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

I think this is a wonderful, prudent, and much-needed idea. As a U.S.-trained scientist, I'm embarrassed that what's going on in the U.S. right now prompted this.

submitted 5 hours ago • 0 comments

The ebook version of Getting to the Heart of Science Communication is on sale for $4.99 at all retailers. Extremely relevant (unfortunately) for this moment #SciComm islandpress.org/books/gettin...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

This is the way.

submitted 1 day ago • 2479 comments

A brief timeline of the 5 bullets email: Saturday: -Musk tweets about it -OPM sends it to all feds -Panic/chaos ensue Sunday: -Agencies scramble to verify, start sending conflicting advice Monday: -Most agencies told to respond -Later guidance is revised—response voluntary, jobs not threatened

submitted 2 days ago • 65 comments

In other news, Ramadan is starting on Saturday. Be kind to your Muslims friends who are fasting. If you think we're ignoring you around 5 pm, just know we're in a Ramadan Hibernation Zone preparing for sunset when we can eat and drink.

submitted 1 day ago • 176 comments

The French Parliament has approved a ban on the manufacture, import, and sale of #PFAS in cosmetics, ski wax, and clothing by January 2026, which will be extended to all textiles in 2030.

submitted 3 days ago • 11 comments

An excellent new climate change video from channel “Just Have a Think” has just been released discussing the latest La Niña phase, AMOC tipping points, sea surface temperatures around Antarctica and feedback loops. The video also mentions @rahmstorf.bsky.social and @pik-potsdam.bsky.social

submitted 2 days ago • 8 comments

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Brilliant protest. Yosemite National Park workers hung an upside-down American flag — traditionally a symbol of distress or a national threat — thousands of feet off the ground on the side of El Capitan.

submitted 3 days ago • 109 comments

👀

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

Universities start to respond to all the havoc, Pitt was only one of the schools I've seen that had paused PhD offers this year given the federal funding situation. Who else?

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

This x10000000000 “In other words: We, the opposition, are the majority. Take heart.” www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/they-are-a...

submitted 5 days ago • 1230 comments

‼️The US-based @ipcc.bsky.social technical support unit (TSU) for Working Group 3 Co-Chairs has been terminated, and the US won’t be attending next week’s IPCC meeting where the AR7 chapter outlines will be approved. More by @afreedma.bsky.social here:

submitted 5 days ago • 44 comments

Life can find a way y'all! The small-clawed otter, the smallest of all the world's otters, has been rediscovered in Nepal after missing for, get this, 185 years! I saw small clawed otters in Borneo and can officially confirm that they are the cutest. Reporting by @mongabay.bsky.social

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Every member of Congress and the Senate should be calling this out NOW. I thought that "these colors don't run" Under trump and musk, they do apparently.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

If Hochul is scoring on him, it’s open season. Have at it, Dems.

submitted 7 days ago • 59 comments

Exclusive: These universities have the most retracted scientific articles A first-of-its-kind analysis reveals which institutions are retraction hotspots Read the full story here: https://go.nature.com/3CUmFKI

submitted 7 days ago • 3 comments

How do you say "this is complete and utter dictator nonsense" loud enough for Americans to take notice?

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Today's 5 calls to your elected officials: Encourage your senators to #suspend_unanimous_consent on ALL cabinet and agency---and soon for ALL generals-- confirmations. Lessons from Tommy Tuberville's holdouts: "...any one senator can tank a UC request or agreement..." www.npr.org/2023/07/15/1...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Same, but with sci-comm explainers.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Some photos from today's Presidents' Day protest in Chicago.

submitted 9 days ago • 1 comment

Are people more confident or less confident boarding a plane after January 20th?

submitted 10 days ago • 1 comment

This is tomorrow. Nearly all of us have the day off. You're an American. Time to act like it.

