosky #neuroskyence

Great surprise today at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History today. Unbeknownst to me, a Diplichnites trackway I collected from my backyard when I was 12 and donated when I was 19 is now on display in the new Stories Week Keep gallery. What an honor.

Nightshades are wild, man. You got tobacco in there too. Peppers, eggplant. Between them and alliums you can have a great meal and a smoke afterwards.

💯! What I find also amazing is that when you stroke the leaves or stems, the smell of potato plants and tomato plants is very similar! Nine million years later.

No wonder pommes and ketchup is such a perfect match

Oh, so that’s why chips (fries, in US lingo) go so well with ketchup

Back when America fought Nazis instead of platforming them.

Excellent news. The NIGMS Building Undergraduate Research Training (BURT) T34 NOFO is published. First due is Feb 25th, for December 26 funding. This condenses previous UG NOFOs so reach out to email/previous PO if you have Qs. files.simpler.grants.gov/opportunitie...

Hey there’s just a few days left in the year and I would love if you helped me get over a big milestone on signups to get my writing in your inbox by signing up today. It’s free, fun, and you get something every couple weeks: dansinker.com/follow/

WAT? Seriously?!?!? Plant genetics and botany is soooo cool.

I can vouch for every flavor here. My faves are the Malted Milk Chocolate and the Secret Breakfast.

Alice loooooves her Christmas gifts, and keeps bringing me them, and insisting that I throw them for her.

Incredible reporting here from the @nytimes.com......(gift link). Colombian fishermen scared to fish for fear of being killed by the US military in waters their families have fished for generations.... www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/w...

Kentucky is paying a steep price for once again falling for Republican propaganda, as our economy relies on global trade more than any other state. It’s so damn depressing how so many of my fellow Kentuckians keep voting against their own best interests. kentuckylantern.com/2025/04/17/a...

It's about time. We've been pioneers in the EM-based connectomics field since the beginning, for a long time as literally the only NIH funded connectomics group. It's been remarkable to watch this field grow, and the science that has come out of it.

Pleased to speak to @axios.com about POTUS’s potential disclosure of a U.S. operation in Venezuela and be quoted alongside @rgoodlaw.bsky.social. www.axios.com/2025/12/29/t...

Helping this mood is our latest now out in its final form! @irfankathiriya.bsky.social leading the teams with me. Thanks to the editors and reviewers (incl. @wythelab.bsky.social)for a pleasant and productive journey. More to come when the full issue is out. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

And don't forget Roark Capital, named for Howard Roark, the protagonist in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead... Literally, named for a character that Donald Trump has said he identified with that espouses selfishness and libertarian values.

A friend's company makes parts that go into Ford F-150 transmissions built in Louisville. Was chatting w/him about how this administration is impacting Louisville's economy, and it's not good. Tariffs on transmission parts, & Canada's removal of American booze from shelves is killing Louisville.

These were some of the most solidly built automobiles ever from the mid 80's to the 90's. From opening the bank vault like door to riding in them felt like being in an automobile crafted from a single piece of steel with beautiful materials. An absolute high mark for automotive build quality.

Hey Martians, did I mention we now also have a video of epic Phobos passing over a Martian dust storm near Pavonis Mons? 🌪️🌋🥔 Video & full info: flic.kr/p/2rNN8wk Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY @esa.int Mars Express HRSC 300 MP Photo quoted below Easy zoom: easyzoom.com/image/674026

One of Hilari's co-workers from many years ago just reached out with some memories of working with her, and now I'm a mess. I'm incredibly grateful, but a total mess. Thank you Jyh-Ching.

The dismembering of US biomedical research is starting to hit commercial biotech in a big way... www.wsj.com/tech/biotech...

Greene's shift is newsworthy but it's shockingly dishonest for @nytimes.com to portray it as a sincere awakening. There's no evidence of that; she's not changing caucus nor voting differently. She's an abhorrent bigot cynically adjusting position because she sees Trump as a liability. That's a fact.

Nope. No. Absolutely not. One of the most virulently awful people in modern American history does not get let off the hook. She doxed people, is horribly anti-Semitic, is insulting, and one of the most toxic people in govt. You don’t get to play the naive card when you’ve weaponized stupidity.

In 249 years, this country has yet to outlaw slavery. We change its form, we change its name, but slavery has been constant. Powerful people and businesses just really love slave labor, and a chunk of our economy is built on that.

One of the tightest punk bands I’ve ever seen. These shows were so high energy, and so incredibly together. These guys worked hard, and it showed.

It is 59F outside in Pittsburgh right now. The warm before the storm…

Roy Kichtenstein River flow at @thebroadmuseum.bsky.social - a digital sketch

Sweeping science cuts in 2025 halted clinical trials, erased public health data and forced researchers into impossible choices. “This year nearly broke me as a scientist,” one writes. Six researchers share their stories: buff.ly/u2MHIQo 🧪

Magritte's #Art of Conversation

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, America has been teaching China how we would respond in such circumstances.

Talking with a friend, his teenage kids and their friends tonight about career advice and life planning. About 45 minutes in, the conversation veered sharply aside to something they’ve clearly been collectively talking about before our conversation….

My #Flighty passport for 2025.

Time for a little year in review, starting with some from January 2025. Not my best photography year, so hopefully next year will be a better one... These are from a lovely frosty day in Richmond Park.

#Immigrant to America.

Back in the old days, we used to call this a purge. Firing all your senior leaders at NIH? It's a purge. Just call it what it is.

Copperton #utah

You can stream the entire film here:

Today in 1964, Rod Serling’s “Carol for Another Christmas,” one of the most unusual versions of Charles Dickens’ classic story ever shown on television, was broadcast for the first and only time on ABC, the first in a series of programs fully underwritten by Xerox to support the United Nations.

This is an outstanding essay describing some of the important roles and influences of NIH program officers (from an insider perspective). Read! elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/the-quiet-...

“The quiet power of program officers lies not in control, but in care. Care for the science, for the people who conduct it, and for the public it is meant to serve.”

Buttons are back. Knobs are back. Dumb devices are back. Own-it-forever software is back. Print is back. Personal websites and chronological feeds are back. Touching grass is back. People keep saying 2015, but it’s not far enough. The entire 2010s were a mistake. We must retvrn to… 2009.

In researching this piece, I was genuinely shocked and deeply concerned at just how many people with ties to the Brownstone Institute have been given scientific roles by this administration.