Because capitalism. The automotive(/tire/oil) companies wouldn't be making nearly as much if people across this vast country had, say, an extensive passenger rail system, the one that allowed all those small towns and rural communities to connect to each other and major cities.

Happy Friday everyone, as promised, here is my personal theory on this. I think Redwall takes place in our world, after an apocalyptic event of the nuclear variety caused rapid but varied growth of all animals, including humans, leading to our extinction and their mental development. Okay? 🧵

Nora@lighthousenora.bsky.social · 2w ago

i would love your historical architecture take on the relative size of redwall abbey to its natural surroundings and inhabitants. like are we talking a tiny abbey in a tiny forest or what

The @nytimes.com Lost Science series continues. USG killed funding for Jessica Cantlon's study of cognitive skills, saying it was turning from basic to applied science. "There won’t be more discoveries, and we’ll just stop at what we already know," Cantlon says. Gift link: nyti.ms/4hbDmCS

New "3,000 feet to pass a cyclist" law just dropped.

David Brauer@dbrauer.net · last mo.

WAR BIRD

In this month’s “Liftoff,” @marisosa.bsky.social discusses the challenges and excitement of task-switching as a new PI, and @debyee.bsky.social shares how she plans to foster a culture of reproducibility in her lab. #neuroskyence By @franciscorr25.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/liftoff-new-...

Liftoff: New lab alerts

Learn about early-career scientists starting their own labs.

thetransmitter.org

We are thrilled to announce the 2026 Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Fellows! 40 remarkable postdocs pursuing transformative research in biological/biomedical sciences. This is the 7th Leading Edge cohort and we are so excited to welcome them! www.leadingedgesymposium.org/fellows/

Really lucky to have this group of new PIs to traverse academia together. Continuing the legacy of the tight knit, collaborative, and kind retina neurobiology community. #RetNeuroSRC @annaintegrated.bsky.social @juanonyme.bsky.social

OMB proposed policies may dramatically affect federal funding of research/related activities. @arvoinfo.bsky.social believes such decisions should be based on expertise, peer review and scientific merit. We urge the #VisionResearch community to oppose these changes. Learn how: https://bit.ly/4udtFa1

About as strong a statement as we've seen from AAAS over the course of this presidency. A good barometer for how seriously they're taking the OMB rule.

Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · 2mo ago

AAAS CEO Sudip Parikh on proposed OMB regs: "... a brazen power grab by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to buck the will of Congress and the American people and will make future discoveries less likely. " www.aaas.org/news/aaas-st...

It's my half birthday which is also #worldbikeday The last time my family owned a car was in 2017. We live in the Chicago suburbs with 2 kids, before that we lived in a small town in Germany. One can't be #carless everywhere. It takes effort. But for us, the pros vastly outweigh the cons.

If you're wondering *how* to speak as a united front, @standupforscience.net is here for you. fight2win.standupforscience.net is where to go, @cdelawalla.bsky.social is rallying the troops bsky.app/profile/cdel...

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 2mo ago

ALRIGHT SCIENCE ACTIVISTS! Here is what to expect in the next couple days from @standupforscience.net: ✨ Our organizational comment on OMB-2025-0034 ✨ A tutorial on HOW to make a good comment for orgs and individuals ✨ Emergency Meeting Recording!! ✨ Wide press/media coverage

Please read this thread and write a comment!!! Agencies have to read and take seriosuly these comments. The comments matter. Also, call your reps. www.regulations.gov/document/OMB...

Jacquelyn Gill@jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🧵 Public science in the US has taken some heavy hits over the last year, but the White House OMB is proposing a series of changes that will result in a TKO for science as we know it unless we fight back. Here's what's happening, and why it matters. 1/n

While regulations.gov incorrectly lists this action as "closed for comments", you can submit your comments directly here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/OM... My response is below, but don't feel that you need to draft anything nearly so long-winded. A short statement will also be very helpful.

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.

