Tom Turner

Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.

📷️: Aaron Lavinsky

Post from Pete Buttigieg that reads: If there was ever a moment for libertarians and conservatives to step up and join the rest of us, we’re in it. Americans have to unite and stop this descent from a freedom-loving nation into the kind of place where masked, militarized government agents are sent to politically noncompliant areas to roam the streets, terrorize civilians, and deploy violence with impunity.

Back from holiday and it's finally time to post about this. I am taking on a section editor role for the new diamond open access journal Biogeography, put together by @biogeographyjfab.bsky.social. That means that it's free to publish and free to read. (thread)

biog.journals.sup.org/index.php/bi...

Some baby sponges grow inside their mothers, and little baby sponges are later released. This is the case in deep-sea golf ball sponges (genus Craniella). Want to know more? Read our new article 🙂

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

📣We're Hiring!📣 Come join us as a marine micro lab tech in sunny Santa Barbara! A great position for a 2-year post-bacc or starting point for a long-term technician position. Apply by 9 October for full consideration, and please share widely! careerspub.universityofcalifornia.edu/psp/ucsb/EMP...

Thanks to @joanaxavier.bsky.social, Javier Cristobo, and everyone else for a lovely 12th International Sponge Conference in Vila do Conde, Portugal. @wscommunity.bsky.social

Large Danish Study: No link between vaccines and autism or 49 other health conditions A new Danish study finds no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. The findings reaffirm the safety o...

Yet another study (Danish) has found no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines & 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma & autoimmune diseases. In this study, they tracked 1 million kids over 21 years.

🧪🔗 en.ssi.dk/news/news/20...

“Fulfilling Koch’s postulates, V. pectenicida strain FHCF-3, cultured from the coelomic fluid of a diseased sunflower sea star, caused disease and mortality in exposed sunflower sea stars, demonstrating that it is a causative agent of SSWD” (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) 🦑🌊🧪 #MarineLife

The order Axinellida (Porifera: Demospongiae) in California | Zootaxa

We named the sponge Halicnemia weltoni after him in this paper. www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

Welton took the lead on producing a key to the sponges of California, which required a monumental effort due to the state of the literature at the time. I wouldn't have started working on sponges if this key didn't exist, so we are very directly building on his work.

A young man in a tuxedo holding a violin

4 lobed harp or candelabra shaped sponge with balls along the top that are used to feed on prey

While it is still #spongethursday, it is w/sadness that I note that the sponge taxonomist, Dr. Welton Lee who famous described the carnivorous "harp sponge" in 2012 w/ @mbarinews.bsky.social & a host of co-authors passed away earlier this year in March. A good man and apparently QUITE the violinist!

Korean PhD student detained in California despite green card, lawyer says A green card holder from South Korea who has lived in the United States since the age of five was taken into government custody by immigration authorities.

So this morning, as I sip my coffee and get ready for a day of meetings, I'll be thinking of Will, who was moved to ICE detention in South Texas on Tuesday morning.

I can't imagine what's going through his mind, the anxiety & fear. Fear of losing the only home he's ever known.

Martinez-Gomez Lab Plant Evo-Devo

A little belated but I've started a faculty position at Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology department at @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social. I'm absolutely stoked! I'll be recruiting at all levels and will be at #Botany2025

Reach out!

www.martinezgomezlab.com

Blood Stars (Genus Henricia) Blood Stars from Bird Island, Juneau, AK, USA on June 27, 2025 at 02:40 PM by Tom Turner

I saw lots of good echinoderms in Juneau, too. www.inaturalist.org/observations..., www.inaturalist.org/observations...

Barnacles (Infraclass Cirripedia) Barnacles from Juneau, Alaska, United States on June 27, 2025 at 10:09 AM by Tom Turner

I think we went to the same beach. www.inaturalist.org/observations...

They all find savings associated with turning up or off your A/C while you're out.

Air conditioning accounts for 19% of energy consumption in US homes! Any little bit you can do to reduce your A/C usage can save you money on your energy bills and fight climate change.

9/9

Santa Barbara #nokings

This shouldn't even be a particularly "hot" take in the sense that it's objectively & quantitatively correct! In formal studies on return on investment for federally funded research at universities, the enormous value is very clear. It is even (dare I say it?) a very *efficient* public expenditure.

He resolved that he would not stop either, even though it was a huge sacrifice on his part. I believe this is what we owe our trainees: so long as they are invested in their work, we must be as well, even if it seems like the world is on fire around us, both literally and figuratively. 10/

Done. Please comment, click on public comments on left bar. Suggestions in thread.
bsky.app/profile/free...

YouTube video by Pacificklaus The Special Sea Urchin Crab

OOF! @Pacificklaus captures this video of a CRAB occupying this urchin's ANAL BULB! youtu.be/yyGMrOXNn5Y?...

Snake enthusiast survived hundreds of bites. Now his blood is aiding the search for a universal antivenom Blood from a snake enthusiast who's been bitten hundreds of times aided the search for a universal snakebite treatment

This is likely the weirdest and most interesting story you could read today. From @usha.bsky.social.
www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/d...

Graph of NSF awards. Compares April 2024 to April 2025, which levels off.

In addition to the terminations of existing awards, new NSF grants are still stopped completely since DOGE was granted access to systems a week ago.

Last Thursday, an agency spokesperson said "NSF continues to issue awards." That does not appear to be the case.

Today is the last day to send your Abstracts to the 'World Sponge Conference' (9-13 Sept.) in Portugal 🇵🇹 JOIN US! 👇

Time to go electric

Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization Since 1974 substantial gains in childhood survival have occurred in every global region. We estimate that EPI has provided the single greatest contribution to improved infant survival over the past 50...

Nothing will kill more children than the ongoing decimation of CDC, NIH, and USAID work to lift vaccine uptake in the US and world.

Child survival rose 75% in the last 50 years. Vaccines account for 40% of that. Measles vax alone was 60% of the benefit. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

DOJ, HHS, ED, and GSA Announce Initial Cancellation of Grants and Contracts to Columbia University Worth $400 Million Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Education (ED), and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that through their coordinated efforts they would i...

DOJ, HHS, ED, and GSA Announce Initial Cancellation of Grants and Contracts to Columbia University Worth $400 Million (government press release) www.gsa.gov/about-us/new...

Today, I donated to Ukraine. I hope other Americans join me.

A poster for the economic blackout on February 28. It is a big red Jack rabbit on an aqua blue back ground. It says economic blackout in hand done black type. There are two black speech bubbles. One says “don’t buy stuff Friday February 28th. The other says we have power. Below it says No Amazon, Walmart, target, gas food, gas. Below that it says OK small business, use cash. Designed by Martha Rich.

I made this the other night while procrastinating, mainly because I thought all the posts about the blackout were boring. It feels like there is momentum bringing people together!