Week 38
Oct 4-10, 2025 - failure state
Each Friday, I summarize what is happening to American science & higher ed. π§ͺ
This was Week 38:
- MIT declines loyalty oath/compact & I review latest at other 8 universities
- Newest RIFs gutting CDC
- βPayroll piratesβ targeting university HR
& so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
11.10.2025 14:35 β π 42 π 16 π¬ 0 π 3
GOOD!
MIT officially rejects the compact/loyalty oath for higher ed. Thatβs 1 of 9. I hope we see many more announcements today.
10.10.2025 13:49 β π 65 π 13 π¬ 0 π 1
Canβt wait! π πΈοΈ π§
26.09.2025 19:10 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
A graphic on a dark background showing silhouettes of creepy bare trees and gravestones lit by a full moon. Text at the top reads "Mindy Weisberger, author of Rise of the Zombie Bugs," between a photo of the author and an image of the book cover. Listed below are two events. The first reads: "in conversation with Nick Ciavatta, Friday, October 24 at 7:00 PM, WORD Bookstore, 29 McWilliams PI, Jersey City, NJ." The second reads: "in conversation with Paula Croxson, Wednesday, November 5 at 6:30PM, New York Public Library, 455 Fifth Ave, New York, NY." A URL at the bottom reads mindyweisberger.com/events.
As spooky season creeps up, perhaps your brain is craving a helping of zombie science? Come get some in NJ and NYC, where I'll be talking about Rise of the Zombie Bugs! π§ͺπ§
10/24: WORD Jersey City with Nick Ciavatta
11/5: NYPL with @paulacroxson.bsky.social
More info: mindyweisberger.com/events/
26.09.2025 19:00 β π 10 π 2 π¬ 1 π 1
One of the coolest things about working at @stellatecomms.bsky.social is getting to work with an incredible team of designers who really understand how to bring science communication to life β¨ π¬
17.09.2025 15:55 β π 2 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
π NY-CURES Launch β Championing State-Wide Investment in Science! π
Our new coalition advocates for sustained public support of New Yorkβs vibrant biomedical research ecosystem β creating cures, economic gains & strengthening communities.
Sign up. Stay informed. Join the movement: www.nycures.org/
04.09.2025 16:32 β π 44 π 54 π¬ 4 π 6
I might have lost funding but at least I can do what I want. :) And I want to teach people about AI ethics in 90 second increments! bit.ly/ai-ethics-sy...
05.08.2025 15:04 β π 211 π 95 π¬ 14 π 9
π§ͺ @transjournalists.org is offering a few dozen stipends of $250 or $500 to support journalists looking for a boost to attend conferences, trainings, workshops, and more.
Applications will be accepted until 11:59pm PT on August 11. Find more info and apply below!
04.08.2025 16:36 β π 29 π 32 π¬ 0 π 0
So proud to call these two incredible people colleagues! β¨
01.08.2025 14:12 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
We're hiring a Digital Engagement Manager! π§ͺ Learn more about the job opening and application process: laskerfoundation.org/about-us/car...
28.07.2025 16:00 β π 3 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Screenshot from Reddit. User is zensnapple, posting 6 months ago.
Thread says
"How to turn off Google AI Overview in Chrome SOLVED
Open Chrome and put chrome://settings/searchEngines in the search box.
A tab will open which brings you to Search Engine > Manage Search Engines and Site Search.
Click on the Add button by the Site Search update. A box will open. Fill in the form with the following:
Name: AI Free Web
Shortcut: @web
URL: {google:baseURL}search?q=%s&udm=14
Youβll now see AI Free Web in the list of search engines.
Click on the three stacked dots on the right side of AI Free Web on the list. Select Make Default.
From now on, google functions pretty much like it did back when it was good. Good luck out there."
A while ago, we started a #FixItFriday tradition. We keep a running list - large & small, digital & analog, anything broken or annoying - and work on it together.
Today's 30-second fix: to remove AI "preview" from search results, here's the setting for Chrome users: www.reddit.com/r/techsuppor...
