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Scott McKinley

@scottalister.bsky.social
372 followers 441 following 110 posts

Random mathematician, New Orleans. Stochastic processes; microparticle movement; movement ecology; income inequality and economic mobility. Commonly afflicted by small sample sizes and time scales that don’t separate. stochastics-lab.net

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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Lots of really interesting ideas and observations in this preprint and this thread. Thank you for sharing!
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
This is a fun read … www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-t...
quantamagazine.org
Physicists Take the Imaginary Numbers Out of Quantum Mechanics | Quanta Magazine
Quantum mechanics has at last been formulated exclusively with real numbers, bringing a mathematical puzzle at the heart of the theory into a new era of inquiry.
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Aubrey Hirsch @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Did you know that if you buy my book on Amazon, Jeff Bezos makes 5 times as much as I do on each copy sold? Sharing some behind-the-scenes book math on why buying directly from presses is best for EVERYONE (except Bezos) in my newsletter today! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/book-math
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BK. Titanji @boghuma.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Powerful interview of recently fired CDC director by @maxkozlov.bsky.social . What unfolded is chilling and also sad to read in her words. The decimation of the CDC is a low point in global public health history because its impact extended beyond America. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Note to NYT mobile: Science is not broken. Trust in science might be, in part, because of terrible communication like this.
NY Times mobile headline states that “Science is broken. Can this man (the appointed head of NIH) fix it?”

