Kara Estelle-Powers

After months in limbo, four NIH institute directors fired Two leaders removed by Trump administration had hoped to stay at agency as in-house investigators

Exclusive: Four institute directors at NIH and another top agency official who have been in professional limbo since being placed on administrative leave in the spring have now been fired, ScienceInsider has learned. https://scim.ag/4nIyF3S

"… Goodall’s … is a story of genuine scientific curiosity, determination, and respect for nature and humanity …" H. Holden Thorp, Editor-in-chief, Science journals

Jane Goodall has died at the age of 91.

In 2020, Goodall spoke with Science Editor-in-Chief H. Holden Thorp for a #ScienceEditorial reflecting on the 60th anniversary of her arrival in Gombe to study wild chimpanzees. Read more: https://scim.ag/472Chb8

U.S. scientists gird for yet another government shutdown Political impasse to hobble research agencies—and perhaps enable layoffs

For the third time in a dozen years, the U.S. scientific community is digging in for a potentially lengthy partial federal government shutdown that promises to disrupt research and funding programs. https://scim.ag/4pQ9y0K

During #PeerReviewWeek, @science.org
heard from individual authors who talked about how peer review strengthened their work, making it functionally richer, more accessible, more pointed regarding limitations--sometimes in collaboration with preprint review. See author posts in thread below. 🧵

White text on a red background: Science thanks each of our reviewers for their critical contribution. #PeerReviewWeek

Increasing the breadth of researchers trained as peer reviewers is crucial to upholding quality in academic publishing. Last year, the Science journals began a pilot in which invited peer reviewers could add trainees as co-reviewers, with more than 2200 scientists participating. #PeerReviewWeek

Welcome to the new era of Covid vaccine tourism Trump and RFK Jr.'s anti-vax crackdown is driving Americans across state lines—and making some pay out of pocket.

As I wrote about for @motherjones.com, people are already crossing state lines to get the Covid vaccine—which may become more common if the CDC vaccine advisory committee recommends limiting them this week. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Another fun animated cover this week 😍

NIH ponders overhauling HIV budget to capitalize on prevention breakthrough Scientists warn $1 billion push for “implementation science” spurred by promise of lenacapavir will hurt research on new treatments and vaccines

Scoop from @cohenjon.bsky.social: NIH may massively increase HIV 'implementation science', to $1 billion annually, at the expense of basic research. Some HIV researchers are alarmed. www.science.org/content/arti...

So many great suggestions here 📚

Happy #InternationalCatDay from Larry!

In Guinea, the United States helped beat back malaria. Now, the disease is set to soar Foreign aid cuts are expected to cause a rise in malaria cases and deaths across sub-Saharan Africa

I traveled to Guinea to find out what U.S. budget cuts mean for the fight against malaria. Here's my story in @science.org - with powerful photography by Marta Moreiras. www.science.org/content/arti...

Well, this makes it real: I'm retiring in September and this is the just-posted job listing for my replacement. @Science.org is a fabulous place to work, so @sciencewriters.org, apply here! recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...

‘Something remarkable has happened’: Cancer treatments bolster evidence of a natural HIV cure In exclusive chat with Science, Loreen Willenberg describes remaining HIV-free even after immune-suppressing therapies for brain and lung tumors

In an exclusive chat with Science, Loreen Willenberg describes remaining HIV-free even after immune-suppressing therapies for brain and lung tumors. scim.ag/4lYu3pl

Exclusive: NIH suspends dozens of pathogen studies over ‘gain-of-function’ concerns Trump executive order leads to pauses on U.S.-funded research into TB, influenza, COVID-19, and other diseases, dismaying some scientists

Exclusive: In response to White House concerns about allegedly risky research on viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens, the National Institutes of Health has begun a crackdown on dozens of studies it was funding, ScienceInsider has learned. scim.ag/44oJIbw

