A black cat sitting inside an open chewy-dot-com carton as if he was the newly received merchandise.
Look what I “received” last week!
#Caturday
#cats
#catsofbluesky
#blackcats
A very large black cat stretched out on the floor, looking out onto the balcony.
A second view of a very large black cat stretched out on the floor, looking out onto the balcony.
Just another lazy #Caturday…
Hope you’re enjoying yours!
#catsofbluesky
#cats
#blackcats
#noircats
Feels like this paper on protein-templated DNA synthesis by a natural enzyme warrants some comment.
So here's a 🧵. /1
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A very large black cat stretched out on the floor, looking out onto the balcony.
A second view of a very large black cat stretched out on the floor, looking out onto the balcony.
Just another lazy #Caturday…
Hope you’re enjoying yours!
#catsofbluesky
#cats
#blackcats
#noircats
Handheld electronic calculators also changed the way algebra, trigonometry & other “pre-calculus” topics are taught in grades 7-12.
I’ve met really smart STEM-degree holders who did not recognize the “law of logarithms” nor the relationships among logs, multiplication, division & exponentiation.
I don’t think this is just hair-splitting about Norton’s place or title in the NIH hierarchy.
I don’t think it’s just about censorship.
It’s a salvo in the war against the Federal Civil Service in general, and a “Schedule F” shot across the bow for anyone in senior-level positions.
The plan to “Make America Healthy Again” is to let evolution take its deadly course.
“Bad genes” = death from any of a long list of possible causes.
“Good genes” = survival.
“Best genes” = billionaires using polygamy, surrogacy & sperm-banking to produce dozens of allegedly superior offspring.
Dear Member of Congress: The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) are deeply grateful for the longstanding bipartisan support from Congress for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We want to inform you of current and likely impacts of delays and changes in funding policies and procedures for NIH grants. Our concerns relate to the following areas within NIH: • Massive reduction in notice of funding opportunities • Delays in funding processes and inadequate capacity to administer grants • Increase in forward funding of multiyear awards in year one • Delays and potential lapses in funding for large clinical trial networks and clinical trial units Lack of transparency around permitted international collaborative partners for research projects • Disproportionate impact of grant terminations on vulnerable populations, especially women and people of color
U.S. infectious disease research is on the brink. Without immediate action from Congress, much of it will cease to exist within a year.
For example👇
1️⃣ No collaborative RFAs posted for >1 year (normal: many / year).
2️⃣ No foreign collaborators allowed on grants.
🧪🪦 www.idsociety.org/globalassets...
I’ve always associated Trump’s Sharpie signature with a seismometer trace of an earthquake… but a liar’s polygraph signal works too.
We already KNOW how to make super babies, you eugenicist creeps! And it's all the things you fucking fucks are fucking up! THREAD!
A self-professed bird watcher may not have any “expertise” that has died…
Contemplate instead the lack of even rudimentary knowledge known by ordinary citizens.
(I’ll pull up a retired genetics professor rocker, if you’re OK with sharing your porch.)
I saw the hearing live on C-SPAN, and Stephens was absolutely on fire.
I also remembered that she is running for the Democratic nomination for US Senate, to replace the retiring Greg(?) Peters…
So, maybe no notes, but I would guess well-rehearsed.
Members of the Epstein Class would make a different correction.
Most Americans don’t realize how widely state & local taxation on gas & diesel varies.
Even fewer seem to know that _all_ US taxation on gas is substantially less than the taxes levied by Canada, UK & European countries.
We’d have more EVs & fewer SUVs if fuel prices captured GW/CC externalities.
Calculators were invented so that engineering students wouldn’t have to keep track of the decimal point when they used slide rules.
Cover of report "Mission Aborted: how NASA illegally implemented the president's budget request without congressional approval. Minority staff report, prepared by members of the committee on science, space, and technology, us house of representatives, April 2026
This report came out today by minority staff of the House science committee on how three NASA missions were aborted due to NASA illegally following the FY26 president's budget request instead of congressionally approved budget. Very important reading. 🔭🧪 democrats-science.house.gov/staff-report...
This researcher created a fictional illness, and fake studies funded by the Professor Sideshow Bob Foundation and University of the Fellowship of the Ring and the Galactic Triad.
LLMs warned people the illness was real.
go.nature.com/4mDXXka
"Mosquitoes in Iceland are more than a curiosity or future annoyance. They are a warning …" - Amanda M. Koltz and Lauren E. Culler
Iceland—previously the only Arctic nation without mosquitoes—no longer holds that distinction.
"The detection of mosquitoes just north of Reykjavík in 2025 reflects an ecological shift already underway," write Amanda M. Koltz and Lauren E. Culler in a new #ScienceEditorial. https://scim.ag/4tg86pJ
NEWS: Judge halts local TV giant Nexstar's deal for Tegna until trial
My story:
www.npr.org/2026/04/17/n...
Seven data sets all agreeing on the overall surface temperature trends from 1850 to 2025.
Apropos of nothing here’s a picture of global cooling (it’s that tiny little dip at the end).
University of Washington astronomers have published evidence of a possible planetary collision that could inform our understanding of how celestial objects like the moon form.
'Cause it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me. I don't give a damn;
Next stop is old Iran.
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the Pearly Gates.
Ain't got time to wonder why.
Trump'll make that bad Pope die!
Whenever Trump lie-brags about stopping Iran, remember this from JCPOA, the deal Trump tore ups:
"Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons."
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/defaul...
Bettors, start your engines! Polymarket and Kalshi are calling!”
“Bettors, start your engines! Polymarket and Kalshi are calling!”
Because “Bones” was already taken.
15 years ago I played around with multi-boot configurations on a spare 1999-series PowerBook G3 (“Lombard”)…
MacOS X Tiger + MacOS 9.1 on one partition, some flavor of Linux on a second partition, and a 3d-party application called X-Post-Facto that allowed switching among them.
It worked — barely.
*perfect*
Having just watched _The Martian_ again, the epilogue of Matt Damon’s character explaining how you survive in space is fresh in mind.
The graphic contains a photo of Rep. Sewell and RFK Jr. from RFK Jr.'s hearing that took place on the 16th of April, 2026. The graphic reads: "Rep. Sewell to RFK Jr.: Sir, you are the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the world's most powerful county, and your words matter. When you suggest the re-parenting of black children, when you so doubt the safety of vaccines, and when you promote unproven statements that have no basis in science, you endanger the lives of everyone across this nation." "Contact Your Rep! #RemoveRFKJr, LINK IN BIO." The graphic also contains the Stand Up for Science logo.
Rep. Sewell said it plainly: the HHS Secretary must not be an anti-science conspiracy peddler. RFK Jr. is putting Americans in danger. Tell your Rep to co-sponsor the articles of impeachment here: fight2win.standupforscience.net/campaign/150...
A bunch of white guys with skinny ties and cigars behind bulky 1960s style Mission control console exultant and relieved.
56 years ago today: Relief at Mission Control as Apollo 13 astronauts return safely to Earth.
🧪🔭