Roohi Dalal advocates on Capitol Hill for the astronomy community

Roohi Dalal used to study the distribution of dark matter. Now, as deputy director of public policy at @aas.org, she interfaces with government officials to ensure that the astronomical community's needs are met. #whatcanphysicistsdo #physics #astronomy

I watched the 1st meeting day of RFK Jr’s handpicked committee of vaccine advisors. It was utterly depressing. 1/

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just dropped its first response to ABC, FCC chair, and Disney firing Jimmy Kimmel.
This is a must-watch. 🔥 #cdnpoli

New executive order puts all grants under political control All new funding on hold until Trump administration can cancel any previously funded grants.

arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts

I truly cannot emphasize enough how this is straight up Lysenkoism.

Because of the incredible work of our nation’s scientists, we have our finger tips on the closest thing humanity has ever come to “a cure for cancer”, but brainworm over here doesn’t believe in it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/h...

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Ousted vaccine panel members say rigorous science is being abandoned under RFK Jr. Seventeen experts ousted from a U.S. vaccine committee are expressing little faith in what the panel has become.

Ousted members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices describe RFK Jr.’s first meeting—featuring anti-vaccine presenters pushing unfounded claims.

They now call for the creation of an independent vaccine panel outside the federal government.

zurl.co/x2itL

Breaking: NSF is suspending roughly 300 grants with UCLA, following a DOJ finding on Tuesday that the university violated Title VI by "creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students."

Petition for Action As provided under the Lloyd-La Follette Act (5 U.S.C. 7211), the signatories respectfully petition the Committee to: 1. Ensure that NSF employees are shielded from politically motivated firings and protected under merit-based personnel systems. 2. End illegal impoundments of monies appropriated to NSF. 3. Defend the agency from further interference in its peer review process. 4. Demand transparency from OMB, DOGE, and NSF leadership regarding internal employment policies and future agency relocations. 5. Reaffirm NSF’s scientific independence and support for world-class research that advances national prosperity and security. NSF employees are committed to serving the American people through research, education, and innovation. But they cannot do so under fear, censorship, and institutional sabotage. Without immediate oversight and corrective action from Congress, one of our nation’s greatest engines for scientific and technological advancement faces irreversible long-term damage. Put simply, America will forfeit its scientific leadership position to China and other rival nations.

NSF staff release their appeal—slightly different format than the declarations of dissent from EPA/NIH/NASA; a more formal petition to Congress to redress attacks on the agency and its employees. 149 signatories (48 named)
democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...

The first photos from the Vera Rubin Observatory are stunning — thanks in part to the University of Arizona, which helped build its mirror. Proud to see Arizona leading the way in space science.

To be sure, both parties have supported ICE in the past.

But Trump has given ICE more cops than the FBI, more jails than the federal Bureau of Prisons, and a larger budget than most countries' militaries.

This isn’t business as usual. This is a fast track to full-blown dictatorship.

Kristi Noem didn’t approve FEMA rescue teams for over 72 hours after the Texas floods, following a rule she imposed that required her personal sign-off on any operation over $100K.

This is inexcusable. She should resign.

Every American should read this ACLU lawsuit about what is happening in Los Angeles and California. It is the stuff of dystopian nightmares. This is not immigration enforcement. It is positively stuffed with videos and articles documenting racial profiling on a scale unseen since Jim Crow.

Indiana public colleges cut almost 20% of degrees Public Indiana colleges and universities have eliminated 19 percent of their degree programs to meet requirements added to the state’s budget, according to the Commission for Higher Education.

So, here it is. Thanks to a new state law that was NEVER DEBATED, Indiana University has committed itself to abolishing majors in African-American/African Diaspora Studies: American Studies; Art History; French; Italian; Religious Studies etc. DOZENS of majors. www.ipm.org/news-section...

Move to hold the agents who assaulted a sitting senator in contempt of Congress. Call for articles of impeachment against Noem. Stop working on crypto legislation. Demonstrate the stakes of what is happening in LA with your actions.

Lyft driver picked me up from UNC, turned out he was a medicinal chemistry post-doc in a building near mine, until his grant got cut last month.

Worked on novel antivirals.

AAS and 52 other science societies and organizations sent a letter to Congress this morning expressing concern over recent organizational and financial developments at NSF, and urging Congress to exercise its oversight authority to preserve American STEM leadership. aas.org/press/letter... 🔭

My people, we need two LIGO sites to prove sources are astrophysical and not, like, a rabbit hopping nearby. ⚛️

A screenshot from the proposed NSF budget request showing the number of people involved in NSF activities dropping from 330,100 in FY2024 to 90,000 in FY2026.

I need to actually get to my gate in time, but am stuck processing this particular table:

Small point of clarification from NSF source: "The single grant per institution for all fellows is a formality for ease of administration of money ... So this is a stop to Harvard being able to draw down the money but the students are still GRFP Fellows."

I'm a current Harvard graduate student and I found out today that I had my NSF GRFP terminated without notification. I was awarded this individual research fellowship before even choosing Harvard as my graduate school

All NSF GRFPs to students choosing to attend Harvard in the Fall were just terminated

BREAKING: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced he has ordered the FDA to consider new nationwide restrictions on medication abortion — and that President Trump, not scientists or doctors, will make the final decision.

I am the U.S. Senator for Maryland.

The scientists RFK fired, the loyal civil servants at the NIH, the FDA, the CDC, that he's fired: those are my constituents.

And I will never stop fighting for them.

My ongoing request:

If your NSF or NIH grant was terminated--whether at Harvard or elsewhere--please report it here.

NSF: grant-watch.us/submit-nsf.h...

NIH: grant-watch.us/submit-nih.h...

Our trackers are actively used in lawsuits and are often the only record that terminations ever occurred.

The AAS is aware of reports of pending restructuring and more grant cancellations at NSF, and is working to learn more and formulate a response. If you have been directly impacted, please share your story (aas.org/form/share-y...) or contact us at public.policy@aas.org.

Exclusive: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

Exclusive: National Science Foundation staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced.

The White House terminated the entire membership of the State Department's Historical Advisory Committee, which advises the folks who produce For Rel of the US (FRUS) volumes. This is illegal, and another broadside against diplomacy and nonpartisan governance.

For more on the firing of the members of the Historical Advisory Commitee....

PhET Interactive Simulations Founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman, the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder creates free interactive math and science simulations. PhET sims are based...

A project near and dear to me, PhET, sent an email today saying an awarded NSF grant was cancelled. This is a tragedy along with many others. Science should be accessible. Science is not a liberal conspiracy. phet.colorado.edu