Dr. Becca

Letter Regarding Compact MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...

I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Congrats Brianna!!

“the most sweeping pile of unconstitutional conditions that any American constitutional lawyer has ever seen in the wild.” Must-read analysis of the govt’s proposed “compact” with US universities. balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

This is extortion. Faculty, students, staff, alumni across the country need to get to their Presidents & Trustees today. Just say no. This blackmail only works if most everyone folds. Capitulation now means the end of American higher education for a generation. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

This is Russ Vought's wet dream playing out in real time. Pray for the NIH.

well I'm exhausted

Graph showing total R35+R01 awards issued by NIGMS from 2020 to 2025. R01 in black showing a steep decline. R35 showing an increase. Total awards in 2025 slightly up from 2024 but these years are lower than 2020-2023

I think the R01 is basically a non-starter at NIGMS now. Data from NIH Reporter for new and competing awards, comparing number of R01s issued relative to R35s (MIRA). This has major ramifications for basic science and basic science investigators that are not yet in the MIRA pool

Good morning, science friends.

1) It’s okay to laugh.

2) It’s okay to scream.

3) It’s okay to cry.

😅😅😅

The one thing that will be cool if you have AirPods is it can translate in real time into your ears!

It’s the new iOS update

Awesome, congrats Vinny!!

Transcriptomic diversity of amygdalar subdivisions across humans and nonhuman primates Specialized cell types and links to psychiatric disorders are revealed by genetic mapping of primate amygdala neurons.

A spatially resolved transcriptomic atlas of the primate amygdala (human, macaque, and baboon) now out in Science Advances (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...). The amygdala contains 32 types of neurons with many neuron types specific to particular subdivisions.

Lots of updates from the preprint!

LOL rightfully so!

Nobody:

Apple: what if everything on your phone was see-through

A sky- facing shot that captures a stop light, 3-story apartment turret, and the contrails of an airplane that recently flew past.

Don’t forget to look up sometimes

Stephen Colbert's Emmy victory speech:

"Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it. I have never loved my country more desperately. Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor!"

Absolutely not! I am a caprese purist

Sadly the sandwich has been consumed

Just the absolute sexiest caprese sandwich you’ve ever seen. 2 slices of rough-cut sourdough, bright red and yellow tomatoes, the softest burratta, thinly-sliced basil. EVOO and aged balsamic.

Excuse me but I think you would enjoy this sandwich I made today.

Such a tease!!

Timeline cleanse!

women can do anything

Please god let it not be martial law over Charlie Kirk.

OMG this whole thread.

Thank you, I needed this 🥰

I could not feel more seen rn

Cars entering an on-ramp under the Brooklyn Bridge

The best bridge

One of Britain’s most senior police officers has launched an angry tirade against Extinction Rebellion protesters going “all floppy” when they get arrested. Sir Stephen House, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said the tactic of going limp was a “flipping nuisance” as it required extra officers to drag protesters away. House told a London assembly police and crime committee hearing: “We have asked them to stop being floppy. And that might seem like a silly thing to say, but when we arrest them and pick them up, they go all floppy, which is why you see four or five officers carrying them away. It’s a complete waste of officers’ time, and a complete pain in the neck.” Extinction Rebellion: how successful were the latest protests? Read more House also expressed annoyance at how the tactic made the police look heavy-handed. He said: “The problem with them going floppy and four offices carrying them away [is that it] looks to the general public like police are overreacting here. We’re not making them go floppy. They’re just sort of being a nuisance.”

This gets progressively funnier with every use of the term "floppy".

A baby snapping turtle in my hand.

A baby snapping turtle craning their neck in the grass and weeds.

A grumpy baby snapping turtle looking at me over the creeping charlie.

6 baby snapping turtles on a stone paver.

I'M LOSING MY MIND, THE BEST AND MOST EXCITING YHING JUST HAPPENED, BABY SNAPPING TURTLES HATCHED IN MY YARD, HOLY FUCKING SHIT WOW HOLY FUCK