Becca Mellema

A belated Halloween post! We’re covering hallucinations (caused by hallucinogens and injuries)!

gettingthesciencewrite.com/Science-of-S...

Thank you bluesky for the amazing block function!

If Anthropic Used Your Work, You Could be Entitled to Compensation - Daily Nous The settlement in the copyright lawsuit against Anthropic provides authors of books they trained their AI on with compensation. The amount of compensation ultimately depends on the number of people wh...

If Anthropic trained its AI on books you wrote, a lawsuit settlement may entitle you to around $3000 per book.

I haven’t seen a lot of cis people I usually see pushing for calls, etc. doing so about these rules provisions, which would devastate trans people nationally.

Calls need to be made to all electeds and a firm stance taken ASAP, with ten times the fervor of the Kimmel/D+ event

Octopus Drawing of an octopus with its body parts labelled, including the eye, siphon, mantle, papilla, beak, hectocotylus (arm that delivers sperm in males) and all 4 pairs of arms. A cirrate octopus has some differences: Flapjack octopus is pictured with fins, internal shell, and webbed arms labelled. An octopus can squeeze through any opening its beak fits in. Unlike most cephalopods, an octopus has no tentacles. However, its ancestors had a fifth pair of arms.

Inside an Octopus Drawing of an octopus's internal anatomy, with the esophagus, beak, brain, ink sac, liver, stomach, gill, systemic heart (pumps blood to the body), and branchial heart (pumps blood to the gills, one on each side) all labelled. The brain only contains about 1/3 of an octopus's neurons. Moody of them are in the arms, which often move without input from the central brain. All octopi are born with ink sacs except cirrate octopi. Am octopus can evolve to fit its environment with a process called RNA editing. Most species evolve with random DNA mutations. RNA editing insta allows octopi to swap RNA bases without altering their genes.

🐙 Octopus anatomy 🐙

My dream job is to collab with a marine biologist on a comic book 🐡🦑💥

August 2025 Wrap Up- I've Moved!

Newsletter (that I made days ago and forgot to post) about life updates!

gettingthesciencewrite.beehiiv.com/p/august-202...

Reposting for visibility! #scicomm

New blog post! How likely is it that your favorite fictional character can become completely immune to snake venom? And has it been done in real life? (Spoilers: yes).

gettingthesciencewrite.com/Built-Up-Imm...

CDC leaders who resigned said RFK Jr. undermined vaccine science, risking lives As the CDC reels from the firing of its director, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Fox News the agency is “in trouble and we need to fix it.”

Three senior CDC leaders who resigned told The Post they were asked to participate in an unscientific vaccine recommendation process that they believe could harm the health of Americans.

For my fellow scientists looking to dip their toes into science communication!

Social media for fisheries science and management professionals: How to use Bluesky and Instagram, and why you should ABSTRACT. Social media tools have revolutionized how people communicate with one another. A 2018 paper in Fisheries summarized the use of Twitter, Facebook

My paper "Social media for fisheries science and management professionals: How to use Bluesky and Instagram, and why you should" is formally published in an issue.

It's a how-to guide to using Bluesky, the first ever published in the scientific literature! 🧪🦑🌎🐟

academic.oup.com/fisheries/ar...

NSF plans abrupt end to lone U.S. Antarctic research icebreaker Imminent termination of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer shocks polar scientists

The National Science Foundation plans to abruptly end operation of the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer, the sole U.S. research ship capable of braving the farthest reaches of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. scim.ag/4mB8LOX

Symbolic ‘science fair’ showcases research cut by Trump team Democrats hosted a protest event featuring ‘things we’ll never know’ because of the US government’s cuts to science.

‘The Things We’ll Never Know: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants’ democrats organised a fair to mark the fact that Trump cancelled so many research projects and showcase the research that has been lost 🧪

Some of us coming out of a PhD, like myself, can’t even get a basic lab bench job. The STEM job market is horrible right now.

The Middle is complete!!

Which means:
First Place: West Coast
Second Place: The Middle

What region will be third and which will be LAST?

YOU decide.
givebutter.com/USS2025

Addressing Science-Related Misinformation and Disinformation - The Open Notebook Journalists have the power to slow the spread of misinformation (false or misleading information that is spread unintentionally) and disinformation (such information spread intentionally, to further a...

Looking to address misinformation and disinformation?
🧪 Understand why false information is tough to combat
🧪 Avoid contributing to misinformation and disinformation in the first place
🧪 Consider these debunking strategies

Everyone who follows me should call their Senator this morning to urge them to vote in favor of Wyden’s point of order and remove the Medicaid funding ban for transgender care from Trump’s horror bill.

If there was ever a time to call your Senator, this is it.

Voting has begun on the GOP plan to cut off health care for working-class Americans and slash taxes for the wealthiest.

Cuomo will stay on NYC mayor’s ballot after conceding Democratic primary to Mamdani, sources tell CNN | CNN Politics Andrew Cuomo will not drop out of the New York City mayoral race by the Friday deadline to remove himself from the general election ballot, sources tell CNN. That leaves in place contingency plans he ...

NYC, if you want Mamdani instead of Cuomo or Adams as your mayor, RIGHT NOW is the time to call all of your Democratic reps - local and national - and demand they back Mamdani. They need to hear from us RIGHT NOW.

Find your reps here: reps.nyc

www.cnn.com/2025/06/26/p...

I have this very paper up on my phone! I’m so excited to check it out!

Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪

Absolutely not. Do not play into the fascism playbook.

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...

If you value what we do at TON – mentoring early-career science writers; creating free resources for anyone covering science, health and the environment; creating community – consider supporting us with a gift today. 🧪

💚 we're baaaaaack with a new date 💜

join us NEXT FRIDAY as we answer questions that don't matter to raise money for a cause that does!

remember: YOUR donations control the chaos 💸

this time we'll be supporting @dcmigrantmutualaid.org

see you thereeee!!

Your favorite campgrounds, hiking trails, and forests could soon be up for auction Republicans want to make 250 million acres of public lands eligible for sale to housing developers.

I know everything is on fire but PLEASE contact your representatives about the selloff of public lands. It's a heartbreaking proposal that will destroy the soul of America.

Reposting for visibility! #blog #scicomm

Calls made with 5 Calls in Opposition to H.R. 1: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Budget Reconciliation)

🔥 So far, you've made nearly **400,000** calls to your Senators via 5 Calls about HR 1! Check out the data for your reps in our tracker here 👉 bit.ly/5calls-hr1

🚨 Senate Republicans are aiming to pass their version by July 4th. Keep up the pressure! Call script here 👉 5calls.org/issue/hr1-on...

U.S. researchers are speaking up for science in local newspapers Through two grassroots efforts, more than 80 op eds have been published in news outlets across the country

Science article about how grad students are writing editorials in hometown papers to celebrate Barbara McClintock, the only lone woman to win a Nobel Prize. We are reminding readers that science is here, quietly saving your life. 🧪🧬🌽🔬
@sciencehomecoming.bsky.social
www.science.org/content/arti...

One of my Senators is officially talking about this publicly now so it's not just hyperbole. I also just saw that 5Calls added it to their issues list. Call your reps. 5calls.org/issue/public...

🔬Scientists: we've got your back. @csldf.org provides free legal help to researchers being targeted by anti-science bad actors, including at the federal level.

Contact us on phone/Signal at 646-801-0853 or lawyer@csldf.org for a free, confidential 1:1 with one our attorneys. csldf.org/contact