iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I just downloaded MapQuest and deleted both GoogleMaps and AppleMaps. Lake America??!! Such industrial grade BS from two cowardly companies.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

As others have said, what the Sam Hill is “conservative based research”. Why not reality based?

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

“So the very origins of representation in our historical tradition are really about taxation, … when rulers want to tax, they become dependent on the taxpayers. And it builds a connection between the ruler and the ruled, and it gives the taxpayers power.” substack.com/app-link/pos...

substack.com

Vanessa Williamson on Taxes and Democracy

What tax history teaches us about this dire moment

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse …

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Sachin Gadani @saching.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

The Gadani Lab at the University of Pittsburgh is recruiting a post-doc! We are a new neuroimmunology lab interested in progressive multiple sclerosis, meningeal inflammation, and reactive glia. We are looking for a PhD scientist to spearhead funded research on Treg–glia interactions.

cfopitt.taleo.net

Post Doctoral.Post Doctoral.Associate

Click the link provided to see the complete job description.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Biggest news out of the AAIC meeting? We can celebrate even modest successes, but here the caveats vastly outweigh them: small effect size; weird results at highest doses; still only Phase II. Maybe keep your champagne on ice, but don't pop any corks yet. www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Alzheimer’s trial results lend momentum to strategies targeting tau

First drug to lower the protein and slow cognitive decline creates buzz despite puzzling data

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

www.nature.com/articles/s41... Just finished this excellent review by @erictopol.bsky.social and Wyss-Coray. The authors emphasize how discordant the aging of each organ is, but I am struck instead by how similar the time lines are.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I finally commented on the proposed OMB rule change (through the #StandUpForScience portal). I emphasized the economic and security damage that will be done. I figured the damage to science will be well covered by others. Doubt that anyone in power will read it, but I know I did the right thing

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

I only have one Bluesky account so I mix science and politics. I read politics, but try to only post science (a blurry dividing line these days). Today, science news: as of July 1st I am officially Professor Emeritus. It's been a great run. But don't worry; I'm not done commenting or writing.

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Dr. SkySkull @drskyskull.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

This is the thing that so many Americans don’t seem to grasp: private companies are in it to make a profit, and nothing else. There are so many important, necessary discoveries that industry will never look into simply because they can’t make enough money on it.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Pittsburgh symphony did a powerful All-American concert yesterday, ending with Copland’s 1942 “Lincoln Portrait”. The words were Lincoln’s, but the resonance of their message with today was almost unbearable. Especially coming on the day of the abomination on the South Lawn of the White House.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

I’m from Pennsylvania and I am deeply embarrassed by this vote from the “democratic” senator I voted for. Please know I will work very hard to make sure he never holds elective office again … not even mayor of Braddock.

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Citizen X @mayoubhappy.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

This👇🏽 deserves to be posted 100 times but I’d be labeled spam.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

And I am a Majority Inspector for my Ward in Allegheny county. This is truth. There is nothing even remotely suspicious. No fraud. No hanky-panky. No illegal voting. Just a tightly organized system to conduct free and fair elections. Now. GO VOTE!

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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

NAS President Marcia McNutt claims she is being bipartisan by avoiding “topics for which there is a partisan divide.” But this is blatantly partisan. She is doing exactly what one party wants. Worse, in direct opposition to the science in these fields. 🧵1/?

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Jeff Browndyke @jeffbrowndyke.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

...the infusion therapies DO NOT reverse the Alzheimer's disease dementia process in those already showing even mild symptoms (i.e., all the people currently being direct marketed to like gangbusters on TV and online). www.cochrane.org/about-us/new... 3/n

cochrane.org

Anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s drugs show no clinically meaningful effect | Cochrane

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

It’s worse than that. The new therapies are half as effective as safe cholinesterase inhibitors and cost 100 times more. The companies won’t release their data so true estimates of risk are hard to know. The blitz of TV ads are essential to them because this is marketing not medicine.

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sam³⁰⁰⁰ @samgavin.com · 29/03/2026

A remarkable photo from #NoKings in DTLA from Connor Sheets of @latimes.com www.latimes.com/california/l...

