Good morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’

theverge.com

Hey! This the amazing Veronica Esposito, looking for trans people who'd be willing to chat about stockpiling medication for an upcoming Assigned Media story. Please share and reply to her if you'd be willing to be interviewed.

@veraeikon.bsky.social · last mo.

Hey everyone, I'm working on a story about trans people stockpiling hormones in the face of all the threats to our medical care. I'm still looking for a few more trans people to talk to about this. If you're be willing to be a part of my story, please DM me. I'm happy to maintain your anonymity!

The BLM is moving forward with oil and gas leases on Conecuh National Forest, one of the most herp diverse national forests in the country and some of the best remaining intact longleaf woodlands left in Alabama.

Here is what OMB rule means for states/local governments (>$1 trillion in revenue at risk): 1) More admin burdens: inestimable amount of new paperwork, allowance for agencies to add vague new “risk factors” in grant determination, vast expansion of E-verify, Buy America provisions on everything…

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BestOfJune26, whatever bird capture you deem your best from the month of June. This was an easy choice for me: Least tern hen and chicks! #EastCoastKin #birds #birding #birdnerd #birdwatching #birdsky #PhotographersOfBlueSky #tern

You may have heard about the OMB rule change that will put politics over federal grants. However bad you think it is? It's probably worse. Thanks to @theverge.com for letting me report this one out. There is still time to comment. bit.ly/4v2X4nQ

The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it

“Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.“

bit.ly

Hi I'm posting a 54-page PDF to the only app where when I post a 54-page PDF people sometimes read it everyone should read the ENTIRE whistleblower statement about DOGE attempting to falsely "kill off" 2.7 people through the SSA Death Master File. www.washingtonpost.com/documents/be...

First up is my article from @tvolmag.bsky.social "Can Monkeys be Gay?" which is a good introduction to the topic! (2/n) 🧪🏳️‍🌈 #PrideMonth www.prosocial.world/posts/can-mo...

Next, my article from @tvolmag.bsky.social on same-sex sexual behavior in chimpanzees! (3/n) 🧪🏳️‍🌈 #PrideMonth www.prosocial.world/posts/same-s...

This is wild. “Our ethogram, did not allow room for sexual behavior not between a male and a female….The result is a self-reinforcing loop: there is little or no published data on same-sex behavior, so we assume it is rare, so we do not study it, so there continues to be little or no published data”

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Next, @mebenitez.bsky.social article "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in @tvolmag.bsky.social! She uses examples from her own research about how using established ethograms prevented recording and studying same-sex sexual behaviors! (4/n) 🧪🏳️‍🌈 #PrideMonth www.prosocial.world/posts/dont-a...

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride Month! Mindful that biology has been weaponized against the LGBTQ community by people who don’t know much about biology, I’m making daily, queer, biologically themed posts for #PrideMonth2026 6/6: Male giraffes mostly have sex with each other. bi.org/en/resource/...

Giraffes Take Bisexuality to New Heights

Research shows that giraffe bisexuality is real and, even more so, very significant.

bi.org

This is an amazing thread—continuously added to—on the ubiquity, evolution, and function of same-sex sexual behaviors across the animal kingdom. By a primatologist. 💀 I’m learning a lot. Save, follow, and turn on notifications so you can keep coming back for a new episode. Nature is queer AF 🧪🏳️‍🌈🌈

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Happy #PrideMonth! To celebrate, I'm starting a thread of readings on queerness in animals/evolution, and keep adding throughout the month. I'll include a mix of writing for popular audiences as well as some scientific articles and book recommendations! 🧪 🏳️‍🌈 (1/n) Nature has ALWAYS been queer! 🌈

We need ~30 years of data from the AMOC to be able to finally determine if it's actually collapsing. We're at 20 years of data. Removing this now means we can't definitively determine a potential AMOC collapse that could result in substantial climate disruptions. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

Tump administration to remove 900 deep sea monitoring instruments that would have studied the collapsing Atlantic current

The Ocean Observatories Initiative has been collecting data on physical, chemical, geological and biological conditions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the past decade

livescience.com

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

If these changes go through, it will be impossible to do effective science in the United States. Logistically, labs will not be able to function under these constraints. Team science—vital to almost every discipline—will be impossible under the rules around international collaboration.

