Where U.S. science has been hit hardest after Trump’s first year The Trump administration has slashed the number of grants from the National Institutes of Health, with far fewer focused on women, cancer and mental health.

Those of us doing research related to women’s health have been hit particularly hard by the govt’s sabotage of the NIH. I spoke to WaPo for this piece, as painful as it was to discuss the reality my lab is facing. www.washingtonpost.com/science/2026...

The occasional crunch of the cover glass as the objective crashes into your slide 😬💀

High quality audio of microscope sounds in operation as an ASMR channel

The System That Decides What Science Gets Published Is Breaking Down The peer review system that validates scientific research is trapped in a self-defeating cycle. A new mathematical model shows why—and what comes next.

Some first-rate science writing: For this story, @jdrakephd.bsky.social carefully read our recent paper and then we spent a very fun 90 minutes or so talking on zoom. His article that gets right to the heart of our model, explains it clearly, and then explores why it will matter in the future.

What a weird way to play pickleball

Only one of the 97 NSF awards made since end of February has been in biology. ONE.

a cat wearing a cowboy hat is sticking its tongue out while reading a book ALT: a cat wearing a cowboy hat is sticking its tongue out while reading a book

I don't see this in the program...

That handycam/camcorder is giving strong 80s vibes ! Does it record to tape? 😁

Congratulations!

I was wondering if they're still going to implement multi year funding this year.

Rotisserie. How else do you get even temperature on all sides, especially in the winter?

Coming out of the haze of grant-writing and looking forward to attending #Dros26 in Chicago. 🤩 Pls stop by posters from our lab (178T and 245F) where we use flies as a platform to study secreted effectors from intracellular bacteria. Looking forward to reconnecting and also meeting new fly peeps!

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

I have a lab drawer full of various sizes of ziploc bags.

Excited to announce the upcoming 2026 Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity GRC and GRS meeting taking place July 12 - 17, 2026 at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. This meeting will be chaired by yours truly and co-chaired by
@sunnyshinlab.bsky.social www.grc.org/microbial-to...

Feel free to use x

Gold stars, chocolate, coffee, whatever works :) It's very satisfying to see those consecutive checked boxes, too.

This is a great goal! Also stuck in the writing doldrums.

And you even have similar sounding words in your department affiliation and expertise 😁

Neat! What will you be observing?

Are you an early-stage graduate student (2nd or 3rd year) or early-stage postdoc based in the US or Canada, working primarily in Drosophila? Would you like to help improve the experience of all trainees working in Drosophila research? If so, read on.

(Please repost to reach a broad audience.)

You are not overly suspicious. This is a real possibility especially since there do not appear to be any search committees.

But I don't want them to be able to say that they selected candidates when only 3 people applied (including their pre-selected candidate).

a man wearing a red shirt with the letter w on it says " who are we if we don 't even try " ALT: a man wearing a red shirt with the letter w on it says " who are we if we don 't even try "

I realize that these timelines are absurd and wanting to take on one of these important positions under the present circumstances is problematic, but NIH needs qualified applicants to apply.

Please consider applying, even if you are not sure you would accept the position if offered.

3/3

Required reading for cell biologists to get a sense of basic statistical principles!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Looking forward to reading it 😊

That looks so cool ! 🤩

Frustrated little dude gripping a pencil saying “how do I pack this down into something I can actually share?” While swirling rainbows labeled “INFINITE POTENTIAL” float around them. Little dude frowns at a tiny grey box, exclaiming “all that work for THIS?!” Little dude shoves the grey box into another little guy’s hands; Frowning, stomping off, and saying “Here you go, I made this, it sucks.” Second little dude cracks open the box, swirling rainbows project out onto their face. Second little dude stares in awe at all the swirling rainbows now floating around them.

Sometimes we’re unsatisfied with a thing we made because when it only existed in our head, we saw all the things it could have been and when it’s done we know all the things that it isn’t, but we can’t see the way it expands into a million new things when someone else unpacks it in their head. 🖊️🦑

We are hiring a lab technician! Join our group studying signaling networks in #Drosophila, with a possibility to carry out a research project. Please RT.
Job posting: employmentopportunities.umb.edu/boston/en-us...
Veraksa lab website:
www.faculty.umb.edu/alexey_verak...

FlyBase needs your help! We ask that European labs continue to contribute to Cambridge, UK FlyBase, whereas US and other non-European labs can contribute to US FlyBase. For more information and how to donate: wiki.flybase.org/wiki/FlyBase...

Fay: Cuts to research funding risk the collapse of U.S. science and technology I started as an assistant professor of molecular biology at the University of Wyoming in 2001.

Thanks to @isakoditomassi.bsky.social and the McClintock Letters Initiative who motivated me to submit this.