Leigh Turner

The Irrational Decision How the computer revolution shaped our conception of rationality—and why human problems require solutions rooted in human intuition, morality, and judgment

I’m excited to announce that my new book, _The Irrational Decision_, is now available for pre-order from Princeton University Press.

Purdue student detained by ICE and taken to troubled Louisiana holding facility Yeonsoo Go, 20, was detained after her immigration hearing in Manhattan and taken away by ICE agents.

Go, a college student, has a dependent visa (her mother, an Episcopal minister, is here on a religious worker visa), which doesn't expire until Dec. But when she tried to renew it early, ICE nabbed her and sent her halfway across the US to a detention center.
www.wthr.com/article/news...

But now we know where NSF decided to use its resources: finding a workaround for the Preliminary Injunction so that it could suspend grants indefinitely. NSF has violated the Preliminary Injunction and must immediately rescind the suspension of grants implicated in the July 30 and August 1 Letters. NSF’s argument that it did nothing wrong is unavailing for the reasons discussed below. II. NSF VIOLATED THE PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION. In Sea Shepherd, the Ninth Circuit provided that “it is proper to observe the objects for which the relief was granted and to find a breach of the decree in a violation of the spirit of the injunction, even though its strict letter may not have been disregarded.” Inst. of Cetacean Rsch. v. Sea Shepherd Conservation Soc'y, 774 F.3d 935, 949 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting John B. Stetson Co. v. Stephen L. Stetson Co., 128 F.2d 981, 983 (2d Cir. 1942)). Here, the Preliminary Injunction’s express language and clear objective were to prevent the actions that NSF has taken against the Form Termination Class and the Equity Termination Class. Id.; Dkt. No. 55.

🧪 The National Science Foundation has VIOLATED A COURT ORDER, argues legal team for U of Cali researchers.

This team previously won a prelim injunction that reinstated terminated NSF grants to UC researchers.

The recent "suspension" of ~300 NSF grants at UCLA violates that order, they argue

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Jane Mayer on John Hersey’s “Hiroshima” His monumental report changed history, journalism, and me.

Jane Mayer looks back on John Hersey's 1946 piece “Hiroshima,” a monumental account of the nuclear blast that obliterated the city.

Florida officials warn about risks of drinking raw milk after 21 people sickened Florida health officials say 21 people, including six children, were sickened by E. coli and campylobacter bacteria linked to raw milk, and seven were hospitalized.

"The Florida Department of Health is warning about the risks of drinking raw, unpasteurized milk after 21 people, including six children under the age of 10, were sickened by E. coli and campylobacter bacteria linked to raw milk from the same farm." www.cbsnews.com/news/florida...

NSF and NIH suspend grants to UCLA Move follows Trump administration finding that school didn’t effectively combat antisemitism

The Trump administration is launching a new wave of attacks on universities, and UCLA is the latest target.

My reporting on how the university has been hit and how some of its scientists are responding:
www.science.org/content/arti...

I am excited to share that vol 51 of the Annual Review of Sociology is now open access. It includes my article on the politics of healthcare and so many great reviews.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Trump freezes $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism The Trump administration has frozen roughly $200 million in National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other federal agency-funded research at UCLA, citing allegations the school d...

“Let me be clear: Federal research grants are not handouts. Our researchers compete fiercely for these grants, proposing work that the government itself deems vital to the country’s health, safety and economic future." www.latimes.com/california/s...

Top White House pandemic preparedness official resigns, officials say, in sign of broader disarray Exclusive: A top White House pandemic preparedness official has resigned, officials tell STAT, in a sign of broader disarray.

"Both the biosecurity directorate and the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy are currently leaderless." www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/w... By @katherineeban.bsky.social

CDER director Tidmarsh will be acting head of FDA biologics center following Prasad exit George Tidmarsh, FDA's drug regulator, to serve as acting biologics director after Vinay Prasad's departure amid Sarepta drug controversy and political criticism.

"George Tidmarsh...was named director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research last week. He’ll now also lead the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research until the FDA finds a permanent replacement for Prasad." endpoints.news/cder-directo...

Vinay Prasad was not good for the FDA. But his ouster makes things worse Vinay Prasad's ouster from the FDA will likely be celebrated in many corners. But beware of what comes next.

"Both Prasad’s appointment as head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research & his rapid ouster were signs that scientific organizations that function well & help scientists & the public at large reach reasonable conclusions are being undermined." www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/v...

Inside the fall of Vinay Prasad at the FDA Prasad's departure followed a campaign by a right-wing activist and a controversy over a rare disease drug.

"His abrupt exit is also an example of what happens when the director of a major center at FDA, typically a longtime career civil servant, more closely resembles a political appointee." www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/v... By @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

Inside the fall of Vinay Prasad at the FDA Prasad's departure followed a campaign by a right-wing activist and a controversy over a rare disease drug.

"His tenure as director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research lasted just 84 days." www.statnews.com/2025/07/30/v... By @lizzylawrence.bsky.social

Trump administration halts, then releases, NIH research funding The decision temporarily froze $15 billion in federal funding, according to one senator. It came as Trump officials wrestle over federal spending levels.

“Our grants people are barely holding it together because they are at the center of this chaos.” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A Las Vegas Festival Promised Ways to Cheat Death. Two Attendees Left Fighting for Their Lives. Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr....

