Dan Vergano

Stark Divide: Americans More Confident in Career Scientists at U.S. Health Agencies Than Leaders | The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania When it comes to reliable health information, Americans are more confident in federal health agencies' career scientists than their leaders.

Stark Divide: Americans More Confident in Career Scientists at U.S. Health Agencies Than Leaders

www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/stark-divide...

Judge moves, cautiously, toward civil contempt in case over treatment of trans people in prison “Once I issue an order, it’s my intent to enforce it,“ Judge Lamberth told the government. And: Facing the Trump administration's ridiculousness. Until the elevator door closes.

There are Many Items of Note in today’s Law Dork, including:
- the substance of the show cause hearing in the trans prison care case, including Royce Lamberth quotes
- a Royce Lamberth story
- an after-court “emergency” filing that DOJ didn’t even mention at the hearing
- several off-putting moments

For $1 billion a day we could add enough solar panels to double the generating capacity of the US grid in less than five years.

RFK Jr has 'unreviewable' authority to reshape vaccine policy, DOJ lawyer tells judge A lawyer for the Trump administration told a judge on Wednesday that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has such broad authority over vaccine policy that he could even ​scrap re...

A DOJ lawyer argued in court today that RFK Jr. has the absolute authority to recommend (hypothetically) that people get a shot *of* measles instead of *against* measles during a hearing for the lawsuit filed against RFK Jr. by the AAP and APHA.

The good side is seeking a preliminary injunction…

Screenshot of a nasa FB post that says 3:36 4 F17 < NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Ad... ••. NASA - National Aeronautics and Space NASI Administration e • Follow 3h・ Explore with us! Learn more about NASA Force, a new initiative to recruit the nation's top engineers and technologists in support of America's space program. Applications are opening soon: https:// go.nasa.gov/4|ctjOz NASA 626 41 ~ 72

It’s weird how this doesn’t say “oops we accidentally pushed out/incentivized to leave/fired” a lot of engineers and it turns out engineering projects need those.

related:

bsky.app/profile/tlec...

Just spoke to an undergrad worried an AI arms race will result from professors assigning more makework by AI/ grading make-work assignments by AI/ and students employing AI agents to handle makework-load.

A potemkin education in the making. They pretend to teach us and we pretend to learn.

RFK Jr. wants Dunkin’ to prove drinking its iced coffee is safe - The Boston Globe The warning comes as Kennedy is leaning heavily into his agenda to improve American diets.

RFK Jr. says he wants Dunkin’ to prove drinking its iced coffee is safe:
www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/04/n...

Slow Release Of Federal Science Funds Holds Up Research Podcast Episode · Science Friday · March 4 · 13m

Thanks @scifri.bsky.social for having me on to talk about federal research budgets. TLDL: Congress voted to reject the president's big science cuts, but the White House is slow to release those approved funds. 🧪

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Bhattacharya urges measles vaccination as US activity increases

After remaining silent for almost a year about the U.S. measles outbreak, NIH/CDC poseur Jay Bhattacharya is now recommending measles vaccines.

And this is where he gets to see the impact of the destruction of trust in public health and vaccines, for which he is partially responsible.

This may be the oldest ‘butthole’ imprint on Earth Fossils show exceptionally rare evidence of a cloacal vent—the slit that most vertebrates use to excrete, have sex and lay egg—which could shed light on the evolution of the orifice

Please enjoy the single most amazing quote from a paleontologist I have ever read: “The animal literally cemented itself—and its nether regions—into eternal history like the movie stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.” 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

Autism Scientists Form Independent Committee to Counter RFK Jr. Group aims to respond quickly to autism recommendations not supported by science

Autism Scientists Form Independent Committee to Counter RFK Jr. www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/au...

Study ties up to 12.5% of Pittsburgh area adult deaths to air pollution Air pollution in the Pittsburgh region was linked to as many as 12.5% of adult deaths in 2019, according to a study published in the journal Annals of Global Health, with the highest levels of fine pa...

That's insane. Even in amid its "post-industrial" renaissance, up to 12.5% of Yinzers still die from air pollution.

I can't imagine what those numbers were during the height of steel production.

triblive.com/local/region...

With Eugene Koonin, we propose a concept of “the selfish ribosome”, under which evolution of life is viewed as a ribosomal takeover, where the ribosome evolved to consume most of the cell’s resources, while other cellular componentry ensures the propagation of the ribosome. arxiv.org/abs/2602.23268

She Came Out of the Bathroom Naked, Employee Says Bank details, sex and naked people who seem unaware they are being recorded. Behind Meta’s new smart glasses lies a hidden workforce, uneasy about peering into the most intimate parts of other people’...

