couchmicroscopy.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

As a very small act of resistance, which is to continue creating reliable science content for non-scientists, I’ve decided to revive my podcast from 2022. The first episode of season 2 will be released on March 10th on all podcast platforms!

submitted 15 hours ago • 1 comment

Judge orders nationwide preliminary injunction of anti-DEI executive orders. "Plaintiffs’ irreparable harms include widespread chilling of unquestionably protected speech." www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/u...

submitted 1 day ago • 43 comments

The University of Pittsburgh confirmed Friday that there would be no new Ph.D. offers of admission while Pitt works to understand how reduced federal aid could impact the institution.

submitted 1 day ago • 55 comments

New #LTEE paper out in #Science today. I wrote about it here, with an emphasis on "how civility, cooperation, and collaboration can succeed even in the highly competitive world of science." the-ltee.org/an-update-to... And here's a link to the paper itself: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

submitted 393 days ago • 2 comments

National Science Foundation fired nearly 170 workers this morning in Zoom call. This included workers who had completed a 1-yr requisite probation and shouldn't have been included in termination but were suddenly told recently that the 1-yr should have been 2-yrs, revoking their permanent status.

submitted 4 days ago • 10 comments

😡 And the cuts just keep on coming. Very important: Tonight's terminations are for Dept of Ed grants (NOT contracts). Grants have been seen as harder than contracts to terminate legally. These more aggressive actions is bad news for Dept of Ed, then possibly grants at other agencies...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

We are SO LUCKY to live in a time where we have refined mRNA vaccine technology to the point that we have it at our disposal for emergent pathogens and we know that it’s safe. That was only made possible by decades of high-level work by scientists all over the world who were funded and supported.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

I lost my job at the National Science Foundation yesterday, along with 167 of my colleagues, including some dear friends. This was the best job I've ever had, and I thought it would be my last. The PI community has been sympathetic and supportive, without exception. I will miss working for you.

submitted 3 days ago • 604 comments

It is disturbing how the Trump regime is silencing and crippling science. We had a paleontology online seminar scheduled next week on Permian fossils and environments in Grand Canyon - but the US colleague planning to present has suddenly been sacked. climate.law.columbia.edu/Silencing-Sc...

submitted 3 days ago • 16 comments

"For Nancy Hastings, the face of the federal government is the young man who picks her up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:45 a.m. to drive her to dialysis...Then suddenly, in late January, word came that he was gone." Must-read by @ericboodman.bsky.social: www.statnews.com/2025/02/18/i...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

NEW: A letter from an anonymous federal worker. Please read and share: www.muellershewrote.com/p/letter-fro...

submitted 4 days ago • 400 comments

RFK Jr. thinks that a clinical trial should be done for the entire childhood vaccine schedule. Here’s why that will never happen. 1. You can’t do a randomized trial of something that we already know is safe and effective. There would have to be a placebo group that didn’t get vaxxed. Unethical.

submitted 4 days ago • 699 comments

Every scientist, long before they were a scientist, was a little kid who stood in front of a fish tank or stared up at the stars or turned over a rock to look at the bugs underneath and said “wow”. On the best days, working in science still feels like that.

submitted 4 days ago • 27 comments

I escaped poverty because I am a scientist. And I am a scientist because of the National Science Foundation. A 🧵:

submitted 4 days ago • 73 comments

"I don't know what NSF is going to be now, but it's not more efficient. It's just a mess." My story on today's firings and their impact. www.npr.org/2025/02/18/n...

submitted 4 days ago • 5 comments

Today was the saddest day of my professional life. To see amazing scientists terminated from the NSF because they had worked there fewer than 2 years. The scientific enterprise is deeply wounded by these and similar actions across the government. Science denial will never make a nation great.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Firings happening right now at the NSF.

submitted 4 days ago • 45 comments

"Now is the time for science, not silence." The war on science isn’t just politics, it’s our planet's future & the stakes have never been higher.🦈🪸🌊 As climate scientists, we must advocate & defend evidence-based policy.📄🌏 #ClimateAction #ScienceMatters www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Sweeping layoffs are set to hit federal health and science agencies, including at the NIH, and former director Monica Bertagnolli called the situation at the NIH “devastating.”

