Going on a trip? Don’t let COVID-19 crash your summer plans. Wearing an N95 mask protects you from respiratory viruses like COVID-19. Consider wearing a mask in indoor and crowded places like airports and planes. Learn more: go.cdph.ca.gov/respiratory-viruses

My two cents People are going to get so fucking sick and not know why. Some people are going to die.

Paul Bleicher@pbleic.bsky.social · 2w ago

Astonishing. RFK Jr. adds 8 members to a 6 member FDA advisory panel. 6 of them were sellers of peptides, and the 7th a compounding pharmacist. In an 8-6 vote with all 8 votes coming from these new panel members, the panel approved 4 peptides against the objections of FDA scientists.

1. We—@eduede.bsky.social, @mjcrockett.bsky.social, Kevin Gross, and I—have a new preprint on the arXiv today, based on ideas that emerged during an @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop in November 2024: The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science.

The unintended consequences of large language models as a labor-augmenting technology in science

As a labor-augmenting technology, large language models (LLMs) have the potential to accelerate scientific activity across the research pipeline. But even if LLMs perform on par with human experts at ...

arxiv.org

DOGE officially ended over the weekend. One of its crowning achievements was cutting $15M from the federal government’s screwworm monitoring program. Now, the Trump administration is preparing to spend $1B to combat the screwworm outbreak. "Efficiency."

One calculation that blew my mind: When I push a pedestrian beg button to cross an arterial road w/ 40 mph spd limit. Wait of 90 sec means a car 1 mile away gets to priority to clear the intersection before I am allowed to cross the road. I am standing roadside breathing particulates

OB Cycler@obcycler.bsky.social · last mo.

They installed a full size traffic light on the new section of walk/bike path by the airport Drivers are much more likely to stop at a regular looking traffic light than a HAWK or RRFB But its timed so you have to wait 90 seconds in the hot sun while people sitting in air conditioning get priority

It would have been epic

It’s been less than a week since Riley O’Neil’s funeral and the city is actively removing protected bike lanes from 18th street. Just 2 weeks ago everyone in the city made public comments that Riley’s death was a tragedy & yet this week they’re making biking less safe

Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts

Here is the full post laying out not just what students said (they had a lot to say!) but also why it felt much different this time around—and what I think is important to take away from these conversations: thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/i-asked-my...

I Asked My Students About AI Again

Here's what they said—and why it wasn't what I expected

thebrokencopier.substack.com

We identified 17 of the 27 'grievances' in the Declaration of Independence with a contemporary analog. We then annotated those 17 grievances with quotes from federal judges across 52 court cases involving the Trump administration. The judges in their words (many referencing the Declaration itself)

Today’s Judiciary on the Anniversary of Declaration of Independence

Many actions taken by the current administration echo the grievances laid out in the Declaration of Independence against King George III.

justsecurity.org

And while I'm retweeting Nathan, I would desperately like everyone on Bluesky to read & internalize this thread of his. The fact is, people generally say what they think. There's no secret Straussian cabal manipulating things. People aren't lying for money. They believe the things they say.

Nathan Tankus@nathantankus.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So one I would emphasize that these kinds of people talk the same behind closed doors as they do in public. What was, in fact, the striking thing was how much a rich or powerful person talk like they tweet.

Assuming Democrats ever re-obtain power, they cannot treat it as a mere change of party control, the next swing in the perpetual metronome of American democracy. They must characterize it as an AMERICAN RESTORATION, a new birth of constitutionalism in a dark sea of corruption and absurdity.

I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇

Another handful of sand in the gears: Researchers cannot serve on a panel *at all* if anyone from their institution has submitted to that panel. Recusing themselves for the proposal itself is no longer sufficient. This is needless, but will certainly slow things up even further.

NSF imposes stricter conflict-of-interest rules for grant-review panels

Researchers say changes could further burden the understaffed agency

science.org

the following are all probably true and not in the least contradictory: 1. There's a huge bubble in AI investment, the crash is going to be bad 2. A majority of the tasks we've been promised AI will "take over," it will not 3. AI will completely transform coding

has any man ever been more vindicated? x.com/stuartbuck1/...

Calling all Scientists! Research Administrators! Deans! Fans of Science! No one is coming to save us. Here is your assignment. I have written a step by step, easy to understand "how-to" document to help you comment on the proposed OMB rule. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

What We Need to do NEXT: OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule (OMB 2026-10817)

What OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule Means in Practice

elizabethginexi.substack.com

Virologists love typological thinking. Even when leads them to be wrong over and over again (including about COVID being airborne!), they will confidently cling to it.

