Heather Johnston

If it's this bad now, what will U.S. STEM research look like in 3.5 years?

Some Students Weigh Leaving the U.S. for College

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...

When a young man planning to attend the University of Chicago for his Ph.D. program to research battery materials learned of STEM fundIng challenges at the university, he chose to accept a pay cut for a Ph.D. program at the University of Cambridge instead.

I'm so sorry!

I avoid posting politics on LinkedIn, but this letter speaks to the impact… | Rick Lawrence | 10 comments I avoid posting politics on LinkedIn, but this letter speaks to the impact that the President's policies will have on the recruitment and training of… | 10 comments on LinkedIn

Many horrible things in the news this week for US science research. PhD programs rejecting previously accepted students is the most personal for me as most of my PhD was funded by the National Science Foundation. Most horrifying: Nature poll says 75% of US scientists are considering leaving.

Significant

Fun fact: Experiment tested a colleague's ability to taste the difference between cold milk with hot tea added vs. hot tea with cold milk added. Fascinating chemistry. Great dinner table topic with my teenagers, who favored a similar test with Coke and Pepsi. :) More teen topics: xkcd.com/882/

Recommended reading for fans of the scientific method, that illustrates experimental design with 8 tea cups, 4 of each type. Fisher is perhaps "the single most important figure in 20th century statistics". doi.org/10.1214%2Fss...

No microwaves. It's an amazing article about Fisher's first experimental design. He served 8 cups of tea, 4 of each type in random order. When the tea taster was able to correctly identify the type of all 8 cups he calculated a 1/70 or 1.4% probability of this happening by chance. p<5% = success!

This is who we are now. Canada and some European countries have issued travel advisories for the US, because their citizens were detained for weeks by ICE after "visa mixups." Young UK woman needing a work visa for a home stay, was locked up like a criminal rather than sent home.

We woke up to snow yesterday. We're only at around 2500', but we are at the summit. #santacruzmountains

I’ll give it a shot.

Help Denmark Buy California – Because Why Not? Buy it from Trump, the bigliest crowdfunding ever

Please enjoy some humor in the midst of some very sad current events. denmarkification.com

Smokey Bear is within us all. For wildlife prevention tips, visit Smokey Bear.com Image of a pair of boots next to a campfire, pail and shovel, with Smokey Bear refected in a puddle. Smokey wears blue jeans and a forest ranger hat.

This billboard in San Jose got me worried that they might try to kill Smokey.

My Dad worked for the Forest Service every summer during high school and college. Smokey is 80 years old, about the same as my father would be if he were still alive. smokeybear.com #Missoula #smokejumper #onlyyou

'There is no one left': Custer Gallatin National Forest workers reeling from job losses The cuts weren’t isolated. Across the seven ranger districts that comprise the Custer Gallatin National Forest, Knight said she has heard of at least 32 terminations as of Monday.

Just north of Yellowstone Park 85% of National Forest workers in two districts were laid off. "Just three full-time employees remain in both the Yellowstone and Bozeman ranger districts to manage 19 rental cabins, 60 bathrooms, 21 campgrounds and other infrastructure spread across 1 million acres."

The Majority of the Budget Goes for Health, Social Security, and Defense | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

About 75% of the federal budget is mandatory or debt interest, and 13% is defense. Thus we're currently cutting from tiny 1% line items.

What if, instead of destroying NPS, NSF, NIH, USAID, etc., we took the same amount from defense?

Would anyone even notice?

www.cbpp.org/charts/the-m...

YouTube video by Made by Google Dream Job | Google Pixel SB Commercial 2025

Google is normalizing Stay at Home Dads in this Gemini Superbowl Ad: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7e6...

Some families have two moms or two dads, some families have two working parents, and some families are like ours where Dad stays home and Mom goes to work.

What does your husband do?

If you would like your map changed back, you can vote in 2028, or you can tell Google that you are in Mexico: www.google.com/preferences?...

Unless Google's naming of Taiwan inside China signals political support for China (IMO very unlikely) this recent name change is not a sign of Google's politics either.

Gulf of America name change in the U.S. — what you’ll see in Maps In the U.S., the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has officially updated “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America.” As we announced two weeks ago and consistent wi…

Here is the official Google statement in this topic: blog.google/products/map... Although any opinions expressed here are my own, I believe this is similar to how Taiwan and other disputed names are handled by Google Maps.

Image is actually from Trump's first term, but apparently #CalExit is back. CA Governor approved petition to put CalExit on the ballot in 2028.

Truck hauling trash caught fire on Highway 17 | Los Gatan | Los Gatos, California Just after 7am today, the California Highway Patrol posted on Twitter about a traffic operation on Highway 17, north of Alma Bridge Road. “A truck hauling trash caught fire,” a spokesperson for the ag...

Our school drop off this morning was a bit of a dumpster fire. losgatan.com/truck-haulin...

Embryo mortality is also going to skyrocket, because frozen embryos are stored in liquid nitrogen at -321 F (-196 C).

Great new ad for Severance starring the CEO of Apple: x.com/BenStiller/s...

If you haven't already, today is a good day to go get your library card.

Just popping back on here to share some fun news: HOW TO KILL AN ASTEROID just got a rave 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review by the BBC Sky at Night Magazine, which is just delightful.

If you need some hope on this strange day, you could do worse than reading my book about scientists working to save the world. :)

Raspberry Beret

Smart! I wonder what YouTube shorts is doing.

And now our landlord is chainsawing... I'm still eating lunch, but it's a bit challenging for the rest of us trying to nap. At least it's not the sound of guns and target practice. :)

BTW, that's a "Jill Biden mug". Don't get me started.

Since I forgot to eat breakfast, I am having an adult hot cocoa with the last of the pizza before my nap.

Temp is low 50s now, and they even enjoyed having breakfast outside on our covered deck. House is much cleaner than when we woke up, not much left to do to restore order. Time for a nap!