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Abby Polter

@ampolter.bsky.social
3K followers 411 following 1.4K posts

Associate professor in Washington DC. Neuroscientist/mouse psychiatrist

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Reposted by Abby Polter
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Carson is the second female Nobel winner in recent years to have been denied tenure. Katalin Karikó was denied tenure at Penn www.forbes.com/sites/conorm...
forbes.com
Researcher Demoted By University Of Pennsylvania Wins Nobel Prize For mRNA Discoveries—And Some Academics Urge Penn To Apologize
Katalin Karikó’s research laid the foundation for both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
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Magdalena Miedl aka espressozitron @mmiedl.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
"There is something revealing in the gap between the masculine fantasy of protection and its reality: the fantasy requires a stranger, an obvious villain, a moment of uncomplicated heroism. Reality asks a man to believe a woman over his friend."
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
right? And I have a MUCH clearer view of what I'm proposing and what I expect after wrestling with that flow and readability. but my dad taught me to red pen edit writing when I was eight, so maybe I would say this
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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
super high guy on the street looks at me and goes—where am I? Is this the end of the rainbow? and I said I don’t know man, that’s the US Capitol over there And he just goes “oh shit then no”
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
as always, I loved and hated being lost in The Writing as I love and hate myself
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
regretfully. I really need to get this down to two slim paragraphs.
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Spent the afternoon/evening wrestling four paragraphs making separate points into three paragraphs making four points that logically flowed from each other into an obvious hypothesis. I wish I could somehow transmit those hours to students as an example of the writing IS the thinking.
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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
a little louder for the cheap seats in the back
One of the biggest myths is that men rape by mistake. Like, "Oh, they need consent training." But research is very clear: Sexual violence is not a mistake. It is an intentionally made decision by people who know they don't have consent. They just don't prioritize consent over things like status, power, domination, and sexual gratification.
For my research, I got a certificate of confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health, so my notes couldn't be subpoenaed. One of the reasons I call them perpetrators in my work is because every single person I interviewed confessed in that context. The first question I would ask them was, "When you received that email from Title IX that you were under investigation, did you know what it was about?" Every perpetrator I interviewed said "yes." If sexual assault were a miscommunication, you would be wondering, What have I possibly done wrong? That is not the way that any of them reacted because they knew.
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
not dead, just pining for the fjords
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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Alex Kwan @alexkwan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Serotonin biology as a basis for explaining psychedelic drug action - I learned a lot writing this review with @neuroknox.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol... We know a good deal about serotonin, which should teach us how psychedelics work. But what’s the same? What’s different? 🤔
cell.com
Serotonin biology as a basis for explaining psychedelic drug action
Knox et al. compare and contrast the biological effects of endogenous serotonin with psychedelics.
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Talia Lerner @talialerner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Exciting news to wake up to! Congratulations to @deisseroth.bsky.social and all!! Optogenetics changed the course of my research, and many many others
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NE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 30/09/2026
ok leaving this up on the conference room whiteboard
“they don’t know” meme but the man wears a NEORSD hat and stands waist deep in water with otters swimming around him. he says “they don’t know this river burned 13 times”
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Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 02/10/2026
I have advocated in the past for announcers addressing the off-field gendered violence committed by athletes during games. But I am coming around to the belief that this is a bad idea. These men cannot handle the assignment and aren’t qualified. They could learn, yes, but they won’t.
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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
www.programmablemutter.com/p/in-praise-... Like O'Brien, the prospect of being completely forgotten gives me hope and a sense of peace.
Striving to be a Dorothea is a noble vocation, and likely the best we can hope for in any event; sooner or later, we will all be forgotten. In the long course of time, all of our arguments and ideas will be broken down and decomposed. At best we may hope, if we are very lucky, that they will contribute in some minute way to a rich humus, from which plants that we will never see or understand might spring.
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Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
you will encounter more opportunities in life to change the batteries on a smoke alarm than you will to run into a burning building and no one gives a shit you changed those batteries but it is still very important and why are you waiting on a burning building, know what i’m saying, it’s a metaphor
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Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is *the* piece. Kate Manne, professor of philosophy at Cornell, speaks truth to the totality of failures at the university — and why students protesting the war in Gaza have faced far harsher consequences than any of the Cornell 7: www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
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Meghan Flanigan @meghanflanigan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Flanigan Lab at MUSC is looking for a new laboratory manager! If you're interested in stress, social behaviors, and/or serotonin, want to work in a scientific team, and are looking for a long-term lab position, this is the opportunity for you!
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Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Painting at the Guggenheim aka my department meeting
Painting of four men sitting looking completely forlorn and depressed
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
ABSOLUTELY WILD THE LEVELS of incompetence on display here Meanwhile I lost sleep for several days from a reviewer pointing out a paper I should have referenced in a manuscript 🫠
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
look I am a native Ohioan and know more than one boomer woman who fits the profile of Bush voter/loves Sherrod/70+ year track record of abhoring the f-word/has dropped it casually in reference to Republicans at least twice so far this week so this...fits
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Russ Vought's attack on the scientific apparatus is snowballing. Much stronger restrictions on the grant application process for the one (1) NSF call for basic astronomy research are going to be in place this year. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
The MPS Astronomical Sciences Core Research program (Astro-Core) supports foundational research in the astronomical sciences. The program provides individual investigator and collaborative research grants for observational, theoretical, computational, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), laboratory, and archival data studies in astronomy and astrophysics. The program also considers proposals for projects and tools that enable or enhance astronomical research. Proposals may span multiple disciplines and/or areas of study and may utilize multiple techniques. This program was formerly known as Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants (AAG). 