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

American institutions—from the media to Congress—continue to underreact to the unraveling of our democracy. Overseas our media would not hesitate to call what we’re living through a full-blown autocratic coup. Here's my attempt at the story they should write: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-trump...

submitted 7 days ago • 82 comments

Seeing US science being vandalised is devastating 💔 For anyone in need of a new job: we have several postdoc and PhD positions in computational genomics, cancer epigenetics and immunology available here in Oxford, UK. We still care about DEI, offer 3y+ contracts and do cool science - get in touch!

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

So, so proud of this collaboration with @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social and so grateful to so many scientists—especially early career researchers—who spoke with us. “It is just common sense that in order to have the best science, we need the broadest, most inclusive environment for scientists.”

submitted 8 days ago • 1 comment

Measles cases by U.S. state before and after the measles vaccine.

submitted 9 days ago • 12 comments

If you look at any research publication, you can find a section (at the very top or bottom) where the scientists list their funders. Lots of work goes into getting science funded and then a lot more work goes into publishing findings. 1/2

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Genetic Transfer in Action: Uncovering DNA Flow in an Extremophilic Microbial Community enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #jcampubs

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Genetic Transfer in Action: Uncovering DNA Flow in an Extremophilic Microbial Community - Van Etten - 2025 - Environmental Microbiology - Wiley Online Library https://enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.70048?af=R

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Ted Cruz’s “woke” science list contains a lot of basic, fundamental research that got flagged for simply addressing broader impacts (as Congress requires). As absurd as the list seems, it’s making scientists uneasy. My latest: www.npr.org/2025/02/13/n...

submitted 9 days ago • 8 comments

For those who aren't biologists: This is a biosafety cabinet. Every biomedical research lab in the country has one or more of these bio safety cabinets. They use air flow to protect cells from contamination by bacteria and fungal spores while you are working with them.

submitted 10 days ago • 4 comments

Very good source to understand indirect costs by Sally Rockey, former Deputy Director for Extramural Activities at NIH. Very thorough and clear. If you want to understand indirect costs or have family or friends who are pestering you to explain IDC, send them this... www.aau.edu/key-issues/i...

submitted 11 days ago • 5 comments

International Day of Women and Girls in Science => Pioneers of Plankton Research! Priscilla Susan Bury (1799–1872): doi.org/10.1093/plan... Marie Lebour (1876–1971): doi.org/10.1093/plan... Sheina Marshall (1896–1977): doi.org/10.1093/plan... Easter Ellen Cupp (1904–1999): doi.org/10.1093/plan...

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

www.pcmag.com/opinions/thi... Happy (or not so) International Day of Women and Girls in Science! Over the past week or so the contributions of women in STEM have been erased in an act of anticipatory obedience by several scientific organizations.

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

This 15% cap on indirect costs for NIH grants is yet another example of the 'unprecedented' moves the Trump administration is taking to change how science is done that I wrote about today. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

submitted 15 days ago • 2 comments

Is your NSF grant on this list? Reach out if so! Ted Cruz released a list of grants flagged for DEI or "neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda" from his Oct. report. NSF is using keywords from that report for their review, though Cruz's list is likely larger. www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/2/cruz-...

submitted 11 days ago • 43 comments

Happy International Day of Women in Science. The National Science Foundation’s list of flagged words includes both “Women” and “Female.”

submitted 11 days ago • 28 comments

I wish there was a way to quantify the collective amount of work lost due to stress and despair over the last few weeks, independent of barriers to funding.

submitted 11 days ago • 31 comments

Diverse teams ask more innovative questions, and their multiperspectivity accelerates progress. Equity in STEM isn’t optional—it’s a prerequisite for thriving knowledge.🧪 #AcademicSky www.science.org/content/arti...

submitted 13 days ago • 2 comments

Top comment on the recent NYT story on DOGE’s young aides www.nytimes.com/shared/comme...

submitted 14 days ago • 131 comments

Important and also we need to start explaining to people that humans are just one species on the planet and research doesn’t have to be directly applicable them to be interesting, significant, or worth doing.

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

NIH had two tracks for the same fellowship: those from underrepresented backgrounds and those not. Both usually get funds. Rather than merge back to one track to comply with their understanding of executive orders, they essentially rejected without review all the ones on the underrepresented track.

submitted 13 days ago • 19 comments

If it's hitting UIUC already, it's crushing other places. @econroy.bsky.social the lag will catch up real soon like.

submitted 14 days ago • 30 comments