Opinion | America’s Formula for Greatness Is Under Threat

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/o...

‘A sigh of relief’: New malaria drug succeeds in large clinical trial As existing drugs falter because of resistance, the world gets a backup—but hard choices loom on how to use it

‘A sigh of relief’: New malaria drug succeeds in large clinical trial | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Moscow Idaho, where Wilson has his church

Also, just FYI: I lived in Moscow for years, this is the “public voice” Wilson uses when talking to an intellectual equal and wants to sound non-threatening. In Moscow, surrounded by his acolytes, he’s much more belligerent.

Opinion | He Believes America Should Be a Theocracy. He Says His Influence Is Growing.

I’m struck that there is a lot of talk of the 10 commandments, but nothing about the beatitudes.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/o...

Opinion | Peace in Trump’s Time — Except Here

“Trump seems oblivious to the paradox of enforcing peace abroad and disrupting it badly at home, of soothing violence overseas and inflaming it here……The contradiction is hard to square. It’s not going to win our president a peace prize.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

We Must Not Devolve Into This (Or We Risk 2,500 Years of Progress) - RyanHoliday.net Before we get into it…with the upcoming release of ​Wisdom Takes Work—the fourth and final book in my Stoic Virtues series—we’re doing a collector’s set of all four books. There’s a limited run of the...

A friend shared this: worth reading and thinking about
ryanholiday.net/we-must-not-...

Trump’s Unforgivable Sin Voters have proved willing to tolerate corruption, but there’s one thing they won’t ignore.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The Alpha-Gal Syndrome Story: How Researchers Traced a Red-Meat Allergy to Ticks At the intersection of a red meat allergy and a cancer-drug reaction investigations, researchers pinned a lone star culprit.

A very nice history and summary of the biology of Alpha-gal syndrome (acquired red meat allergy) and its relationship to ticks:
www.the-scientist.com/the-alpha-ga...

Gerrymandering may be legal, but it’s definitely not ethical. Texas Democrats have already been disenfranchised. Texas voters: 47.5% D, 37.7%R
Congressional delegation: 12D, 25R
Republicans in TX are pissing on the idea of representative democracy just to give their dear leader more power.

Presidential Pettiness Donald Trump seems to have no theory of governance beyond personal gain and retribution.

“But roller coasters don’t have actual destinations, and sooner or later, even the most dedicated riders will want to get off.”
We can only hope

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

A mushroom that escaped from kitchens could be harming North American wildlife The golden oyster mushroom has gone rogue, displacing native fungi that live in dead trees

An interesting invasive species story:
A mushroom that escaped from kitchens could be harming North American wildlife | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Scientist's cat, again, helps discover new virus Pepper, the pet cat who made headlines last year for his role in the discovery of the first jeilongvirus found in the U.S., is at it again. This time, his hunting prowess has contributed to the identi...

phys.org/news/2025-07...

Democrats stage a science fair of canceled grants to show what’s been lost Partisan fight over Trump cuts heats up as Congress works on 2026 spending bills.

“The Things We’ll Never Know: A Science Fair of Canceled Grants”
www.science.org/content/arti...

Billions of flies to be dumped out of planes in an effort to fight flesh-eating maggot known as "man-eater" The move is part of the government's plans for protecting the U.S. from the New World screwworm fly, which could devastate its beef industry and even kill household pets.

Great story, but a pretty sensationalized headline for a control approach that has been in use and proven successful for over 70 years!
www.cbsnews.com/news/billion...

How to science a science with science The purest description of the scientific method I ever saw was in a novel by Kurt Vonnegut. A workman discovers that if he puts a bucket full of nuts and bolts on one of the many supporting struts …

diagrammonkey.wordpress.com/2025/07/03/h...

Humans are killing helpful insects in hundreds of ways − simple steps can reduce the harm Insects are often under pressure from several threats at once, from pesticides to habitat loss to pollution.

theconversation.com/humans-are-k...

First They Came - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_T...

Trump Administration Fires Librarian of Congress

When they start attacking librarians you have to ask, what’s next?

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

Europe Makes a Pitch to Attract Scientists Shunned by the U.S.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/w...

Opinion | Trump’s Single Stroke of Brilliance

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/o...

Universities in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union thought giving in to government demands would save their independence Before the Nazis, German universities were among the best in the world. Step by step, the universities gave up their independence until they were instruments of the state.

I’ve worked in and around universities for my entire career (starting in 1980), and during that time I’ve seen a lot of change, but what is going on now is an inflection point. This article offers a lot to think about:
theconversation.com/universities...

Opinion | Magical Thinking About a Miracle Mineral (Gift Article) Quick, everyone! Talk about fluoride, not measles!

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/o...

Opinion | A Lot About Trump Doesn’t Add Up (Gift Article) A very petty man in a very powerful job.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/o...

Vaccine skeptic hired to head federal study of immunizations and autism A long-discredited researcher and vaccine skeptic will conduct a government study on whether vaccines cause autism.

The fox guarding the henhouse?
www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

Rare disease drug nitisinone makes human blood deadly to mosquitoes A study in Science Translational Medicine found when patients take the drug nitisinone, their blood becomes deadly to mosquitoes.

Interesting work coming out of my alma-mater, the University of Notre Dame (MS, PhD):
news.nd.edu/news/rare-di...

Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? (Gift Article) Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.

“….with a trivial investment of 0.000008 percent of the federal budget, N.P.G.S. scientists quietly enable and safeguard our food system, worth around $1.5 trillion. Talk about return on investment.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

Opinion | If Elon Musk Were Empathetic (Gift Article) Valentino Deng also has roots in Africa, but he exudes the empathy that Musk scorns.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

Yes, Musk said 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.' Here's context The X owner delivered the quote during a Feb. 28, 2025, episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

Yes, Musk said 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.' Here's context www.snopes.com/fact-check/e...
This is the guy Trump has put in charge, just sayin’

23 Amazing Insects in Flight – Slow Motion! YouTube video by Ant Lab

Cool!
youtu.be/gDI5g3rd0Ls?...