These assholes back down when we push back. We should push back more often. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/c...

Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to End Ocean Monitoring

nytimes.com

While at #ASMicrobe today, look for folks with buttons and stickers with this logo. Often it’s their first-time to the meeting or they’re coming alone so please take some time to talk to them about their work and welcome them to the great community we have in @asm.org #MicroSky 🧪🔬🦠

Come see my poster showing off the @bvbrc.bsky.social at #ASMicrobe on Sunday: HEALTH-SUN-335 @binningsingletons.com

Heading to #ASMicrobe 2026? The Bioinformatics Resource Centers including @bvbrc.bsky.social @brcanalytics.bsky.social, and Pathogen Data Network are planning their first ever Open Community Forum! June 5 • 6:15 PM–7:30 More info and optional RSVP: pathogendatanetwork.org/network/ Please share!

Mayor Brandon Johnson's health commissioner exits www.chicagotribune.com/2026/05/22/m...

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s health commissioner exits

Chicago’s public health commissioner, Dr. Olusimbo Ige, is exiting the Chicago Department of Public Health, the mayor’s office confirmed late Friday.

chicagotribune.com

1/2 As part of a collaboration with @solidevidence.bsky.social, @securebio.org and others, we published a report in the NEJM Evidence today describing the detection of a single measles infection by id’ing ~40 reads in a billion from a wastewater facility that serves >1 million people. Wild.

Detection of a Single Measles Infection Using Untargeted Ultra-Deep Metagenomic Sequencing of Wastewater in Cook County, Illinois

Measles is a contagious, vaccine-preventable viral disease that can be shed into wastewater by infected individuals. In September 2025, as part of an ongoing, nontargeted, ultra-deep metagenomic se...

evidence.nejm.org

This is crazy. Imagine a hole the size of a football field that is 700 feet deep. Now fill it up with wastewater, and remove a tablespoon. That was our starting material for this study. 1/

Sad to hear this.

J. Craig Venter Institute@jcvi.org · 3mo ago

It is with great sadness that we announce J. Craig Venter has died. 🧪🧬 www.jcvi.org/media-center...

yeah man i'll circle back to you on that agenda item from yesterday's all hands in just a sec. our pedophile king just threatened to destroy a whole civilization

If you are a student whose NSF GRFP application was returned without review for vague 'eligibility' reasons: 1) Let your department chair & Graduate School know. Encourage them to contact NSF & congress 2) Write to your congressional reps. 3) Write to grfp@nsf.gov to request re-consideration;

NSF GRFP applicants (and mentors): Was your application Returned Without Review and deemed ineligible despite fitting in the allowed topics? 1) Write NSF 2) Write your Congressperson 3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter

It me :)

@bvbrc.bsky.social · 9mo ago

We’re excited to be at #ASMCUE to present some of our classroom applications. If you’re here, check out our microbrew talk tomorrow morning.

Rando: "Communist!" Zohran: "It's pronounced 'cyclist!" Zohran is so good at this. #Zohran #NewYork

In honor of the transit bill that was passed in the middle of the night last night, saving public transit in Illinois from certain disaster, here’s a picture of my cargo bike dressed up as a @chicagocta.bsky.social train for Halloween.

The average nucleotide identity (ANI) underpins how we map microbial diversity, compare species, and connect genomes to ecology. I wrote a short piece reflecting on the discovery and significance of this metric (and really enjoyed digging into the context and story behind it!) #microsky 🧬

May it be so.

The Life After Cars audiobook read by Doug and Sarah is out, too! You can listen while you walking, biking and taking public transit.

New story about yesterday’s #NoKings didn’t even make it above the fold in today’s @nytimes.com.

Three reasons I have hope for America, even after a very dark week: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/why-i-have...

Why I Have Hope for America

This weekend's "No Kings" rallies stand as an important corrective amid a dark moment

doomsdayscenario.co

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.

Three newly published books argue that cars are destroying society as well as the planet. Is the world finally ready to rein in the automobile? My essay, in @bloomberg.com (gift link below)

‘Car Brain’ Is Making the US Unhealthy and Dangerous. EVs Won’t Fix It.

A trio of new books argue that we need to confront the full range of costs that car-based living has imposed on our cities, our health and our society.

bloomberg.com

Apple has removed an ICE tracking app that allows users to report ICE activity nearby from its App Store. The removal came after a direct demand from Trump’s DOJ. Once again, Big Tech is bending the knee to our tyrant-in-chief to protect its bottom line.

bluesky please don’t implode, I refuse to try any more new things

Logan Square neighborhood, Chicago. Man wearing a balaclava in a white, unmarked vehicle, pulls the pin on a tear gas canister and tosses it in the road. "Just trying to grab some lunch and these fucking losers showed up. FUCK ICE!" source: www.reddit.com/r/LoganSquar...

Lynda Lopez@lyndab08.bsky.social · 10mo ago

State Representative Lilian Jimenez on the tear gassing of protesters near Rico Fresh on Armitage and Central Park.

Among them, a Poretsky Lab alum whom we miss very much here in Chicago (but are so excited for.)

Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology@mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Wel­come, MarMic Class of 2030!! 👩‍🔬 13 stu­dents from 8 countries have ar­rived to our In­ter­na­tional Max Planck Re­search School of Mar­ine Mi­cro­bi­o­logy MarMic. We’re very happy to have you & look for­ward to the years ahead! www.mpi-bremen.de/en/Welcome-M... @maxplanck.de #marinebiology

Hi, Pete Hegseth. It’s me. Army veteran, Judge Advocate lawyer, and law professor. Your vain and gross performance to our nation’s military leaders succeeded only in proving your incompetence, dangerousness, and childishness. You’re a petty spoiled 7th grade boy without the sophistication or class.

This is your daily reminder that registration is open and *FREE* for #BiM2025 #BlackInMicro Week. Get ready to join our online celebration: linktr.ee/BlackInMicro (or see link in bio)

I’m a sewage system. I also have a great personality.