iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I WAS KIDDING yesterday when I said that some evangelicals would be telling us that live-streamed executions would be what Jesus would want. Holy cow. This is horrifying and immoral.

040

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

When professional organizations (or universities) are so scared of being the tall blade of grass that they censor themselves and those who speak at their events, authoritarianism wins. Just sad.

041

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

They don’t remember that the Texans lost at the Alamo, huh?

010

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🧪 So, did the leadership of the National Academies attend this event? I’d love to see the list of attendees who are not award recipients or direct reports to the administration.

091

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This is (a) barbaric; (b) a snuff film; (c) likely illegal; (d) surely cruel and unusual; and (e) about to be explained as something Jesus would have approved, by some fraction of religious fundamentalists performing moral gymnastics.

043

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🧪⚛️ So, I guess the DOE and NSF are both The Enemy. (Clearly the administration already acts that way.) Waiting for OpenAI to change its name to curry favor....

560

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It would not shock me if they pitch that. Morons.

110

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🧪⚛️. Holy hell, this is self-destructive and stupid. Spin up the lawsuits!

0123

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🧪 This is fractally wrong. Wrong at all scales.

1145

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I'm no psych expert, but not wanting to read to your own kids has to be somewhere on a checklist for sociopathy, right?

021

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

You left out “Underspend FY26 budget by $1.4B / 19%”.

100

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Once again I think we are one executive order away from Roman-style Proscriptions, where an enemies list is published and pardons are promised for anyone who crosses people off.

011

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🧪⚛️ This is an important point that may well get lost on the public. Having AI crank out unreviewed, unvalidated preprints by the hundreds does *not* mean that we can decide that physics and math are now solved and thus need to support.

2188

Reposted by Douglas Natelson

Jeffrey Mervis @policyhound.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

We don't have a crystal ball, but our forecast of how the midterm elections will impact US science is probably less rosy than many researchers would like www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

November elections may bring little relief for scientists beleaguered by Trump

If Democrats win one or both chambers of Congress, investigations are likely, but meaningful change may be elusive

23314

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Those are *real* headlines, not @nytpitchbot.bsky.social ?? Also, remember that it's not enough to be making money. The market really likes it when the rate at which they're making money is also expected to climb. Just making a money at a constant rate = stagnation.

010

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Cornell 7 appointed to Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

000

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

🧪⚛️ Just tragic. Remember, this kind of thing could happen to other parts of NSF or DOE or NIH, if OMB is resolved, agency leadership is wobbly or nonexistent, and Congress does nothing. Even if Congress is opposed, unless they're willing to sue the executive branch, the potential is still there.

1139

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Having lived in Houston for 26 years, it's *really* hard for me to believe that Gina-mentum is for real. I also have some worry that Paxton and Abbott will pull shenanigans to somehow disallow or dispute votes from Harris, Bexar, Travis, etc. counties.

110

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

According to web searches, the arXiv name was adopted officially in 1998.

100

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I fervently wish this were accurate, but as someone who’s lived in Houston for 26 years, I am more likely to distrust the poll than believe that Hinojosa is convincingly ahead of Abbott.

000

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

🧪⚛️ This right here. It is magical thinking to imagine that if the Ds regain control of the House, they will reign in Vought, who has essentially decided that OMB is supreme. A D Congress could sue OMB and acting agency leadership, but how do you see that going w SCOTUS?

2144

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I wish I had confidence that this is right. Honestly it makes me doubt the polling. (I say this as someone who’s lived in Houston for 26 years.)

010

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The feet of clay of the National Academies during the past year and a half has been one of the most disillusioning displays I’ve ever seen. Truly, what Is your point as advisory bodies if you’re so scared to say things that some people may not want to hear?

180

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

🧪. It is unconscionable that OMB and agency acting leadership are just ignoring congressional appropriations. There is no benign reason for telling an agency to underspend its budget by 19% !!

0226

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🧪 Outright lying, all the time, even about facts that are trivial to check. If it wasn’t destroying the country, I would almost have to admire the commitment to the bit.

0154

Reposted by Douglas Natelson

NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Under Secretary Hegseth’s new plan, servicemen with low blood alcohol levels will be required to undergo vodka replacement therapy.

181077174

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

As @colesci.bsky.social says, there are sincere, serious people in meta science, but I worry that there is an undercurrent akin to “don’t trust anything, do your own research” lurking there. Real metascience about funding methods is very hard and not just “try something different right now !!”

242

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I think it’s very important to talk about the difference between long-term research (the vast majority of which is done at universities and to some degree national labs), short term research (much more common in industry), and development, which is almost exclusively in industry.

032

Reposted by Douglas Natelson

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

OMB's focus on NIH and NSF, which has confused a lot of folks, pretty much boils down to stopping money going to universities.

1228142

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

We’ve tried nothing and we are all out of ideas!

190

Reposted by Douglas Natelson

Team Talarico @teamtalaricohq.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

NEW AD: Today on House Hunters, Ken Paxton is shopping for a new house. Will he buy the three-story luxury lodge in Oklahoma? The condos at a wellness resort in Utah? The ocean-view property in Hawaii? (Spoiler alert: He won’t take one — he’ll take 15.)

501789632

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

So, are DOE and NSF going to shift into overdrive now to edit “AI” out of all their funding calls and insert “SI”?

330

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Charitably, I suspect he voted for massive reduction in government regulation and oversight, lax tax enforcement, tax cuts, and an emphasis on business rather than "public good". (I don't think these things are good for society either.)

010

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

🧪⚛️ Annual Nobel prize speculation thread! (Though as US science is under siege in many ways, it feels even more self-indulgent than big prizes usually seem.) nanoscale.blogspot.com/2026/09/annu...

nanoscale.blogspot.com

Annual Nobel speculation thread

It's that time of year yet again. The physics Nobel will be announced next Tuesday, and the chemistry prize on Wednesday. Who will it ...

292

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

To be fair, the authors themselves, no slouches, couldn’t find it. It must have been more subtle than just missing it going from one line to the next….

100

Douglas Natelson @nanoscaleviews.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

🧪⚛️ Highlights of some science items from the last month! nanoscale.blogspot.com/2026/09/brie...

nanoscale.blogspot.com

241