For years I've tracked billionaire excess. Each year I show students a chart that blows their minds. This year I had to redraw it for a trillionaire: Elon Musk, $1.32T. Depressing that we're here. Silver lining: couldn't have happened to a less deserving person, proof that wealth ≠ merit.

Elon Musk's $1.32 Trillion, to Scale

The first trillionaire's fortune, one pixel per $1,000 — scroll past every dollar, and see what a fraction of it could do instead.

stanford.edu

"Exxon and Chevron pay more in taxes abroad than they pay in the US, as detailed in a report by @factcoalition.bsky.social ....The new reporting requirements are particularly relevant now, as the gas and oil industry’s tax avoidance continues while Americans face rising costs at the pump."

ITEP@itep.org · 2mo ago

Oil and gas companies pay more in taxes abroad than they pay in the U.S. thanks to excessive tax breaks and subsidies. But as Americans face higher fuel prices, even more handouts to this industry will not lower prices. itep.org/major-oil-an...

@joshnhamm.bsky.social @ndombrowski.bsky.social @greening.bsky.social @luisvalentin.bsky.social et al. provide the first investigation into the enigmatic Terrarchaeota and insights into the evolution of high salt adaptation in Archaea. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag091 #evobio #molbio #microbeSky

New lineages provide insights into the convergent evolution of extreme salt adaptation within symbiotic Archaea

Abstract. Environmental genomics has led to the discovery of many new lineages of archaea, including “DPANN” (or Nanobdellati), comprising organisms with s

doi.org

Jorge Sarmiento's early work revealing the Southern Ocean's role in regulating atmospheric CO₂ helped lay the scientific groundwork for programs like SOCCOM and GO-BGC alike. Grateful for his vision and the trail he blazed for our entire community. #Argo #BGCArgo #ArgoFloats #SouthernOcean

Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling Proj@soccomproject.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Long before SOCCOM existed, Jorge Sarmiento was already asking the question that would define it: what does the Southern Ocean tell us about our climate? www.princeton.edu/news/2026/05... #ArgoFloats #BGCAgo #SouthernOcean #oceanscience

In fisheries models, natural mortality (M) is often set to 0.2 per year. A detailed derivation of this result was provided by John Pope in 1975, see below:

Please consider donating to this fund for students affected by a tragic fire at USF, for direct replacement of their lost items & for their student council funds. A link is also provided here for the Marine Science Operating fund (usf.to/USFMarineSci...).

Maggi Brisbin@margaretbrisbin.bsky.social · 3mo ago

For those who reached out asking how to help: This gofundme is specifically for graduate students who lost personal items, computers, tablets, etc. in the fire. We were told that these items are not retrievable or reimbursable -an added burden for students during a devastating time. Plz share 🌊💙

As we pump more CO2 into the atmosphere our food supply becomes more impoverished. This Nutrient Dilution is a global problem for every organism that eats plants, or eats things that eats plants. IOW pretty much all life on Earth. bsky.app/profile/mike... s2.washingtonpost.com/4741705/69f3...

The invisible force making food less nutritious

Surging concentrations of carbon in the atmosphere have produced potent changes in the way plants grow, draining the nutrients from food.

s2.washingtonpost.com

Mike Kaspari@mikekaspari.bsky.social · 2y ago

Nutrient Dilution and the Future of Herbivores: a short thread The fossil fuel folks claimed that all the extra CO2 is great for plants. Indeed, plant mass has increased globally by about 30% in the past century. But when you load a plant up the carbs, what happens to all its other nutrients?

From our FY26 New Investigator call: @microhukaryote.bsky.social will sequence Mississippi delta microbes to reveal how they break down agricultural runoff and inform remediation models. @akrinos.bsky.social jgi.doe.gov/user-science/science-stories/jgi-announces-2026-new-investigator-portfolio

71% of our planet is ocean, but you wouldn’t know it from traditional maps. Shift your land-based perspective this Earth Week with a story about the Spilhaus Projection map and the WHOI oceanographer who created it: go.whoi.edu/spilhausmap

"Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial: Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later."

Pancreatic cancer mRNA vaccine shows lasting results in an early trial

Scientists caution that more research is needed, but nearly all of the patients who responded to the personalized vaccine are still alive six years later.

nbcnews.com

Massive and important positive news... #NSF #GRFP awards are out. 2,599 awards! + 1,440 Honorable Mentions. A significant boost from last year. Congratulations to the winners (and HM-s)! & many thanks to the reviewers & program officers who made this possible. www.research.gov/grfp/Awardee...

268 species and counting—Cyprus emerges as a frontline sentinel of marine #bioinvasions 🌊⚠️ Accelerating introductions, diverse pathways, and clear policy implications for the #Mediterranean. Read more: doi.org/10.1007/s105... #MarineEcology #BiologicalInvasions #Biodiversity #InvasiveSpecies 🌐🌍🧪

I wrote about why every lab should have AI use guidelines, and how to do it. open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...

You need to make AI guidelines for your lab

Here's why you should, and how to start

open.substack.com

#Ichthyosporea are not just the 5–6 species we and others have helped establish as models. Our recent synthesis suggests that ~95% of their species-level diversity remains uncultivated. In other words, we still know only a fraction of the map! #protistsonSky @ibe-barcelona.bsky.social @prbb.org

NEW: Wikipedia has banned AI-generated content.

