A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Informa of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges.

Federal lawsuit accuses four major publishers of extorting article processing charges

iStock A lawsuit filed under the U.S. False Claims Act accuses four major publishers of perpetrating a decade-long scheme to defraud the government by charging exorbitant article processing charges…

retractionwatch.com

Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.

Admirable clarity @science.org

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Whew, the editors of @science.org are getting real.

🌱 We're thrilled to share that our editorial team is growing! Under the leadership of Matt Hodgkinson (Editorial Lead), SIA’s newly formed Editorial Committee brings together a stellar group of experts.✨✨ @mattjhodgkinson.scicomm.xyz.ap.brid.gy @andre-brasil.bsky.social @danielucko.bsky.social

"How Are the Very Rich Feeling About New York’s Next Mayor?" A Dramatic Reading of The Recent New York Times Dispatch from the Hamptons. Presented by The Gilded Age's Morgan Spector.

NEW: The FDA may yank Pfizer's under-5 Covid vaccine this fall. Pfizer has the only pediatric vaccines for all kids over six months, not just those with health conditions. My latest: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Pfizer Covid vaccine for young children may not be renewed by FDA

Email obtained by Guardian says Pfizer was told approval may not be granted, meaning Moderna may have to fill gap

theguardian.com

First off, a sincere thank you for actually reading the PNAS article. For those interested: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Joe Bak-Coleman@jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 12mo ago

I think this quote is both unsustainable and unsupported by the analysis in the piece. First and foremost, it portrays fraud as *consuming* science rather than merely growing alongside it. Much of the “fraud” in the paper is just metric gaming whackamole that doesn’t get read, cited or used.

Swedish transport unions have advocated for shorts in uniforms during hot weather, but the option keeps disappearing with new contractors. An effective tactic has been for male employees to wear skirts instead, which has led to the reinstatement of shorts thrice: in 2002, 2013, and now again.

Män i kjol – fackets sista stridsåtgärd i hettan

Andreas Nyman: Det blev en del skämt om skottar och något enstaka ”madame”

flamman.se

Folks, the situation with the latest anti-vaccine preprint making the rounds is way worse than initially assessed. There's even a dash of plagiarism! reeserichardson.blog/2025/07/28/n...

No, mRNA vaccines do not cause “transcriptomic chaos”

A review of a recent anti-vaccine preprint

reeserichardson.blog

I have lots of things on my to-do list today, so naturally I have been distracted by the latest anti-vax bullshit. The regular crowd is abuzz with the news of a new study (preprinted on preprints.org by @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social). The lead author posted this illustrative video on Twitter.

In a horrifying article about the dangers of Teslas, one point stands out: Teslas automatically disengage self-driving mode <1 second before an imminent crash--not enough time for the driver to react, but enough for Tesla to deny responsibility for fatal crashes, since self-driving "wasn't engaged."

It's happening. As some of us predicted. Dark times:

DOJ announces plans to prioritize cases to revoke citizenship

Denaturalization is a tactic heavily used during the McCarthy era and one that was expanded during the Obama administration and grew further during President Trump's first term. It's a tool usually us...

npr.org

It’s a very good letter from these brave EPA employees. They highlight how Zeldin flipflopped between his Senate hearing and now. And they squarely connect President Russell Vought to what’s happening at EPA.

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨 At 7:59am, Zeldin - Trump crony and head of EPA - received the Declaration of Dissent from EPA workers. Workers are uniting against political interference, censorship & rollbacks at EPA under Zeldin’s leadership. Someone’s week is off to a bad start. (1/5)

For parents, for physicians, for everyone - The American Academy of Pediatrics will continue to publish *evidence-based* vaccine guidelines for children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics@ameracadpeds.bsky.social · last yr.

Today's ACIP meeting is usually a time where experts come together to inform the future of vaccines. That is not what today will be. That is not what we can stand behind. The AAP will continue to recommend its own childhood vaccine schedule -- just as we have since the 1930s

The parents of kids in the original pediatric Covid vaccine trials care more about scientific integrity than the people leading our scientific agencies. Unbelievable. And maddening. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“Moderna was trying… to invent a vaccine platform it could deploy rapidly against several types of influenza, including the H5N1 bird flu… it’s not the price of eggs keeping infectious-disease doctors up at night. It’s the possibility that a strain mutates, jumps species, and ends up in humans...”

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

Dr. Who is a terrifying premise. Don't like the idea of an alien that can go any where any time but still chooses to mostly hang out with the British.

This is a blatant example of political censorship of science and a violation of the principles of academic freedom. The autocratic dismantling of US science continues. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Exclusive: US veterans agency orders scientists not to publish in journals without clearance

Move that seeks political control of doctors’ and scientists’ published research fits a pattern of censorship by the Trump administration, veterans advocates say

theguardian.com

Presidential budget is out. Here's NSF. Biggest cut, by amount, is $1 billion, or 66.8%, from MPS (Physics & Math directorate). nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...

Last week / this week

“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires the government to provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason.”

Does Kristi Noem even know what habeas corpus is?

The Homeland Security secretary's word salad raised even more questions about the administration's assault on fundamental rights.

motherjones.com

DURBIN: How can we give hope to people across the country who are suffering from so many diseases when our government is cutting back on that research? RFK Jr: I do not know about any cuts to ALS research D: I just read them to you! R: I didn't know about them until you told me about them

HASSAN: What is habeas corpus? NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country HASSAN: That's incorrect

AI is a plagiarism engine built on stolen data, exploited labour, and enviro harm. Marketed as “intelligent,” it erodes critical thinking, empathy, and causes psychological harm. Run by authoritarian billionaires, it’s used for surveillance, profiling, and genocide—whether it works or makes up shit.

Kylie Robison@kylierobison.com · last yr.

can i ask my followers here perhaps too earnestly - if you hate AI or find it utterly worthless, why?

1/ The US government has ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to end its diversity, inclusivity and equality (DEI) programmes within 10 days. The city authorities say the demand is "bizarre" and they won't be complying. ⬇️

I hope everyone working on LLMs has reckoned with their role in building a technology that, so far, has offered little to no benefit to humanity — while causing real harm by degrading art, undermining labor in creative industries, and straight up automating political propaganda

So good. 🤡 @brendanvduke.bsky.social

Fun fact: the US constitution does not ban convicted felons from running for office or serving in office. I guess the founders did not think this might happen. France on the other hand might have been more cynical, to their benefit. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Marine Le Pen barred from running for French presidency in 2027

Far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement of European funds and immediately barred from running for office

theguardian.com