NIH just posted this news announcement. "Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR)"

NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity

The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.

nih.gov

Live Science will be covering @standupforscience.bsky.social irl from several locations tomorrow 🧪 Are you planning to attend in your area? Let us know why! cc @killgrove.bsky.social @livescience.com @cdelawalla.bsky.social

Solidarity with our members in the CBS New Digital Union as we begin bargaining today. We're fighting for a strong first contract for workers at CBS' digital platforms including CBSNews.com, its mobile site, social media channels and the CBS News app. Fair contract here we come! 💪 #UnionStrong

Join us at the Nonbinarian Bookstore in Brooklyn or virtually on Zoom on March 18!!!

The Sick Times@thesicktimes.org · last yr.

Join The Sick Times editors @betsyladyzhets.bsky.social and @heatherhogan.bsky.social for an evening commemorating Long COVID Awareness Day 2025 and the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic landing in New York City. RSVP in-person: bit.ly/43nVjHO RSVP virtual: bit.ly/4kqYqVu

The hope: The L.A. Times will appear more "objective" if it presents both sides of an issue. The reality: Kind of a mess.

The L.A. Times adds AI-generated counterpoints to its opinion pieces and guess what, there are problems

The hope: The L.A. Times will appear more "objective" if it presents both sides of an issue, even if one side's written by a human and the other side is generated by AI. The reality: Kind of a mess.

buff.ly

🧪💉🦠 #SciCom

Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)@nicolanese.bsky.social · last yr.

ICYMI: A few stories from the @livescience.com health desk: 1) A yet-unidentified illness has killed 53 people and potentially infected hundreds more in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO is investigating. www.livescience.com/health/virus... By Patrick Pester + me /1

ICYMI: A few stories from the @livescience.com health desk: 1) A yet-unidentified illness has killed 53 people and potentially infected hundreds more in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO is investigating. www.livescience.com/health/virus... By Patrick Pester + me /1

Mystery illness kills over 50 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

A yet-unidentified illness has killed 53 people and potentially infected hundreds more in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The World Health Organization is investigating the outbreak.

livescience.com

In the category of "small things I can control," I've volunteered as a clinical trial participant! And before you ask, yes, I'm pretty sure its lines of funding are (currently) beyond federal interference. For the moment, it's full steam ahead — hoping to spin a story out of it, so more to come 💉💊

It is worth paying close attention to the new bill "Dangerous Viral Gain of Function Research Moratorium Act" introduced by Senator Roger Marshall. If enacted, it will effectively stop all of virological research, including for vaccines. www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/u... 🧵👇

Elon Musk said DOGE made a mistake by cutting USAID’s Ebola prevention but it had been “restored.” That’s not true, current and former officials told me and @johnphudson.bsky.social. “There have been no efforts to ‘turn on’” Ebola prevention, said Nidhi Bouri, who oversaw team until January.

Musk claims DOGE ‘restored’ Ebola prevention effort. Officials disagree.

USAID’s initiatives to fight Ebola and other diseases have been gutted, current and former agency officials said.

washingtonpost.com

Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies www.thetransmitter.org/policy/exclu...

Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies

Such a shift would “put us back in the dark ages in terms of our science,” says neuroscientist Anne Murphy, who helped to formulate the original policy.

thetransmitter.org

LGBTQ federal workers say they're terrified they're about to be fired for their gender identity, sexual orientation, or past efforts to support other queer and trans employees—in other words, a second Lavender Scare. Honored to have their trust with this story: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

LGBTQ federal workers brace for a McCarthyist purge

"They’re not asking people ‘Are you gay? Are you lesbian?’ They’re asking, ‘Who is participating in DEI?'"

motherjones.com

Looking for a scientist who can speak to the effectiveness of using species recovery (think beavers, bison, etc) efforts to reduce the severity/spread of wildfires. This is for an article, not the film. DM me or comment below!

This case report — uncovered by @laminda.bsky.social for our "Diagnostic dilemma" series at @livescience.com —highlights a little-known risk of seeing your favorite bands in concert 👇

Mindy Weisberger@laminda.bsky.social · last yr.

If, like me, you often feel like doing some forceful screaming these days, take heed from this case report about a teen who screamed her way to a trio of respiratory conditions at a One Direction show. Fun fact: The paper's lead author—an ER physician—was in a boy band & toured w/Destiny's Child 🎤

Finished my 1st read of "The Will to Change," and it's as timely a text as ever (although it could benefit from more queer perspectives imo). I wouldn't say it's a hopeful read, as the struggle it outlines is ongoing and has no simple solutions. But it's an important read, nonetheless! #booksky

Cross Currents: why is the trump administration and rfk going after prozac and adderall for kids? my latest for scientific american www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...

