Layne Kyung

A hotdog and pretzel stand with large hanging bottles of mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise. The bottoms contain squeeze tubes to dispense the condiments.

I have been traveling and today I present to you...the thing I saw in the Frankfurt airport.

Is it efficient? Undeniably. Does it probably work better than the normal way? Oh certainly. Produce less of a mess? Probably?

But the existence of Condiment Udders gives me a deep, aghast disquiet.

Bear Breaks Into California Zoo to Mingle With Other Bears Officials at Sequoia Park Zoo have no idea how the young bear got into the zoo and went “nose-to-nose” with the three bears there.

An employee at Sequoia Park Zoo in Northern California found a black bear who came in from the wild, introduced itself to the zoo’s bears and played with their toys, before being shown the exit.

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I really wish I didn’t need to read or think about this. But we do.

One thing that comes through awfully clearly in these ICE videos is how many of these goons gravitated toward the job because being able to assault people with impunity is a big thrill for them.

All the pun Halloween costumes in BOB'S BURGERS are great but my favorite is Tina going as The Sher-Loch Ness Monster, "A mystery that solves mysteries."

Large Language Muddle | The Editors The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

I feel like not nearly enough people understand this:
"Where real thinking involves organic associations, speculative leaps, and surprise inferences, AI can only recognize and repeat embedded word chains, based on elaborately automated statistical guesswork."

www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...

I feel like coming generations aren’t getting to see Don Bluth’s films and that’s a serious disservice to them.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

🧪The NSF has made changes to the GRFP solicitation and eligibility TODAY that may change your eligibility! PLEASE read through the solicitation if you were planning to apply and speak to your mentors about the merits of applying: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Beware the drive to scale technology When it comes to technology, scalability—its capacity to be standardized and then distributed en masse and across contexts—is the ultimate goal. Scientists and engineers view scalability as the route ...

I am a new Expert Voices columnist @science.org and my first article just came out! In it, I argue that scaling technology has a dark side, particularly when it comes to alleviating inequality and injustice. And I suggest what scientists, engineers, and policymakers can do about it.

Fat Bear Week is here early, and the bears are fat and playful The famous bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park are enjoying an abundance of salmon, and even some playtime, as they pack on pounds to prepare for the winter.

The famous bears of Alaska's Katmai National Park are enjoying an abundance of salmon, and even some playtime, as they pack on pounds to prepare for the winter.

Many thanks to @scientistsorg.bsky.social and the National Science Policy Network for hosting a great workshop today on navigating the shifts in the federal S&T policy landscape!

Your mind is a marvel. Embrace that. It is not difficult to ascertain when students are using AI because the writing is bad. If your goal is to get a good grade, you want to put your best writing forward. I prefer flawed, human writing to mediocre machine writing.

DTW 🧡

Opinion | Jay Bhattacharya: Why the NIH is pivoting away from mRNA vaccines As a vaccine for broad public use, mRNA technology has failed to earn the public’s trust.

This op-ed from NIH director Jay Bhattacharya is *infuriating*. He says we have to stop funding mRNA vaccine research because it hasn't "earned public trust." Motherfucker, WHO DID THAT.

Updates on NSF Priorities

NSF killing broader impacts as they've been practiced.

"efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others ... projects with more narrow impact limited to subgroups of people based on protected class or characteristics do not effectuate NSF priorities."
www.nsf.gov/updates-on-p...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Responding to Federal Research Grant Terminations. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join the AAAS Center for Scientific Responsibility and Justice and AAAS SEA Change for a roundtable discussion on the laws and regulations that govern federal grant terminations, including procedures ...

AAAS webinar on grant terminations. Register if interested.

aaas.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Column | Delete your DNA from 23andMe right now The genetic information company declared bankruptcy on Sunday, and California’s attorney general has issued a privacy “consumer alert.”

Reminder: 23andMe has declared bankruptcy and all of its assets will be sold, including any data about you. If you have data with them, delete that data, right now.
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Concerned About Your OB-GYN Visit? A Guide to What Should Happen — and What Shouldn’t. As we’ve reported on sexual misconduct by OB-GYNs, many women told us they didn’t know what was normal. With the help of providers, patients and experts, we created this guide.

As we’ve reported on sexual misconduct by OB-GYNs, we’ve learned that many women felt they didn’t know what was normal during a visit, or didn’t know what they could do to speak up.

We created this guide to help fill this gap.

Inter-con, USIP security contractor, had contract terminated by USIP but still had one physical key to building. DOGE went to contractor VP's house and said "you either let us in or we're gonna cancel all your other government business." Inter-con then turned on USIP, and used key to let DOGE in.

Noooooooooo this is a bummer 😭

Experts worry that DEIA bans are part of a push to undo the 1964 Civil Rights Act Civil rights experts worry bans on DEIA in education and government are part of a larger, ongoing push to undo the country's 1964 Civil Rights Act.

I spoke with @audiosand.bsky.social for @npr.org All Things Considered about the fact that the "Anti-DEI" movement is an anti-Civil Rights Movement.

www.npr.org/2025/03/17/n...

Elon Musk wants to use AI to run US gov’t, but experts say ‘very bad’ idea Gov’t use of AI can go wrong in many ways, experts say, including lack of transparency on how tools are trained.

My take on replacing federal workers w/AI: "AI does not, in fact, ‘understand’ anything...It’s a use of computational methods to find patterns, based on historical data. And so it is likely to have limited utility, and even reinforce historical biases.” More here. www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025...

The R-word is back. But why? : It's Been a Minute Over the past few years, Brittany has noticed the resurgence the R-word - a word that otherwise left the cultural lexicon. And while that's troubling in and of itself, its return may also have larger ...

Hey everyone!

I’m on NPR’s “It’s been a minute” talking about the R word.

www.npr.org/2025/03/05/1...

Join us! Science Homecoming helps scientists reconnect with communities by writing about the importance of science funding in their hometown newspapers. We’ve mapped every small newspaper in the U.S. and provide resources to get you started. Help science get back home 🧪🔬🧬 🏠

sciencehomecoming.com

Making Sense Of Federal Cuts To Science—And What Comes Next The CEO of one of America’s oldest scientific societies discusses the recent cuts to scientific institutions, and how scientists can respond.

“Destruction for the ill-conceived notion of cutting costs didn’t put an American on the moon, and it didn’t wipe smallpox from the face of the Earth"

- Sudip Parikh, CEO of AAAS, on Science Friday today

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/aaa...

#standupforscience2025 #scienceforall

Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis is the most detailed look yet into a rise in life-threatening complications for women experiencing pregnancy loss under Texas’ abortion ban.

NEW: Pregnancy became far more dangerous in Texas after the state banned abortion, according to ProPublica’s first-of-its-kind analysis, which found the sepsis rate for women hospitalized as they miscarried in the 2nd trimester shot up by more than 50%.

https://propub.li/43487Tj

I.R.S. to Begin Laying Off Roughly 6,000 Employees on Thursday The terminations will target relatively recent hires at the I.R.S., which the Biden administration had attempted to revitalize.

The IRS will begin laying off roughly 6,000 employees on Thursday as part of the Trump administration’s push to downsize the federal work force, three people familiar with the agency’s plans said.