Esther@elhopkins.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I disagree, there is already evidence of airborne risks. Governments it would seem have learned no lessons from COVID. Why are Doctors wearing FRSM masks? Why hasn’t the precautionary principle been applied. We already know when we cough it produces aerosols. When we vomit it’s aerosol producing 🧵

to say the quiet part out loud: most PhD programs fund grad students with a mix of fellowships and teaching, but mostly through teaching. if TAs are replaced by AI, most PhD programs will cease to exist

Miriam Posner@miriamposner.com · 2mo ago

The implicit “problem” these white papers are dealing with is the TAs’ success at winning a favorable employment contract. The “solution” these white papers propose is to divest from reliance on grad students as teachers. Instead, we’ll use AI, undergrads, and anyone else we can exploit.

What I’m hearing from friends and colleagues in tech companies is the most insane shit I’ve ever heard. Organizations are fucking up previously functional workflows and operating models, ditching workers, and adding unpredictable costs out of mass FOMO with no plan.

Jessica Lussenhop@jlussenhop.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"Anuj Kapur, CEO of CloudBees, told Axios that workforce cuts may simply be 'the only lever they can pull' to offset their AI bills." dkluhgblkerhjbflkjbnrelkgjbnrleakjgbnlrekj www.axios.com/2026/05/28/a...

I stepped off the library dean path when it became clear that this would be the job--managing the end of academic libraries as we know them. Please know that these changes are just a result of defunding. They do not herald some bright digital future. There will just be less access to knowledge.

"One of the reasons the e-bike discussion feels so distorted is because humans are terrible at evaluating familiar risks versus unfamiliar ones. Cars have been dangerous for so long that Americans largely accept the danger as background noise." #bikesky electrek.co/2026/05/26/a...

America is panicking about e-bikes while ignoring the real problem

If you spend enough time reading local news headlines these days, you’d be forgiven for thinking electric bicycles are one...

electrek.co

I have been saying for years that Democrats should run against Republicans on the issue of corruption. Make fighting corruption the centerpiece of their hopefully populist campaigns. Well, if they don’t run on corruption this year, against Trump, then they deserve to lose.

Yes. Especially true for things like IT! IT for science should report up to scientists, not just lawyers. Cut the mission focus out of maintenance and rooms go boom (or fall apart); cut the mission focus out of IT and tech doesn’t work or falls apart.

BWJones@bwjones.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Also true for things like IT.

“Units of the NIH are privately directing grantees to request permission in advance for any co-authorship with a scholar affiliated with a foreign institution, even if all the work was done in the United States.” Grantees also told to remove papers with foreign authors from progress reports.

U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators

NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication

science.org

wow — the preprint host, arxiv, is banning authors for a year if they submit papers with hallucinated citations 🤖

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦@helenbranswell.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I find this unsettling: A new study in #Lancet shows that the number of faux citations in scientific articles is on the rise, and #AI is likely to blame. @aniloza.bsky.social reports. www.statnews.com/2026/05/07/l...

This is the best cycling advert ever, especially because I’m in it. It beautifully shows that cycling is for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from. Bikes bring people together and remind us that cycling is one of the best ways to improve our health and wellbeing.

Rode the Bergen Bike Bus today to make a big announcement: We’re redesigning Bergen Street and Dean Street, from Court Street to East New York Ave — adding new bike boulevards and more pedestrian space. Safer rides to school for New York City kids coming soon.

Gotta love how in an era where gas prices are spiking and we might, just might, get more people interested in biking, especially with the advent of e-bikes, the CA Legislature is doing its damnedest to kill e-bikes because of weird moral panics www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

California should reconsider its rush to regulate e-bikes

OPINION: California is debating ill-considered legislation that would issue new restrictions on e-bikes, including a bill that would enact age limits, Stephen Zoepf writes.

sfchronicle.com

You wanna know something really wild? E-bikes are already displacing more emissions from autos than electric cars. Wild! Break free from the uncertainty and cost of gas prices - buy an e-bike! www.cbc.ca/news/climate...

Want an EV for under $5,000? How about this option? | CBC Climate Change News

In this issue of our environmental newsletter, we look at trends around a cheaper kind of electric vehicle: e-bikes; check out CBC's own e-bike fleet; and find out how laptops are getting recycled in ...

cbc.ca