U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt

Breaking news: The U.S. government has canceled a proposed $900 million project to study in unprecedented detail the afterglow of the Big Bang, the cosmic microwave background radiation. scim.ag/4eIo0m4

Senate spending panel would rescue NSF and NASA science funding Its support for a flat budget is a sign of congressional resistance to drastic cuts Trump has proposed

The Senate appropriations committee has voiced its intent to ignore the request by President Donald Trump to slash the budgets of the National Science Foundation and NASA science programs. scim.ag/4nW7XWi

“So what’s working? Original reporting can break through the noise and even overcome … the hurdles that social-media companies have created. Publishers now place a premium on content that reinforces their voice and sensibility … It’s also a matter of meeting readers where they are.”

Worth the read!

Update: The Environmental Protection Agency placed 139 employees on administrative leave today and launched an investigation into their signing of an open letter criticizing agency leadership.

See our initial reporting. ⬇️

"An absolute moral failure": Disability advocates react to Trump's Medicaid cuts "At the end of the day, this Congress lacks the courage to do the right thing."

"An absolute moral failure."

Around one in three disabled people are on Medicaid. I spoke to disability advocates about how devastated they are that the House passed the budget bill that will slash close to a trillion from Medicaid at @motherjones.com.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

a piece of cheese with flames coming out of it on a dark background ALT: a piece of cheese with flames coming out of it on a dark background

Cheese really might give you strange dreams—especially if you have a sensitivity to dairy. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🧠

Exclusive: Famed protein structure competition nears end as NIH grant money runs out Agency silent on funding renewal for contest that inspired creation of AIs that predicted how proteins would fold

Exclusive: An international scientific competition widely credited with spurring the development of artificial intelligence for biology appears to be on its deathbed. scim.ag/44ukS90

In the latest from the @science.org podcast series of books on science and death, we hear about the fate of virtual you after physical death w/ @tamigraph.bsky.social
www.science.org/content/podc...

EPA employees accuse Trump officials of undermining the agency’s mission “Declaration of Dissent” denounces partisan messaging, rollback of environmental regulations, and dismantling of science office, among other concerns

Hundreds of employees at the EPA released a “Declaration of Dissent” today, accusing EPA officials of politicizing the agency and undermining its core mission to “protect human health and the environment.” scim.ag/4lB937S

Support The Open Notebook - Support Science Journalism Please help support The Open Notebook, a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to foster a supportive, diverse, and inclusive global community that enables journalists who cover science to learn and...

I refer folks to @theopennotebook.bsky.social all.the.time. Just yesterday, I told one of @science.org's fantastic interns about TON's (free! email!) Master Classes. And that's just one of many (did I mention free?) resources. Help them keep it that way? Donate here: www.theopennotebook.com/donate/

Images showing the ScienceAdviser socks, which are brown and white with tardigrades

#ScienceAdviser is turning two! 🎉

To mark the #newsletter's second anniversary, we’re giving away 50 pairs of exclusive socks to randomly selected subscribers who enter between June 23 and June 27. 🧦

Sign up here: scim.ag/4lnaVB5

This story and the accompanying visuals (many interactive) turned out so wonderful. Scroll through and enjoy!

Infrared imaging shows heat levels in sun-exposed leaves of Alstonia scholaris from the Australian Wet Tropics.

As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.

In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. (THREAD 🧵) scim.ag/44cSw3Z

Me talking to my cats

Have you heard? You can now listen to #NewsfromScience stories using our new text-to-speech feature.

🎧 Try it out for this story on how built-in safeguards might stop AI from designing bioweapons: scim.ag/45OyePq

Health secretary RFK Jr. abruptly fires CDC vaccine advisory panel Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken the extraordinary step of firing the expert panel that advises the CDC.

This is the big one: Kennedy is firing the entire #ACIP in a move he says is needed to restore confidence in vaccines.
"It scares me to think of what’s ahead,” Mike Osterholm of CIDRAP told me. www.statnews.com/2025/06/09/r...