1/ The world's songbirds sing in just 8 basic sounds. And where a bird lives decides which ones it uses. My first PhD paper is out now in @science.org (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee6239) Here is what we found:
Natalia Vélez
@natvelali.bsky.social
Cognitive scientist at UCSD, personally & scientifically interested in collaboration | science sketcher | thinking in non-English 🇵🇷
This is correct. The report is infuriating. An abuse of the history of science, and a nonsensical "vision," where superhuman AI will direct science and the only human talent needed is heartland tinkering to build the mechanics dictated by AI. It is bad science fiction and worse science policy.
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 2w agoOnce you understand that this is a model of science written by non-scientists who hate universities but love venture capital and redirecting money to political allies, everything makes a lot more sense. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/u...
DEI keyword search led to billions in cancelled California university grants The Trump administration cancelled $2 billion of research grants to UC professors. Their legal team says it has proof that was unconstitutional.
DEI keyword search led to billions in cancelled California university grants
The Trump administration cancelled $2 billion of research grants to UC professors. Their legal team says it has proof that was unconstitutional.
cal.news
Using an open-source pipeline to read every comment on OMB's proposed grants rule that could have significant impact on science and technology research funding, Christopher Steven Marcum and Abigail Haddad find the verdict "clear and lopsided": ~94% oppose it.
The Public Rejects OMB's Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Tens of thousands of scientists, clinicians, and ordinary citizens warned OMB about putting political appointees in charge of which research gets funded.
buff.ly
It feels strange to share good news, but: I’m moving to UCSD in July!! 🥳 I'm very grateful for my time at Princeton and SO excited for what comes next. We're building multiplayer games to study how teams are shaped by the problems they solve. If that sounds fun to you, I'm accepting grad students!
Yeah, fuck this. Our public money is essentially being diverted from science to supporting the stock prices of ruling party donors.
Science Magazine@science.org · last mo.Exclusive: The National Science Foundation is trimming this year’s budgets for hundreds of its traditional basic science programs by roughly 20% to 30%, even though its overall budget is down just 3%. https://scim.ag/4xY2KCm
The OMB proposed rule will impact more than just science...we are talking $1.5 TRILLION in federal funding including: Veterans benefits (e.g., VA, housing) WIC SNAP TSA Air traffic control Pell Grants Headstart Vocational training, to name a few. GO YELL: fight2win.standupforscience.net
Stand up for Science
Stand up for Science
fight2win.standupforscience.net
New @nberpubs: "Before the Exodus? Young Scientists and the Future of US Science" www.nber.org/papers/w3533... "The fraction likely to stay in the United States fell by 21 percentage points" 😔
"The [grant] success rate should not fall below 30%..." Korn et al. Science, 2002. AAMC, AAU, and FASEB team. The biggest pressure pre-Trump on NIH that got scientists angry and drove the Abundist critique was this. Success rates are now ~5%. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The NIH Budget in the
Five years ago, the U.S. Congress agreed to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health, setting a goal to increase the agency's budget to $27.3 billion by 2003. This was an extraordinary c...
science.org
Oh I *LOVE* the @planetarysociety.bsky.social's dashboard of OMB proposed rule changes. The clarity of their thematic clusters is great, but the insertion/deletion tracked changes is outstanding. I hope everyone prepping comments makes great use of it. dashboards.planetary.org/rules-change...
To see how important US science is, consider measurements of changes in ocean heat content. US data are ~53% of the total. Over half! But removing the US data is worse than randomly removing 80% of the total data, because unlike other countries, the US makes measurements everywhere. 🧪🌊
Critical dependence of global ocean heat monitoring on the ocean observing system - Nature Climate Change
International collaboration has facilitated a global ocean observing system, providing data to measure ocean heat content at a resolution that enables the tracking of climate change. This study looks ...
nature.com
THE OFFICIAL @standupforscience.net GUIDE FOR TALKING TO ANYONE ABOUT THE OMB RULE PROPOSAL!! www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a...