She Came Out of the Bathroom Naked, Employee Says

Bank details, sex and naked people who seem unaware they are being recorded. Behind Meta’s new smart glasses lies a hidden workforce, uneasy about peering into the most intimate parts of other people’s lives.

www.svd.se/a/K8nrV4/met...

Thank you again @michaeldgreen.phd for speaking out.

I don't know what bothers me more:

Director Bhattacharya's callousness that damaging the careers of talented young scientists is "the cost of doing business" for his politics

or

His ignorance and lack of imagination about experimental design.

Well, no kidding. The way you ask the question matters. A lot.

Will El Niño return in 2026? Here’s what we know so far Weather events like El Niño can be notoriously hard to predict, but this year could mark its return

Weather events like El Niño can be notoriously hard to predict, but this year could mark its return

CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples’ Movements An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations. ICE has bought access to similar t...

SCOOP: An internal DHS document obtained by 404 Media shows for the first time CBP used location data sourced from the online advertising industry to track phone locations.

This surveillance can happen through all sorts of apps, such as video games, news apps, weather trackers, and dating apps.

In war-torn Ukraine, astronomers are still fighting for their future Russia’s war has left many of Ukraine’s world-class observatories in ruins—but the besieged nation’s astronomers already have plans to rebuild and recover

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Four years on, Russia’s ruinous war has darkened every aspect of life in Ukraine—even the country’s world-class astronomy. But Ukrainian researchers are still planning—and fighting—for a brighter post-war future.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/war-...

The shiny illusion of a career in science communication There's joy to be had, sometimes money, but it's never that straightforward.

The shiny illusion of a career in science communication
open.substack.com/pub/billhinc...

Screenshot of a 3hr old post from the GW Hatchet: “BREAKING: GW sold its Virginia campus to Amazon Data Services, an Amazon subsidiary that manages the company's data centers, for $427 million on Friday. The deed, obtained by The Hatchet, authorizes ADS to develop the campus into a data or information technology center. STORY TK”

GW‘s student newspaper appears to have broken the story that the institution has sold a satellite campus to Amazon to be turned into a data center, which is just about chef’s kiss for the state of American higher education rn

Clawed On Anthropic and the Department of War

Highly recommend this Dean Ball piece on the Anthropic / DOD imbroglio over the weekend:

“In summary, excising RNA vaccine research from the NIH research portfolio is antithetical to current goals of making America healthy.”

Grateful to join the great @akelvinlab.bsky.social on why we need to document the impact of MAHA funding cuts to understand the grave consequences that will follow

🏆 Our science communication awards are now open!

These awards recognize exceptional science journalists, communicators, and researchers whose work in 2025 made #STEM accessible and engaging for broad audiences.

Deadline: April 3, 2026

Apply now: www.nationalacademies.org/awards/excel... #scicomm

Prof. Robert Pape:

"I have studied every air campaign since WWI... I've modelled the bombing of Fordow and regime change in Iran for 20 years... We are now in the grip of the escalation trap... This has never worked in over 100 years... Trump is up against the weight of history".

U.S.’s and Israel’s war with Iran leaves uranium stockpiles uncertain The Trump administration’s war with Iran over its nuclear ambitions raises new questions about the country’s uranium stockpile

U.S. and Israel war with Iran leaves uranium stockpiles uncertain

The Trump administration’s war with Iran over its nuclear ambitions raises new questions over the country’s uranium stockpile

www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

This is an excellent and useful term for describing one of the things I wrestled with describing in my book One Less Car.

Turmoil Takes Hold at CDC as Top Officials Keep Leaving Trump plans to nominate a new director at the nation’s top health agency following months of upheaval.

Inside the turmoil and leadership vacuum at the CDC

The Trump administration intends to nominate a permanent director soon

One person already turned the job down

NEW [gift link] www.wsj.com/health/healt...

A titan of vaccine development sees his field’s achievements slip away Stanley Plotkin, the 93-year-old "godfather of vaccines," is watching his field’s achievements slip away.

“In a pair of recent interviews with STAT, Plotkin expressed dismay at seeing the achievements of his career & his field slip away. He knows what lies ahead…
“All I can say is that I’m beginning to regret having lived so long —because we’re going downhill,” Plotkin said” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social