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Alex Silver

@alexsilverlevy.bsky.social
282 followers 661 following 15 posts

Postdoc at Penn & Pitt playing with babies & studying how we learn math

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Reposted by Alex Silver
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 25/11/2025
A third infant in Kentucky has died of whooping cough this year. Reminder: The best way to protect against whooping cough is to get vaccinated. Adults should get a Tdap booster every 10 years, so please check, you may be overdue!
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Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
How awful. This is outright health disinformation, lying to the American people. Not only is there massive evidence showing no link between vaccines & autism, there’s not even a plausible mechanism based on what we’ve learned about the genetics of autism, some environmental exposures in pregnancy
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Molly Crabapple @mollycrabapple.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
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/
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
Submit a Claim
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Sofiya Hupalo @sofiyahupalo.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
NIH grant applicants: October and November grant application submission *deadlines* will be rescheduled (🤯). Specific dates TBD. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-26-005: Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Interim Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities NOT-OD-26-005. NIH
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 13/11/2025
you could fact check this — there aren’t 30 million illegal immigrants and there is no evidence that the presence of an immigrant in say houston has any impact on housing in madison, wisconsin — or you could note straightforwardly that this is just nazi rhetoric
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ACLU @aclu.org · 10/11/2025
BREAKING: The Supreme Court denied an attempt to challenge Obergefell v. Hodges, the case affirming marriage equality nationwide. Our freedom to marry remains the law of the land.
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 10/11/2025
How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.
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Hadley Wickham @hadley.nz · 06/11/2025
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp.... genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
github.com
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Watching RFK jr run away from someone collapsing feels like a harbinger of things to come
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Thomas “Scary” Fuchs 🎃👻💀 @thomasfuchs.at · 31/10/2025
Meme showing six logical operators illustrated with jack-o'-lantern images. 

trick OR treat 
trick AND treat 
trick XOR treat 
trick NOR treat 
trick NAND treat 
trick XNOR treat
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Michael Bazaco @mcbazacophd.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
I love kids. I have two of them. They’re amazing. However, kids are the absolute least self aware, clumsiest little puffins on the planet. Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times. Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀 #PublicHealth
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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Pennsylvania has an important Supreme Court race coming up on Tuesday, November 4. If you live in the Keystone State, or know someone who does, vote YES to retain three justices who will protect your fundamental rights and freedoms.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The Senate is still meeting and holding votes as normal despite the shutdown. The House has not held a vote in a month and a half now solely because Mike Johnson wants to prevent the release of the Epstein Files. They've killed our government to save their pedophiles.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
New story up on the non-existent banned words from NIH grants (based on my grant title, word cloud analysis) www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n... 1/3
statnews.com
Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next
The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official
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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
"Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion." My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy. www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
tennessean.com
Here's why Vanderbilt's response to the Trump higher ed 'compact' is not enough | Opinion
With the deadline looming for colleges to sign Trump's "compact," Vanderbilt must resist, says one university professor.
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Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett @crockett.house.gov · 23/10/2025
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
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Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
With millions at risk of losing SNAP in the coming days, a reminder: hunger doesn't happen in isolation. When food assistance disappears, families use rent money to eat. Then come evictions and homelessness. Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.
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Chris Baldassano @chrisbaldassano.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Columbia Psych is hiring *two* junior faculty in Cognitive Science/Neuroscience this year! If you work on cognition (broadly defined), submit your application materials as soon as possible (review starts Nov 1). If you have questions you can reach out to me by email! apply.interfolio.com/175428
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
"you will be intellectually transformed by the process of reckoning with the knowledge these courses are about" Essential reading about why learning is important even if/when you forget the specific content (and is especially important in these times)
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
VERY TROUBLING NEWS REGARDING NIH INSTITUTE DIRECTORS A new appointment for NIEHS 1/3
An email appointing Kyle Walsh is director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
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Sara Partridge, PhD @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education. America’s children deserve better than this.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 12/10/2025
Seeing a lot of celebration of this as a win. But at NIH we have seen this exact play before. It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture. A 🧵:
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error
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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app · 10/10/2025
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
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Shana Gadarian @sgadarian.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 08/10/2025
twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross
photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 08/10/2025
I will not back down. Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 25/09/2025
🚨BREAKING NEWS: Congresswoman files articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. We've been sounding the alarm for months, sending 3k+ quack-o-grams, and collecting 25k petition signatures calling on our reps to impeach & remove RFK Jr. We’re closing in on him. Help us WIN the fight. 🦆 zurl.co/vkZQV
Poster-style graphic with bold text reading “TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES: THE QUACK RFK Jr. HAS TO GO!” A large photo of RFK Jr. is overlaid with a yellow biohazard sign, while a man’s shoe is about to kick him out. At the bottom, logos and text say “Stand Up For Science” and “Fuel the fight: standupforscience.net.”
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
800 detainees are missing after being held in Alligator Alcatraz in July, showing no record of their location in ICE’s database. Other detainees have been mistakenly deported or sent to detention centers thousands of miles away. The cruelty is the point.
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Jacquelyn Gill @jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
The federal government has censored the work of dozens of scientists, including work by my lab, on the impacts of climate change on Acadia National Park. Signs have been removed from Cadillac and Great Meadow. They’re also removing signs about the Wabanaki’s sacred connections to Cadillac.
barharborstory.substack.com
Signs Referencing Climate Change Along with Web Pages Removed from Acadia National Park
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund.
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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Autism does not need to be cured Ableism does The end
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Gleafer @gleafer.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
They’re gonna blame the moms. They always blame the moms. They’re blaming moms for using the only safe pain reliever that in no way causes autism but WILL cause undue guilt and anguish. Tylenol doesn’t cause autism.
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ACOG @acog.org · 22/09/2025
ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. bit.ly/47Wxc59
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Sheryl Weikal says Prosecute ICE @leftistlawyer.com · 29/07/2025
No I don't want "humane" deportations, for the same reason I don't want "friendly" cops in schools or "understanding" genital inspectors at sporting events. The problem is the fascism, not that the fascism is rude.
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M.J. Crockett @mjcrockett.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
Glad Science collected this data (though the results are entirely unsurprising). GenAI cannot accurately summarize scientific papers, sacrificing accuracy for simplicity. And shame on publishers who are pushing genAI summaries on readers. Great way to accelerate an epistemic apocalypse.
Screenshot of popup window on Elsevier website advertising their AI product to "read strategically, not sequentially... ScienceDirect AI extracts key findings from full-text articles, helping you quickly assess an article's relevance to your research.. unlock your AI access"
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 21/09/2025
NEW: Air Force jets are doing ICE flights to Africa with transponders turned off, making them nearly un-trackable. This includes the third-country removal to Ghana and another secret flight. We figured out where it landed. From me for @rollingstone.com: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
ICE Is Deporting People to Africa on Nearly Un-Trackable Military Flights
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is deporting people to African countries like Ghana on military flights that are nearly un-trackable.
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Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 03/09/2025
The National Center for Education Statistics is hiring two researchers to work on NAEP, the first green shoots after DOGE came through back in February. They limit to 150 applications, so move fast if interested. www.usajobs.gov/job/844948000 www.usajobs.gov/job/844947600
usajobs.gov
Education Research Analyst GS-1730-14 (MP)
<p>There are two positions located in the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Science in Washinton, DC. The&nbsp;Assessment Development Expert and the Assessment Administration Expert is respon...
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
FWIW, "yours for the restoration of the Republic" was a common salutation American fascists gave to each other in the 1950s and 1960s. This is from a 1952 letter by Ohio white supremacist terrorist Peter Xavier. The rest of the rhetoric here might be familiar too.
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Dr. David Miller 🏳️‍🌈 @davidimiller.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
🚨 Major shake-up in NSF funding for K-12 STEM ed: Caps proposals at $750K max for 3 years. Prior cap used to be $5M up to 5 years for some programs. Archives several existing programs (DRK-12, AISL, CSforAll, TD, parts of ECR:Core). Combines into broad program with much lower expected # of awards.
nsf.gov
NSF STEM K-12 (STEM K-12)
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
You can tell yourself we are not living under a personalist authoritarian regime or you can listen to the spokesperson for that regime
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
What Danielle said. According to the Yale Budget Lab, the average effective tariff rate in this economy right now is 18.2% Let me put that another way. President Trump has raised taxes on American businesses and consumers by -- on average -- 18.2%
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Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · 21/08/2025
The Radnor Township Police Department asked that students and nearby resident shelter in place. It was not immediately known if there are any injuries.
inquirer.com
Police responding to reported active shooter at Villanova University
The Radnor Township Police Department asked that students and nearby resident shelter in place. It was not immediately known if there are any injuries.
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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
2 bits of data from new Economist/YouGov poll..... 13% support for cutting research funding to universities. 24% among Republicans. Polling on this continues to be catastrophic for the Rs, suggests Dems should be learning far harder into standing up for science and our universities. 1/
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Ashley Rattner @ashleyrattner.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Is this about academia
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
They recovered over 180 bullet shells at the CDC. Debris from shattered glass is still being cleaned up. I am completely stunned at how quickly the news cycle has moved on. This was an act of terrorism targeting public health experts, and the response seems to be a collective shrug.
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The It's Innate! Podcast @theitsinnatepc.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
🚨 New ep! We talk w/ Professor Kiley Hamlin (@jkileyhamlin.bsky.social‬) about her dev sci path, training w/ legends (Woodward, Wynn, Bloom, Santos), & her Nature Comms paper showing 5-day-olds prefer helpers over hinderers. Plus: reconciling ManyBabies & replication woes. itsinnate.fireside.fm/31
itsinnate.fireside.fm
Moral kombat (with Kiley Hamlin)
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Andrea Howard @drandreahoward.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
I don’t know who needs this right now, but I really enjoy browsing “Paper Skygest”, a feed of posts on academic papers *from people you follow*. I think it’s what a lot of us are actually here for
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Sorta feels like "they are actively gutting cancer research" should be finding more purchase out there
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