Authorities are investigating why two women fell ill at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival. They both received peptide injections, an alternative therapy promoted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to fight aging and chronic disease. @anjeanette-damon.bsky.social

Vinay Prasad, a powerful FDA official, departs after controversy over rare disease drug Vinay Prasad, a top FDA official, is out after less than three months on the job.

"Prasad’s departure adds to the historically high turnover at the FDA." www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/v...

Top FDA vaccine regulator under Trump ousted amid conservative criticism Vinay Prasad, a prominent critic of covid vaccine policy, was ousted as the FDA’s top regulator of vaccines and gene therapies, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Vinay Prasad, a covid vaccine policy critic who became the top FDA vaccine and gene therapy regulator, was ousted following criticism from conservatives such as Laura Loomer.

@rachelroubein.bsky.social & @lenasun.bsky.social report: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Vinay Prasad is out at FDA, following Sarepta decision and vaccine controversies FDA's CBER head Vinay Prasad exits agency after Sarepta gene therapy controversy and criticism over Covid vaccine decisions. Conservative media targeted his political views.

"But it was his old politics and frequent social media posts that may have come back to haunt him. In recent weeks, he had become a target for online conservative provocateur Laura Loomer, a close ally of President Trump." Imagine getting Loomered out of the FDA. endpoints.news/vinay-prasad...

Vinay Prasad departs the FDA Vinay Prasad, a top FDA official, is out after less than 3 months on the job.

Not sure about the total number of Scaramucci units -- maybe 8? -- but that's a brief time as head of CBER. www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/v...

Trump administration blocks NIH from awarding any research grants and contracts The order applies to the entirety of new and, possibly, ongoing research grant dollars that go to universities and academic medical centers.

“It’s clearly just another bit of chaos and uncertainty that will make it harder for everybody to go about their preferred activities, like trying to make progress on cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.” www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/t...

What U.S. science stands to lose without international graduate students and postdoctoral researchers Neuroscience in other countries will strengthen—at the United States’ expense—as rising visa restrictions and rejections block many international students from enrolling at U.S.

"Losing this pool of talented trainees will impoverish laboratories conducting basic, translational and clinical neuroscience research. But the damage extends beyond individual laboratories in several ways." www.thetransmitter.org/policy/what-...

Odds of winning NIH grants plummet as new funding policy and spending delays bite Funding multiyear grants up front will sharply cut number of investigators receiving awards

"The shift is already sharply lowering the odds a scientist’s proposal will succeed; at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for example, it has fallen from one in 10 grant applicants to one in 25. The policy could force the closure of many university labs..." www.science.org/content/arti...

Morton Mintz, Post reporter with a muckraker spirit, dies at 103 A pioneer in consumer affairs journalism, he helped expose the deformity-causing hazards posed by thalidomide, a once-popular drug for morning sickness.

"In his initial visit to Kelsey, the doctor told Mr. Mintz of the pressure she was under to get thalidomide to the market. He later described the encounter as a 'personal awakening' about the extent of corporate misconduct. 'I was naive enough to be shocked.'" www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Morton Mintz, Post reporter with a muckraker spirit, dies at 103 A pioneer in consumer affairs journalism, he helped expose the deformity-causing hazards posed by thalidomide, a once-popular drug for morning sickness.

"It was exceedingly rare for a news organization to devote staff resources in a consistent way to reveal misconduct by big business — especially the tobacco, automotive and pharmaceutical industries. Doing so courted risk in offending major advertisers." www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2...

Employees’ protests against Trump science policies spread to NSF Letter to key House Democrat follows declarations by scientists at NIH, EPA, and NASA

“Our oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution … compels us to call attention to actions that jeopardize NSF’s mission, independence, and laws that protect the federal workforce from politicization and abuse.” www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH is shrinking the number of research projects it funds due to a new Trump policy NIH plans to shrink the share of grant applications it will award for the remainder of the fiscal year, in some cases by more than half.

“It’s a waste of time for people to write all those grants, and reviewers to review them, and then we end up with 4%." www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/n...

How Trump Killed Cancer Research Attempting to eliminate funding for certain kinds of “woke” studies, the Trump administration erased hundreds of millions of dollars being used for cancer research.

"Trump officials reportedly maintain a list of 'flagged' keywords that they believe should trigger program reviews. In the NIH grants terminated so far, the 50 most common flagged words include trans, expression, diverse, and women." www.wired.com/story/how-tr...

Edmonton blood bank continues to pose contamination risks, Health Canada cautions | CBC News More than two years after Health Canada warned that blood specimens stored at a private clinic in Edmonton could pose serious health risks, officials say the business has failed to address any sanitat...

"More than two years after Health Canada warned that blood specimens stored at a private clinic in Edmonton could pose serious health risks, officials say the business has failed to address any sanitation concerns." www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

JUST IN: A federal judge has blocked the cancelation of $175 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants, mass terminated by DOGE in April. She says the effort was transparent viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.

US FDA’s Biologics Center Departures Grew Before More Than 100 RIFs Exited The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research saw departures far outnumber new hires in the second and third quarters of FY 2025, before more than 100 people left July 14 after the reduction-in-for...

More FDA departure news from my colleague. FDA's biologics center reported 106 departures from Jan. 1 to June 30. These numbers do not include those who were part of the reduction-in-force. FDA sources estimate CBER lost another 100-150 due to the RIF.
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