Katie Tschida

Agreed!!

New study from the lab! A follow-up to our finding that short-term social isolation promotes same-sex mounting in female mice. Led by grad student Cassidy Malone and post-doc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from undergrad Selina Xu!

PhDone! Congrats to my student Nicole Pranic for successfully defending this week! We were too busy celebrating to take a picture, lol.

Pope Leo XIV: ‘There Couldn’t Be A Better Time To Get The Fuck Out Of America Forever’

Pope Leo XIV: ‘There Couldn’t Be A Better Time To Get The Fuck Out Of America Forever’

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

The Spencer Foundation is offering rapid response bridge funding for those who lost NSF research grants.

www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

Harvard University Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.

Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu

Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger | CNN Dr. Ardem Patapoutian says he watches “with deep sadness as the United States’ remarkable scientific enterprise, which took generations of hard work and national investment to build, faces a concerted...

Published an op-ed for @cnn.com: “Nobel laureate: I owe America my success. Today, its scientific future is in danger.”
A personal reflection on what’s at stake as science funding gets slashed. I’d be grateful if you could amplify both in and beyond the science world.
www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/h...

NIH freezes all research grants to Columbia University Amid negotiations with Trump, the university could risk losing nearly $700 million

See, if you just cooperate with the administration and comply, it all turns out OK...

www.science.org/content/arti...

chef’s kiss

Trump Says He Won’t Rule Out Third Reich

Trump Says He Won’t Rule Out Third Reich

These results set the stage for future work to investigate how changes in brain circuits important for vocalization enable the context-dependent regulation of vocal communication over development. Stay tuned!

In this study, we present evidence that mice begin producing social USVs earlier than thought, between postnatal days 20-24. Even though these early social USVs are produced at low rates, they're pretty well coordinated with non-vocal social behaviors (sniffing/following), as in older mice.

Baby mice produce "isolation" ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) when separated from the nest, and adolescent and adult mice produce "social" USVs during interactions with social partners. But the timing of this transition in vocal communication is not well characterized.

Vocal communication changes over development! Infants of many species produce distress calls when in need of parental care. As juveniles mature, they begin producing "adult-like" vocalizations in a variety of species-typical contexts, including during interactions with conspecifics.

Vocal ontogeny in Mus musculus Infants of many species produce distress calls when in need of parental care. As they mature and gain independence from caregivers, juveniles stop producing infant calls and begin producing adult-like...

Another study to share, led by my grad student Nicole Pranic! Before diving in, I'll add that Nicole (who is clever, tenacious, and interested in neural changes that underlie developmental changes in social behaviors) is looking for a post-doc position! Please RT!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Science Under Threat in the United States: The NIH is a sound investment for the US taxpayer Research funded by the National Institutes of Health is essential for improving the health of Americans and developing new drugs and treatments for a wide range of diseases.

Tis the day for opinion pieces! This one in eLife by my favorite person who is not on bluesky, Nick Gilpin at LSU. Here he lays out why NIH is a great investment for taxpayers. elifesciences.org/articles/106...

Schoolchildren are routinely slaughtered by AR-15s. Hundreds die.

[*crickets* "Thoughts and prayers" *crickets*]

A couple unoccupied cars are set on fire. No one is hurt.

["THIS HORROR WILL NOT STAND!!! We MUST act to STOP it from ever happening AGAIN!!!!" We will pass new LAWS BANNING IT!!!]

Mahmoud Kahlil was abducted, without a warrant from his home for protected, non-violent political speech. He has not even been accused of any crime. He is being held incommunicado, without access to a lawyer. It is time to scream from the rooftops.

We're thrilled to share this work with you all and excited to dig into the science that lies ahead!

This project is the culmination of work that we started early on in the pandemic, to understand how brain and behavior are changed by social isolation. I couldn't be prouder of the team for the science we've done over the last few years!

Short-term social isolation acts on hypothalamic neurons to promote social behavior in a sex- and context-dependent manner A population of neurons in the hypothalamus promotes social behaviors in female mice following a period of short-term social isolation.

Very happy to share the newest work from our lab, led by postdoc @xinzhao322.bsky.social, with help from many past and present undergrad RAs.

elifesciences.org/articles/94924

Mark Zuckerberg Insists Anyone With Same Skewed Values And Unrelenting Thirst For Power Could Have Made Same Mistakes MENLO PARK, CA—In an effort to dismiss widespread criticism, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly insisted Thursday that anyone with the same skewed values and tenacious thirst for power could have made the same mistakes he did. “I know I screwed up, and I understand why you’re all upset, but if you were a morally corrupt megalomaniac hell-bent on manipulating society to your twisted whims, you would have done the exact same thing,” said Zuckerberg, suggesting that people should put themselves in the shoes of a self-absorbed asshole with a warped perception of humanity who justified the exploitation of personal connections as a means of amassing unfettered influence and profits to truly comprehend why he made every completely fucked-up decision. “Listen, any cruel and sadistic piece of shit in my position would willingly cheapen the human experience into a series of superficial interactions to further their own tainted legacy.” At press time, Zuckerberg expressed hope that people would take the time to consider his distorted, malicious perspective.

Mark Zuckerberg Insists Anyone With Same Skewed Values And Unrelenting Thirst For Power Could Have Made Same Mistakes
theonion.com/mark-zu...

A brilliant Banksy.

Trump berates Zelensky, the leader of a democratic country courageously fighting Russian imperialism, while he allies himself with Putin, a dictator who started the bloodiest European war in 80 years.

Sorry, President Trump. We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism.

Supporters Praise Trump For Upholding Traditional American Value Of Supporting Murderous Dictators For Political Gain

Supporters Praise Trump For Upholding Traditional American Value Of Supporting Murderous Dictators For Political Gain

bsky.app/profile/kati...

Rates of female mouse ultrasonic vocalizations are low and are not modulated by estrous state during interactions with muted males - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Rates of female mouse ultrasonic vocalizations are low and are not modulated by estrous state during interactions with muted males

Hot off the press! Our newest paper is out in Scientific Reports!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Trump Administration Stalls Scientific Research Despite Court Ruling (Gift Article) Using an arcane law, officials have effectively delayed funding from the National Institutes of Health, leaving medical studies in jeopardy.

New York Times article now up on Federal Register stuff.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/s...

1/n

“The thing that I can’t get over is that the actual richest man in the world directed my fucking firing. I make $50k a year and work to keep drinking water safe. The richest man in the world decided that was an expense too great for the American taxpayer.”

I’ve been told some academic centers are telling their faculty not to speak up. In case anyone was wondering, injustice has never been overcome through silence. You can choose to speak up, or you can be complicit in the oppression.

Everyone has a choice. May we all choose wisely.