How To Talk to Anyone About OMB-2026-0034 — Your Site Title
Written By: Colette Delawalla, PhD, CEO
standupforscience.foundation
Each Friday night, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪 A deep dive in tonight’s special and urgent issue on the OMB’s gambit to achieve by rule-making what the administration fails to win in court. buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Year 2, Week 23
May 29-Jun 5, 2026 – power moves
buttondown.com
RE: OMB-2026-0034 Comments Vought was unprepared for the revolt on his hands and they are struggling and/or obstructing to get comments up in real time. They have weeks to actually post things after a review, so the numbers and specific individual comments may take time showing up. 1/3
• Submit a comment opposing the destruction of 🇺🇸 science; • Pressure every org, professional body, association, uni, etc. you are affiliated with to submit the strongest possible comment opposing this calamity (highest ROI move for most of us) • Make sure your electeds see those comments 🧪
Trump's Russ Vought Is Trying To Kill American Science. We Can Try To Stop Him, | Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland
Trump's Russ Vought Is Trying To Kill American Science. We Can Try To Stop Him, by Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland on Patreon. Join Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer by Matthew Cortland...
patreon.com
Each week, I write a briefing on what happened in US science & higher ed. 🧪 Needed to write Year 2, Week 22 a day early. It is grim. - new NSF grant delays - gut-churning policy proposals on NDA, accreditation, peer review - academic freedom surveys & so much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Year 2, Week 22
May 23-28, 2026 – by design
buttondown.com
This is disastrous AND almost exactly one year ago, we warned it would happen: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... @michaelemann.bsky.social @vambros.bsky.social @carlbergstrom.com @briannosek.bsky.social
Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it | Colette Delawalla
The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way for state-controlled science
theguardian.com
Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 2mo agoBREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf
An unapologetically angry post about what’s being done to US science:
The Current Crisis: What's Happening to Science in America
science.org
The news about Trump’s $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund has left me absolutely ENRAGED! So I made some art about it. Here are some ideas for other places where we could put that money to much better use. Click the link to read the whole comic! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/trumps-18-...
My paper on peer effects has been accepted at the Journal of Political Economy @jpolecon.bsky.social. In it, I formulate and empirically test a theory of why students influence each other's learning in school: by competing with each other. I thank the editor, referees, and data editor.
There will be more to say - and this is far from over - but this is one giant step toward justice for our grantees at the National Endowment for the Humanities. #NEH staff have awaited this day for more than a year - for you, and for us. 🙏✊
Sarah E. Bond@sarahebond.bsky.social · 3mo agoNika! Now this is why you support the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and MLA! Hell yeah. Judgement (all 143 pages) here: www.acls.org/wp-content/u...
Last weekend I received the Troland Research Award from the @nationalacademies.org. I’m so grateful to the communities who made this work possible. It's strange to receive this award at a time when much of the work being recognized is not eligible for federal funding. My remarks 👇 and a 🧵>>
NAS 163rd Annual Meeting - Awards Ceremony
YouTube video by National Academy of Sciences
youtube.com
It takes a village to produce research with impact. This is the idea that motivated us to write this paper, published today. Kudos to the team: @lluisdanus.bsky.social @william-dinneen.bsky.social @carotorreblanca.bsky.social @guygrossman.bsky.social @asc.upenn.edu www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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
Today, our #SCIMaP team released an impact analysis of the White House proposed FY 2027 NIH and NSF budgets. Bottom-line: if enacted, cuts to science and medical research would lead to $35B in economic losses and 150,000 lost jobs in communities all across the US. scienceimpacts.org 🧵
Some reports say over 500 schools, 55 libraries, & 25 universities hit. You can debate the numbers, but hitting Sharif University & Beheshti is like hitting MIT & Stanford. I keep wondering: How would the scientific community respond differently if it was those universities? What’s the difference?
