Federally-funded science is a crown jewel of the USA. The proposed rules by OMB would, in a single stroke, dismantle decades of extraordinary progress and rob all of humanity of massive research potential and collaboration. You can make your opinion known here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/OM...

In this newsletter I outline important actions to take. 1. Submit a comment opposing the rule change. 2. Contact state legislators to ensure states are engaged with the impact at the state and local level. 3. Contact members of Congress. 4. Spread awareness. This rundown is a great source:

Let me get this straight: * blood is made of iron * some blood cells are made for killing enemies * these defense cells also eat old blood cells, and become 🔮superparamagnetic🔮 et voila, magnetic navigation I love biology so much 😭😭😭 🧪

Welp. This is a hell of a story. Canadian Mining Journal published what appeared to be an entirely fabricated deep-sea mining paper, with quotes from fictional people and a source paper that does not exist.

Fishy pick pocket! More evidence that the Golden sweeper fish eat glowing ostracods, ʻstealʻ the luciferase protein-the glowy bit-and relocate it as a fully functional protein in specialized organs for counter-illumination / camouflage. Bessho-Uehara and colleagues: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Eastern N. America folks, it's just about go time for the start of the ~3 week peak migration (unless you're on the Gulf Coast, in which case it is go time NOW). Expect waves of incredible birds for the next month and a half Turn those overnight lights off to protect them! [stolen from local news]

More context on this #Artemis II image: * This is the night side, lit by moonlight. You can see city lights in Spain & Portugal, & a sliver of day at lower right * The Sun is entirely behind Earth, which makes it a kind of solar eclipse, but w/ Earth doing the eclipsing instead of the Moon: ☀️🌍🚀🌕

BREAKING: Avi Lewis wins the NDP leadership with a commanding majority on the first ballot. Avi Lewis is the new leader of the NDP.

Happy birthday to the Washington Metro, which opened 50 years ago today with service on 4.6 mi of Red Line between Rhode Is. Ave & Farragut N. System now serves 130 mi. The DC Metro shows that, with good planning & enough investment, the public sector can succeed & build something extraordinary.

Experts at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have rediscovered a recording and determined it’s probably the oldest whale recording still in existence. The likely vocalist? A humpback whale. 🐋 spklr.io/6007Dxy1Z 📷: BlackBox 🎙️: Luis Lamar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

From our new paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social: www.cell.com/current-biol... w/ @neurofishh.bsky.social @gkafetzis.bsky.social @denilsson.bsky.social Looking across animals, the vertebrate eye is an obvious outlier. Why is it so different that other highly visual animals?

If you've spent much time at the beach, you may be familiar with plastic debris washing ashore. Is it dangerous? Colleagues @oceanconservancy.org have developed a risk assessment framework for mortality due to plastic ingestion in seabirds, marine mammals & sea turtles 📝 www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Starting in one minute! Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS images to be shared by NASA. YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55S...

I was a starbucks barista for a minute. Sad it has come to it but seeing this brings me joy - up with the workers!

We're #hiring a new #PhD student - come join @lec-reefs.bsky.social to investigate coral reefs, MPAs, and climate impacts. 🌊 🧪🦑 Details + apply here - www.exageo.org/phd-student-... Deadline Jan 9th! International applicants encouraged 👍

In our last thread, we left the jelly-enjoyers of Bluesky with a cliff hanger ending, in what one eager onlooker described as soap opera science 😜 ... wait no more, we are back! Grab your popcorn shrimp and come with us on a journey spanning more than... bsky.app/profile/iwan...

