My god. This plus $100K for H1B visa that follows OPT. Making it impossible for foreign students to work in the US

Michael Clemens@mclem.org · 2w ago

The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week. It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.

NIH's Aug 2026 proposal would scrap exact scores and percentiles for three broad bins (top = top 25%). With funding rates at 5% or lower, too much then rides on administrative discretion. It devalues peer review and is a deterrent to engage. Tell NIH before Oct 13. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

This is wild. >1/2 of HC synapses disappear in artificial hibernation, come back in same/similar locations & memories intact. ~1/2 of engram synapses-between two memory-tagged cells-are clustered on dendrites, those preferentially spared. Not biggest synapses. 1/ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I echo what @wiringthebrain.bsky.social said. Must watch and incredibly scary. Separate agents, each in own sandbox w/ own tasks, work out how to contact each other, work together, & lightning swarm thru OpenAI & HuggingFace security. Countries will be launching this on each others' defense/intel 1/

Kevin Mitchell@wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is absolutely NUTS! 😮 Taken at face value, the way these AI agents seem to *realise* things (like when they have write access to a system or that they can communicate together) is fascinating (and kind of terrifying)!

New White House plan for science and technology released yesterday www.whitehouse.gov/releases/202... 1/9

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

@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social You say Mamdani has to patch things up with the Democrats? You think you own the Democrats? The Democrats are the people who vote Democratic and the people they vote for. If your candidates lost, *you* need to patch things up with the candidates Democrats chose.

I just submitted a comment on the proposed new OMB rule, which is very dangerous fo rUS science. I urge you to consider doing the same. You can do so very easily at this web page: fight2win.standupforscience.net/campaign/164... A short comment is fine but write in your own words. More info follows..

Stand up for Science

Stand up for Science

fight2win.standupforscience.net

hmmm ... they quoted me in this article, saying some meaningless enthusiastic stuff (some of which I'm not sure i said?) but they sure dropped the main points i was trying to make, which can be found in this thread: bsky.app/profile/kenm...

The Transmitter @thetransmitter.bsky.social · 3mo ago

HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus will close two of its programs dedicated to rodent work, @thetransmitter.bsky.social has learned. #neuroskyence By @callimcflurry.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/community/ex...

Great idea! Make submitting your comment easier and a little more social by joining this action hour

Colette Delawalla, PhD@cdelawalla.bsky.social · 3mo ago

HAVE YOU SUBMITTED YOUR OMB PUBLIC COMMENT YET???? If not, join us tomorrow at 2pm et: events.standupforscience.net/stand-up-for...

Then full communism

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani@mayor.nyc.gov · 3mo ago

Parade. Thursday. Manhattan.

Indeed. NAS President says main changes science needs are design grad programs more with & for industry, run basic research, by robots/AI not grad students, & only problem with OMB proposal to eviscerate/fatally politicize science is increasing PI paperwork. Could there be deeper failure to moment?

Kevin Mitchell@wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Jesus, this is all so, SO disappointing and depressing. What is the National Academy even for, if it can't meet this moment?

I followed these instructions to comment on the new proposed (disatrous) OMB rule - super helpful! Please take the time to write a specific, personal comment!!!

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Calling all Scientists! Research Administrators! Deans! Fans of Science! No one is coming to save us. Here is your assignment. I have written a step by step, easy to understand "how-to" document to help you comment on the proposed OMB rule. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

I miss this guy, even tho I haven't seen much of him since i left UCSF 22 yrs ago. A true original, thinking so outside the box that boxes disappeared, kind and generous, & pioneered much of modern pain and addiction research. www.thetransmitter.org/pain/in-memo...

In memoriam: Howard Fields, pain research pioneer

Over six decades, Fields mapped out the circuits of both pain and addiction.

thetransmitter.org

Excellent summary of how Vought’s proposed rule will destroy science. Please be ready to comment tomorrow, call Congress, tell your friends. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to speak up, that moment is now.

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

"An email from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to research-center grantees, seen by Science, requires their institutions to promise that U.S. authors of papers NIH has flagged because of foreign co-authors will not collaborate with them in the future."

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 4mo ago

“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.

NEW: A serious staffing shortage — of the Trump admin's own making — is delaying the agency's ability to send billions to universities around the country, leaving labs reeling in the meantime. “I thought we were at rock bottom”, a senior NIH official said. “We are below rock bottom now.”