25.07.2025 15:50 β π 860 π 348 π¬ 7 π 50
π§ͺ Medical research funding continues to be critically endangered, but at least some grants have been ordered to be reinstated - a sure sign that we have to keep pushing back on these illegal, harmful decisions. π§΅ from this week's update - and how you can help with Unbreaking.
24.07.2025 19:22 β π 27 π 6 π¬ 0 π 1
Join us for the first of @stellatecomms.bsky.social FREE webinars on Web Design for Nonprofits on August 6, 2025 from 1-2PT ET! β¨
21.07.2025 19:33 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
Medicaid β Unbreaking
How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.
The reconciliation bill Congress passed last week cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid, which covers 1 in 5 people in the US. With other Trump administration policy changes, the billβs cuts are expected to push 17 million people out of healthcare coverage. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...
10.07.2025 18:48 β π 15 π 11 π¬ 1 π 1
The @unbreaking.org team just launched its blog, and this post from Sydette is really something special.
βNothing ever comes back exactly the same. But if we know what has changed, what is being destroyedβbut also what can be savedβthen we can hope that something even better can be rebuilt.β
01.07.2025 19:01 β π 36 π 23 π¬ 0 π 2
Very excited for this! In person (in NYC) and livestream tickets available!
30.06.2025 21:20 β π 2 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
This is an admirable decision, and must have been a devastatingly hard one. It shouldn't have to be this way - these demands are illegal AND unethical.
19.06.2025 17:56 β π 6 π 2 π¬ 0 π 1
Infographic with bold red and navy headers reads βTake Action Now!β and βOngoing Actions.β Lists include: Sign the Bethesda Declaration, sign the Open Letter against the Foolβs Gold EO, spread the word, host a teach-in, run a science demo table at a local event, and lead an open lab tour. Each item is accompanied by a checkmark. At the bottom, the red and white Stand Up for Science logo appears above a faded protest photo.
βACTION MENUβ
Science is under attack. But weβre fighting back.
βοΈ Sign the Bethesda Declaration
βοΈ Join our resistance to the Foolβs Gold EO
βοΈ Take action in your community
β Letβs flood the zone with science.
18.06.2025 22:20 β π 149 π 50 π¬ 9 π 1
CLARIFICATION :
The Trevor Project's hotline will still be live. But basically this means LGBTQ people can no longer be connected to it through the US national 988 suicide prevention hotline.
They will need to be contacted DIRECTLY
So spread this around
They can be texted. They can be called.
18.06.2025 17:48 β π 4989 π 5459 π¬ 20 π 74
MORE YOUNG: "It is palpably clear that these directives and the set of terminated grants here also are designed to frustrate, to stop, research that may bear on the health β weβre talking about health here, the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community. Thatβs appalling."
16.06.2025 18:27 β π 2790 π 477 π¬ 13 π 22
YOUNG: "I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it β that this represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against Americaβs LGBTQ community. Thatβs what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out."
16.06.2025 18:24 β π 3094 π 630 π¬ 12 π 34
BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants β ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI β are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
16.06.2025 18:23 β π 13542 π 3630 π¬ 104 π 207
Yes - the letter is now open for all to sign and had\s a space for you to include your affiliation. Non-scientists can also sign in support.
11.06.2025 17:08 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Support NIH Scientists Bethesda Declaration Letter of Dissent - Hold Hearings
Text SIGN PQFDDW to 50409 to send this to your officials.
Tell your legislators that you stand with these scientists. 202 224 3121 is the Congressional Switchboard. Here is a letter from @resist.bot to send too.
resist.bot/petitions/PQ...
11.06.2025 16:34 β π 1 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
20,000 Nonprofit Jobs Lost as Federal Cuts Deepen
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is culling layoff information from news reports and 48 WARN databases. This estimate is unavailable elsewhere because the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes unempl...
I've focused a lot of energy on grant & job losses within academia lately. Glad that the @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social has launched a nonprofit job loss tracker, including a form to contribute your own data www.philanthropy.com/article/10-0...
