Katherine Spack

The one spelling that the US has the least correct is behavior. There really should be that u in there

Also generally academics will happily hand out PDFs when asked so never hesitate to email

ggplot2 4.0.0 A new major version of ggplot2 has been released on CRAN. Find out what is new here.

I am beyond excited to announce that ggplot2 4.0.0 has just landed on CRAN.

It's not every day we have a new major #ggplot2 release but it is a fitting 18 year birthday present for the package.

Get an overview of the release in this blog post and be on the lookout for more in-depth posts #rstats

BREAKING: A federal judge reversed National Institutes of Health's terminations of hundreds of critical research grants that were canceled because of their alleged connection to disfavored topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity.

This is a major win for public health.

You mean I’m supposed to work when there are birds out there who aren’t being watched?

E-cadherin mechanotransduction activates EGFR-ERK signaling in epithelial monolayers by inducing ADAM-mediated ligand shedding Epithelial stretching promotes the release of EGF receptor ligands that stimulate ERK activation.

A new #ScienceSignaling study interrogates crosstalk between mechanical and biochemical signals in epithelial cells, illustrating how mechanical stretching activates a kinase that regulates cell growth, migration, and differentiation.

An orange cat gleefully stretches to claw at the top of a 3 foot tall scratching post

This extra tall scratcher for the extra tall boy is the best $30 Ive ever spent

ChatGPT Is Everywhere — Why Aren't We Talking About Its Environmental Costs? One estimate found that a single ChatGPT search uses 10 times the energy of a normal Google search.

One estimate found that a single ChatGPT search uses 10 times the energy of a normal Google search.

In this op-ed, politics editor
@leximcmenamin.com
addresses the environmental costs of AI that not many seem to be talking about ⤵️

Only important news. (Rat)

Key paragraph of letter: We believe these challenges can be met, but not with the draconian budget plan and staffing reductions just released by OMB. Such a budget would thwart scientific progress, decimate the research workforce, and take a decade or more to recover. Achieving the President’s vision requires a major enhancement of the NSF budget, ideally a doubling of the FY25 level over the next few years and sufficient staff to execute this vision. In the current political climate, we know this is a bold request. We make it, nonetheless, to say -- if we truly wish to realize this vision, we must commit to a historic investment in fundamental research and education in a manner that leaves no doubt about the United States’ intentions with our international competitors. We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce? For 75 years winning that race has been the foundation of American prosperity and national security. Adopting the proposed cuts would fast-track China’s plans for technological dominance. As Senator Todd Young said in his March 25th Washington Post op-ed, “…Our policymakers should lock arms with the science-and-technology dreamers and doers across the country — from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Prairie — and recognize that basic research isn’t a federal handout to help sustain academia. Instead, it is a vital ingredient in our innovation future, economic and geopolitical competitiveness, and national security.”

signatures of past NSF directors and NSB chairs

In light of the skinny budget (55.8% reduction), 6 past NSF directors and 7 NSB chairs have sent the House Committee on Appropriations a letter advising doubling the NSF budget.

"We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce?"

A four panel comic about human and plant time scales

Even when I try to write about fascism I write about plants

A yellow billed cuckoo sits in a tree, soaking in the morning sun

The secret bonus tier of Maslow's hierarchy is looking at a cool bird

The Ph.D. Journey

How One Biologist Raised the Alarm About Pesticides and Changed History Rachel Carson highlighted the environmental consequences of our actions in a way that had never been done before.

If you’re admiring the chirping birds this Earth Day, you may have Rachel Carson to thank. A brilliant biologist, Carson led the charge against harmful pesticides in the 1960s and helped launch the modern environmental movement.

Read more here ⤵️

The NYC council voting for this downgrade was just such an own goal.

ChatGPT is not a search engine and WILL lie to you if you are looking for verifiable facts. I need folks to please keep this in mind.

Public comment for this is open currently. Rip ‘em a new one!! 🪶

www.regulations.gov/commenton/FW...

It has been a while since I advertised some of the tools we have released to help researchers analyze the zebrafish genome. So a brief Bluetorial on our zebrafish genomics UCSC public data hub and the bigger effort led by @ferencmueller.bsky.social to create a zebrafish ENCODE project (Danio-CODE):

"The proposal would reduce the more than $47 billion budget of the NIH to $27 billion — a roughly 40 percent cut. It would consolidate NIH’s 27 institutes and centers into just eight."

NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.

The NSF's flagship fellowship program typically gives offers to 2,000+ young scientists. This year, in the face of looming budget cuts, that number was halved: only 1,000 received an offer. Our story on what that means for the science talent pipeline: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Spiderman confronts a mad scientist pterodactyl that would rather turn people into dinosaurs than cure cancer

Colossal making woolly mice and "dire wolves" while HHS is being gutted.....

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

🚨🚨🚨 Four NIH institute directors have been removed from their posts and some offered reassignments to the Indian Health Service, effective today.

These institutes include NIAID (Jeanne Marrazzo), NIMHD (Eliseo Pérez-Stable), NICHD (Diana Bianchi), and NINR (Shannon Zenk).

An orange cat is laying on a bed, scrunching his paws over his face

Consider: the boy

The fact that I can hear that podcast ads now have AI voiceovers feels incomprehensibly evil. I'd rather you take the audio from a DS microphone in a windstorm

Solving the egg price problem by simply not having any eggs to sell

Lungfish xkcd.com/3064

‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.

🚨This week, many Columbia scientists lost grants that funded over half their annual income. Others will no longer be able to do research that helps treat thousands of sick patients across the US.

"It hurts," they told me.

My story for @nature.com 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

NIH funding delivers exponential economic returns — Harvard Gazette Report finds all 50 states reap gains in patient health, job creation, research resources, business development.

In fiscal year 2024, the report found, NIH awarded more than $36.9 billion to researchers, supporting more than 408,000 jobs and generating over $94.5 billion in new economic activity nationwide.

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

I love the work I do, I am immensely grateful for and proud of my brilliant, talented colleagues.

When you've been in the cell culture hood all day and finally get to take off your gloves: