I made my first doctor! Congratulations @nauham.bsky.social!

There seems to be a trend in modern fiction of authors just...not writing endings. Feels like the 90s era of music where songs just fade out. I've read a rash of these lately and they annoy me no end. Did the author just get bored? Hit a hard deadline? #booksky

and the very next item in this, the greatest volume of the Bulletin of the British Myriapod and Isopod Group, I can't believe they're just giving it away with no paywall

At the splash pad with the ridiculously large grandbabies!

In biology: The ratio in compensation between grad student vs postdoctoral vs asst professor: ( roughly) 1990=. 1:2:4 2005 1:2:3 2026: 1: 2 : 2.2 ( at best) Compensation for asst prof does not go up It is now not an incentive *at all* to become a faculty given the burdens of the job

A wonderful part of having students from so many countries and cultures is of course the fascinating conversations we can have about life and the world. But also the snacks! MS student is back from a family wedding in Egypt and the lab is feasting! 🇪🇬

Not just a writing hack. It’s a life hack. I got a guy (gender neutral) for many niche situations. Listening to a dork enthusiastically teach you about their interest is one of life’s pleasures!

alix e. harrow@alixeharrow.bsky.social · last wk.

said it before and i'll say it again: the number one writing hack is just to make friends. you can either spend an hour in an obscure & contentious reddit forum trying to figure out what a 2012 camaro sounds like or you can ask your buddy, the Car Guy

Depressing that we might need a group. I would have hoped it was all of us. I live an AI free life in all arenas (to the extent I can, I’m sure it’s hidden in some apps in ways I can’t turn off).

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · last wk.

A question: does anyone know about communities or groups for scientists who are committed to writing without the use of LLMs / genAI?

I have two preprints out (and under review/revision) and another coming soon (linked below), and I go up for tenure next spring. So if your department is looking for a speaker - call me! (Actually do not. Email me. I am a millennial and unexpected phone calls give me anxiety). 🧪

Americans have more confidence in higher education than in big tech companies, and the gap is growing rather than shrinking. The higher ed-doomsday pundits need to get on board with the real vibe shift in public trust that is happening right now.

Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · 2w ago

I look forward to all the reports & coverage about all of the internal problems & mistakes of all of these other institutions, in the same way that universities are constantly blamed (& blaming themselves) for “declining trust.” “Compared to what?” news.gallup.com/poll/712436/...

Goosey got a new toy, but it’s not distracting him from demanding constant pets while I try to edit two different manuscript drafts. He will walk right on the laptop to nose under my typing hands. 🪿 🐶

“A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration, several of them sellers of experimental peptides, dismissed the concerns of the agency’s scientists on Thursday, voting in favor of allowing broad production of poorly understood peptide treatments.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social

A Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With R.F.K.’s Agenda

Agency scientists are advising against allowing widespread use of several peptide injections. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has said people should be free to experiment.

nytimes.com

🚨Breaking🚨: NIH is terminating health disparities research grants again. This time, they may successfully avoid legal challenges by giving specific reasons for their decisions. One grant so far, more to come. Exclusive @science.org by me and @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH is again terminating grants that the Trump administration dislikes

With cancellation of health disparities project, agency may be testing new way to legally kill politically sensitive grants

science.org

1. The new Trump / Kratsios plan for US science appears explicitly designed to destroy US universities. Diverting money to tech donors is probably just a bonus. Gift link.

Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)

Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.

nytimes.com

I don’t think most voters actually want less science research

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD@prasad.bsky.social · 2w ago

why on Earth would we do this??? "de-prioritize 'life sciences,' which encompass molecular biology, genetics and other fields in biomedicine, as well as clinical trials aimed at testing new therapies" www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...

Basically every drug you have ever heard of had its origins in public research funding, in a field that didn't seem like it was going anywhere, because some researchers were interested in the basic science.

I read through this, and it's remarkably autocratic, almost Soviet-style vision for science in the United States.

OSTP Director Releases Landmark Report and Recommendations for Renewing American Scientific Discovery

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Michael Kratsios

whitehouse.gov

Raced home from vacation so we could submit and preprint postdoc @keisukefukumura.bsky.social's paper! It's an exciting first foray for our lab into the periphery, where we find a unique role for CLOCK in regulating lifespan on high fat diet. 🧪https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.20.739608

Fat body CLOCK restrains innate immunity and maintains survival under dietary stress in Drosophila

Both aging and a high-fat diet (HFD) dampen circadian gene transcription rhythms and promote chronic inflammation. How aging and HFD interact to affect peripheral molecular clocks and circadian behavi...

doi.org

Last July we went to the shelter for a meet and greet and came home with our Good Goose! Goose is a chill boy who loves to be with people. He loves going to the park and my lab, he expects to lick the cottage cheese spoon, the only things he dislikes are precipitation and toddlers. 💜🐶 #rescue #adopt

Once again for cis people intent on doing or saying dumb shit, here is the literal discoverer of the SRY gene:

World Athletics’ mandatory genetic test for women athletes is misguided. I should know – I discovered the relevant gene in 1990 - Murdoch Children's Research Institute

MCRI's Professor Andrew Sinclair SRY gene identifier critiques World Athletics’ new gene testing rule. Read more.

mcri.edu.au

After 42.5 hours I am at! my! house! 🇸🇪 Bus-plane-plane-uber-train-train-uber-HOME! 🇺🇸

Local plumbers two steps ahead of every university administrator in america 👏

Metin Seven (Moon Child's dad 🌝)@seven.eurosky.social · 3w ago

Faculty care about their disciplines and know what works in the classroom! A strong faculty union prioritizes labor *and* learning. Join @aaup.org if your U isn’t already a UnionU! 💪

Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa@benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · 3w ago

A really interesting piece on reducing AI cheating in the classroom from a Professor of English and former Dean of Humanities at University of Utah. The solutions? Smaller classes, lower teaching loads for faculty, and in-person classes.

"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras

Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.

Spent the night in Boston against my will, but at least I took a nice walk before my 6 h train ride!

I know y'all *just* finished writing you public comments on the fascist NIH takeover plan but the fascist NSF takeover plan public comment period is now open (until August 24) www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Agency Information Collection Activities: Comment Request; National Science Foundation Proposal/Award Information-NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to renew and revise its collection for its financial assistance policies and procedures. In accordance with the requirements of the Paper...

federalregister.gov

The promotional tour for Odyssey continues. I’m now stuck in Boston, my personal Ogygia for this tour. I’ve been awake 22 h and I’m giving up on planes. Will try to take a 5 h train ride home tomorrow.

MadScientist@mads100tist.bsky.social · 3w ago

Damn girl that The Odyssey promo going too far

The rats’ nest of airline “partnerships” is making sorting out my cancelled transatlantic flight today at disaster. Booked on @americanair.bsky.social. But actual plane was British Airways. Auto rebooking with 48 h travel time was on Aer Lingus. Each airline says it’s not their problem.