So Trump and McMahon now are trying the velvet glove approach to get universities to submit. It’s just a watered down version of the compact they tried to impose last year. No self-respecting university should comply. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

After Colleges Reject ‘Compact,’ Trump Officials Try a Letter (Gift Article)

The open letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon fell far short of the attempt at a compact last year that dangled research money in return for embracing the Trump administration’s agenda.

nytimes.com

· #AcademicSky · #EduSky · #SciSky · #AI · Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts

Scientists using LLMs will ‘do more, less well’, modelling study predicts

Research suggests that the combination of incentives to publish and the use of large language models will lead to more papers, but they will be less refined.

nature.com

Happy Lughnasadh! It's the anti-Groundhog Day: 6 more weeks of summer for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lughnas...

Lughnasadh - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Dear algorithm, please help this post be seen by people in the Denver metro and Boulder area who love astronomy and glow in the dark stars! Sincerely, an artist who’s doing their best to create fun and awesome painting classes to connect with the community.

If you do not fight at the barricade of trans healthcare you will fight at the barricade of the most stigmatized medication you are on and you will do it with fewer experienced allies because you left trans people to die.

Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 5mo ago

They won't start with banning birth control. First they'll lie about it. Then dictate who can prescribe it, use it, fund it, in what forms, and for how long. Suddenly, your doctor won't call you back. I know this is what they'll do because it's what they're doing to transgender healthcare right now.

Colorado’s climate commitments remain a joke as long as its primary transit agency continues its death spiral with no end in sight. www.denverpost.com/2026/07/29/r...

This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b

If you can donate, please do. If you were previously not eligible to donate, the criteria have been SERIOUSLY revised: you are no longer deferred for spending time in England/the EU and the sexual risk screening has been replaced with a much more evidence based model.

Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · last wk.

"On Monday, the Red Cross declared a national blood crisis for the second time ever in its history."

open.substack.com/pub/wilderne... Please call. Colorado peeps. You need to realize the idiotic FOFA is a brainchild of fucking hickenlooper

Urge your senators to remove anti-Wilderness logging riders from the National Defense Authorization Act

Call your senators this week at 202-224-3121

open.substack.com

From NASA's press secretary, an update on the Madrid DSN site. Wildfire damage is "primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, with no significant structural damage observed to antennas or buildings." x.com/NASASpox/sta...

Bethany Stevens (@NASASpox) on X

On July 25, an initial onsite inspection by the NASA Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) emergency response team found wildfire damage primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, wi...

x.com

It also will cripple all of our robotic missions beyond Earth’s orbit. The DSN was already oversubscribed - time and bandwidth books out months in advance - and there simply is no substitute for it. The Spain station is 1/3 of the DSN.

UIS Observatory@uisobservatory.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’d like to make it clear for all the people following me what the sheer gravity of the news is. Without this facility we can’t ensure constant communication with spacecraft beyond Earth orbit. If this facility is off-line, the Artemis program cannot send a crew to the Moon.

Tonight! Come see some stars! 🌟

Chamberlin Observatory@chamberlin-obs.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hey #Denver, join us Saturday for some summer stargazing! Look through the big historic telescope plus lots of others, courtesy of @denverastro.bsky.social . Highlights will include Venus, the Moon, and some nice star clusters! 🌙✨🔭 FREE, starts around 8:30pm. See you there! tinyurl.com/obs0718

Where I'll be tomorrow night! 🤩

Chamberlin Observatory@chamberlin-obs.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hey #Denver, join us Saturday for some summer stargazing! Look through the big historic telescope plus lots of others, courtesy of @denverastro.bsky.social . Highlights will include Venus, the Moon, and some nice star clusters! 🌙✨🔭 FREE, starts around 8:30pm. See you there! tinyurl.com/obs0718

New survey research released today with @mattomildenberger.bsky.social -- a response to the "don't say climate change" crowd. Many have observed that climate change has moved down voters' list of priorities and have concluded that pro-climate policies would cost votes. That's testable! 🧵[1/13]

Please blow up the public comment (included below): BREAKING NEWS (7/15) — The administration wants to destroy Chaco Canyon without consulting Tribal Nations. It’s an irreplaceable historic & cultural site with 4,700 archeological sites that could be lost to the bulldozers of oil & gas development

Boosting a list of mutual aid groups here in #Maine in light of the Biddeford shooting that provide food, shelter, and legal services for immigrants Please consider donating, sharing, and adding others:

NEW: ICE has officially awarded the GEO Group a $529 million contract to open a new migrant detention center in Hudson, northeast of Denver. coloradotimesrecorder.com/2026/07/new-...

NEW: ICE Awards $529 Million Contract to Open New Colorado Detention Center

After months of speculation sparked by documents released pursuant to a FOIA request in January, the federal government has officially awarded a $529 million contract to open a new ICE...

coloradotimesrecorder.com

I encourage everyone who has submitted comments on the hot mess that is OMB-2026-0034 to also send a copy to your congress critters. www.theverge.com/science/9576...

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’

theverge.com

$1.1 trillion in federal grants is on the line, including Medicaid, Head Start, and community health centers. Learn about a free tool that I built to help you write your public comment in <5 minutes. 🔗 drruth.substack.com/p/i-built-yo... Deadline: July 13. Every voice counts. #medsky #2CFR200

I Built You a Tool That Helps You Write Your Federal Comment in 2 Minutes

*Deadline for commenting on OMB rule 2 CFR Part 200 is July 13th.*

drruth.substack.com

I'm delighted to be singing in this gorgeous and poignant concert tomorrow night. It's a meditation on conflict and reconciliation spanning 6 centuries and 5 languages. 6pm MDT, in person at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Denver or live-streamed on their website! www.facebook.com/events/44043...

Public conversation about the OMB proposal has focused on science, but make no mistake: this is about ALL research and humanities are just as vulnerable. I'm back @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social w historian & @historians.org exec director Sarah Weicksel. scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/07/10/t...

The OMB Guidance Revision Threatens All Research - The Scholarly Kitchen

The OMB proposed revision is about all research — and humanities research is just as vulnerable as STEM.

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

Everything about this story is nightmarish. “San Francisco State’s semi-automatic rifles are standard issue and won’t be listed in the annual report going forward, university spokesperson Robert King said.”

profchander@profchander.bsky.social · 4w ago

i quit.

A private company advises Medicare not cover a DCIS biomarkers test that helps determine the best course of treatment for breast cancer patients. When profit margins are a factor in public health, we all lose. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GimR... 🧪 dcis411.com/2026/07/06/t...

Hidden conflict behind Medicare’s 'No' on trusted breast cancer test

YouTube video by NBC News

youtube.com

Perfect relaxing morning: cat, coffee, and an excellent book (h/t @chanda.blacksky.app!)

ActBlue donors can request refunds if they donated to Platner's campaign. Pass it on. Directions below: (And if you do this, please share that you did so on social media). help.actblue.com/hc/en-us/art...

Any professors/grad student at a Colorado university interested in talking about research or grant funding canceled under this federal administration & the impacts of that to your field/science/academia/career etc? I’d love to chat! Feel free to message me & pass along. #HigherEd #Edcolo

"Congress could also intervene before the rule is enacted. “All they would have to do is pass a joint resolution of disapproval of this rule, and it would go away,” Ginexi says. So many scientists and organizations are calling on people to call their congresspeople as well.

Bethany Brookshire@beebrookshire.bsky.social · last mo.

Hello we are back from a holiday weekend and the Office of Management and Budget is still trying to make sure federal grants can be withdrawn at any time, for any reason. There's still time to stop it. www.theverge.com/science/9576...

Ok guys if you live in Colorado Springs or in the general area and would like to join me in protesting against these billionaire assholes trying to get us all killed💁‍♀️💀THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN APPROVED AND IS 2 MILES AWAY FROM GARDEN OF THE GODS😡THURSDAY-9A.M.THANKYOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER🗣️

The start of a new survey of the Universe? That deserves a new view of the cosmos 🌌 Meet the Ocean of Stars, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's newest wide-field image. 🔭🧪 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/gallery/imag...

You may have heard about the OMB rule change that will put politics over federal grants. However bad you think it is? It's probably worse. Thanks to @theverge.com for letting me report this one out. There is still time to comment. bit.ly/4v2X4nQ

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

“Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.“

bit.ly