Lara K. Mahal

Chinese High Speed Rail built since 2008, overlayed on the USA and Canada. There's a legend in the lower right showing lines capable of various speeds. Most of the mapping is on the east coast of the US, equivalent to the dense urban centers of eastern China.

If the US & Canada had been building high-speed rail at the same rate as China since 2008, you could travel from Toronto to DC in <4 hrs for about $80.

They've built ~50,000 km (31,000 miles) as of 2025.

Some lines operate at 350 km/h (217 mph) with increased speeds planned.

(🧑‍🎨: colinstalter)

Women do the emotional and physical work of the world. We hold everything together. We deserve a seat at the table for these reasons alone. At the very least, we deserve safety, dignity, respect and equality.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for

Okay Bluesky, supposedly this is where the scientists are now so can someone give me a straight answer on this:

Can I use a PETE (Polyethylene Terephthalate) tray for etching a copper circuit board with ferric chloride without the tray melting?

Because *fuck* if Google is helping on this one ...

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I think a lot of us relate to this…

Research indicates that the average woman smiles approximately 62 times a day, nearly eight times the average man.

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

#Pinks

Credit: Vaccination medication.

In a new PNAS Science Sessions episode, Lauren Ancel Meyers explains how influenza vaccination reduces hospitalizations and explains why vaccinating young adults plays a much larger role than many assume. Listen now: https://ow.ly/GByv50YoKpG

Hidden struggles: Cambridge scientists share the truth behind their success In a career defined by constant questioning, self-doubt can become an occupational hazard. Now, for the first time, a group of Cambridge scientists reveal the personal struggles they’ve faced – and co...

If you know a scientist who is struggling with self-doubt, please send them these stories.

"Simply realising that I am not alone has given me a profound sense of strength... reading your work has already helped more than I can express."
- Dr Nicola-Maria Riley

www.cam.ac.uk/stories/camb...

Please share this around #MedSky. Far too many clinicians are still practicing like it's 2019.

#SciSky #StandUpForScience

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The world is a mess.

I’m hoping one more kitten video, of a young Professor Maxwell, will help.

We could all use some of his positive energy.

#Meow. 🐱

The quest to understand where atoms end Atomic size measurements like van der Waals and covalent radii are central to chemistry, but are they grounded in reality?

How big are atoms? That depends where you decide to put the edge. My article for @chemistryworld.com on the latest efforts to define atomic radii.
www.chemistryworld.com/news/the-que...

a headshot of David Botstein

We are deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of David Botstein, a towering figure in modern #genetics and a foundational force behind SGD.
www.yeastgenome.org/blog/in-memo... #yeast #modelOrganism

Total Lunar Eclipse on March 2–3, 2026 – Where and When to See Total lunar eclipse on March 2–3, 2026: Where and when is the Blood Moon visible and what will it look like? Visibility map, animation, and local times.

🌕➡️🔴 Lunar eclipse alert!

Depending on where you are (mostly: Central/Eastern Asia, Oceania, most of North/Central America), you may be able to see a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE ("blood moon") overnight!

You can find information about timing and viewing locations here: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/luna...

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Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.”

Science of sex and gender being misrepresented by Trump officials, experts warn Scientists say crackdown on gender-affirming care could have impact on healthcare of all Americans

Major thanks to @melodyschreiber.com for interviewing me about what biology actually says about sex & gender

Unscientific attacks on trans rights are fueled by fascism, not science, and harm all of us - cis or trans

Excellent reporting 🧬🏳️‍⚧️

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Private money cannot replace public funding of science Who should pay for American science? In the current political climate, many are looking to the private sector to compensate for cuts in public funding. At the Harvard School of Public Health—particula...

A response to the opinion that private $ can replace the NIH.

Businesses are not charities. They work on profit margins. Decades of $ is essential for research to progress from an initial discovery to treatment. Most of the dirty work goes on in academic labs.

🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This week's cover @thelancet.com

The media and academia have an obligation to not remain neutral in the face of authoritarianism. These institutions need liberal institutions to exist in any meaningful way. Authoritarianism is an existential threat. Our devotion to "neutrality" will keep us from fighting for our own survival.

Science is wild y’all.

journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

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. 🧵👇

COVID-19 vaccination status during pregnancy and preeclampsia risk: the pandemic-era cohort of the INTERCOVID consortium COVID-19 vaccination with a booster reduces the odds of PE by 30% approaching 60% reduction among women with pre-existing morbidities.

Remember when RFK Jr. unilaterally decided that COVID19 vaccines should no longer be recommended during pregnancy?

Well, COVID19 increases the risk of preeclampsia.

And it turns out that getting boosted, either before or during pregnancy, significantly reduces the risk of preeclampsia.

This movie has nonstop depression jokes (who eats meat anymore?), women that could only be described as hoofers, a song called Pettin’ in the Park, a non-boxer described as a palooka, and an actor too old for his part getting laid up with lumbago. Four stars.

"The judiciousness of stepping away from WHO and other multinational public health entities, rather than working to improve and supplement them, is likely to be tested by the next pandemic," writes Seth Berkley in a new #ScienceExpertVoices article. https://scim.ag/4aW8SkS

This is so logically pleasing and yet absurdly like a science fiction story

Always good to see people collecting data but not super surprising: iirc there is literature on men being hired on promise/potential and women on demonstrated accomplishment. This would seem to fit that pattern.

Huh

Good news: after 390 years of manels, single-gender events are officially forbidden at Harvard.

Oh. Never mind. Single-gender events are fine as long as all participants are men and occur "accidentally".

If any 2d animators are out there looking for some immediate paid work, I’ve got something short and fun for you on a live-action short film about kids with disabilities in a hospital.

DM me with your reel/work if you’re interested.