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

Meanwhile in Canada: The absolute speed in which consumer buying patterns shifted to make “buying American” a derogatory term is breathtaking. Grocery signage, service contract changes, canceled vacations… our airlines are investigating dropping US routes to match plummeting demand.

submitted 11 days ago • 11 comments

Seems right. #Birds 🪶

submitted 12 days ago • 30 comments

Make your calls. Go to your town halls. Ask your state and local officials what they are doing under state and local law. Rest. Hydrate. Make soup for the hungry. Don’t let people tell you that you’re doing it wrong. Not a sprint. Not a marathon. A relay. Find your team. Thank you.

submitted 11 days ago • 505 comments

A flyer posted on Van Buren Street in the Loop: “WE WILL NOT RESIGN. Sincerely, Local Federal Workers”

submitted 12 days ago • 16 comments

Giving infectious disease research a break, as promised by the MAHA agenda. Let's break down what exactly this Executive Order is really saying. Fortunately, I speak fluent anti-vax grifterese & can translate. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

submitted 12 days ago • 105 comments

Believing that Tulsi Gabbard — longtime Russian asset and newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence — is acting in the interests of the United States requires an extraordinary level of self-delusion.

submitted 14 days ago • 1040 comments

I have work to do but I'm distracted by watching US scientific progress & leadership being irreversibly undermined because a few unelected malcontents are penalizing researchers for following legal requirements set out by congressional orders to augment basic research with benefits to society.

submitted 14 days ago • 94 comments

Here we go. The reasons why Hegseth should never have been appointed as Secretary of Defense are starting to appear. Here, he speaks out of turn and hamstrings U.S. policy. Watch how our enemies exploit this.

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

Loved this post from a postdoc who lived through the Bolsonaro years in Brazil: "The best 'fuck you' to fascists? Thriving. Publish that paper. Build that collaboration. Laugh with labmates. Science outlives dictators—but only if we stay in the fight." www.reddit.com/r/labrats/co...

submitted 15 days ago • 3 comments

Even if more than 400 years of maps and literature can't convince you... ...the words "Gulf of America" do not occur together in John Mellencamp's Country-Rock anthem "Pink Houses" (1983).

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

As someone with an actual PhD in geography, I am utterly disgusted with Google for this. What a joke.

submitted 15 days ago • 857 comments

This is the most relevant article to NIH and research cuts I’ve seen. Imagine if this was today , how many people would be saying “Why are we studying Gila Monsters and their impact on diabetes ? That’s wasted money !” globalnews.ca/news/9793403...

submitted 17 days ago • 1165 comments

Which states do you think have, proportionate to population, the most research universities? A quick calculation of R01s/population says: maybe not the places you would guess? docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

submitted 17 days ago • 2 comments

High-precision relocation of earthquake activity offshore Santorini, Greece (2024-01-01 to today).

submitted 18 days ago • 1 comment

The government of South Africa has entered the chat. dirco.gov.za/government-o...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

Diversity is a fact: All kinds of people exist. Equity is a goal: All kinds of people deserve a chance at success. Inclusion is how we get to equity. By including them, they can achieve success. It's that simple.

submitted 18 days ago • 218 comments

This is what the "banality of evil" looks like in real time. It will take more than just 270 elected democrats in the House and Senate to stop. But I know that the overwhelming majority of Americans are better than this. The times have found us all. Resist.

submitted 18 days ago • 9 comments

Unknown what today's NIH federal grant story will do to #scicomm ...but Canada, EU, Pacific rim, etc. you might have access to a larger labor pool of scientists pretty soon. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

If you live in a Great Lakes State: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois. Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania this is not a test. CALL YOUR SENATORS AND DEMAND THEY STAND UP FOR NOAA, SEA GRANT and EVERY PENNY of GREAT LAKES RESTORATION funding. OUR WATER - OUR FRESH WATER - IS UNDER ATTACK.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

Ben Franklin said, "A Republic, If You Can Keep It." It's up to us---our generation---those of us here NOW---to keep it.

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

Racism is not always served with a side helping of eugenics... ...but it's on the menu at doge. Who's surprised?

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments