This is so sad and so wrong on so many levels. I just saw this blurb in StatNews about another death in China during a crisper trial for Duchenne MD. What’s going on here?! Besides unsafe and possibly unethical trials… www.statnews.com/2026/08/05/c...

Once again, child dies in gene-editing trial in China, rekindling debate on transparency and safety

With a second delayed report of a child's death in China, criticism is rising of a looser form of clinical trial. One expert: what "bothers me is the lack of transparency."

statnews.com

Okay genuinely asking— what does accountability look like for Holden Thorp and Hank Green? What I’d like to see: I’d love if @holdenthorp.bsky.social set a clear journalistic standard at SCIENCE and prohibited the use of LLMs for researching, writing, and editing publications at SCIENCE.

Debbie Gale Mitchell@heydebigale.bsky.social · 4d ago

So in the last two weeks EIC of Science and a famous science communicator have lost massive amounts of credibility because of their reliance on LLMs... Some examples of how to lose trust with your audience to share with my students I guess.

Trump & Russ Vought proposed a rule to take every federal grant in America hostage. They don't care about making our tax dollars work better—they just want them to work for Trump. Well, Democrats BLOCKED their corrupt rule, and I'll be fighting to kill it permanently.

As I was saying

Ed Burmila@edburmila.bsky.social · 4w ago

At some point we are going to have to reckon with what percentage of the Thought Leadership we get from this class of people is just drug addiction. Either a lot of credulous reporters have never listened to someone tooted out of their mind go on a monologue or they're afraid to call it out.

This is very good article in the Beijing News on the gene therapy trial death of a girl, a story broken in Borrell's stunning piece in Science. (At least it looks good in my laborious Google Translate version, despite quoting me) www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/17858... www.science.org/content/arti...

No problemo. I get through every working day (and every blog post) without ever using it once.

Charlie Stross@cstross.bsky.social · 13h ago

My answer is LOL ROFL (dickbrain) The terminally AI-pilled can't even *imagine* some people have *never* asked stochastic parrots to cheat at their job for them.

Scouring social media, are they? Well, scour this: I believe that ICE are a bunch of lawless bastards whose actions are helping destroy the fabric of this country. The agency should be abolished and the perpetrators should be prosecuted. Clear enough?

Tom Joscelyn@tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 2d ago

“In recent months, ICE has deployed a round-the-clock digital dragnet to scour the public internet—from Facebook to Instagram to X—for speech that could endanger the agency’s mission.” Speech. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

I see a lot of you talking about "dopamine" and I wish you'd go back to talking about your astrological signs because at least then you wouldn't be confusing yourself about a real thing

It’s not a revelation that the president of the USA is one of the most prolific white-collar criminals on Earth, but what is slightly galling is that nobody seems to care all that much.

Schooley@schooley.bsky.social · 2d ago

How is it that this story still hasn't appeared in the New York Times?

I got a flu booster today and it made me reflect on the sense of national accomplishment I felt when I drove to a public facility, waited in my car until my number was called on an app, and got my first covid jab. It's fucked the right gets to erase what a moment of technological liberation that was

#chemsky

Chemistry World@chemistryworld.com · 5d ago

A facility housing large tanks of methyl methacrylate, the monomer form of polymethyl methacrylate was overheating this May. @chemjobber.bsky.social explores the lessons learned & how risky runaway polymerisation can be prevented in the future: www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/earl...

The anthropomorphization of "AI" is literally PR speak handed down by "AI" companies that want you to think it's magic and also to think that they're not responsible for problems.

We are watching, in real time, the biggest fuck-up by any president in the history of the United States of America.

Top senators consider blocking the OMB rule. www.politico.com/live-updates...

Top senators consider blocking Trump’s grant shakeup in spending stopgap

It’s now “up to leadership” whether to head off the controversial changes, Sen. Susan Collins said.

politico.com

It’s a very sad state of affairs: the peer-reviewed research evidence points to a zoonotic origin for SARS-CoV-2 (epidemics & pandemics are usually zoonotic in origin) but when science writers lay out this evidence, they get harrassment 😢

Amy Maxmen, PhD@amymaxmen.bsky.social · 6d ago

The evidence supports the alt theory of a spillover from animals sold at the market. Spillovers also happen to account for all other novel infectious disease epidemics. I'm tired of writing about this since I'm tired of the harassment. Pretty much every science writer I know feels the same.

And another thing about this horrible scheme is that if you actually run the numbers (mirror size, launch costs, lifetime in orbit, light reflected, price charged to customers, etc.) it seems impossible to make this work even with very optimistic assumptions. It’s baffling.

Radio Canada International@rci.bsky.social · 6d ago

Astronomers and other groups are sounding the alarm about the project, citing numerous reasons, including the threat to species dependent on a pristine night sky, the threat to important astronomical research and more. ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/...

Montana opens experimental drug access to nearly anyone. The state now allows any consenting adult to purchase experimental drugs—including unproven longevity therapies—from newly established treatment clinics, pending approval by review board.

Montana’s plan to become an experimental medical hub just pushed forward

The state’s effort to expand the “right to try” is making headway, and the first drugs are about to be reviewed.

trib.al

Alas poor AlphaFold, we knew you well... This is not entirely surprising to me, as it wasn't clear what more AF could do outside of what Hassabis is trying to build with Isomorphic. But I am interested in people's thoughts here #chemsky #biotech 🧪 www.ft.com/content/61b2...

Google DeepMind dismantles Nobel-winning AlphaFold team in strategy shift

Landmark project that solved protein folding gives way to a wider race to build AI systems for scientific discovery

ft.com

I honestly am at a loss with what to do about this level of ignorance.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6d ago

Rep. John McGuire: "I don't know if you heard about the BLT sandwich -- using human fetus baby parts in the vaccine when they could've used ivermectin"

A federal judge has thrown out the FBI director’s lawsuit against a blogger who called him a “googly-eyed Kremlin bitch.” trib.al/ouHgmYA

Kash Patel Loses Lawsuit Against Man Who Called Him “Googly-Eyed” Chud

A federal judge has thrown out the FBI director’s lawsuit against a blogger who called him a “googly-eyed Kremlin bitch.”

trib.al

Some thoughts on chemical onshoring of all kinds, from nitrile gloves to pharmaceutical intermediates. It ain't going to be easy, nor fast, nor will it be cheap. That combination makes it an unlikely prospect for this administration to succeed at it:

Chemical Onshoring of All Kinds

science.org

On now! Covering the Fauci hearings rasmussenretorts.substack.com/live-stream/...

LIVE NOW: LIVE COVERAGE: TONY FAUCI FACES OFF WITH RAND PAUL ON PANDEMIC ORIGINS

Dr. Angela Rasmussen on Substack

rasmussenretorts.substack.com

Indeed! For example, why is this racist mass murderer still a Fellow of the Royal Society? @royalsociety.org

Carrie Brown@brizzyc.bsky.social · last wk.

"Why do politicians, journalists and commentators treat his far-right racist radicalism as a sideshow rather than the core of his political, ideological and industrial project?" www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/o...

Reade to the ende of thys! From Oliver J. Rosten, "On functional representations of the conformal algebra" Theoretical Physics (2017):

"You don't need to save for retirement. AI will make sure of that." These people are mind-bogglingly terrifying. At a time when learning to control yourself and set yourself a better future are harder than ever, Republicans, the Party of Responsibility™, says you shouldn't bother:

Bessent: AI Means You Won't Need Retirement Savings - Joe.My.God.

SEAN HANNITY: “Elon Musk talked about Americans not even needing to save for your retirement like we have historically because of the abundance AI will create. Do you believe that?” SCOTT BESSENT: “I ...

joemygod.com

Could you refine crude oil without so much . . . refining? By just filtering it through a membrane? We seem to be getting closer:

Turning Down the Refinery Heat

science.org

Excuse me, but have you heard the good news about the Second Law of Thermodynamics?

Alex Wild@alexwild.bsky.social · last wk.

This is a thing? We are allowed to lecture at length to captive airplane passengers? This changes everything, I'm now practicing conference talks on my way to the conference.

Pharmaceutical Ad Urges Viewers To Fight Doctors Who Say Drug Not Right For Them https://theonion.com/pharmaceutical-ad-urges-viewers-to-fight-doctors-who-say-drug-not-right-for-them/