iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Arithmetic in the "New Golden Age of Science" at NSF: Reduce $600M in STEM funding between FY25 and FY26 grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses... Propose to reduce NSF GRFP fellowships by $180M in FY27 nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-202... Declare "success" w/a $100M "push" for US scientists.

bloomberg.com

White House Makes $100 Million Push to Train American Scientists

The Trump administration is injecting more than $100 million into education programs for American researchers in STEM fields, as federal policies stanch the flow of foreign scientists to the US and po...

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Josh Kovensky @joshkovensky.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

UChicago, like any other college, gets vastly more women applicants than men. And yet, its undergrad student body is disproportionately male. chicagomaroon.com/53804/viewpo...

chicagomaroon.com

Creating a Manosphere at the University of Chicago

Why does the University of Chicago reject so many women?

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The IceCube neutrino detector has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics. The Trump administration has proposed slashing its budget in half in 2027.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/10/2026

The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Kevin Mitchell @wiringthebrain.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Why optogenetics deserves the hype www.wiringthebrain.com/2013/09/why-... (a piece I wrote in 2013 explaining how it works and why modulating specific cell types is so key to understanding how neural circuits and systems work)

wiringthebrain.com

Why optogenetics deserves the hype

Optogenetics has come in for some stick lately, with a number of people criticising the hype that this technique generates in some quar...

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Catherine Dulac @dulaclab.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This was so long overdue!... optogenetics truly revolutionized neuroscience and more. Congrats @deisseroth.bsky.social

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I don’t think everyone realizes how bad things are for US science: For the fiscal year that just ended, the Trump regime withheld $1.4 billion from the National Science Foundation’s research budget, which is about 1/5 of its primary research budget.

nytimes.com

National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress (Gift Article)

The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

An entire generation of faculty and students (rightfully!) fully internalized “the institution cannot love you” and institutional leaders wonder where trust went 🙄

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026

The death penalty is a moral abomination. State-sanctioned barbarism pushed by incompetent morons and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Absolute ghoul shit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

The lone woman on Tennessee's death row was still alive after she was administered two lethal injections, her lawyer said in a motion seeking to halt her execution Wednesday night, a stunning development after the Supreme Court had stepped in to allow the state to put her to death.
At 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said
"executioners had injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring," her lawyers said in a federal court filing.
They said Pike "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat," and that curtains to the death chamber "have gone down twice."

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I hope the survivors who came forward years or decades ago know that they are the reason the Cornell case is resonating the way it is. Every single one of you helped pave a path for people to understand the harms of rape and institutional betrayal. Thank you. I know it’s hard. But thank you.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

It's hard to fathom that, let alone be OK with the fact that, the six people who allowed tonight to happen will start hearing cases next week, the outcome of which will affect us all.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Students open up to certain faculty about what they’re going through in ways that they simply don’t with others, and that means some faculty end up carrying a much heavier emotional load as part of their everyday work.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My two most unpopular higher ed opinions (at least among the general public) are 1) college sports are a tool to exploit students and offer the illusion of opportunity instead of just making college more accessible for everyone and 2) burn all frats to the ground

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

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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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The main reason you haven’t heard about campus sexual violence in a few years is because Trump and SCOTUS have made it much, much harder for survivors to come forward. You might vaguely remember that Title IX was a big battleground in his first term. And that we lost.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Hey fellow alumni — Cornell Board of Trustees: trustees@cornell.edu Alumni Affairs: alumniaffairs@cornell.edu And if you’d like to support the Cornell Daily Sun:

cdsaa-2660.wp.greekly.io

Cornell Daily Sun Alumni Association

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Campus rape is really widespread; statistics suggest a significant percent of women who go to college will be raped there; feminism opened up a good conversation about it around 2012-13; it's weird when people treated Cornell like an isolated rather than dramatic example of a pervasive problem.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Portugues Lab @portugueslab.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University is hiring! Come and do cutting edge research on the neural basis of natural behaviors at NBB (nbb.cornell.edu). No animal too small, no behavior too strange! Apply here: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/32592

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

“One reason that this straightforward truth is often marginalized is that our national dialogue over schooling tends to [ask] ‘What should you as a parent do for your child?’ rather than […] ‘What is the best way to design an educational system in a democratic country?’” (Privates *&* charters IMO)

open.substack.com

Private Schools Are Bad for Society

The starting point for any honest discussion.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Laura Ansley @lmansley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This summer, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History launched an online exhibit that highlights their recently expanded Menstrual History Collection. Worth a perusal! And an amazing resource for women's history or medical history classes. 🗃️ americanhistory.si.edu/explore/exhi...

Poster: "You're a young lady now" with a tomboy looking into a mirror, which shows a more girly version looking back at her

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

At the center of my message to faculty yesterday was: 1.) We may not be adequately prepared for how angry students are about tech. 2.) They are not all angry for the same reasons. 3.) Being angry at it doesn’t mean they aren’t using it. The sense of entrapment fuels the anger.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Rachel Hands @rachelhands.com · 25/08/2026

if there’s a point to fame it’s to do what dolly parton did in the world

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Karolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

New NSF BIO solicitation says expected number of awards is 250-300. Historically, the number of awards is closer to 800-1000 for the Directorate of Bio Sciences: grantwitness.org/nsf/analyses... Unless I'm missing large, non-core programs, this seems really not good?

grantwitness.org

Agency Pulse: Grantmaking at NSF

An independent, up-to-date, grant-level record of federal science funding disruptions in the United States.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 24/08/2026

Hummingbirds.

