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Igor Brodsky

@brodskyigorlab.bsky.social
4.6K followers 1.3K following 460 posts

Innate immunity/host-pathogen interactions. Husband, father, former Soviet immigrant. Opinions my own.

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Reposted by Igor Brodsky
Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Biochemist Dr. Florence Seibert developed the Purified Protein Derivative in the 1930s that standardized tuberculosis testing worldwide by 1952. Before her work, TB skin tests were inconsistent/unreliable.It remains the basis for the TB skin test used today. Born #OTD in 1897. #WomenInSTEM
A vintage black-and-white studio portrait features biochemist Dr. Florence Seibert (1900–1991), famed for developing the Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) that standardized tuberculosis testing worldwide. Captured from the chest up, she poses in a three-quarter turn while looking directly at the camera with a subtle, intelligent smile, establishing a serene, professional, and historically significant mood. Her dark hair is styled in a classic 1920s short bob featuring prominent finger waves framing her forehead. She wears delicate, rimless spectacles and a light-colored blouse designed with a prominent collar and soft ruffled detailing along the edges. The composition employs soft-focus lighting typical of early 20th-century photography, casting gentle highlights across her face against a smooth, dark, non-descript studio backdrop. In the bottom right corner, a faint, embossed photographer's stamp adds an authentic period touch to this archival image celebrating a foundational figure in medicine.
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Here is the link 3/n rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6a2b1c22c3...
rfi.grants.nih.gov
Request For Information
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Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Earlier this year the scientific community successfully fought back on dramatic changes in Federal funding proposed by the Trump Administration.Now another RFI is proposing substantial changes that would damage peer review. This letter from SDB President Helen McNeill lays out the issue clearly 1/n
Dear SDB Members,
 
I am writing you now to ask everyone to respond to a proposed change to the way that grant review information at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is communicated to grant applicants, institutions, and NIH program staff. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on the process that selects our grants for funding.
 
The proposed change means that individuals, institutes and NIH staff will no longer receive the final overall impact score or percentile score that reflects the scientific opinion of a panel of experts. Currently, three reviewers provide their detailed opinion of a grant, and then the entire panel asks questions, can examine figures, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a grant, and then members all independently score. The final overall impact score reflects this discussion and careful consideration of the entire scientific panel.
 
The proposed change is to now simply divide the scored grants into three categories: Scored applications would be grouped into three broad categories - “Most Competitive (top 25%),” “Competitive (26%-50%),” and “Not Discussed”. The motivation for the change is that decisions would now focus on the comments of reviewers, not the score of the grant to determine which grants to support. However, the current mechanism allows for scores and comments to be considered. Thus, removing the score component from NIH staff makes selection of which grants to fund more burdensome for NIH staff.The loss of detailed scores will also make it more difficult for researchers to assess how competitive an application was and determine whether to revise and resubmit it. An application ranked top 2% and one ranked 24th% would receive the same label, even if the scientific panel viewed them quite differently. Meanwhile, applications ranked 25th%and 26th% would be placed in different categories because of a tiny difference that NIH itself says should not be treated as meaningful. The proposal would erase potentially important differences while creating arbitrary new dividing lines.
 
This is a dramatic loss of transparency in the scientific review process. Under the new plan, principal investigator(s), applicant institutions, NIH program staff, ICO leadership, and the relevant NIH Advisory Council will no longer have access to the final overall score.
 
NIH is explicitly asking for input on this particular question.
 
This is a Request for Information (RFI), not simply an announcement of a policy that has already been finalized. NIH says comments will be used to inform the final recommendation, including implementation and communication.
 
