J. Chris Pires

bioRxiv continues to grow – a brief spike and lag in the pandemic (details of which are included) but a steady increase in submissions since then. % revisions, license choice, etc. all fairly constant. 0.1% withdrawal rate is comparable to journal retraction rates 2/n

Working on a theory paper and debating English vs American spelling. I argued hard for "modelling", but in the end had to take the L.

Ryan Coogler is the first person in history to direct 2 films that have won Best Ensemble at The Actor Awards.

• Black Panther (2018)
• Sinners (2025)

See the full winners list: bit.ly/ActorWins26

Michael B. Jordan accepts Best Male Actor in a Leading Role at the #ActorAwards. 🏆

A bright purple grasswidow blooms on a mossy cliff.

A bright purple grasswidow blooms on a mossy cliff overlooking Haro Straight.

Spotted a cheerful grasswidow (Olsynium douglasii) blooming on the western cliffs of San Juan Island. #bloomscrolling #SJI #PNW #nativeplants

What do Congress's top appropriators say?

“This is a drastic departure from historical practice,” @delauro.house.gov told @nature.com.

DeLauro and @murray.senate.gov demanded that OMB release funds, as is required by law.

(The top Republicans, Rep Tom Cole & Sen Susan Collins didn't respond.)

Back to science agencies.

Normally, agencies get a 30-day chunk of their funding right after a budget is signed.

Not anymore. The OMB tweaked the rules, restricting early payments to just essential expenses like salaries to assert more control over the cash.

It's all a part of OMB Director Russ Vought playbook.

He has called this apportionment process an “indispensable statutory tool” to force agencies to adhere to White House priorities — even arguing that the OMB can legally provide less funding than Congress explicitly appropriated.

The impact is already hitting science agencies hard. The NIH—the world's largest public biomedical research funder—has had to rely on leftover stopgap funds.

New grant awards have slowed to a trickle — exacerbating the effects of a record-long shutdown in October.

(h/t @jeremymberg.bsky.social)

Meanwhile, NASA got its funding, but with a catch.

The OMB quietly slapped unprecedented restrictions on 10 specific science programs — including an Earth-threatening asteroid and a Venus mission — demanding more details before the agency can spend a dime.

To write this story, @alexwitze.bsky.social, @dangaristo.bsky.social and I spent a week learning the nitty-gritty details of apportionment.

We studied up on the OMB Circular A-11, aka the 'Budget Bible', and how it changed last year to consolidate power under the White House to control spending.

Why is the White House involved?

Congress might write the checks, but OMB actually has to allow agencies to spend money. This legal step is called "apportionment."

It’s supposed to pace funding so agencies don't overspend, but this past year, it’s been acting as a major chokepoint.

White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. 🧵👇

Indeed. New grants are not getting funded, already funded grants are not getting paid, and non-competitive renewals are being held up.

Focusing on the top line budget, instead of looking at what is really happening on “the ground” is deeply misguided.

It would be cool to have a legislature that acted to defend its own constitutional prerogatives and, maybe as a treat, the interests of the people it represents too.

I remember when trying to forgive student loans was massive overreach of Presidential power.

Carbon Dioxide Overload: Why Human Blood is Becoming More Acidic This blog post and the “Deep Dive” podcast, created by NotebookLM, are based on “Carbon dioxide overload, detected in human blood, suggests a potentially toxic atmosphere within 50 years” by Larcom…

A new article shows why rising atmospheric CO2 is acidifying our blood and weakening our skeleton - the human (and animal) biological equivalent of "ocean acidification". 🌊🧪 ocean2climate.org/2026/03/01/c...

Huge congrats to @reginafairbanks.bsky.social who was just awarded a Chicago Fellows postdoctoral position to go work with @jmkreiner.bsky.social on the population genetics of adaptation in Amaranthus!

Hmmmm. “Mars Potato Cultivation: Analysis, Challenges, Sustainable Scientific Conceptions”

#plantscience #astrobiology

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41752916/

The nuclear winter continues

Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals Move comes amid effort to grow the country’s own journals

We should follow! Support society journals!
Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Sigh. I’m embarrassed 3x! I knew but forgot it was EE Just, I read Changing Role of the Embryo every year for at least 10 years, inducing last fall! My apologies to Just…

YouTube video by Marine Biological Laboratory Ernest Everett Just

He is awesome! I’ve been including this short YouTube bio in the #DevoEvo #EvoDevo lectures I’ve given in the last couple years. Students have literally told me it makes them feel seen…

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcte...

Man leaving church, says to pastor: It was a little preachy

#AcademicSky #PsychSciSky

Reminiscent of how some of my students seem displeased that my science classes involve discussions of scientific studies.

Walking in #nature is an essential part of my academic practice. It's when I think (I mean really think) about my work, my approach, my understanding. It's the only thing that lets my mind quiet the noise of busywork like life admin and to do lists. I walk, I make notes, I think. #AcademicSky

Why A.I. Isn’t Going to Make Art To create a novel or a painting, an artist makes choices that are fundamentally alien to artificial intelligence.

This reading was offered by an AI consultant in The Bay after Indigenous education students raised concerns about Nenqayni artwork and AI
#AcademicSky

www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

Here is how the Dec-Feb 2025-26 period compared to the 1991-2020 normal period. 🔥🔥🔥

Trump 2.0:

-Bombed Iran (twice), Venezuela, and Yemen
-Allowed Israel to repeatedly violate a ceasefire and kill civilians
-Ripped healthcare and SNAP away from millions
-Deployed masked ICE agents to terrorize American cities

The "Peace President."

A waterfall in Bedford Ohio

Follow your urge to go outside if you can.

𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗴𝗼:

Donald Trump: "You don't have any strong cards."

Volodymyr Zelensky: "I don't play cards. I am the president of a country at war."

This exchange of views will go down in history - the history of the greatest disgrace among American presidents.