LAPD officers arrest a protester dressed as the Statue of Liberty outside a federal building during a ‘Kings Day’ protest. (Connor Sheets/Los Angeles Times)

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

@georgetakei.bsky.social I write to connect you with a colleague of mine. Her name is Seiko Goto, a Professor of landscape architecture at Nagasaki University and currently working on the history of the Manzanar internment camp and the formal Japanese gardens the inmates were able to build.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

They always leave out simple science words: actin, exon, intron. These are important (and common) cell and molecular structures

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Russ @pappyparki.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Senator John Fetterman D-PA continues to support the kidnapping, robbery, rape & murder of his wife & his own voters. Like many if his Republican colleagues it turns out that being married to an immigrant, legal, undocumented or anchor baby is simply cover. Their wives are their "black friend"

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Dr Kathleen Millen @neurodevkathy.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Current NIH + HHS staff signed a letter calling for Senators to block the DHS/ICE/HHS bill even though they will not be paid if gov't shuts down. I'm a NIH funded scientist with grants on the line this round. I support them! Blocking DHS is more important right now! www.savehhs.org/stop-ice-pro...

savehhs.org

Save HHS | Support Public Health – Take Action Now

Save HHS is a collaboration among the National Public Health Coalition, 27 UNIHTED, and countless current and former HHS staff. Join us in calling for public health as a vital government service. The ...

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Our universities are failing us.

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Dr Kathleen Millen @neurodevkathy.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I don't think you non-science people realize what it takes to get a grant funded by NIH. Started experiments in Sept 2021 to generate 3 new mouse mutants to model human disease. Prelim dara shows they have relevant disease phenotypes worthy of study. Need a small grant first to characterize /1

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Note to Program Committee: moved the poster from RR7 to D40. I know. I know. Patently illegal. But it was an empty board even 90 minutes into the morning. So no harm. Within minutes, traffic increased 10x (and I must say, it was really well received). Thanks to all who dropped by.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Program committee put our Alzheimer poster in the ultrasound group. OK we have some MEA data, but still. Come see a lovely APP DNA damage story. You won’t regret the trek to RR

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Charles F. Caskey @cfcaskey.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Planning to resubmit something sitting at 9%. Makes me want to look for another job.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Dollars to donuts those parts were “written” by ChatGPT. I had exactly that experience with the program. Since I verified everything first, it makes for a funny story (& a cautionary tale), but it might not be great way to write a MAHA report.

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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

We're disappointed to see Ben Barres's powerful book "The Autobiography of a Transgender Scientist" among the ~400 titles removed from the Naval Academy Library. Needless to say, we're proud to have published his book and will keep it — and his memory — alive.

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

The Coming Out of a Transgender Scientist

"I know that I am making the right decision because whenever I think about changing my gender role, I am flooded with feelings of relief."

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

My colleague in Japan asked me last week why Americans were so quiet. I told her that the media bore a lot of the blame. Guess I was right.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

My home town at noon today. Very proud.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

OK. This might not be the most important bit of news right now. But MIT Press has announced that my book, How Not to Study a Disease, will be on the Penguin Random House Backlist Marketing program. On April 21st, the ebook will be discounted to $1.99, and marketing will run with Kindle and BookBub.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

NYU canceled a planned speech by the former president of Doctors Without Borders because she planned to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and cuts to US AID. This is what actual campus censorship looks like.

ctvnews.ca

‘Climate of fear’: Montreal doctor says NYU cancelled her presentation

A Montreal doctor says her presentation at NYU was abruptly cancelled and believes the university did so out of fear of being pressured by the Donald Trump administration.

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

My town! Showing how it’s done.

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Brainscraps @brainscraps.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

In Pittsburgh our #TeslaTakedown protest is GROWING ❤️

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I second that (with dollars as well as kudos)

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Dr Slaughter-Acey @drslaughter99.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

🧵Yesterday, I received notice that my #NIH grant, on the social environment, lifecourse, epigenetics & #birthoutcomes in Black families, was terminated. This grant represented a critical effort to address the ⬆️ rates of maternal & infant mortality in the US, particularly among Black mothers & babies

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40110649/ I love how this abstract puts a reverse spin on the results. They conclude that cognitive decline does not predict amyloid deposition. For me the data is really telling us that amyloid does not drive cognitive decline. Did I miss something? #alzheimers #amyloid

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

I watched. It was informative and helpful.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Interesting move by Schumer to cave and disappoint everyone and then immediately go do an extended NYT interview explaining that actually he is even worse than we thought, let’s see if this pays off for him

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Karl Herrup @asparatics.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

And you never EVER have my vote again.

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U.S. Senator John Fetterman @fetterman.senate.gov · 14/03/2025

My YES vote is *not* an endorsement of this deeply flawed CR. My YES vote is 💯 about refusing to shut our government down. I refuse to punish working families and plunge millions of Americans into chaos. I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever vote to shut our government down.

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John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Hey Democratic Party, You ain’t raising money until you start raising hell. Sincerely, A Huge Portion of Your Supporters

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