Please comment here: https://rfi.grants.nih.gov/?s=6a2b1c22c3fcfda46e0badd2
 
Deadline for response receipt is October 13, 2026, 11:59 PM ET.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Trump admin's new rule adding prohibitively expensive new fees for "OPT"—temporary work authorization program for international students and new grads in the United States—is out. Would require colleges to pay $70,000 for year one. $30,000 for years two and three combined for STEM fields.
public-inspection.federalregister.gov
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
6 days to register a comment on NIH Request for Information (RFI) on Changing Reporting Outcomes for Peer Review. They are proposing to hide the impact scores and percentiles. 🤔 funding decisions will not be transparent👎🏼. Register a comment while you still can rfi.grants.nih.gov?s=6a2b1c22c3...
rfi.grants.nih.gov
Request For Information
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Jonathan Eisen @phylogenomics.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
CA prop 38 is a scam - vote NO. For example see: This CA proposition will send $4 billion to a single nonprofit. Who’s behind it? calmatters.org/politics/ele...
calmatters.org
Is this proposition a $4 billion giveaway to a billionaire’s LA research center?
Proposition 38 will award $4 billion to one unnamed research center. Under the very specific criteria, only one center seemingly qualifies.
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Tombs of X'iane - Controversial Ghost Icon @xiane.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Don't forget the bribes!
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 01/10/2026
As long as the work of the Nixon prosecutors is in the news, we should talk more about how Leon Jaworski was a Nuremberg prosecutor—and how that spirit should animate us today. bsky.app/profile/joh...
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Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 01/10/2026
@jenna-m-norton.bsky.social and Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou remind us we maintain hope through honest, vision, action, and community. #NIH #BethesdaDeclaration
ajph.aphapublications.org
Hope From the Front Lines: Reflections From the Bethesda Declaration Movement
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We are ruining our own institutions, which is sad for us and great for our enemies.
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arXiv @arxiv.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
arXiv has received a 17.2 million investment from three leading philanthropic organizations. Thank you to Simons Foundation International, Siegel Family Endowment, and XTX Markets for your support of arXiv! Read more: blog.arxiv.org/2026/09/23/arxiv-receives-multiyear-investment/
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The admin’s actions can be hard to understand, especially because they often conflict. (Why attack science?) Recognizing the admin as an alliance of factions with different & often competing motivations helps make sense of the chaos. adversarialanalysis.substack.com/p/yes-they-a...
adversarialanalysis.substack.com
Yes, they are Crazy Extremists: An Erratic Alliance of Irrational Ideologies and Pathological Motivations
The Ideologies and Motivations of the Four Factions of the Regime
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Disruption of global research at NIH is endangering people in the United States and around the world. 27unihted.substack.com/p/disruption... Foreign collaborations have been interrupted and discouraged and foreign scientists in the United States are working in an increasingly hostile environment.
27unihted.substack.com
Disruption of global research is endangering people in the United States and around the world
Concern 8 of the Bethesda Declaration: One Year Later
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Frustrated in Utah @marshallshuman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
youtube.com/shorts/kseTb...
youtube.com
Robert De Niro: “I Want My Country Back” 😳 #RobertDeNiro #Trump #Shorts
YouTube video by Lamont Tyson
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Pennsylvania reports 5th measles-associated death as outbreak continues. Cases in the state, home to the country’s largest ongoing measles outbreak, have climbed to 943 across 39 counties. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
washingtonpost.com
Pennsylvania reports 5th measles-associated death as outbreak continues
Cases in the state, home to the country’s largest ongoing measles outbreak, have climbed to 943 across 39 counties.
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Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My quote of the day There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Elie Wiesel
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The Canadian Border 🇨🇦 @canadianborder.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Canadian automakers have developed an EV car that can travel 500+ km on a single charge, shows snow covered lane lines on your windshield on snowy highways, and heatmaps animals on the side of the road so you have a warning about deer and moose at night. This is for us. BRING IT TO MARKET!! 😍❤️🍁
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A great overview of how the Trump admin cultivated fear inside NIH to force compliance, even with harmful, unethical & unlawful orders. Also covers origins of the Bethesda Declaration community. From my friend & co-organizer Dr. Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou. www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
psychologicalscience.org
NIH Employees Lived in A Culture of Fear, So They Started Keeping Receipts
Sylvia Chou, former NIH program director, says “nobody’s OK” after massive disruptions to funding policies and infrastructure.
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Please read this letter with important considerations for training the next generation of clinical trialists. Its powerful that so many organizations came together. Thanks to everyone involved. Consider commenting on the NIH RFI by the 9/30 deadline: grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-26-095: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): INPUT ON POTENTIAL NIH FUNDING APPROACHES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE CLINICAL TRIAL INVESTIGATORS
