The National Science Foundation’s entire budget is $10 billion.

Covers of the 2 leading science journals this week
@science.org and @nature.com
www.science.org/content/arti... www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

As a compromise you could embroider some Dolichospermum or maybe a figure if you're feeling crazy

🗣️ MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: Over 80% of our nation’s 4.4M miles of rivers aren’t adequately protected!

Our brand new peer-reviewed research with Conservation Science Partners published in Nature Sustainability shows just how vulnerable our rivers are.

➡️ Learn more: www.americanrivers.org/npra-explore...

Interior to Spend Holidays Studying Refuges for Possible Closure Congress will have to approve any Interior Department plans to abolish national wildlife refuges as staff members spend the next few weeks completing a review the US Fish and Wildlife Service has orde...

Over the holidays, every single national wildlife refuge, plus some fish hatcheries and marine monuments were directed to conduct a system-wide review. Outrageous deadline of Jan 5 functionally eliminates public input & tribal consultation.

news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

My statement on President Trump’s actions in Venezuela.

SFS Response Letter on Changes to Waters of the U.S. Definition | Society for Freshwater Science December 30, 2025 — The Society for Freshwater Science (SFS) today released a letter outlining changes to the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) definition and our response.

The EPA has announced changes to the definition of Waters of the U.S. that leave critical systems supporting drinking water, floodwater storage, and biodiversity unprotected. Public comments on the changes are open until January 5, 2026.

Read SFS's response: freshwater-science.org/news/sfs-res...

The Trump administration just unveiled a plan to significantly narrow which bodies of water qualify for protection under the Clean Water Act. They proposed a new definition of what counts as a “water of the United States,” a change that would

dramatically reduce which waterways fall under federal pollution safeguards. Under the proposal, groundwater would be excluded entirely, and interstate waters would no longer receive automatic protection.

EPA & Army Corps Unveil Clear, Durable WOTUS Proposal | US EPA EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle, today announced a proposed rule that would establish a clear, durable, common-sense definition of “waters ...

The rule also removes protections for ephemeral streams (waterways that flow only after rain or snow) despite their importance to downstream water quality. In short, this proposal rolls back long-standing protections and leaves millions of acres of waterways more vulnerable to pollution.

Surveying wildlife in a pond with water reeds, amidst farmland, trees, hills, woods in distance.

Often overlooked, small water bodies - streams, damp ditches, small bogs, ponds - support more rare species compared with larger habitats while high-quality ponds support about 2/3 of all freshwater plant + animal species in a landscape.

🧵 1/4

freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/news/start-w...

Cover of the October 2025 issue of Ecosphere

Alpine lakes among the dramatic peaks of Kings Canyon Nat'l Park grace Ecosphere's October cover. New research shows how introduced trout have impacts that ripple through the food web and reshape bird communities

Browse the full #OpenAccess issue: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/21508925...

Our peer review system for scientific publishing
-we pay to publish our MSs
-pay to read other’s MSs
-and donate our time to review MSs
is bad enough without passive aggressive review reminders, touting the “quality” journal’s rapid turnaround time and asking why you are setting back science.

Economic loss from the White House's NSF FY 2026 Proposed Budget

New from #SCIMaP - analysis of the White House’s Proposed FY 2026 National Science Foundation Budget.

Take-home: Slashing NSF by >50% will lead to ~$11 billion in economic loss and extensive job loss and reduced training opportunities in communities nationwide.

Report: osf.io/e8rnc

a 🧵

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health

Nine former CDC directors, from Bill Foege onward, speak out about the incalculable harm that RFK, Jr. is doing to public health in the US and around the world.

Gift link.

How do i explain germ theory to my 4 month old so he knows to only put clean toys in his mouth

Love that Reno has this diatom themed facade on a highway underpass

Kansas lesser prairie chicken loses endangered species act protections after Texas court order The lesser prairie chicken, a dancing grouse that has long teetered between threatened and endangered classifications, lost its federal protections in court in a victory for Great Plains petroleum and...