There's something that feels a bit dead about the world right now, but tens of thousands of people just came together to help us solve a 100 year old mystery about a little blue jelly, and I find that heartbreakingly hopeful:

I had student meetings yesterday for my class. It was a writing class so most meetings started with my comments on their papers, but I told them they could ask about anything. Some asked for advice for gap years, how to choose the next career step, even audio books :) my favorite question was...🧵

Today is a good day. Thank-you New York City. You are beautiful

Dazzling! Look at the twinkly iridescence of a ctenophore at ca. 5,000 m deep just above a vast expanse of polymetallic nodules. Tune in to EV Nautilus Live to see stunning critters & listen to the crew rank the food they are missing while at sea

🔔 DIVE HAPPENING NOW My colleagues (👋 Amanda!) are narrating this gorgeous dive in the Cook Islands abyssal plains. Forbidden truffles 🪨🪨🪨 Link below to watch livestream 🧪🌊

Kailua Beach, Hawai’i: The first time I laid eyes on a By-the-wind sailor, I stopped dead in my tracks, dusted the sand off my hands, grabbed my iphone and...

There might be SEASONS in the ABYSS?! Fall may be here on land, but in some period of time and through 5 vertical kilometers of water, the Benthic Boundary Layer larvae may feel it too 🍂

🧠 Alzheimer’s reversed in mice A new study found that injecting nanoparticles can 'remind' the blood–brain barrier to function properly again, restoring normal brain activity in mice. Human trials could follow within years. 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41... #SciComm #Alzheimers 🧪

Field work in Bamfield, a lecture with Tom Reimchen, this is hitting me right in the ca. 2010 nostalgia - how time flies - BMSC is beautiful as ever

In the cacophony of crap news, I recalled seeing this lil' bug. A good reminder that nature is beautiful. Here's a female Sylvan jumping spider, clearly dazzled (or maybe pissed off) at the spider-like eyes of my iphone cameras. Pick an issue, get involved, AND pay attention to the beauty all around

It was a day for ballot initiatives in the D.C. Council, as an attempt to repeal Initiative 82 was defeated (but could come back) while lawmakers funded ranked-choice voting, which was approved by voters last year as Initiative 83. For @51st.news: 51st.news/d-c-council-...

Just called the at-large council members of DC to urge them to fully implement initiative-82, the phase-out of a tipped minimum wage supported by almost 80% of DC voters! As a treat, here is a pair of ship wrecks: a By-the-wind sailor run aground next to the Wreck of the Peter Iredale, Astoria, OR

Feeling very ‘watching cspan at 1:20am’ here is a gorgeous Portuguese man-o-war I recently saw on the Gulf of Mexico to cleanse the tl

Philly’s AFSCME DC 33 is officially ON STRIKE! Over 9,000 blue collar city workers who run our streets, libraries, sanitation, and more have refused the city’s lowball offers. They make an average of $46K while our mayor enriches herself, her cronies, and the cops www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...

Looking at NYC from Mayor Bowserʻs DC

NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Cuomo concedes New York City Democratic mayoral primary to Zohran Mamdani.

Exclusive: I have confirmed that the federal government is still refusing to process permit applications for land-based wind projects almost six months into the Trump administration. Not just offshore. It threatens untold billions of capital investments in the United States. via @heatmap.news

Quinnipiac national poll: Trump's approval rating is 38/53. GOP's approval rating is 32/61. But they have one thing going for them — Democrats are even more unpopular. Dems' approval rating is 21/70. The congressional Democratic Party is under water with Democratic voters.

Pinch me! I am so excited to be joining an amazing cohort of scientists and conservation practitioners for the Smith Fellowship. We are going to learn so many cool things about neuston (word of the day) the animals that live on - and interact with - the vast sea surface.

In last week's Rare Earth, we looked at the Arctic & especially Greenland: the geopolitics of mineral extraction, what Greenlanders want & the impacts etc Today, this: "Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn" www.theguardian.com/...

Other SCB Bluesky accounts to follow: ICCB 2025 - @iccb2025.bsky.social SCBNA - @scbnorthamerica.bsky.social SCB Oceania - @scboceania.bsky.social SCB Europe - @scbeurope.bsky.social #conservation #biodiversity #wildlife

The general public:

Damn @ekkoastral.bsky.social closing the night with i90 had me in tears. The whole night was a celebration of trans brilliance. So many emotions were swirling in the mascara mosh pit. Truly the best night of live music and a balm for these troubled times.