US lawmakers intensify scrutiny of scientific-publishing practices A congressional hearing covered the rise of paper mills and the costs of open-access publishing — but there was little agreement on what reform would entail.

In a rare show of unity, both R and D US lawmakers agree: the scientific publishing industry needs reform.

Lawmakers are worried about the literature being flooded with 'AI slop' and the high open-access fees that some publishers charge.

Read more @nature.com on this week's House Science hearing

At least 5 dead in Burundi from a mystery illness: Africa CDC Lab tests are negative for more than 200 pathogens, but testing continues.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), an outbreak of a mystery illness in Burundi has killed at least five people and sickened 35 others since March 30.

Read more: ow.ly/7aEO50YLiLl.

The latest #AIBS Public Policy Report has been released. Leadership shakeup planned at science agencies, #NSF #GRFP draws scrutiny over rejections without review, Administration repeals Endangerment Finding, & other news. www.aibs.org/news/2026/26...

How do we protect wildlife from HPAI? Here, King Penguins vaxxed w self-amplifying mRNA 2344b H5 vaccine. Chicks followed for 250 days - good immune responses, no adverse effects. Good to see trials like this, protect species of conservation concern.
👉 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

RIP to the GRFP vanity number: 866-NSF-GRFP.
Now disconnected. 📞

RIP to the GRFP vanity number: 866-NSF-GRFP.
Now disconnected. 📞

NSF GRFP update—My mentee’s RWR appeal is “actively being reviewed.” The GRFP Op Center # was disconnected. Seems that DGE is fielding these calls now. When we finally got through, we were told to “give it two weeks”; the person we spoke to would not provide their name or additional info. 🙃

Addressing pandemic-wide systematic errors in the SARS-CoV-2 phylogeny - Nature Methods This Resource paper presents a global SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree of 4,471,579 high-quality genomes consistently constructed by Viridian, an efficient amplicon-aware assembler.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Our paper, led by @martibartfast.bsky.social
a) correcting errors in 4.5 million genomes & their phylogeny
b) improving representation of the Global South in public data
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(thread 1/n)

This is devastating on so many levels. Thank you to @noamross.net and others at grant-witness.us for organizing this.

ALSO... feeling so proud of all the trainees (including my first PhD student) who submitted proposals despite all of the hurdles they faced in November.

WHO statement on notification of withdrawal of the United States WHO regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe. The notification of withdrawal raises issues that will be con...

“WHO therefore regrets the United States’ notification of withdrawal from WHO – a decision that makes both the United States and the world less safe.”
🧪

www.who.int/news/item/24...

Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents today in Minneapolis, appears to have been a registered nurse, an athlete, a son and a brother, with ties to Colorado and Wisconsin.

Here is a photo he used for several accounts.

Dealing with ScienCV formatting Some tips for composing and making your new NIH biosketch not look like garbage

Been hearing some horrifying chatter about dealing with the new #NIH common form and #ScienCV system, so I put together a short video with some tricks for mitigating some of those pain points.

Hope it helps? 🧪

open.substack.com/pub/emptymod...

The NIH has lost its scientific integrity. So we left “We can no longer lend our credibility to an organization that has lost its integrity,” write four scientists and administrators who recently resigned from the NIH.

“But we can fight back. The biggest lesson the four of us have learned over this past year is that what feels impossible and overwhelming when you’re sitting by yourself can begin to feel achievable and urgent when you are working with others that share your values.“
🧪

Learn about using the VectorByte Databases, VecTraits and VecDyn, to answer cool questions! Save the date for the VectorByte training workshop at Virginia Tech, together with EEID, May 30-June 1, 2026!!

Tactic

Really pleased to share this website with you all for our Wellcome Trust funded TACTIC project developing tools, analyses, engagement, and communication around health impact assessment.
Check out our site, the team, and stay tuned for more!

www.tactic-tools.org

Logged onto X yesterday for the first time in months and was immediately met with this gem 🧭🗺️🤔

Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work.

Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/

🚨 Recruiting 12 PhD students for a new NSF-funded program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences! This program is for U.S. students who received an Honorable Mention on the NSF GRFP within the last 3 years. @uafairbanks.bsky.social

www.uaf.edu/cfos/academi...

Hello mosquito 🦟 and microbiota 🧫 🦠 aficionados, we are looking for a postdoc to join our team (Saleh's lab @salehlabparis.bsky.social at Institut Pasteur @pasteur.fr ) to investigate the interplay between the mosquito, its microbiota, and arboviruses. More information here 👇

⁉️ NSF requests that GRFP applicants provide 'official transcripts' with all personal information (except name) redacted?

🪦 editing an official transcript generally flags the document as 'altered'
🪦 often official transcripts are encrypted, which prevents upload entirely

⁉️ NSF requests that GRFP applicants provide 'official transcripts' with all personal information (except name) redacted?

🪦 editing an official transcript generally flags the document as 'altered'
🪦 often official transcripts are encrypted, which prevents upload entirely

I’ve gotten really into needle felting… my fingers look like pin cushions but it’s been great for maintaining my attention during virtual meetings.

I would love that! 🤩

I’m stoked to be in closer proximity to you and I hope our paths cross again soon! And yes, this department is FABULOUS 🥰

Please share with anyone who cares about NSF support for graduate students and take 30 seconds to sign and leave a comment.

The deadline for the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program is about one month away and literally no one can apply. #NSFGRFP

jasonjwilliamsny.github.io/grfp2025/

Thank you, Karen! Please come visit — we can wrangle ectos. Miss you!

Here we go!

Over 13,000 H-1B workers have joined 200+ land-grant, sea-grant, and R1 research institutions so far this fiscal year.

I also found that public institutions in large, Republican states are disproportionately affected by Trump's $100,000 H1-B fee.

Find your state or your school:

Hey fellow PIs! 👋 What’s the single piece of advice that saved you when you first started your lab?

Drop it below—let’s start a coffee table book! 🧠 🧪

Thrilled to be getting settled at my new scientific home in the ISU College of Vet Med! 🧬 @iowastateu.bsky.social
#iowastate

vetmed.iastate.edu/article/dr-a...

The summarised schedule of Black in Micro Week 2025, October 14-16. All times are in Eastern Standard Time. Mon 14: Pathways for Change. Welcome and Keynote Address 12pm. Marian Johnson-Thompson, PhD. Panel Discussion: Finding Black Spaces in STEM, 1:15-2:15 PM. Weds 15, Careers & Research: ECR Symposium 9-12 PM. Panel discussion: Navigating Careers in Microbiology 2-3 PM. Thurs 16, Community: Panel Discussion - Empowering Your Science 12-1:15 PM. Workshop: Science in Action

Today is a great day to register for #BiM2025 #BlackInMicro Week. Get ready to join our online celebration: linktr.ee/BlackInMicro (or see link in bio)