Paula Croxson (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈

This Monday 10/13, @dianateuthis.bsky.social and I are back with @storycollider.bsky.social for 5 true personal stories of finding out, from superstitions & magic to getting out of our comfort zones!

7pm at @caveatnyc.bsky.social

Grab tix now www.storycollider.org/tickets/2025...

Week 38 Oct 4-10, 2025 - failure state

Each Friday, I summarize what is happening to American science & higher ed. 🧪
This was Week 38:
- MIT declines loyalty oath/compact & I review latest at other 8 universities
- Newest RIFs gutting CDC
- “Payroll pirates” targeting university HR

& so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

GOOD!

MIT officially rejects the compact/loyalty oath for higher ed. That’s 1 of 9. I hope we see many more announcements today.

Can’t wait! 🐜 🕸️ 🧟

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! 🧪🧟

10/24: WORD Jersey City with Nick Ciavatta
11/5: NYPL with @paulacroxson.bsky.social

More info: mindyweisberger.com/events/

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 ✨ 🎬

🚀 NY-CURES Launch — Championing State-Wide Investment in Science! 🚀

Our new coalition advocates for sustained public support of New York’s vibrant biomedical research ecosystem — creating cures, economic gains & strengthening communities.

Sign up. Stay informed. Join the movement: www.nycures.org/

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...

🧪 @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!

So proud to call these two incredible people colleagues! ✨

We're hiring a Digital Engagement Manager! 🧪 Learn more about the job opening and application process: laskerfoundation.org/about-us/car...

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 You’ll 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...

🧪 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. 🧵 from this week's update - and how you can help with Unbreaking.

Join us for the first of @stellatecomms.bsky.social FREE webinars on Web Design for Nonprofits on August 6, 2025 from 1-2PT ET! ✨

Medicaid — 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 bill’s cuts are expected to push 17 million people out of healthcare coverage. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

The @unbreaking.org team just launched its blog, and this post from Sydette is really something special.

“Nothing ever comes back exactly the same. But if we know what has changed, what is being destroyed—but also what can be saved—then we can hope that something even better can be rebuilt.”

Very excited for this! In person (in NYC) and livestream tickets available!

Protect transgender scientists Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGnC) people are a primary target of the Trump administration. Multiple executive orders seek to erase TGnC protections; mandate denial of gender identity; and ba...

Protect transgender scientist! 🏳️‍⚧️

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.

Infographic with bold red and navy headers reads “Take Action Now!” and “Ongoing Actions.” Lists include: Sign the Bethesda Declaration, sign the Open Letter against the Fool’s 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.

✊ACTION MENU✊

Science is under attack. But we’re fighting back.

✔️ Sign the Bethesda Declaration
✔️ Join our resistance to the Fool’s Gold EO
✔️ Take action in your community
✊ Let’s flood the zone with science.

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.

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 – we’re talking about health here, the health of Americans, of our LGBTQ community. That’s appalling."

YOUNG: "I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it – that this represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community. That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out."

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.

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.

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...

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(

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.

Bethesda Declaration — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE Support NIH Staff Now!

🧪 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-...

💫 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. 🧪