Wikipedia Bans AI-Generated Content

“In recent months, more and more administrative reports centered on LLM-related issues, and editors were being overwhelmed.”

404media.co

Single-cell transcriptomics reveals a new marine parasite: Characterization and distribution of Rozellomyces from the Gulf of Alaska ⛴️🔬🌊 Congrats Adarsh and all co-authors: @protistwtmostest.bsky.social, Gordon, @pjkeelinglab.bsky.social, and Naomi! #ProtistsOnSky

Single-cell transcriptomics reveals a new marine parasite: Characterization and distribution of Rozellomyces from the Gulf of Alaska

Parasitic microorganisms play critical roles in shaping aquatic ecosystems, yet many lineages, such as those within the phylum Rozellomycota, remain poorly understood. Here, we describe a new rozel...

tandfonline.com

Congrats @maratimes.bsky.social !

Institute at Brown for Environment & Society (IBES)@brown-ibes.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Meet the 2025 Catalyst Research Awardees! IBES will fund 6 core & affiliate faculty members to pursue scholarly projects around the world, with topics ranging from parasite identification to Indigenous-led environmental justice organizing. Mara Freilich Brown History Department Brown Biostatistics

Thrilled to share our #Comment in @natmicrobiol.nature.com A collaborative effort by a fantastic group of researchers across disciplines! 💬We explored how interdisciplinary microbiology can thrive when early-career researchers are included and supported. 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Nature Microbiology@natmicrobiol.nature.com · 11mo ago

#Comment A call for early-career teams in interdisciplinary microbiology research #MicroSky www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It is so much fun to work with @yunqianhu.bsky.social, who is an incredible interdisciplinary scientist! 🔬

Center for Chemical Currencies of a Microbial Planet (C-CoMP)@microbialplanet.bsky.social · 12mo ago

📣#MTTM 🔬Emily Hu (@yunqianhu.bsky.social‬) is a C-CoMP B2P Fellow working with @maratimes.bsky.social & @akrinos.bsky.social at Brown. She uses microbial sequence data and computational tools to uncover how biotic🦠& abiotic drivers shape microbial community assembly in the North Atlantic Ocean 🌊.

Not your Grandfather's summer. Changes in July temperatures from 1950 to 2024. Enough of the "it's just the same summer it's always been...." narrative

reminder of amazing fellowship opportunity!

Simons Foundation@simonsfoundation.org · last yr.

There are 10 days left to apply for our Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! Deadline is 7/31: www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/06/02/s... #science #ecology #evolution

I'm running a seminar in the fall for senior undergrads in Evolutionary Ecology. I'm hoping to curate a reading list mixing classic and new papers that illustrate how combining ecological and evolutionary perspectives can lead to new insights. Do you have a favorite I should consider?

Big up to @rdzombak.bsky.social for bringing eyes to this story. 🧪 So many people beyond my little cohort of fellows are impacted by slowdowns at NOAA. America is rapidly losing footing as a leader in climate science and we all are paying the cost.

Recipients of a U.S. Climate Science Fellowship Are Put on Unpaid Leave

nytimes.com

So excited to announce the GRUMP paper is published! This global dataset provides relative abundances for plankton spanning Archaea to Zooplankton from unfractionated (>0.2µm) water samples using 3-domain universal primers that amplify 16S and 18S in one PCR reaction. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Characterizing organisms from three domains of life with universal primers from throughout the global ocean - Scientific Data

Scientific Data - Characterizing organisms from three domains of life with universal primers from throughout the global ocean

nature.com

Future grad students starting in Fall 2025 or Fall 2026 in ecology and evolution should apply to this excellent opportunity from @simonsfoundation.org!

Simons Foundation@simonsfoundation.org · last yr.

There is one month left to apply for our Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! These awards provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in #ecology and #evolution. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons... #science

There is one month left to apply for our Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! These awards provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in #ecology and #evolution. www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons... #science

Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution

The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...

simonsfoundation.org

hey, @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social this is a good idea

Dr Christina N. Zdenek@cnzdenek.bsky.social · last yr.

A new sustainability standard has been set for conference lanyards! This #ICCB2025 one is compostable & plantable! Native seeds r embedded into the name tag so local delegates encouraged to plant it for habitat. How good?! As paying delegates, we can and should ask for sustainability like this 😎💃

The total amount of public land that Trump wants to make available for sale is equivalent to more than TWICE the size of CALIFORNIA. All to pay for tax cuts to some of the richest people in world history.

Janessa Goldbeck@janessagoldbeck.bsky.social · last yr.

This would be the largest public lands sell-off in modern U.S. history and it's happening with no hearings, no debate, and no public input. See what public lands would be available for sale: www.wilderness.org/articles/med...

Based on some quick math, this alone could fund the NSF Plant Genome Research Program for ~4 years; the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology, which was totally axed in the NSF budget request, for ~9 years; and ~ half the total NSF GRFP budget

The Associated Press@apnews.com · last yr.

BREAKING: The Pentagon said the deployment of National Guard members and Marines to protests over immigration raids in LA will cost $134 million.

RFK Jr.‘s extreme anti-vax views — and his related conflicts of interest — were a huge problem during his confirmation process. So he promised not to change the vaccine advisory panel. Today, he fired every single expert on that panel. It's a public health disaster.

RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to use vaccines.

apnews.com