The lesser prairie chicken, a dancing grouse that has long teetered between threatened and endangered classifications, lost its federal protections in court in a victory for Great Plains petroleum and cattle industries.
Via @kansasreflector.com:
lawrenceks.news/4mm6mrB

Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports | CNN Wright said the Trump administration is updating the National Climate Assessments that have been previously published, which the administration recently removed from government websites.

The Trump administration has deleted all previous National #Climate Assessments from government websites and fired the scientists working on the next report. Now they say they're going to rewrite the previous ones.
This is scientific sabotage and a rewriting of history.

www.cnn.com/2025/08/07/c...

A quick clip from my Dragonfly Life Cycle video - a timelapse of the metamorphosis of a Willow Emerald nymph into an adult
Watch in 4K here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy7V...
#bugsky #pondlife #ukwildlife @odonataamericas.bsky.social @riverflies.bsky.social @britishdragonflies.bsky.social

With this vote, Congress makes ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in history, with more money per year at its disposal over the next four years than the budgets of the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined.

This federal program helps track America's ecosystems. Trump's budget would gut it The Ecosystems Mission Area helps researchers track everything from birds and bees to floods and fires. Trump wants to cut it by about 90%, gutting a key federal ecological program.

The Ecosystems Mission Area helps researchers track everything from birds and bees to floods and fires. Trump wants to cut it by about 90%, gutting a key federal ecological program.

NONE in Life science?! NONE?!

Beetle grows ‘termite’ on back to steal food Puppet helps insect trick real termites into feeding it

In what may be one of Earth’s craziest forms of mimicry, researchers in 2023 reported a species of rove beetle that grows a termite puppet on its back to fool real termites into feeding it.

Learn more during #InsectWeek: scim.ag/40mj1S8

4 Democrats didn’t vote and another 3 Democratic seats are vacant due to member deaths

Four Democratic absences (Correa, Beatty, Randall and Norcross) and the deaths of Grijalva, Turner and Connelly left the Democrats down 7 votes as the bill passed by 2.

Two Republicans also didn’t vote.

Trump wants to cut tribal college funding by nearly 90%, putting them at risk of closing The Trump administration has proposed cutting funding for tribal colleges and universities by nearly 90%, a move that would likely shut down most or all of the institutions created to serve students d...

The Trump administration has proposed cutting funding for tribal colleges & universities by nearly 90%, a move that would likely shut down institutions created to serve students disadvantaged by the nation’s historic mistreatment of Indigenous communities.
Via @propublica.org
lawrenceks.news/4kVtKeu

I've seen folks talk about how "in four years" they'll be able to get back to their planned projects and I really don't think that's going to work out. People & projects losing funding now will not be able to hit pause and come back once funding is restored. Hard-won progress & capacity will be lost

NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.

How bad will it be? Catastrophic.

Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come.

But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget.

Speak up now before it is too late.

(inflation adjusted $-s below)

Promotional graphic for the MiCorps AIS Detection Blitz. Text reads: Your Photos Can Help Track Michigan’s Aquatic Invaders! Heading out on the water during the July 4th holiday week? Keep your phone handy! From June 28 - July 6, the Michigan Clean Water Corps (MiCorps), a statewide community science network that tracks what's happening beneath the surface of Michigan’s lakes and rivers, is hosting an Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Detection Blitz. Ever heard of a detection blitz? Think of it as a community-wide treasure hunt, except you're spotting aquatic invasive species! It's easy to help - if you see an unfamiliar aquatic plant, a strange critter, or even something you have heard about (like zebra mussels or Eurasian watermilfoil), snap a quick photo using the free iNaturalist app. Your photos turn everyday nature observations into valuable scientific data, helping scientists and natural resource managers quickly identify and track potential threats in our waters. How to Participate: Download the free iNaturalist app and create an account. Join the "MiCorps AIS Detection Blitz" project in the app. Snap and upload your photos anytime during the event dates- no special ID skills needed! Let's see what we can discover together!

Sign up now to be part of our Michigan-wide Aquatic Invasive Species bioblitz! Help build the biggest-ever snapshot of invasions statewide to support research and management.
www.micorps.net/events/micor...