Annette Hein

Jellyfish have survived all 5 mass extinctions which goes to show the best way to succeed in this world is to not have a brain or heart

DOGE Bro’s Grant Review Process Was Literally Just Asking ChatGPT ‘Is This DEI?’ Federal grants that had been approved after a full application and review process were terminated by some random inexperienced DOGE bros based on whether ChatGPT could explain—in under 120 characte…

A must read - www.techdirt.com/2026/02/19/d...

A goat who lives behind my house, who is angling her neck awkwardly in a rather pathetic and desperate attempt to see my television set and catch the finale of season 7 of The Gilmore Girls.

THREAD.

A collection of photographs of excellent goats I have met during walks in the British countryside.

You will find the all-important captions to each photo in the alt text.

Yesterday I gave a guest lecture in a colleague's class. They had just wrapped up the ODYSSEY and had discussed other epics like the RAMAYANA before reading an excerpt from my FEATHERED SERPENT, DARK HEART OF SKY: MYTHS OF MEXICO.

I discussed an "Aztec" equivalent to "arete" and "dharma."

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This is deeply embarrassing to just everything

All it takes is one financial tragedy. Without the social safety net, you just fall right through. I've see physical and mental breakdowns that took people out of work for two years. You go from middle class illusions of stability to desperate poverty shockingly fast in this country.

I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.

I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”

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So, you have a logo.

I want you to run it through these tests, to see if it's an effective logo, or just a nice illustration.

Because I see so many people who reveal logos for their new, exciting thing ... and it's not fit for purpose.
And you'll learn that hard way if you don't check.

Happy Anniversary to those who celebrate cat attorneys.

venmo: @renthelpmpls

if you feel like passing around a link today and helping fundraise for rent that will actually get paid today (and in the next few days for families who have a grace period) you can send here.

we will be going hard all day. i won’t be posting about it because I don’t want to flood your feeds.

It's a thriller about an obstetrician who gets kidnapped by a cult and has to figure out how to endure and rebel and escape without getting murdered. Out in June, available for pre-order.

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

anyway, my dudes, you are too old to believe in the logistics fairy

Inside of April 1976 Ebony article: Paul Robeson Farewell to a Fighter

Cover of April 1976 Ebony Magazine with headline: Paul Robeson - Farewell To A Fighter on top right corner

Various works on Paul Robeson, including a biography of his wife Eslanda Robeson and a book by his son Paul Robeson Jr

Paul Robeson died 50 years ago today.

Can you imagine being the most famous Black person in the world at one point, only to die in near obscurity?

The American government made sure no one would remember one of the greatest Americans to ever live.

He was 77

I don't remember seeing this particular justification for systematically excluding women before.

This line graph illustrates the percentage change in agency staff levels from the previous year for nine major U.S. federal scientific and health organizations between the fiscal years 2016 and 2025. The agencies tracked include the CDC, Department of Energy, EPA, FDA, NASA, NIH, NIST, NOAA, and NSF. For the majority of the timeline between 2016 and 2023, the agencies show relatively stable fluctuations, generally staying within a range of +5% to -5% change per year. However, there is a dramatic and uniform plummet starting in the 2024–25 period. Every agency depicted shows a sharp downward trajectory, with staffing losses ranging from approximately -15% to over -25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows the most significant decline, dropping to roughly -26%, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows the least severe but still substantial drop at approximately -15%.

This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again.

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place

The Burglary by Betty Medsger: 9780804173667 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS & EDITORS (IRE) BOOK AWARD WINNER • The story of the history-changing break-in at the FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, by a group of unlikely activists—quiet,...

For anyone looking to learn more, I recommend www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/224642...

I wish that Bill Davidon (who was one of the prime instigators of the burglary) had lived long enough to contribute. (Full disclosure: Davidon was a professor at Haverford, my alma mater.)

The Companies Behind ICE Sludge built an interactive map of every ICE contractor working with the Trump administration.

New: We built an interactive map of every ICE contractor working with the Trump administration.

readsludge.com/2026/01/16/t...

mountainofink.com/blog?categor...

Tldr: top four black inks in their opinion are Sailor Jentle black, Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi, Cross black, and Platinum Carbon black.

Being an ERO officer has historically been just (1) doing a lot of paperwork, and (2) quietly detaining people coming out of state or federal criminal custody. The rest has been finding targets w/criminal convictions and/or deportation orders. They've never had the resources for random enforcement

incredible book and i will also recommend elaine parson's work as well. uncpress.org/978146965213...

Last spring, I encouraged folks to channel their fears and anxiety about the state of the world into being prepared.

The guide is still completely free to access. Large parts of it involves you organizing what you have, and not spending money. There's also a "I'm overwhelmed" section.

BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!

I see we're straight back to treating sexual violence, domestic abuse and coercive behaviour being framed solely as a male vs female issue. And don't get me wrong, the majority is perpetrated by men against women, but if you ignore abuse by women against men or same sex abuse you help no-one

A thread of how to say “nobody asked you” from around the world, starting with this one…

A Lithuanian way of telling someone to mind their own business is ne tavo kiaulės, ne tavo pupos. It means “not your pigs, not your beans.”

Made a site comparing the sizes of living things :)

The great Julius Csotonyi spent 5 months painting over 60 illustrations for the site, no ai used

> neal.fun/size-of-life/

I'm going to float this nuclear take: maybe students are increasingly turning to ShitGPT and other deskilling devices because the structure of the modern university has made it impossible for them to acquire skill in a deep way.

Let me paint a picture for you.

The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.

A note on learning physics ⚛️ for starting PhD students:
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out

There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same

Reuters reached out to everyone that Trump or his subordinates singled out publicly for retribution, and reviewed hundreds of official orders, directives and public records. The result: the most comprehensive accounting yet of his campaign of payback.

www.reuters.com/investigates...