Reposted by Michael Zanis Liz Fong-Jones (方禮真) @lizthegrey.com · 7hcpu is dogshit slow for inference, and self-replicating worms already exist (you may know them as rVPNs or botnets) alas they're just repackaging an existing problem as "you should be afraid of everyone's ai except ours" 22539134
Reposted by Michael Zanis The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 13hTurns out, Elon Musk’s pimply minions didn’t actually want to cut government spending. They wanted to get a piece of it for themselves. trib.al/xfEXTMutrib.alWhy Did DOGE Exist? Now We Know.Turns out, Elon Musk’s pimply minions didn’t actually want to cut government spending. They wanted to get a piece of it for themselves. 1411059
Reposted by Michael Zanis Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 11/10/2026NEW: Prime Minister Andy Burnham finally breaks a decade of UK govt silence…& reveals there was ‘clear’ Russian interference in the Brexit vote. 1/ 20658962410
Reposted by Michael Zanis Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Who Is Behind the AI/Existential Risk Scare? talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/who-i...talkingpointsmemo.comWho Is Behind the AI/Existential Risk Scare?For years, and especially in the last month or so, we’ve been... 2313630
Reposted by Michael Zanis Tina Smith @smith.senate.gov · 05/10/2026Reports are swirling around that tech companies are cashing in on corporate tax breaks from the Big Beautiful Bill to bankroll massive data centers. So I am requesting Congress’s official tax estimators provide a full report on just how much money Republicans shelled out to these corporations. 3429104
Reposted by Michael Zanis The New York Times @nytimes.com · 04/10/2026When the Trump administration started dismantling a $368 million ocean monitoring system earlier this year, scientists, fishermen and Congress fought back. On Saturday, a 238-foot ship set sail to reinstall the first batch of monitors in the waters of the Pacific.nytimes.comAfter Outcry, Monitors the Trump Administration Tried to Scrap Return to SeaUnder pressure from Congress, a network of ocean monitors that provides vital data to meteorologists, climate scientists, oceanographers and the fishing industry is being restored. 842059747
Reposted by Michael Zanis gamera obscura october edition @ohrobin.bsky.social · 04/10/2026CNN making this sound more mysterious than it is. It was Yersinia pestis, the plague, the researcher died because she inhaled it into her lungs and developed pneumonic plague, there is no danger but to those directly exposed in the lab. Fear-mongering in the time of global terror is a sick choice. 321185338
Reposted by Michael Zanis Annie Abrams @annieabrams.bsky.social · 29/09/2026“The goal was to destabilize U.S. educational infrastructure and carve out a large space for reactionary indoctrination within it.” When you don’t have a teacher—a thinking person—in a classroom, endless ideological reproduction is easier. 417364
Reposted by Michael Zanis Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I remember when polio put my friends into iron lungs. We lined up at school to get vaccinated. We eradicated the disease. We protected the common good and saved lives. Now, two MORE unvaccinated people have died from measles. What RFK Jr. is doing to public health in America is a disgrace. 544108033207
Reposted by Michael Zanis Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 09/09/2026sciencebasedmedicine.orgDr. Jay Bhattacharya on Measles: “I Think I’ve Done My Best.”As football coach Bill Parcells famously said, “you are what your record says you are”. 6285148
Reposted by Michael Zanis Joel @itsjoels.bsky.social · 25/08/2026This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry. 7243894111285
Reposted by Michael Zanis NIH Vigils @nihvigils.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Just a reminder that Russell Vought’s Project 2025 had a chapter on public lands that emphasized resource extraction and reversed conservation goals. Sending 2.5x more wild horses to slaughter achieved both in one fell swoop. Tell your Rep to support H.R. 1479 to Impeach Russell Vought.nytimes.comUnder Trump, Protected Wild Horses Are Going to Slaughter (Gift Article)A legal loophole allows the government to sell mustangs on the cheap, stripping them of protections and clearing their path to destruction. 43320
Reposted by Michael Zanis AltFDA @altfda.altgov.info · 12/08/2026Gather around kids, let’s talk about Taylor Farms and how they already know they are fucked and are playing the corporate blame game. 🧵🧵🧵static.klipy.comGrandpa Simpson: Grampa Is The NameAlt: Grandpa Simpson: Grampa Is The Name 615345
Reposted by Michael Zanis Grant Stern @grantstern.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appoints state AG Ashley Moody to the US Senate. She turns around and approves $10 million to Hope Florida, FRAUDULENTLY diverting money from Medicaid to a non-profit for his wife, Casey DeSantis, to spend on 2024 elections. www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/f...cbsnews.comFlorida Senator Ashley Moody faces renewed scrutiny over her role in Hope Florida scandalAs Florida attorney general, it was Moody and her office that approved the diversion of $10 million of taxpayer money to the Hope Florida Foundation 731546775
Reposted by Michael Zanis MaizeGDB @maizegdb.bsky.social · 27/07/2026We are deeply saddened to share that Michael Freeling passed away on 7/20/2026 after a year-long battle with cancer. Our deepest condolences go to his family, friends, colleagues, and the many students he inspired. We will share additional memorial information soon. 24427
Reposted by Michael Zanis Rude Law Dog @esghound.com · 14/07/2026An unfathomable clean air act violation. I worked in this exact field for years, including in oil and gas, and i still can't get over how wanton and obvious this crime is. Just stunning 3626411115
Reposted by Michael Zanis Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 12/07/2026This is a really good explainer about the mortality estimates around USAID. One big point is that dismantling USAID also dismantled one of the main sources of mortality data in some of these regions. Early indicators of mortality are very worrying. 4124691186
Reposted by Michael Zanis Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 12/07/2026To be a historian is to speak ill of the dead and the rest of you should take more history classes and join us. 155188784434
Reposted by Michael Zanis Sarah Gollust @sarahgollust.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Did you write your comment yet on the OMB rules on federally funded science yet? No? Don’t worry, you can do it this weekend. Here are some resources that can help you get started. 10414326
Reposted by Michael Zanis Andrew Barnes @barnesecodiv.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Published today in @nature.com, our study shows that the #foodweb trophic structure is critical for #ecosystemfunctioning. Read it here: rdcu.be/frxEl This has been an incredibly rewarding collaboration with many amazing scientists! 🌐🧪🦑🍁🌱 @waikatouniversity.bsky.social @idiv-research.bsky.social 36127
Reposted by Michael Zanis Jürgen Zanghellini @juergenzanghellini.bsky.social · 25/06/2026What does a tent ⛺ have to do with microbial communities? A lot, actually! It describes the microbial playground. Its corners reveal ways they can interact: from specialization to commensalism to mutualism Check out how geometry reveals rules for microbial interactions doi.org/10.1098/rsif... 2168
Reposted by Michael Zanis Molly Przeworski @mollyprz.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Now published: journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...journals.plos.orgWhat sets the mutation rate of a cell type in an animal species?Mutation rates per generation are strikingly similar across germlines of animals and across at least one somatic cell type, suggesting a key role for natural selection in shaping mutation rates. This ... 08643
Reposted by Michael Zanis Joanna Thompson @jojofoshosho.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Another piece up today! Here’s a first-of-its-kind study quantifying the impacts of insect pollinator loss on human health. 🧪🪲🌏livescience.com'Insect apocalypse' is already fueling malnutrition in some regions, first-of-its-kind study revealsIn a first, researchers quantify how pollinator declines contribute to food insecurity. 35841
Reposted by Michael Zanis Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Today, our #SCIMaP team released an impact analysis of the White House proposed FY 2027 NIH and NSF budgets. Bottom-line: if enacted, cuts to science and medical research would lead to $35B in economic losses and 150,000 lost jobs in communities all across the US. scienceimpacts.org 🧵 1222151
Reposted by Michael Zanis Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 11/04/2026An mRNA treatment for PANCREATIC CANCER was in trials, among many other uses. Choosing to end this research is choosing to sentence millions to an early, painful death 311101744494
Reposted by Michael Zanis Emily J @emexastris.bsky.social · 11/04/2026If you’ve been moved & inspired by Artemis, NASA needs your help. Literally during A2, the president proposed cutting NASA science 47%, canceling 54 missions, including many already in-flight. To help stop these cuts, check out @planetarysociety.bsky.social www.planetary.org/save-nasa-sc...planetary.orgSave NASA Science Action HubUpdates and actions on the proposed cuts to NASA science in FY 2027. 5533408
Reposted by Michael Zanis Aaron Clauset @aaronclauset.bsky.social · 31/03/2026tl;dr: NIH is running at about 60% of pre-Trump levels and NSF is running at about 20% of pre-Trump levels of funding-outlays (some directorates far below even that). Utterly catastrophic. An unforced disaster for U.S. society, and the world 11728341
Reposted by Michael Zanis Louise Seamster @louiseseamster.bsky.social · 27/03/2026It is past time to do a power mapping of which consultants are advising which universities, and which Super Efficiency Optimizing Plans they're laying out as their Burger King menu of options 913246
Reposted by Michael Zanis Marc Somssich @somssich.bsky.social · 24/03/2026#PlantScienceClassics #20: Kinetin & Cytokinins. In 1955 Carlos Miller, Folke Skoog & co-workers describe the first #Cytokinin and its role in promoting cell division and growth promotion. #Phytohormones #PlantScience #PlantDevelopment pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1... pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1... 26342
Reposted by Michael Zanis Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 24/03/2026Taxpayers pay twice: Trump is giving one billion taxpayer dollars to a company so it WON'T build clean offshore wind. Fewer clean energy projects pushes up utility rates, which costs families even more. 551006364