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): INPUT ON POTENTIAL NIH FUNDING APPROACHES TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE CLINICAL ...
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God @thegodshow.com · 27/09/2026
Thou shalt not use tax dollars to pay for fascist commercials.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
A federal judge has declared that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated $7 billion in grant funding for clean energy programs in disadvantaged communities. insideclimatenews.org/news/2109202...
insideclimatenews.org
Federal Judge Rules Against Trump Administration Over Canceled Clean Energy Grants - Inside Climate News
The Solar for All program was intended to provide dozens of grants for clean energy programs in underserved communities. The Trump-appointed judge said the program’s termination was unlawful.
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The power of funding fundamental discovery in driving unexpected benefits for humankind are unmatched. We should be funding more basic research not less
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UCSF @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
UCSF’s Kevan Shokat, PhD, just won the $1M Stephenson Global Prize for research in pancreatic cancer. He cracked KRAS, a cancer driver long considered “undruggable.” Drugs built on his work now treat lung and pancreatic cancer. ow.ly/UYuY50ZRSXg
Middle-aged man in a blue lab coat smiling while seated in a scientific laboratory setting.Hand wearing black glove holding five small glass vials with various colored liquids, including pink and orange hues.
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eLife @elife.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Reprogramming of host energy metabolism mediated by the TNF-iNOS-HIF-1α axis plays a key role in host resistance to <i>Plasmodium</i> infection
buff.ly
Reprogramming of host energy metabolism mediated by the TNF-iNOS-HIF-1α axis plays a key role in host resistance to Plasmodium infection
TNF-driven metabolic reprogramming enhances glucose utilization in monocytes through inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), promoting parasite control and host...
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Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23/09/2026
Can confirm (see 🧵 ). But let me share some optimism. A NIH colleague said today that against all odds, NIH has been…winning. “We made this EO a necessity. We fought hard. We threw sand in all the gears. All the lowdown ways of blocking grants failed to produce the results Vought et al wanted.”
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
New long-form post on the proposed Executive Order that would give OMB Director Russell Vought veto power over NIH funding decisions.
joshuasweitz.substack.com
An Emperor of All Malice: Contesting Efforts to Control NIH Funding
Unilateral efforts by the White House to politicize funding decisions jeopardize discovery, health, and the economy… and demand a timely, effective response.
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Alt-NIHscience4ALL @alt-nihscience4all.altgov.info · 21/09/2026
We need help standing up TOGETHER against this Vought takeover. This means academic and biotech/pharma scientists AND institutions. We CANNOT do this alone. There is already too much political interference in science from this regime.
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themedici.bsky.social @themedici.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove has introduced articles of impeachment against Russell Vought. Contact your representative and tell them to co-sponsor! kamlager-dove.house.gov/media/press-...
kamlager-dove.house.gov
Kamlager-Dove Introduces Articles of Impeachment Against OMB Director Russell Vought
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37)introduced articles of impeachment against Office of Management and Budget (OMB)Director Russell Vought after the administration
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Blasé Boylan @blazesboylan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Never a bad time to mention that Vought cancelled research on the disease his daughter suffers from. This is who they are. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Project 2025 is gutting medical funding that helped Russell Vought's own kid
Its architect's daughter has cystic fibrosis—and benefits from a "miracle drug" backed by an agency he's attacking.
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
exactly this ☝️☝️
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Unfortunately the consequences are the suppression of legitimate scientific inquiry, the closure of labs and research programs, and a brain-drain of scientists chose to leave to be able to continue doing their work without fear
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Not an exaggeration to say when authoritarian thugs distort scientific research toward their own petty or prejudiced tastes, economies suffer, national security is compromised, people die. Exact proportion of each of those consequences varies from one authoritarian state to another, but all happen
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It's like they looked in the history books and thought, what did those other authoritarians do?? Oh that's a good idea!
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
It really is striking how many authoritarian states have ended up in this exact same place, where the leader seizes control of scientific inquiry. Lysenkoism in the Soviet Union, Aryan Physics in the Third Reich, Great Leap Forward (also related to Lysenko) in China.
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Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
#ResistanceRoots Dorothy Vaughan was born on this day in 1910 in Kansas City, Mo. She was a mathematician, human computer and computer programmer who became the first African American supervisor at NASA. Throughout her career, she fought for equal pay and advancements and promotions for women. /1