A four panel comic. In panel 1, a rufous hummingbird flies down toward a large hummingbird feeder with as many as 6 holes on top. He thinks "The humans put up a new feeder!" In panel 2, he lands on the feeder and gazes down at it. He thinks "It's huge. Many of us could feed here at once." In panel 3, we see a close up view of the hummingbird, and he's thinking "This could end the ancient rivalries. Usher in an era of peace. Interesting." In panel 4, an Anna's hummingbird hovers over the feeder and says "Hey, can I have some necta-" and the rufous hummingbird says "No."

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/08/2026

If you just happened to pick this week to start yelling about the importance of academic freedom, I sure hope you did more than watch silently for the past 18 months as the Trump administration assaulted everything from mRNA vaccine research to gender studies to the very idea of having universities.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 23/08/2026

I think the class of school administrators (not just in higher ed) who act fast to insulate core pedagogical functions from AI will reap major rewards for their trouble. In a few years, there will be an extremely stark difference between people who used AI in school and people who are competent

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

As I research and write I can feel my brain changing and growing. It's an incredible feeling. I look down on people who write and research using AI. It's gross and evil and you are missing the point of living.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Shaily Patel @vox-magica.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

this from upenn's student paper is worth reading as the term starts: "AI cannot coexist with education — it can only degrade it. As technology advances and workers are replaced by machines, schools are some of the only places we have left to explore and wrestle with human thought."

thedp.com

Editorial | Penn has an AI problem

The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board argues that Penn’s choice to embrace AI is detrimental to the institution of higher education. 

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 18/08/2026

Oh, for fuck's sake. If you had an "AI" generate the text, then you're not the author. "Oh, but the ideas are mine." Motherfucker, ideas aren't copyrightable, and neither is the text if "AI" barfed it out. In neither a logistical nor legal sense does the term "author" convey to you.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Jen Taub @jentaub.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

“A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it would replace, according to a new preprint study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health.” ysph.yale.edu/news-article...

ysph.yale.edu

Universal Health Coverage Could Save $1 Trillion and 114,000 Lives Every Year, Yale Study Projects

A single-payer universal health care system could cover every American, save more than 100,000 lives a year, and still cost $1 trillion less than the system it

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

T. Ryan Gregory 🇨🇦 @tryangregory.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

If you're a biologist, especially one in a field that has a history of eugenics and racism (which absolutely includes my own field of evolutionary biology) and you choose to remain "neutral" as race science once again crawls out from under its rock, you are not in fact neutral.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

NPR @npr.org · 01/08/2026

NPR asked an aspiring scientist in Philadelphia to interview an adult who is living his dream about his career in conservation science.

n.pr

We asked a first grader to interview his hero: A bird scientist

NPR asked an aspiring scientist in Philadelphia to interview an adult who is living his dream about his career in conservation science.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Still thinking about genderfluid avocados

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

"Hey Jess, why do you spend so much of the classroom time of your genetics course talking about ethics?"

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Have kept thinking all day about this story, full of starving moms and grandmothers trying to feed 3-6 kids each on virtually nothing and Republican men cheering and patting themselves on the back for kicking them off food stamps. Congrats, boys, you really did it

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 22/07/2026

Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

So the U.S. has gotten itself into a situation where the State Department is now warning Americans about traveling...anywhere. "The Department of State advises Americans worldwide to exercise increased caution." travel.state.gov/en/internati...

travel.state.gov

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 21/07/2026

In 2021, there were roughly 101 gender clinics offering care to transgender youth offering a full range of gender affirming care. By July 2026, there are only about 31 left that still prescribe hormones and puberty blockers.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Louisa @louisathelast.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Well, this article is incredibly depressing for cooking enthusiasts. The short version: private equity has, over the last couple of decades, quietly bought up most of the classic brands you’ve heard of and then traded on their names while drastically cutting quality and closing American factories

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I'm heartbroken to share that Marvin (known to readers of There Is No Place for Us as Maurice) died earlier today in a workplace accident. He was 43. Natasha (Natalia in the book) asked me to share this news because she is too devastated to do so herself. We are all in shock.

Marvin, Natasha, and their newborn child

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

Dr. Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

This, exactly. And I wish people understood that hormones and neurotransmitters are so much more complicated than how they are depicted in popular culture.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

NPR @npr.org · 18/07/2026

Both Marco Rubio and Elon Musk, who led the effort to sunset the foreign aid agency, have said that no deaths have been linked to the cutting of its funding. These parents tell a different story.

n.pr

Trump's team says 'no children' died from USAID cuts. Consider these 3 cases

Both Marco Rubio and Elon Musk, who led the effort to sunset the foreign aid agency, have said that no deaths have been linked to the cutting of its funding. These parents tell a different story.

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Reposted by Nicole M. Baran, Ph.D.

SBN on Bluesky @sbn-bsky.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

😵‍💫

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