Why Is the Trump Administration Villainizing Mental Health Meds for Kids?

A federal commission to examine U.S. chronic disease could undercut real treatment for kids with depression, ADHD and other mental health challenges

scientificamerican.com

I've been processing the termination of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID, of which I was an unpaid volunteer member. This decision doesn’t just eliminate a committee—it diminishes the voices of millions suffering. 🧵

This is a great feature on #eDNA by our Planet Earth editor Hannah Osborne. We're using a new article template, which i think looks really lush thanks to @marilynperkins.bsky.social's excellent design skills. What do you think? www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

Invisible DNA lurks everywhere in the environment — and we're on the verge of decoding its secrets

Environments are littered with the DNA of the creatures that inhabit them. Analyzing it could provide a real-time view of how our planet is changing.

livescience.com

Reposting this, as the deadline is approaching 👀

Nicoletta Lanese (she/they)@nicolanese.bsky.social · last yr.

Interested in interning for @livescience.com? Applications are open! 📰🧪 The internship runs 10 weeks and is remote, tho interns can work out of our NYC office if they like. Pay is $16.50/hr for 29.5 hrs/wks (East Coast time). You'd be writing many story types across our verticals! /1

ICYMI: A couple highlights from the @livescience.com health desk this week 🧪🧠 1) An improvement to an existing AI-based brain decoder can translate a person's thoughts into text without requiring hours of training. www.livescience.com/health/mind/... By @skylerdware.bsky.social /1

AI 'brain decoder' can read a person's thoughts with just a quick brain scan and almost no training

An improvement to an existing AI-based brain decoder can translate a person's thoughts into text without hours of training.

livescience.com

Make your mind up 😂 www.livescience.com/space/astero...

NASA changes odds of the asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 yet again — but this time it's good news

NASA increased the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth to 1 in 32, or 3.1%, on Tuesday, but they're now back down to 1 in 67, or 1.5%.

livescience.com

Here's why reporters should question HHS' explanation that the vaccine advisory meeting ACIP is delayed to give the public time to comment. This agenda was *supposed* to be open for comment starting Feb 1. But comments were closed. See the federal register document.

🧪 New #sourcerequest: I'm looking to speak with students or early career academics who use AI for data collation, experimental planning, literature review, writing, referencing and statistical analysis. I'd love to hear about the specific tools you use and how you use them.

"The Committee on Science, Space and Technology is surveying the impact of the Trump Administration's mass firings of fed employees from science agencies." 👇 democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings (Caveat: I can't speak to the security on the backend of this site - just passing the link along.)🧪

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

democrats-science.house.gov

Don’t miss this AI tipsheet for journalists, from @bwfund.bsky.social fellow @emmalgometz.bsky.social, with @caiwei.bsky.social, @alexandreorrico.nucleo.jor.br, @rodneygibbs.com @nicolakimjones.bsky.social and more. 🧪

Key Questions for Journalists to Consider Before Using Generative AI - The Open Notebook

Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT or DeepSeek, are increasingly on the lips of industry leaders in journalism. But with the technology’s opacity and rapid development, writers should carefully cons...

theopennotebook.com

People ask this question a LOT, so I talked to some amazing folks and wrote a short explainer. tl;dr - Leave it, take a pic, tell the SHPO. 🏺🧪

What should I do if I find a cool artifact in the US?

Spotting artifacts in the U.S. is common, but archaeologists want you to leave them in place.

livescience.com

Sharing this, in part, because I've gotten well-meaning questions from folks who are trying to make to make sense of the "COVID origins controversy." From outside the world of medicine, virology + epidemiology, it's hard to clock that the CIA's "reports" aren't actually adding new info: 🧪🦠

Kristian G. Andersen@kgandersen.bsky.social · last yr.

I have been getting a surprising number of questions about CIA's low-confidence announcement that they believe SARS-CoV-2 came from a lab. A few comments in 🧵, but to summarize: 1️⃣ No new intelligence 2️⃣ No new report 3️⃣ No evidence exist to support SARS-CoV-2 came from lab 4️⃣ Usual nonsense More 👇

Interested in interning for @livescience.com? Applications are open! 📰🧪 The internship runs 10 weeks and is remote, tho interns can work out of our NYC office if they like. Pay is $16.50/hr for 29.5 hrs/wks (East Coast time). You'd be writing many story types across our verticals! /1

I went to AAAS this weekend and talked to lots of scientists about how they're feeling In These Times www.sciencenews.org/article/defu...

The mood is ‘uncertain, anxious’ at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting

Scientists are losing funding and even their jobs under the new Trump administration. Researchers at the AAAS meeting shared fears and coping strategies.

sciencenews.org