Eric H Chang

Sigh. NIH normally sends several hundred scientists to the SFN annual meeting to learn, exchange info, come up with new ideas, and advance science. (The exchange of ideas is the very core of the scientific enterprise.)

This year, no one from NIH will attend due to the gov't implosion.

Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting

I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:

The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion.

The entire bottom 50% of America is worth just $4.2 trillion.

Read that back.

When 400 people control more wealth than half a country’s population, we have a very serious problem.

Excited to announce my thesis paper with is now in print at ELIfe! Excited to share our updated work on automating evoked touch/pain assays in rodents, and the further advancements we’ve made for #PainResearch!

elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Someone asked me the other day*:

How do we replace all the science that’s being lost across the US as NIH, NSF etc are being lawlessly destroyed?

The answer is: we cannot. It is impossible.
The task now is to defend #NIH and public funding for medical research.
1/ 🧪 #neuroscience

Under court order, UC publicly releases Trump administration's $1.2-billion settlement proposal The California Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from the University of California to block the release of a roughly $1.2-billion Trump UCLA settlement, leading UCLA to publish the document o...

As a UCLA alumnus, I would rather see the school close its doors than agree to this extortion

Coincidence or not, that’s pretty crazy.

(via MS desk)

@dkthomp.bsky.social

Dear NIH Peer Reviewer, You are receiving this email because you are listed on an NIH peer-review meeting roster scheduled to begin in the coming weeks. As you surely know, NIH has not been appropriated funds with which to operate. SROs cannot work, cannot prepare for meetings, respond to your emails, etc. However, the NIH computer systems that support review functions are still available to reviewers (though without technical support) and we ask that you continue your preparations for upcoming review meetings as best you can. If it becomes clear that your meeting must be postponed, you will receive an email to that effect. Please do not join any meeting if it is scheduled to start on a day when the government is shutdown. After funding is appropriated and NIH operations resume, we will be in touch. CSR will make every effort to review all applications originally slated to be reviewed this round. Thank you for your contributions to the NIH peer review process. Regards,

For those who are wondering about grant proposal reviews in the USA

a poster that says kick that can down the road on it Alt: a poster that says kick that can down the road on it

One of my proposals was scheduled for review today.
And I have tomorrow and Wednesday free because PCMB won’t meet.

I think people adjacent to science (but who now find themselves deciding the fate of US science somehow) undervalue humility, valuing braggadocios hubris instead.
Yes it’s true that some scientific discoveries are complete paradigm changers, and we celebrate these. 1/

No punches pulled! 👊🏽

I have a study section scheduled this week. Any chance it will take place?

SRO has not replied for days. Submitted 7 critiques on time nevertheless.

Déjà vu from this spring, when study sections got cancelled on short notice.

Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years?
A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today!
Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Statue of Trump and Epstein Holding Hands Returns to National Mall The statue, titled “Best Friends Forever,” was reinstalled after it was removed last week. An anonymous group of artists has taken credit for the work.

A statue depicting Donald Trump and Jeffery Epstein titled “Best Friends Forever" has returned to the National Mall, a week after the National Park Service removed it. An anonymous group of artists has taken credit.

This moment from our latest episode with science writer @edyong209.bsky.social is 🔥

We asked Ed — how do we talk up the benefits of science in the face of government cuts? He told us that's the wrong approach. 🧪

Listen wherever, or watch on Spotify 👇

open.spotify.com/episode/7Evh...

"I'm autistic because that's how my brain works."

I absolutely love that statement.

Trump donor Larry Ellison’s Oracle will oversee TikTok’s algorithm.

His media company owns CBS News and is plotting a bid for Warner Bros., which owns CNN.

When billionaires take control of communication platforms, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for oligarchy.

I hope those ducks were swimming in methylene blue, you know, for brain health!

THE VIDEO IS HERE!!!

Sometimes #science is difficult 🫠

California’s $23 Billion Plan to Restore Federal Cuts to Scientific Research

Democratic lawmakers in California want to create a state version of the Nat'l Institutes of Health & restore scientific research terminated by the feds under Trump. The ambitious plan would use 10s of billions of dollars in voter-approved bonds to raise funds www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/u...

How the Trump Administration Is Dismantling America’s Cancer-Research System

It’s horrific and inexplicable. Donald Trump and RFK Jr. are objectively pro-cancer. They’re destroying the entire infrastructure that has made so much progress and is poised to make much more. People will suffer and die because of them. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/m...

Full professor complaining to an assistant professor on how hard it is to get funding nowadays

This is what happens when justice serves power instead of people.

Banksy’s latest piece shows a judge beating a protester. They rushed to throw up barriers to hide it.

We need this here because it looks a lot like our own Supreme Court vs. the people.

On the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) here in NY, I literally saw one single person reading a book along the platforms. 100s of others had their heads down looking at their phones. To be fair, some of them could have been reading a book on their phone, but I sort of doubt it!

Warsaw opens metro station ‘express’ library to get commuters off their phones Metroteka aims to encourage people to read more in country that lost majority of libraries in second world war

“Libraries should be beautiful and open; inviting, not intimidating. It’s not a shrine, but a place where you can spend time freely, take part in discussions, public consultations, or meet people,” he says.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

What a strange timeline we live in: activists and politicians rail against the value of science, while every day we get wild new discoveries like the simultaneous recording of 600k+ neurons of the mouse brain or ants that give birth to 2 different species.

The Millionaire Who Left Wall Street to Become a Paramedic After making millions in a job he came to hate, Jonathan Kleisner joined the Fire Department as a rookie paramedic at the age of 41. Now he’s determined to be the best rescue medic anywhere.

After making millions as a commodities trader, a job he came to hate, Jonathan Kleisner joined the Fire Department as a rookie paramedic at the age of 41. Now he’s determined to be the best rescue medic anywhere.

This rule would have meant I couldn't do my Ph.D. in America.

I did do it in America. Became a professor. 12 thriving U.S. labs are now headed by trainees from my research lab. Like me, they are all working hard to enrich American knowledge and society.

With this self-harming rule, none of that.