P. David Polly
@pdpolly.bsky.social
David is a vertebrate paleontologist who grew up near Boonville, Missouri. He is also British. “Read broader, think deeper, do better”: https://pollylab.org/
"I was born in 1914 in a solid, three-story, brick house in a large Midwest city...All the props of a safe, comfortable way of life that is now gone forever." Died on this date, 1997: William S. Burroughs, raised on Pershing Pl. and Price Rd. in St. Louis.
This persecution of Fauci is unacceptable. 7.1 million people died of Covid-19 since it jumped to humans. Dozens of viruses out there also have potential to jump anytime and cause similar deaths. Nobody will be willing or able to fight them. Thanks Rand Paul and RFK jr. wapo.st/3TAPlAj
The intense pressure facing Fauci, as GOP lawmakers push for his jailing
The 85-year-old doctor, once the head of the government’s covid response, now faces mounting congressional threats and legal risks.
wapo.st
Truly sobering.... "Last week, the Association of American Universities reported that graduate student enrollment in major research universities, which award half of all doctorate degrees in the United States, is down 15% compared to a year ago." www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - University science in the US needs a coherent plan
The Trump administration continues to degrade America’s scientific establishment, causing widespread harm to the country’s broader interests and well-being.
sciencemagazinedigital.org
“… fearing for public safety…” How is it that ICE is so full of cowards? And why is the only thing they know how to do is pull the trigger of a loaded gun? #UnAmerican #Immoral www.bbc.com/news/videos/...
What we know about latest fatal ICE shooting
An ICE officer shot and killed a man in Maine - BBC Verify has been examining video footage of the incident.
bbc.com
One trick pony, this man. Except this time he declares that grazing is a “traditional cultural place”. 🤪 www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Trump again shrinks two national monuments in Utah
The president’s orders trim Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments to a small fraction of their current size.
washingtonpost.com
Today is the final day you can leave a public comment on the OMB proposal that will destroy American science as we know it. Leave your comment at the link in our bio, or go here: zurl.co/1M9hH and register for our OMB Deadline Day meeting today at the link in our bio! Article: zurl.co/3LQxi
Stand up for Science
Stand up for Science
zurl.co
www.conservationlands.org/callous-exec...
Callous Executive Orders Virtually Eliminate Two of America’s National Monuments
Join the Conservation Lands Foundation in protecting over 35 million acres of National Conservation Lands, America's newest, wildest public lands. Explore how you can take action, support local commun...
conservationlands.org
As though it weren’t already obvious…. Graham’s Death Highlights Congress’s Age Issue www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/u...
Graham’s Death Highlights Congress’s Age Issue
By the standards of the aging Senate, where the average age is more than 65, the South Carolina Republican wasn’t particularly old.
nytimes.com
Well, human made. This will change things… This Cell Feeds, Grows and Reproduces. And It’s Manmade. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
This Cell Feeds, Grows and Reproduces. And It’s Manmade.
From chemical building blocks, scientists have created synthetic cells that have most of the hallmarks of life.
nytimes.com
Boy, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Alito just voted against my right to US citizenship, and theirs too, and basically said that the US Constitution is unconstitutional. And the US Senate is apparently okay with that… www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Supreme Court upholds principle that almost all born on U.S. soil are American
If the court had struck down birthright citizenship and upheld President Donald Trump’s executive order, the ruling would have had sweeping political, economic and social ramifications.
washingtonpost.com
Remarkable reporting from Guardian’s Jason Wilson. White House creating dummy websites for voting, passports, even login.gov. All equipped with new tracking software. They’re not “coming for our guns.” They’re coming for our data.
‘It’s dangerous and it’s going to erode trust’: redesign of US government websites stokes surveillance fears
The National Design Studio, staffed by Doge veterans, installed visitor-tracking software on vital federal websites
theguardian.com
Unjustified post-hoc, posthumous paper retractions by a publisher’s policing bot…. suggests there is no process whatsoever for forced retraction of papers. www.science.org/content/arti...
Why have papers by one of history’s most famous physicists been retracted?
Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame
science.org
You would think they would run out of ways to break Indiana University… thank you Rick for sticking with us as long as you could. # www.ipm.org/2026-06-16/d...
Dean of IU’s College of Arts and Sciences removed, says ‘not a change I sought’
Van Kooten served as dean for nearly seven years. Caroline Chick Jarrold, associate dean of natural and mathematical sciences and research, will serve as interim dean.
ipm.org
$1 Trillion and Counting: See How Your Net Worth Compares With Elon Musk's www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
What It Means for Elon Musk to Be Worth $1 Trillion
We used physical dollar bills to see just how far $1 trillion could go.
nytimes.com
Neil Shubin on Trusted Science in a ‘Deeply Partisan Age’ www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/s...
Neil Shubin on Trusted Science in a ‘Deeply Partisan Age’
nytimes.com
$70b for abducting people off American streets and spiriting them away. $70b billion!!! To abduct people. 😕 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
House passes $70 billion immigration enforcement funding through Trump’s term
The legislation, which brings to an end a four-month lapse in funding, now goes to President Trump to sign into law.
washingtonpost.com
Missouri Governor Joe Folk in 1907 denouncing corporations: “We have formed a corporation, we did not eat the apple, the corporation did. Adam & Eve would have been permitted to remain, form new corporations, and continue to eat apples as long as they please.” So too with PACs today…
My paper on Mesocyon is finally out! This will be part of a special issue on John Day Fossils Beds National Monument. Art by Kaori Chambers www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The concise history of modeling character evolution. Handy timeline. academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🧪 #EvoBio #Paleobio
