States are paying contractors millions to comply Trump's laws to cut food stamps & care. "These benefits...can mean the difference between someone obtaining medical care & having enough to eat—or going without." By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

🧪 Please show this Climate analytics / #DataViz website to anyone who doesn’t think climate change is real or to who says, “even if it is real, it isn’t anything to worry about” climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_dai... #ClimateChange

Please show this website to anyone who doesn’t think climate change is real or to those who say, “even if it is real, it isn’t anything to worry about” climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_dai... #ClimateChange

My NIH update Let me start by saying again how glad I am that NIH is now posting these curves on the Reporter front page. It is satisfying that leading by example from outside has led to this change and (I hope) reflects a commitment for NIH_leadership™ to hold itself accountable for this. 1/6

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

'They were looking for her father, Mario Alberto Nívoli, 28, an electrician and leftwing activist. The men searched the house, beat Mario and tied his wrists. They stole all but a handful of the photographs in the house, and dragged Mario away to a waiting car. He was never seen again.'

"When Guy Partnerman and Lady Millionaire purchased a brownstone in the most Brooklyn-themed neighborhood of Brooklyn, there was only one drawback: the home was too beautiful." www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/tra...

“Robert Malone, an ideological ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is stepping away from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee following a court ruling that effectively nullified the panel.” ✍️ Ariel Cohen / Roll Call

"Pacific Northwest old-growth stores more carbon per acre than any terrestrial ecosystem on the planet." There are five hours left to leave a public comment against clearcutting our old growth. morethanjustparks.com/oregon-old-g...

I did not have much time. Here is my comment.

Very enlightening, and not just about Google. Google Has a Secret Reference Desk. Here's How to Use It. open.substack.com/pub/cardcata...

Harrowing and essential reading. Gift 🔗: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

I just wrote a @theactionnetwork.bsky.social letter: Save PEPFAR to Save Lives! . Write one here: actionnetwork.org/letters/save...

🧪 “He liked to be right, but he was quick to admit when he was wrong.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/s...

Vaccines were once so uncontroversial that McDonald’s restaurants put the childhood immunization schedule on their tray liners. Now, as the U.S. government sows doubt, preventable diseases could come roaring back.

Matt Ridley gave the inaugural "NIH Scientific Freedom Lecture Series" earlier today and I just wanted to run through some of the main claims he made - you'll be unsurprised to learn that almost all of them are false. Here's his summary slide - let's start there. 🧵👇

Very sad to hear of the passing today of our UCSF colleague Mike Bishop at the age of 90. A legendary and inspiring figure. He also led UCSF as Chancellor. Have a listen to his Nobel lecture. youtube.com/watch?v=CDv7...

David Botstein was one of the giants of genetics and genomics, and my mentor, colleague and friend for more than 40 years. I’m sad that he is gone, but his larger-than-life persona comes through here. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/s...

🧪 if anything will save our species, it’s in the wilderness 🌊 ✨ 🌲 🌙 www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/old-...

Associate Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor position in Molecular Microbiology available at Lund University, Sweden: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

A point of contrast.

NOT NOW, MYSTERIOUS LARGE STEEL CYLINDER

Based on the picture I am significantly happier about this insect’s discovery than it is :<

'It’s not easy for ministers. In a fast-moving situation, each individual nation is grappling with how best to grow its tech sector and not get left behind. But the overwhelming challenge facing society is how to stop the new robber barons seizing our data, our output and our images.'

🧪 🎁 🔗 , from @sherylnyt.bsky.social “When Anthony Bellotti, a Republican strategist and devoted cat owner, set out to defend animal rights, he deployed a game plan designed to enlist conservatives to the cause…” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/u...

FCC to journalists: cover the Iran war the way the president prefers or lose your broadcast license.

New email to Director Bhattacharya about a new Scientific Freedom lecture to be given my Matt Ridley on The Search for the Origin of COVID-19. Ridley is a British scientist and journalist who published a book in 2022 on the subject. 1/5

The origin of our eyes over half a billion years ago is looking more and more weird--from a cyclops to four eyes to two. Here's my story (gift link): nyti.ms/4rzisQP

featuring the beautiful review from our last issue: www.cell.com/current-biol...

🧪 @carlzimmer.com on new results revealing the Cyclopean invertebrate origins of the human / vertebrate eye 👁️ 🎁 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/s...

The WSJ calls it “the most severe energy crisis since the 1970s.” ⛽️ @wsj.com www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Brilliant

Thanks @scifri.bsky.social for having me on to talk about federal research budgets. TLDL: Congress voted to reject the president's big science cuts, but the White House is slow to release those approved funds. 🧪 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

These NOFO delays have created so many gaps in longstanding programs, including programs that are congressionally mandated. www.science.org/content/arti...

🐦 🧪 Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/c...

This is a graph of the death of US science.

Given that clonal biofilms of single bacterial species rapidly diversify into niche specialists, how do biofilms of multiple species evolve? A 🧵 featuring new collaborative pubs: 1. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 2. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A draft emergency executive order to declare a national emergency to allow President Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over voting is being circulating by anti-voting activists who said they are in coordination with the White House. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Review @annualreviews.bsky.social @gabyrabi.bsky.social Glycan-Binding Proteins in Immunity www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

For those interested! A third position for a PhD/Research Associate with @ferencmueller.bsky.social is open as well. Details: shorturl.at/O9eKd

The Bart Lab at UC Berkeley is looking for a postdoc. Please share!

🧵 New preprint! Our 4-lab team evolved Streptococcus pneumoniae in antibiotic-treated mice of varying immune states and discovered something surprising: bacteria rarely evolved resistance. Instead, they found a different way to survive — by rewiring RNA turnover. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Kennedy Allies Target States to Overturn Vaccine Mandates for Schoolchildren - Christina Jewett www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/h...

Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.

“Staff members at the United States’s premier infectious-disease research institute have been instructed to remove the words “biodefense” and “pandemic preparedness” from the institute’s web pages, according to e-mails Nature has obtained.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Can confirm

"We are deliberately walking away from the most advanced form of one of the most effective public health measures available to the human race, and instead we are investigated older technologies that happen to involve the administration’s friends" Indeed. www.science.org/content/blog...

I know there are fires everywhere we look. Sorry to bring your attention to one more:

This is how a child dies of #measles 🦠 🎁 🔗 www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

🧪 🫡 gofund.me/bc68fd2dd (backstory down-thread 🧵)