Science Magazine@science.org · 2mo ago

The White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s

Interesting side note, the 2p microscopes Peter gave us turned out to be the prototypes for the Sutter MOM, which Peter built with Denk and Euler in Heidelberg to do retina calcium imaging. Learned this from Rick Ayer (of Sutter) when he stopped by the lab once. www.nature.com/articles/nat...

Directionally selective calcium signals in dendrites of starburst amacrine cells - Nature

Nature - Directionally selective calcium signals in dendrites of starburst amacrine cells

nature.com

We received the sad news that my emeritus colleague Peter Detwiler passed away at his home in Prague last week. nbio.uw.edu/people/entry... Peter was an amazing scientist, builder, and artist, who was always very modest about his accomplishments. And he was very kind. A quick example...

Today at 12 PM ET, join Stand Up for Science for our Virtual & Accessible May Day Rally! Join the movement to fight for our science, defend our workers, and protect our future. Register now at the link in our bio or here: zurl.co/fm0Hc (1/2🧵)

Happy Bike Month to all who observe.

"Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks." www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The Rise of the Vichy Scientists

Too many scientists are willing to collaborate with Trumpism in the mistaken assumption that obedience will save their own necks.

thenation.com

From photoreceptors to visual processing — #Webvision is your open-access deep dive into how we see. Now hosted at our Department, continuing its mission to make vision science accessible to all. Start exploring → www.webvision.pitt.edu #Ophthalmology #Neuroscience

Job posting closes tomorrow! Join us.

Anna Vlasits@annaintegrated.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The Vlasits Lab is hiring a technician because our current technician was accepted into a PhD program! This position combines lab management and experiments. If you are interested in gaining experience with #retina research in Chicago, please apply. vlasitslab.org uic.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣? 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄! 🎉 📄 Paper: doi.org/10.64898/202... 💻 Colab notebook: colab.research.google.com/drive/1k9411... 🗂️ Code: github.com/yongrong-qiu... (1/🧵)

In the spirit 👻 of Freaky Friday 🎃, here is a beautiful yet eery video of zebrafish retina development showing horizontal cells (🔵) finding their way out of the crowded amacrine (🟠) layer to settle beneath the photoreceptors. Happy #Halloween! 🎥: PhD student Rae Wong from the @nordenlab.bsky.social

The Vlasits Lab is hiring a technician because our current technician was accepted into a PhD program! This position combines lab management and experiments. If you are interested in gaining experience with #retina research in Chicago, please apply. vlasitslab.org uic.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Vlasits Lab

vlasitslab.org

NIH is not okay. @nytimes.com highlights how grant-making & ability to obligate funding is at risk from staff shortages and time consuming screening processes designed to censor research to align with the administration's political ideology. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/s... Some highlights:

Pace of N.I.H. Funding Slows Further in Trump’s Second Year

nytimes.com

The Vlasits Lab is hiring a technician because our current technician was accepted into a PhD program! This position combines lab management and experiments. If you are interested in gaining experience with #retina research in Chicago, please apply. vlasitslab.org uic.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

Vlasits Lab

vlasitslab.org

Science is good. We should fund it.

New study led by Ning Shen w/ @phruzycki.bsky.social: a genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screen in a retinitis pigmentosa mouse model identifies genes whose loss accelerates photoreceptor death. Overexpressing two, UFD1 and UXT, preserves photoreceptors, retinal function, and vision. 🧵

Our PhD student Kennedy Orwa, who studies applications of AI to health care, was hastily deported today to Kenya along with his 13-year-old son without opportunity to speak to legal counsel. King 5 reports that he held a valid visa that was rescinded without explanation.

UW graduate student deported through SEA as protesters demand answers

A union representing University of Washington graduate student workers says Kennedy Orwa’s student visa was rescinded without explanation.

king5.com

Contrary to increasingly popular belief, there are, in fact, still things computers can’t do - as @sifu.tweety.fish reminds us:

It's still what computers still can't do

The cover of John McPhee’s book Oranges, which is about, you guesed it, oranges. It’s great. The New Yorker writer John McPhee, perhaps the 20th century's...

buttondown.com