Important Considerations: The Astro-Core program is anticipated to be especially competitive in Fiscal Year 2027. For this reason, please note the following:

    Multiple submissions by the same lead principal investigator (PI), whether as part of a collaborative project or not, are strongly discouraged. 

    PIs who already have an active MPS Astronomical Sciences award that is not set to expire in the upcoming fiscal year should contact their cognizant Program Officer before considering submitting a proposal for another concurrent award. 

    As stated in the Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (Chapter IV.E), previously declined proposals may be resubmitted only after substantial revisions to take into account major comments or concerns from the prior review. Resubmissions that have not been sufficiently revised may be returned without review. 

    NSF recognizes that some research projects within this program may require more than three years to realize transformative research outcomes. Such proposals should include strong justification for the longer duration and the associated resources needed to undertake the project. 

<alt-text truncated but continues to note that collaborative proposals must be well justified>
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The Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Lookin' at ur department website, noticin' that 80% are men over 60, knowin' that you just denied tenure to four young non-white scholars. Meanwhile, you're *all* burning out your mid-career women.
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 26/09/2026
Science world (and everyone who knows someone with cancer or dementia): Keep an eye on this! It looks like another try at the pocket rescission gambit.
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
wow!
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please try to reclaim your precious precious attention, at all costs. Do puzzles. Take walks without a phone. Dear god, try to read, almost anything that isn’t a manifesto will really do. You are going to need your brain.
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NPR @npr.org · 24/09/2026
Stories of science funding being cut, labs shutting down and scientists losing jobs have flooded the media under Trump's administration. These six graphics show how those changes have affected U.S. biomedical research. n.pr/4ycseLJ
n.pr
Under Trump, NIH funding disruptions have evolved. Here's what the numbers show
Stories of science funding being cut, labs shutting down and scientists losing jobs have flooded the media under Trump's administration. These six graphics show how those changes have affected U.S. biomedical research.
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Suzan the chalant goth @sillysyntax.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Good for her!
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
dario you can't just declare a discovery like Michael Scott yelling bankruptcy. Show your work.
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Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they) @katjathieme.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Who are the scientists, what are their names, and what have they published on this topic. 🤦🏻‍♀️
Dario Amodei:
Today we announced the Claude-led discovery of a molecular machine that we suspect could represent a new gene editing mechanism. Its precise function, biotechnological utility (if any), or level of significance is not yet clear, but at minimum it is work I would have been proud to do as a PhD student. The work was done mostly, though not entirely, by Claude: our life sciences team suggested a broad area of research, Claude read through the literature and a bunch of genome data and discovered something interesting, then Claude proposed experiments to verify the discovery and our team carried them out.
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Stitch's Loud Hiss - Lilo And Stitch
ALT: Stitch's Loud Hiss - Lilo And Stitch
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Ran Blekhman @blekhman.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The real “brain drain” is not the handful of high-profile scientists taking a top position abroad. It's the international scholars who have to leave the US halfway through their postdoc, or the international students who never apply for grad school in the US because of visa policies
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 22/09/2026
The idea of AI curing all diseases is, IMO, silly. Biomedical research is mostly limited by data, not ideas. Imagine saying AI will build a world-champion basketball team by replacing basketball coaches with hyperintelligent AI. You see the problem. Someone still needs to dribble and make shots.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 21/09/2026
one thing that is worth remember apropos this useful piece is that novel technologies do not necessarily require novel political solutions. americans have had to deal with fast-moving, disruptive technological change in the past, and they did so through collective, democratic action.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Bernie Sanders, Steve Case and Others on What Washington Should Do Now on A.I.
How can the government reel in the technology? Here are six ideas.
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Kathleen Lenihan @kathleenlenihan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The entire article is fantastic, but the writer's definition of a trad wife is *chef's kiss* perfection. "Those are conservative women who dress like the women in The Sound of Music, but without the opposition to the Anschluss."
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Holly Anderson 🍇 @hollyanderson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
“Hey coach, says here you won the Lottery ….?”
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Standplaats Kraków could really use some cash! @standplaatskrk.pl · 06/09/2026
[Text is overlaid on a stylized, melting blue brain floating in a speckled void.]
"Are you suffering from Brain?
You may be owed compensation."
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
gotta say this sounds a lot like there are planned recissions that everyone was told to make sure were not described using the word "recission"
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Micah @rincewind.run · 17/09/2026
some of them will but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that nothing really gets close to matching the United States for science funding - the rest of the world doesn’t have the capacity to just freely absorb what we’re losing here a lot of folks will leave the profession entirely
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
having a real eventful year!
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
thank u Cleveland guardians for always making it interesting till the end
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Get The Word Out There
ALT: Get The Word Out There
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
awww yeah back on top
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I haven't seen any of these through study section, but I've never seen much pushback on budgets that isn't more about poor justification or effort allocation.
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I'd discuss with program anyways-my understanding is that different institutes are handling this (and the general issue of how to allocate budgets in light of myf) differently
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Abby Polter @ampolter.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
better than in your heart with rheumatic fever! (technically a strep-triggered immune reaction rather than infection of the heart per se)
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Michael Baym @baym.lol · 13/09/2026
Ten years ago Tami, Roy, and I released a movie we made of antibiotic resistance evolving in real time. I thought maybe a couple thousand people tops would see it. I couldn't have imagined it would be seen millions of times, and be taught from middle school through the graduate level worldwide
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