NIH staffing shortage could slash number of new grants issued this year

Some units at the US funding giant are so understaffed, they are focusing on mandated grant renewals rather than new awards.

nature.com

Feeling overwhelmed with all of this. LISTEN. Another Louisiana resident (Marshawn is the only name we have) testifies against the state’s racial gerrymander, speaking truth to power up and down the hearing room and predicts how this story will end. Speak your truth, fight and believe.

If you've ever sought NIH funding, do this now www.bioniclab.org/news/request...

B.I.O.N.I.C. Lab - Request for Information NIH

Subject: NIH Strategic Plan RFI (NOT-OD-26-047), deadline May 16. 5 minutes of your time matters. Colleagues, NIH is developing its Strategic Plan for FY 2027-2031 and has issued an RFI (NOT-OD-26-0...

bioniclab.org

"Starving Gaza" "Today, the prolonged food shortage in the Strip barely makes the news — after all, we have already seen worse." "The reality in Gaza undermines the future and security of us all." Lee Mordechai and Liat Kozma [The authors are at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.]

Tennessee's already done it, and Alabama, Louisiana, & Florida are racing to do it. Back to the pre-voting-rights-act all-white South in terms of both federal and state legislatures.

Ari Berman@ariberman.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Breaking: Tennessee Republicans pass new 9-0 gerrymander after SCOTUS destruction of Voting Rights Act eliminating state’s only majority-Black district & last Democratic seat. Splits Memphis, which is 63% Black, into 3 districts to disenfranchise Black voters. Quite literally a return to Jim Crow

jfc

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 5mo ago

This story is WILD. Juan Orlando Hernandez, the Honduran ex-president pardoned by Trump for narcotrafficking, seemingly caught on tape in dozens of conversations (if true), discussing plans with GOP and other figures to attack left-wing governments, and saying Israel paid for his pardon from Trump.

More details on the firing of the National Science Board. The NSF now has no director, deputy director, or board. They have issued almost no new awards in 2026. The plan appears to be to completely destroyed the agency. The details are horrifying and have Russ Vought written all over them.

Board Ouster Raises Further Concerns About NSF’s Future

The White House axed all members of the board overseeing the National Science Foundation Friday, leaving the agency with no board, director or deputy director. It finally provided a reason Monday afte...

insidehighered.com

Trump has threatened to destroy Iranian civilization in 3.5 hours. Could be nuclear, or non-nuclear; could be he'll back down. Just an incredibly frightening moment. Dems in House & Senate should be issuing unified statement: this is genocide and military must disobey illegal orders. But they won't.

Academic friends, It's beyond heartbreaking to watch what's unfolding in Iran & the region. A few of us drafted an open letter calling for protection of civilians & of educational, research, medical & cultural institutions. Please read & sign if you agree: sites.google.com/view/protect... #IranWar

Protect Academic Life in Iran

We, the undersigned academics and researchers from around the world, express our profound concern over recent military strikes on Iran, the retaliatory responses, and the reported impact on civilian l...

sites.google.com

Tell Your State To Pass This Model Law to Protect Your Elections From ICE. NOW. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/tell-...

Tell Your State To Pass This Model Law. NOW.

I’ve gotten a number of helpful responses to my post from earlier...

talkingpointsmemo.com

Opinion: Sinners was by far the best film of the year. But it was a film of black experience & music, straight and direct and without an ounce of bending over to make whites feel more comfortable. One B A Another was a white film, with a powerful black women for 1/3 who was mostly white men's 1/

I just uploaded @jasonparis.bsky.social 's recording of the segment CBS News pulled from "60 Minutes" to YouTube:

I've been told Sameer Project is the "gold standard" for sending aid to Palestinians. Of many projects, this one is to keep Gazans warm this winter: shelter, warm clothing, blankets. Now they're in tattered tents w nothing, w/ Israel blocking aid entry despite ceasefire. chuffed.org/project/1491...

RETURN HOME x The Sameer Project

"GIVE WARMTH TO GAZA" this Winter season...

chuffed.org

Ketanji Jackson issues a stay on the order forcing Trump to fully pay SNAP now? WTF? Here's a good explanation: she's making the best of a bad situation, forcing things to move quickly; if she didn't do it, the rest of the court would have, and would have let everything slow walk thereafter.

Alt National Park Service@altnps.bsky.social · 11mo ago

We wanted to share this to help people understand what’s going on. It was shared by Jay Kuo and written by Steve Vladeck a clear, straightforward breakdown of the SNAP situation.