Even the article does not have this headline
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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Last week @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social and I put out a provocation & set of suggestions on how influence has changed and why institutions (& funders) need to change their thinking on shaping public opinion and connecting w/audiences. The old way no longer works. carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
carnegieendowment.org
For Expertise to Matter, Nonpartisan Institutions Need New Communications Strategies
To avoid irrelevance when they are needed most, experts and nonpartisan analysts must rethink not just their channels of communication but also their theory of influence.
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Margaret Mitchell @mmitchell.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
"the freedom to speak becomes meaningless when disconnected from the possibility of being heard". This is a heartbreaking piece from @alondra.bsky.social on the regression of scientific progress and why she's resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress. time.com/7285045/resi...
time.com
Why I’m Resigning from the NSF and Library of Congress
I cannot participate in systems that require dishonesty as the price of belonging.
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Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 16/09/2025
man rolling rock up  hill
how it started how its going
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Dr. Allison Wiltz @allyfromnola.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Twenty years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans. At approximately 5:00 AM, the levees broke, flooding 80% of our city. As a result, an estimated 1400 people lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands lost their homes. Over half of the victims were Black.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.
forbes.com
Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students
Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.
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Katelyn Jetelina @kkjetelina.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
CDC employees standing up and walking out in light of the mass shootings, firings, and *waves hands in the air* everything else. #USAnotRFK Lets gooooo
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Dan Murphy @bungdan.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
AP live feed of the CDC walkout in Atlanta. www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ7Q...
youtube.com
LIVE: CDC staff plan walkout at Atlanta HQ after Trump firings
YouTube video by Associated Press
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities...." cc: Sen. Bill Cassidy
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Dave Kung @dtkung.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
The NSF canceled all grants to UCLA- including IPAM (one of the math research centers). Terry Tao weighs in on the impact of this decision (dressed up in the language of fighting antisemitism.) mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...
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Shannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
"Mac settings have lived a far more fascinating life than I imagined, have been redesigned many times, and can tell us a lot about the early history + the troubled upbringing of this interesting machine. Join me on a journey through the first twenty years of Mac’s control panels." (via The Browser)
aresluna.org
Frame of preference
A story of early Mac settings told by 10 emulators.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Growing up in Baton Rouge, I cannot overemphasize the shadow this man cast over the people of that city. He was the first person who showed me that charisma is an almost mystical personality trait. And that its power looks absurd to anyone not subject to its sway. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/u...
nytimes.com
Jimmy Swaggart, Passionate Televangelist Ousted by Scandal, Dies at 90
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 27/06/2025
... www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/u...
nytimes.com
University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration
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Michael Lowry @michaelrlowry.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
A huge blow was dealt to hurricane forecasters this week as a critical tool was abruptly terminated by the Department of Defense and NOAA. The immediate discontinuation of data from three weather satellites will severely impact hurricane forecasts this season and beyond. More ⬇️
michaelrlowry.substack.com
Critical Hurricane Forecast Tool Abruptly Terminated
U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday it would no longer process and deliver data essential to most hurricane forecasts
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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Bill Cassidy (R) at RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing: “If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) without changes”. Today, RFK Jr. fired every single member of ACIP. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
usatoday.com
RFK Jr. fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of a panel that advises the CDC on the safety, efficacy and clinical needs of vaccines.
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David Malakoff @davidmalakoff.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3 www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Trump officials take steps toward a radically different NSF
Efforts to shrink staff, budget, and focus have alarmed members of Congress
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Piper Hutchinson @piperhutch.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Louisiana would be among the states hardest hit by the indefinite pause of funding from the National Science Foundation, with higher education leaders warning of catastrophic impacts to students and the economy. #lalege #lagov
lailluminator.com
Scientific research cuts could be ‘devastating” to Louisiana, higher ed leaders warn   • Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana would be among the states hardest hit by the indefinite pause of funding from the National Science Foundation, with higher education leaders warning of catastrophic impacts to students and t...
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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
People call lots of things “gaslighting” these days. This is the real thing, operating at an institutional level
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
These are not the words of someone who seeks to understand. These are the words of someone who seeks to vilify and dehumanize.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Turns out there are more amendments than just the 2nd Amendment. Take, for example, the 8th: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 04/04/2025
“Kennedy’s team requested that Marks turn over data on cases of brain swelling and deaths caused by the measles vaccine—data that Marks said doesn’t exist because there have been no such confirmed cases in the U.S.” www.wsj.com/health/healt...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Ousted Vaccine Chief Says RFK Jr.’s Team Sought Data to Justify Anti-Science Stance
Dr. Peter Marks says the new health secretary’s team wants to show vaccines aren’t safe while promoting dangerous and unproven treatments.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
These are the men who burned the Library of Alexandria
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
When they put their actual policies up for a vote, they lose
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WIRED @wired.com · 24/03/2025
As graduate programs lose spots and labs face shutdowns following Trump administration cuts to science funding, students and researchers are left to figure out what's next.
wrd.cm
The Chaos of NIH Cuts Has Left Early-Career Scientists Scrambling
As graduate programs lose spots and labs face shutdowns following Trump administration cuts to science funding, students and researchers are left to figure out what's next.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Getting the flu is not fun. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 18/03/2025
BREAKING: A federal judge rules the dismantling of USAID likely violated the Constitution and blocks Elon Musk's DOGE from further cuts.
bit.ly
Judge rules DOGE's USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from further cuts to the agency.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
A person simply cannot be “pro-life” and anti-USAID www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True.
A journey through the front lines of global poverty shows that when the world’s richest men slash aid for the world’s poorest children, the result is sickness, starvation and death.
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
To all who celebrate … (not my handiwork, credit goes to our department administrator!)
Happy Pi Day written on a chalkboard with an outrageous number of digits
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Feels like a good night to have an eclipse
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Amanda Shendruk @not-ship.com · 11/03/2025
Trump is purging government data in an attempt to doctor reality. Disappearing, or otherwise manipulating, statistics is a classic authoritarian technique. @crampell.bsky.social and I analyze these tricks in our latest piece. gift link: wapo.st/4iCmMtn
wapo.st
Opinion | How Trump is reshaping reality by hiding data
Sweeping statistical purges are part of a broader attempt to reinvent “truth.”
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Every one of these details shows how incredibly insecure and unqualified these people are to manage our national interests www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/t...
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Quite a line-up for Tulane Book Fest: Anthony Fauci, Jennifer Doudna, Mark Milley, Imani Perry, Nate Silver, W. Kamau Bell, Francis Collins, Anne Applebaum, and on and on ... bookfest.tulane.edu/schedule
bookfest.tulane.edu
2025 Schedule | The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
“But just when we should be demanding more public accountability & reliability, we seem to be turning away from the idea that health is a collective endeavor, a public good at all, & retreating into the rhetoric of personal responsibility… I fear we will come to regret it.” @profgoldberg.bsky.social
nytimes.com
Opinion | Covid’s Deadliest Effect Took Five Years to Appear
What once belonged to all of us now belongs to corporations.
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
The coolest thing I’ve seen today is that a bunch of volunteer public health professionals and developers have restored the CDC website from before January 20th 2025. This differs from an archive in that they want to rebuild the links between pages and replicate the full website.
restoredcdc.org
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
If you’re not giving me a hint for your kid’s birthday party present, I’m defaulting to a crafting kit that has permanent markers, glitter, and crazy glue
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
This, while they think transgenic mice are transgender
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
For anyone who thought season one of True Detective was over the top #RexComus
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Happy Mardi Gras, y’all!
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SMB - Society for Mathematical Biology @smbmathbiology.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Welcome to BlueSky, @smbdevbio.bsky.social! We are happy that the SMB Subgroup on Cell and Developmental Biology is now part of the mathematical biology community here. For more information on the SMB subgroup, check out their website smb-celldevbio.github.io/aboutme/.
smb-celldevbio.github.io
Contact
If you are a current [member](https://www.smb.org/categories/) of the Society of Mathematical Biology, please indicate the Cell and Developmental Biology subgroup in your membership application to joi...
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Atul Gawande @agawande.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
1. All malaria supplies protecting 53 million people, mostly children, including bed nets, diagnostics, preventive drugs, and treatments – terminated.
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Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Dean Karlan, Chief Economist at USAID, has resigned www.npr.org/sections/goa...
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
A Brief History of School Today Is Too Easy 🧵
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Jeremy Koster @jeremykoster.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)
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Scott McKinley @scottalister.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
As usual, @dahlialithwick.bsky.social gets it right. slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com
I Just Figured Out What Elon Musk’s DOGE Really Is
It’s how things worked when you went to the Cosa Nostra to ask for protection for you and your family in exchange for some portion of your own resources.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 15/02/2025
This excellent interactive tutorial on misleading data visualizations explores the idea of a "counter chart" — the graph you draw in response to refute a misleading claims flowingdata.com/projects/dis...
flowingdata.com
Defense Against Dishonest Charts
This is a guide to protect ourselves and to preserve what is good about turning data into visual things.
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