Each Friday, I write a briefing on what is happening to American science & higher ed. 🧪 This was Year 2, Week 3: - reversals on NIOSH layoffs, SAMHSA funding, HepB trial in Guinea-Bissau - Senate passes budget bill - and crucially, how to think about these headlines buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

authoritarianism does not look for truth, it looks for reduced cognitive load

We’re proud to partner with Mattel to help create the first-ever autistic Barbie! Autism looks lots of different ways - we're glad to have the chance to represent some of them, and to highlight some of those that are underrepresented in toys.

Hey, remember that period of time when the most distressing thing in the news was finding out that random objects were secretly cakes? Was it a dog? Nope. Cake. Was it a glass of wine? Nope, cake again. Anyways, that is the level of stress that I would be comfortable returning to. Thank you.

It's a difficult needle to thread because a bully (AI industry) has no moral compass nor will stop bullying if we acquiesce. But that doesn't also mean we don't fight back. We try to make this clear from the abstract here too: "AI cannot be allowed to drive change." doi.org/10.5281/zeno... 1/n

It's canon

"many researchers suspect that girls are frequently overlooked because their symptoms may appear less disruptive or more easily masked" More easily for whom?

The days between December 25 and January 1 are the Lanthanides and Actinides of the Gregorian calendar

Yes, this!: "this isn't a crisis in teaching; it's an attack on learning" I'm finding that I don't have just to change assignments. I have to **abandon my entire teaching strategy**, which has always been built around scaffolded independent projects across the semester.

“a fundamental aspect [of CAILs] is the assertion that AI cannot be allowed to drive change, even positive change, in education or research. Instead cultivation of and adherence to shared values and goals must guide us.” — @olivia.science et al. (2025) zenodo.org/records/1778... 2/🧵

These declines are MASSIVE. And the comparative silence in media coverage is absolutely DAMNING. “Why are ppl always so afraid of crime?” THIS is why. When crime goes up, media trips over itself to report it. Falls to pre-war (!!) levels? Just CRICKETS.

Always good advice, below. In addition, I've seen my papers cited for claims that are only tangentially related to the paper's main point(s). I'd like to see a "Highlights" type feature, for every paper, that is simply: "Here are the claims this paper can support."

the fact that actual academics need to be told this depresses me more than I can say

NIH funding is like pizza 🍕. Usually, the NIH gives many researchers a slice of the pie, but this year they decided to just give a few researchers the whole pie. The data show that, disproportionately, early career researchers went hungry. We need Congress to stop NIH multi-year funding mandates.

Since 2020, our team has iterated on a model for “rapid research” to help surface, analyze, & resolve rumors about election administration. This work demonstrates an innovative role for researchers to support public sensemaking during rapidly unfolding events. uw.pressbooks.pub/rapidresearc...

This!!! Contrary to the simplified model of dominant/recessive genetics that everyone learns in middle school, most traits are not yes/no scenarios like a widow's peak or attached earlobes.

Yes, yes, yes. Shifts like this will help everyone in a classroom - students and educators alike - no matter what their neurotypes.

🚨PSA🚨 A government restricting what scientists are allowed to study has NEVER been a sign of a society moving towards a more free, more just, or more enlightened future. A thriving scientific ecosystem is a core pillar of a healthy democracy.

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership. Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources. Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet. Unbelievable.

If you’ve never thought about whether you’d use your body in an attempt to protect children who aren’t yours, now’s a good time to stop talking and listen.

At the recent ACIP meeting, members spread lies about vaccines and autistic people. Vaccines are important. They protect us from diseases, and they let autistic kids grow to become autistic adults. We do not need to be prevented; we need support and respect. autisticadvocacy.org/2025/12/asan...

“When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47% drop in neural connectivity across regions associated with memory, language, & critical reasoning. Their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage.”🧪

To be clear, I think "machine learning" is as anthropomorphic as "artificial intelligence". Learning and intelligence perform the same role, they imply uniquely biological or psychological capacities to the machine or artifact through their use in the phrase. See table 1: doi.org/10.48550/arX...

Such important advice for learners at all levels and in all contexts!

"Examining progress in two areas—access to neighborhood schools and the provision of services that improve student outcomes—and two enduring challenges—staffing shortages and reliance on individual advocacy—reveals the ongoing struggle between policy ideals and implementation realities."

There's something especially apt about these ridiculous words being posted by someone whose handle is literally the word *normative*. Good grief.

When you don’t know anything about eugenics or genetics

This is the way.

2025? Pretty bad for US science. That just motivated us more. In 2025 we reached people on the street, at the bar, in the classroom, at the rec center, in the park, & more How much we accomplish next year is only limited by how much we can afford. Support our org at givebutter.com/SupportSAS25

I teach big classes, so I get a lot of accommodation letters and I simply follow them and go on with my day because why the hell wouldn‘t I. If I wanted to be a cop, I would have applied.

the primary reason the rates of being registered with disability services are high at schools like brown is they're all assessed and diagnosed. it's not primarily fraud, it's primarily that most other kids don't have access to assessments so the rates of registration are artificially low

How not to use colons. Just saying.

1000% agree. I always want my students to do their *best* thinking on assessments, not their fastest thinking. Whether I'm teaching graduate education courses or college biology and chemistry, quality of ideas >>> speed. Speed can come later (if needed) with practice and repetition.

the thing about extra-time accommodations is that either they help you a lot or they don't matter much, and if they help you a lot that is evidence that you should get them

Also, extra time for exams is just ... not that big a deal? It takes some extra logistics, but for almost any course I teach, it doesn't remotely harm pedagogical goals or assessment quality if students take two hours instead of one

"As one senior researcher told me, decades of painstaking work vanished overnight in an attack by an inexperienced and ideologically driven staff intent on dismantling the bureaucracy without understanding its purpose."

Today is the anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Not only did the law literally open doors to countless students with disabilities (myself included), it also had the unintended consequence of creating the moral panic around an autism "epidemic." 🧵 1/

This is both fabolous and ludacris at the same damn time.

Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old

Let me add my usual caveat: IF schools are contributing to student mental health issues and IF test scores are down, it is NOT the fault of teachers. It's the system that's bad. Put good people in a bad system and the system wins every time. Blame those (policymakers) who created the system.

To me, the biggest problem with this article is that it equates ADHD and autism with being "unwell." That's ableist, and it undermines the author's argument (which I agree with) that schools' narrow criteria for what is "normal" contributes to psych diagnoses for students.

Yes. Absolutely this. We need journalists who can cut through marketing hype and use accurate language. Thread ⬇️

Fixed it for you, @nytimes.com

I love this idea! If you spend most/all of your time being an expert, it's very easy to forget what it's like to be a novice. Maybe it's time for me to re-commit to learning to play the piano...

It’s Friday night. I’ve done enough this week. You’ve done enough this week.

PSA to academics posting threads about your paper here: you can (and should) post the link to the paper in the first post. Your X/Twitter brain rot have have you thinking otherwise, but please free yourself of that. (Also you can call them 'blue-prints' if you want).

Scientists tell Americans not to trust the CDC. Instead of a global leader in science, the CDC has devolved into “a propaganda machine for RFK Jr.'s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories,” said @pauloffit.bsky.social. www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

This was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw that ED plans to transfer so many programs to the Dept of Labor.

Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad