joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt

Our opinion piece is hot off the presses! Cutting science funding has profound implications for STEM education & training & will negatively impact the San Diego region. TAKE ACTION by calling your congressional reps & demand no cuts to science funding! #StandUpForScience 🧪
tinyurl.com/ywxkvv25

UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism The Justice Department issued UCLA a notice of violation for not responding “adequately” to complaints about antisemitism.

I chased this all day:

UCLA research grants suspended after Trump administration faulted campus for antisemitism

calmatters.org/education/hi...

Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches - Nature The discovery of chemosynthesis-based benthic communities at depths of 5,800 m to 9,533 m in the Kuril–Kamchatka and western Aleutian trenches challenges traditional perspectives on the energy sources...

Check out "the deepest and the most extensive chemosynthesis-based communities known to exist on Earth" - methane seeps along Russia's NE coast, down to a depth of 9500 meters! 😮

It's amazing that such incredible ecosystems remain to be found in the deep sea...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Superb!

A quick update re NIH and NSF terminated grant tracking:

Grant Watch has a new name!

We're now called **Grant Witness**

You can find us at grant-witness.us

Please update your bookmarks and spread the word! 🙏

(And no, this wasn't our preference, but trademarks are a thing. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️)

Anyone know someone, or a company, that can analyze brackish pond water (0.3%) samples for simple substrates (specifically, glucose, xylose, acetate, ethanol, and methanol) in the 0 to 200 micromolar range? The number samples is between 15 to 100 depending on cost per sample.

Opinion | To lead at sea, we must understand the sea The U.S. still has an advantage on the waves, but ocean science needs more — not less — investment.

Excellent piece on keeping US as maritime leader and ocean science is vital to national security. 🧪🌊https://wapo.st/4kMAcUs

The NASA Voyager Declaration Statement of Solidarity and Support

There is a new, rather detailed and annotated "Statement of Solidarity and Support" out called "The NASA Voyager Declaration" regarding the current state of affairs at #NASA. It is modeled after similar efforts by employees at #EPA and #NIH nasawatch.com/activism/the...

Science and Democracy Under Siege This administration's first 6 months have been characterized by destruction, division, and chaos.

Preaching to the choir here, but if you've been living under a rock, this👇

"In the past six months, the Trump administration has systematically and recklessly undermined federal science. Read the new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists here:" act.ucsusa.org/Trump6Months

reminder of amazing fellowship opportunity!

17. Vote for politicians who will stop burning fossil fuels

This was a very scary but incredibly positive experience for me-connecting to the deeply personal, funny, & scary parts of our scientific journeys. I encourage you to listen as intended- full long form radio, with host @jayall.bsky.social & live music. Links at end of article. #stemstories @prx.org

Loved it!!

Some personal news…

Congratulations Neil!

Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES)-2025 Released - NASA Science NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) announces the release of its annual omnibus solicitation for basic and applied research, Research Opportunities in

NASA ROSES-2025 released today
science.nasa.gov/researchers/...

Recipients of a U.S. Climate Science Fellowship Are Put on Unpaid Leave

Under Trump, NOAA ran the most recent competition for their highly prestigious postdoc program in climate and global change — but funded no one, wasting huge amounts of applicant and reviewer time.

It gets a lot worse. Now current postdocs in the program are going unpaid.

❤️

Fantastic Microbes and Where to Find Them Some microbes happily thrive in unforgiving environments. An extremophile hunt is underway to leverage their resilience tactics, from medicine to space exploration.

From @lauraatran.bsky.social in The Scientist--

www.the-scientist.com/fantastic-mi...

Cool 🦠!

It's not wildlife but it does bring me Joy, and it is a bit wild ;)

The Lucky Engine: Probabilistic Emergence and Persistence of Near-Maximum Dissipation States

"... there are simply more numerous quasi-steady microstates ... that are near the maximum ... dissipation rate ... than there are far from it, and so it is more probable..."

doi.org/10.3390/e270...

On Sticks, Karats, and Charades: The Structural Dismantling of American Science The displacement of NSF employees from their headquarters opens a new front in the dismantling of American leadership in science.

good take on the current state of the State attack on scientific infrastructure by @joshuasweitz.bsky.social

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/on-sticks-...

Sold! My son's a huge Gojira fan (lol, so am I). Looks amazing!!

WTF!!

#AcademicSky 🧪

Following court order, NIH ceases new terminations of politically sensitive grants After a judge told agency to restore hundreds of killed grants, NIH backs off plans to cancel more existing projects

Breaking news: The National Institutes of Health has ceased terminating grants on politically sensitive topics after a federal judge ruled last week that the cancellations were illegal.
scim.ag/4l9MO8Y

👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿

Energy consumption and associated dissipation, aka entropy production, is a fundamental directive of the universe.

One of those magical clips that somehow gets funnier on each successive viewing.

The doofus riding on top; the "important" guy walking alongside the tank; the half-empty grandstands; the wheels squeaking along on an otherwise silent street.

You might not like it, but this is ART.