5) And then there are bizarre overreaches, even if small in comparison: Requiring funding agencies to provide advance approval at the time of grant submission to attend a conference. Banning page charges making it impossible to comply with existing federal open access funding mandates.

4) International scientific collaboration is severely restricted. For the better part of a century the greatest strength of US science has been its position as a focal point of international research activity. This policy dooms US science to inevitable irrelevance.

3) Any grant can be terminated for any reason at any time—a devastating change that makes it impossible hire personnel, plan experiments, conduct field studies, or carry out most of the day-to-day activities that constitute effective science.

2) Appointees are given multiple grounds to apply political litmus tests as grounds to deny funding to investigators and their home institutions.

A few critical points: 1) Program officers will be replaced by political appointees in the grantmaking process. The role of peer review—originally introduced into US funding agencies for large part to prevent political interference with scientific research—is strongly diminished.

Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

It is with great sadness that we report H.4756 has been signed into South Carolina law by Governor McMaster. It is important to note what this bill does and does not do. See the carousel for more information about the bill and our next steps.

I assigned random gender/ethnicity labels to scientific abstracts from the literature and then asked Claude to do a thematic analysis. Claude identified a clinical versus computational split for female/male authors and a DEI focus for Black/URM authors. All in completely random data.

You may have noticed I disappeared from social media after my launch of @beyondxandy.bsky.social I was violently attacked by a transphobe who recognized me and have been in the hospital and resting If you'd like to help me with my medical bills, please consider donating here: gofund.me/9328f91f2

Donate to Help trans activist Jey McCreight recover from hate crime, organized by Jey McCreight

I am a transgender activist and science communicator who was v… Jey McCreight needs your support for Help trans activist Jey McCreight recover from hate crime

gofund.me

saw this on an ACT UP poster from 1988 at the Poster House museum today. the more things change :)

Mexico City activist Razzia Santillán talks with TNN's @thefreeradical.org about charges for using the bathroom, the need for cross-border solidarity among the trans working class, her experiences on the front lines of fighting for trans liberation and more in this wide-ranging interview:

‘Our Communities Are Literally Dying’: Inside a Mexico City Activist’s Fight for Liberation

Trans News Network interviews Razzia Santillán, a long-time trans activist in Mexico City. After police assaulted her in 2023 for using the women’s bathroom, she’s fought legal battles while organizi...

transnews.network

Nature-based solutions: a double-edged sword for biological invasions? www.cell.com/trends/ecolo... 🧪🌎

Nature-based solutions: a double-edged sword for biological invasions?

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly promoted to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, but the consequences of scaling up NbS for biological invasions, an acknowledged biological…

cell.com

ally™️: "what can i do to help trans people right now?" us: "give us money." ally™️: "wait,, really?" us: "yes, really. a lot of us are struggling and direct aid is most impactful. i can send you some gofundmes...."

ally™️: "what *else* can i do to help trans people right now?"

The recent trans rights cases--Skrmetti on health care, the shadow docket passport order, and the pending athletics cases--should be seen in this context, as vehicles for chipping away at the promise of equal protection

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The right, along the Roberts Court, is trying to nullify the Reconstruction amendments guaranteeing equality under the law, in order to restore the Antebellum Constitution, which envisions “liberty” as an eternal aristocracy of race and class (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

🚨 US House of Representatives are voting on two anti-trans bills next week in an attempt to severely restrict gender affirming care for youth. HR3492 would criminalize parents and providers charging them with felonies if they even attempt to access care. Join us next week and fight back! Link ⬇️