Dorothy Vaughan in 1971, the year she retired from NASA. Vaughan was a visionary pioneer for women in STEM and a foundational architect of the U.S. space program. She broke through the dual barriers of Jim Crow segregation and gender discrimination to alter the course of aerospace history. Her calculations and FORTRAN programming laid the groundwork for America’s early aerospace achievements. By becoming NACA’s first African American supervisor in 1949, Vaughan cracked open doors that had been firmly shut to women of color. She spent her tenure as Section Head fighting for equal pay, promotions and engineering assignments for both Black and white women across the agency. When electronic computers arrived, she taught herself FORTRAN and trained her staff, saving dozens of Black women from layoffs and transitioning them into high-tech careers. Vaughan stands today as a symbol of resilience, intellectual brilliance and the indispensable power of community.
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
By hook or by crook Russell Vought is determined to take control of the NIH budget. This is truly Lysenkoism in our time. White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/s...
nytimes.com
White House Moves to Take Control of N.I.H. Grants
Federal officials are drafting an executive order that would place grants under review by an outside panel, the latest effort to redirect billions of dollars in research spending.
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the corghoul from cowboy beBOO! 👻 @realqrampage.fightins.online · 20/09/2026
Philly friends - sign this petition to save the Academy of Natural Sciences!
actionnetwork.org
Petition to Keep the Academy of Natural Sciences Open to the Public
The scientific community in Philadelphia and concerned neighbors are calling on Drexel University to keep the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia’s public-facing museum open beyond their impos...
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the corghoul from cowboy beBOO! 👻 @realqrampage.fightins.online · 20/09/2026
there’s also more you can do to save the Academy! you can write to your reps, put the pressure on Drexel’s president, and volunteer to educate others in Philly
save-the-academy.org
Save the Academy of Natural Sciences
Don't mourn — organize. The museum's last public day is Sunday, Sept 27. Ten things you can do today.
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
💯
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p... AI wouldn’t even have to actively do anything to start a war that could destroy humanity. It can just feed the wrong information to the wrong people and let things play out. We are way way past the time for guardrails.
cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Ed Yong is offline @edyong209.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Briefly popping my head back in to unveil the cover of my upcoming book, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale. It’ll be out on April 6 in the U.S. and April 29 in the U.K. and you can pre-order it right now! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757705... 1/
A book cover featuring a beautiful closely cropped portrait of an Anna's hummingbird. The cover says LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale, by Ed Yong. The image also says US: 4/06/27 and UK: 4/29/27
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The extent to which this administration’s policies are negatively impacting America’s present and future compettitveness in the world is totally mind blowing. If you were running a race this is the equivalent of breaking your own ankles and also putting weights on your back.
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Jennifer N. Victor @jenvictor.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Banger of a piece from @donmoyn.bsky.social on US-China, science, and higher ed. Trump isn’t just killing US dominance in science & technology, he’s handing it to China. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/china-than...
donmoynihan.substack.com
China: “Thank Trump”
The big winner of Trump’s assault on higher ed is America’s chief geopolitical rival
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Bernard Kim @bernardkim.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Princeton EEB is running a very broad faculty search at the Assistant Professor level. Please consider applying to join us! This is a wonderful, collaborative, cohesive department with diverse interests and amazing colleagues. apply.interfolio.com/193474
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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The Last Mile with USAID @thelastmilewithusaid.substack.com · 15/09/2026
Well written.
pennlive.com
What America lost when it shut down foreign aid | Opinion
A former USAID mission director reflects on decades of soft power diplomacy dismantled in months, and the human cost now surfacing worldwide.
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Gerry Carter @gerrycarter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Please help us spread the word: Princeton University’s Dept of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology is hiring an Assistant Professor! I ❤️ this collegial and collaborative department full of inspiring people: eeb.princeton.edu/people Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/193474
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Kumaran Ramamurthi @ramamurthilab.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How do proteins localize in bacteria? Usually by binding to a prelocalized protein-but how does that protein localize? @vanipande.bsky.social found a #Bacillus subtilis protein that localizes via a lipid cue,undecaprenyl phosphate,that guides it to sites of PG synthesis www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Igor Brodsky @brodskyigorlab.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“We are witnessing a general threat to intellectual work, with misalignment between the outcome of the use of AI & its initial purpose….years of training have traditionally served not only to produce a final answer…but also to develop understanding and the ability to formulate new questions & ideas”
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Terence Tao @teorth.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A group of 25 Fields Medalists, including myself, have made a joint declaration on Math and AI: mathandai.org . We welcome additional signatories. See also this article in the Economist announcing the declaration: www.economist.com/science-and-...
mathandai.org
Declaration — Math and AI
Read the declaration and add your name.
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Greg Folkers @gregfolkers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
ASM: Congress Must Reject Siphoning of NIH Funds to DoW bit.ly/4xKYUfo
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