(h/t @paulacroxson.bsky.social(
11.06.2025 15:40 β π 38 π 24 π¬ 0 π 1
SEVERAL KEY THEMES FROM THE HEARING:
1. Jay is REALLY pushing off accountability on the budget saying that it is "a negotiation between congress and the administration"
I think he is distancing himself from Trump to remain "neutral" & avoid fallout when it (inevitably) comes.
10.06.2025 16:26 β π 58 π 18 π¬ 3 π 2
Bethesda Declaration β STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Support NIH Staff Now!
π§ͺ Scientists are pushing back against the gutting of US research funding. Now scientists outside of the NIH and members of the public can sign on in support of the Bethesda declaration: www.standupforscience.net/bethesda-dec...
More about the Bethesda declaration: apnews.com/article/nih-...
10.06.2025 16:28 β π 126 π 58 π¬ 2 π 1
π« Please share these resources widely - they are designed to track what we know and make sense of things in a well-sourced and fact-checked way. The page on medical research in particular covers a lot of ground and will be updated regularly. π§ͺ
30.05.2025 19:56 β π 8 π 10 π¬ 0 π 1
Money & management reporter @insidehighered.com. Nebraskan in DC. π½
I can't imagine smells. Neuro, ecology, behavior, punctuation art.
Now: @Meta @RealityLabs, ML for neural interfaces.
Prev: @Princeton, @SalkInstitute, @Intel
Neuroscientist at Mount Sinai NYC, Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain Fellow
work: PhaSER, inhibition, oscillations, epilepsy, and aging
play: sewing, knitting, and sunshine
www.zoechristensonwickphd.com
Advancing science, serving society.
One of the worldβs largest general scientific societies and publisher of @science.org
The Research!America alliance advocates for science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all.
https://campsite.bio/researchamerica
Wandering neuroscientist. Currently De Strooper lab at @cbdresearch.bsky.social, incoming Senior research fellow at @aucklanduni.bsky.social in 2026.
alzheimer's, autism, rasopathies, microglia
A growing coalition championing state-backed biomedical research in New Yorkβadvancing discovery, education & new therapies for real-world impact. www.nycures.org
(he/him) life scientist, gene therapy, viruses, vaccines, antibody-drug-conjugates, live cell 3D imaging, microscopy, machine learning, cultivated meat, and now Alzheimer's, ALS, and TBI. Also I'm more of a biochemist than I was on twitter. Also running.
We're a neuroscience blog trying to make neuroscience accessible for everyone! Check it out here: https://neurofrontiers.blog
Assist Prof at UIUC Plant Bio #NewPI. NSF Postdoc UConn EEB. PhD Harvard OEB. Erasmus MEME evobio alumna. She/Her. Lover of ALL plants.
π§ͺπ¬π±πΎ
Development; Evolution; Evo-Devo; Microscopy; Meristems.
Lived in π¨π³π―π΅πΈπͺπ«π·π©πͺπΊπΈ
www.minyaaa.com
Writer / Photographer | Published @cnn.com, @nytimes.com, @washingtonpost.com, etc. | Covering #travel #music #art #sports | http://instagram.com/joshuamellin joshuamellin.com
Advocating for the best in-patient care for Parkinson's patients in NHS hospitals.
Computational neuroscientist in the connectionist tradition.
https://ari-benjamin.com
PhD student Cambridge Uni
Programmer_π§βπ»
CrossFitπ
Check out my newsletter for all things brain science: https://thementalhealthprogram.substack.com/
Neuroscience intern at the Genzel Lab, studying memory consolidation during REM sleep and interactions between the hippocampus and subcortical areas. Currently seeking research opportunities.
Science teacher..βοΈ Bringing classic educational gems like Bill Nye the Science Guy and other βOld but Goldβ documentaries into the modern era, all remastered to 4K! ππ
Explore the library of playlists on my YouTube channel: youtube.com/@SeriouslyScientific
Promoting more accurate, nuanced coverage of trans issues and communities in the media. Supporting gender-expansive journalists in their workplaces and careers. https://linktr.ee/transjournalists
Support us: https://bit.ly/tja_pride
Neuroscience Professor at Mount Sinai, into the science of squad goals.
https://www.wulab.bio/