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bmaher.bsky.social
News featured editor at Nature. bmaher.01 on signal.
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Important developments in overcoming the BBB.... no, not that BBB www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"It's the scariest thing we are doing." [email protected] traveled throughout southeast Asia, talking with the scientists working with live animal and exotic meat vendors as well as hunters and middlemen along the supply chain of this industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

Judge overseeing the NIH grant cuts lawsuit: "I've just come across this database called Grant Watch which is rather intriguing. Everybody seems to look at [it] for the data concerning NIH grants... This is like a physician's desk reference." 👏 well done @scott-delaney.bsky.social @noamross.net

This is such a good example of "turn every page" journalism - nothing less fun/glam than clicking through every footnote. And it's roughly 10,000x more newsy than the thumbsucker RFK profiles reported with big travel budgets.

Fact that kind of floored me while editing this story: I suspected that antibody drugs to treat Alzheimer's were inefficient at getting into the brain. But I didn't realize that LESS THAN 0.1% actually gets through the BBB! www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I subscribe to the @newyorker.com, I was part of ACT UP, I knew Larry Kramer well and know Tony Fauci too. Daniel Immerwahr's piece on RFKJr, features this and other passages that need a reponse. 1/

Postpartum depression affects around 17% of new parents worldwide, yet often goes undetected until symptoms are severe. For @nature.com, I wrote about a machine-learning model that aims to identify who’s most at risk before symptoms start, helping target preventive care more effectively.

There's a fascinating feature out in @nature.com today from @davidmjourno.bsky.social, on whether and why scientific breakthroughs are getting harder to achieve. It's a narrative being discussed by some of the most powerful science officials in the world, such as OSTP director Michael Kratsios. 🧪

To be clear: Reporter Ewen Callaway is still a human. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Cuts to research funding are a symptom of a much larger disease in our government. 🧪⚛️

DeepMind's @matejbalog.bsky.social & colleagues have come up with a seemingly simple but successful technique to improve algorithms in computer science & maths: an LLM comes up with ideas that an evaluator critiques against metrics. Repeat until you've nailed it. 🧪🤖 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

our species will have to adapt to climate change, but we can do it, writes Lizzie Wade, who has spent the past several years reporting on disasters of the past for her new book Apocalypse

“This is an existential threat” Life-saving mRNA vaccines have been targeted by MAGA and MAHA enthusiasts. Now a multi-billion-dollar industry is pondering what to do next. www.nature.com/articles/d41... (1/n)

You know that racist white lady who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars after calling a 5 year old boy the n word? She's using a Christian fundraising platform that's fine with her racism. That didn't sit right with Kiendria a web developer. /1

Next in the @nature.com Changemakers Q&A series, Jason 'Jace' Flatt shares a candid look at the termination of $5 million of their grant funding and describes how discrimination in the doctor's office leads to health disparities for LGBTQ+ people. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

“This is what I was expecting — an executive order banning gain-of-function research but defined in such a way that it bans all virology research,” says @ggronvall.bsky.social. Yup. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘Dear Chat-GPT, we need branding for a campaign that says both pro-life, and definitely destined for success. Whaddya got?’ www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

NIH launched a new site on its new foreign research policy "Options could include moving research to the U.S. if possible, pause on-going research and reapply under the new subproject structure, or begin winding [it] down." As if it's as easy as pressing 'pause' on a clinical trial w/ zero notice

Update: NSF has terminated ~1425 grants, up from ~1040 after about 380 more were axed on Friday. Details per internal NSF source; don't yet have a list of individual grants or division breakdown for the latest.

"If you rely on these products in your work, research, education, or planning, we invite you to share your story at [email protected]. Your input can help us demonstrate the importance of these data sets and advocate for future support." 🧪

It's not just a global problem. The US evisceration of HIV/AIDS funding is rolling back progress against the virus in the US. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-e...

NEW: Despite a congressional mandate to expand care for veterans, internal Veterans Affairs messages obtained by ProPublica paint a stark portrait of how chaotic cost cutting has already imperiled tests of treatments for cancer, opioid addiction and more.

Are AI companions hurting or helping us? Researchers are finding answers. https://go.nature.com/3RQEWwk

Sweet. Instead of rice, guests threw batteries: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/s...

"These are just a few of the many practical, evidence-based ways for universities to reduce racial gaps in achievement and representation. To make progress, institutions need to recognize that racism ... is a provable scientific fact, and must act accordingly." rb.gy/jgt3ox

The measles vaccine is proven to work. It has saved millions of lives. That’s an undeniable fact, no matter what anyone says. The ‘treatments’ repeatedly touted by RFK Jr—budesonide, clarithromycin, and cod liver oil—do not. No matter what anyone like him says. 🧵

New reporting tip, I guess: When someone dismisses something as ‘rumor’ be sure to ask whether it’s a true rumor. www.science.org/content/arti...

US President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 calls for unprecedented cuts to scientific agencies that, if enacted, would deal a devastating blow to US science, policy specialists say. https://go.nature.com/4jYv3IP

NIH is ending billions of dollars in foreign subawards, jeopardizing thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more. Unless foreign researchers secure funding directly from NIH by October — a tall order for any researcher — clinical trials abroad and other research will shut down.

RFK Jr. checks off a classic vaccine misinfo trope w/a requirement for placebo-controlled vax trials. Taking us back to the 1950s when 50 kids were killed or paralyzed since they were in a placebo group for a polio vax known to work. Our bingo card of tropes: kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Despite some setbacks, the world WAS doing pretty well against HIV/AIDS, and by some accounts it was on track to rein in the epidemic by 2030. Then came Trump. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Well, it's official. We just received notice that all authors on the Sixth National Climate Assessment have just been released from their roles. The NCA is a vital, Congressionally mandated resource for our nation as we prepare for the impacts of climate change. This is a huge loss.

I remember the 'Republican War on Science' in the early aughts. Yes, Bush et al. denied evidence and quashed promising areas, but there was still support for the idea of discovery science as foundation for growth and prosperity. That's all out the window, now. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Dismantling systems aimed at addressing inequities is highly misguided, but the way DEI initiatives are implemented should be improved. Too often, they are symbolic gestures that fail to address real barriers A great read from @profkeonwest.bsky.social #academicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Brilliant. The "Science Homecoming" project helps scientists place articles in local papers about how Trump & Musk's cuts to science harm their communities. 🧪 on @nature.com

Do US politicians listen to science? Democrat-led congressional committees and leftwing think tanks cite research papers more than their rightwing counterparts, finds vast analysis by @dashunwang.bsky.social @alexanderfurnas.com www.nature.com/articles/d41... With comments from @ejfagan.com

The "left" is also aligned with reality. That should be stated more often.

Decades of incremental progress in Japan on iPS cell therapies and huge investment, show promise. But will treatments be affordable? More and more this is the question with biotech.

This ancient Middle Eastern civilization that developed an early alphabet spread its culture far and wide — but not its DNA https://go.nature.com/4cObC3l

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