Reposted by Michael Zanis Chenxin Li, PhD @chenxinli2.bsky.social · 20/03/2026I just had that conversation earlier this week. The college dean is deciding if they will (dis)continue the bioinformatics training program for grad students. An argument for discontinuation is that students will use GenAI to help them code, so they don’t need to learn bioinformatics. 1816266
Reposted by Michael Zanis Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 09/03/2026With these results in hand, we can now reproduce the graph that @joshuasweitz.bsky.social posted. It is still shocking, but we can now understand why it looks the way it does: The number of R01 and R56 awards were down while the number of applications were up. 16/20 11612
Reposted by Michael Zanis David Roberts @volts.wtf · 08/03/2026Highly recommend this pod on AI where @chrislhayes.bsky.social interviews Gideon Lewis-Kraus, author of a big recent New Yorker piece on the subject. Tons of interestng discussion, especially for us ex-philosophy geeks. Forthwith, a short 🧵podcasts.apple.comDemystifying Anthropic and ClaudeAI with Gideon Lewis-KrausPodcast Episode · Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast · March 3 · 1h 1m 1843977
Reposted by Michael Zanis Dolf Weijers @dolfweijers.bsky.social · 03/03/2026We are very excited to share a new resource from our team: spatial subcellular proteome maps in plants! We developed an MS-based method that registers localizations of about 8000 proteins in Arabidopsis roots in a single experiment. (1/9) www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...biorxiv.org 212071
Reposted by Michael Zanis Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 10/02/2026And the new NCI Director moves to piss away his scientific credibility. First, killing cancer cells is a very low bar; many compounds kill cancer cells and are not the least bit useful for treating cancer. 1/2 2124188
Reposted by Michael Zanis Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 21/01/2026Even after Trump is gone, the world will remember that he threatened to forcibly seize the territory of a peaceful democratic ally, and our institutions failed to immediately remove him. That makes US dangerously unreliable, not just one senile gangster. 2798823011
Reposted by Michael Zanis Ross Andersen @rossandersen.bsky.social · 08/01/2026I wrote about the cosmic grandeur of American space science and this president’s foolish attempts to sabotage it www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...theatlantic.comInside Donald Trump’s Attack on NASA’s Science MissionsDuring his first year back in office, the president tried to bring America’s age of discovery to an end. 1189
Reposted by Michael Zanis Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 03/01/2026OK, crash course in oil. Oil has two main gradings, viscosity (light or heavy) and sulfur (sweet or sour). A light (low viscosity) and sweet (low sulfur) oil is easier to process into gasoline and other products than a heavy and sour one, so the light & sweet oil commands a premium price. 631827479
Reposted by Michael Zanis Wendy Salmon 🐟🔬🧫 @fishcscells.bsky.social · 08/12/2025Microscopy Bat signal! I want to compile a list of biological samples that demonstrate microscope capabilities, including the reagents to generate them. Please send me anything you know of!! Beads are great for QC, but there's a different teaching benefit with biology. 1/n 21614
Reposted by Michael Zanis derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/12/2025The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow 507385217424
Reposted by Michael Zanis Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 02/12/2025While this is so deeply beautiful and moving about the important place of art in society and I'm so glad Dr. Baum shared this with us, I'm sad Stoppard never knew. Please tell people how much their work impacts you. Write to a playwright, academic, artist, etc and let them know how they moved you. 14818
Reposted by Michael Zanis Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 02/12/2025The late Miocene possibly had lower athmospheric pCO2 than we have right now (but higher than pre-industrial), but that was enough for there not to be permafrost in North Greenland. Once a local threshold is reached, that is enough sometimes. 🧪 Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 02912
Reposted by Michael Zanis Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 28/11/2025I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting. 211122831996
Reposted by Michael Zanis andy hines @andyhines.bsky.social · 09/09/2025It's publication day for UNIVERSITY KEYWORDS. Across 27 sharp essays, the book offers a critical account of the political economy of US higher education, how it came to be structured this way, and how together we might build a better university together. 815073
Reposted by Michael Zanis Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 19/11/2025When does sloppiness become misconduct? What level of manipulation becomes fabrication? If authors say it is an error, should we trust them? If raw data is missing, is there any justification for proceeding? Should you report to the institution? #AIMOS2025 1162
Reposted by Michael Zanis Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Q: Why is international collaboration essential for advancing research? A: Understand global initiatives No: It promotes shared standards #AIMOS2025 161
Reposted by Michael Zanis Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Now attending the Hackaton "Hacking the system: improving research assessment by stealth" DORA: Valuing academics by a wider range of scholarly products (wider than number of publications/citations), such as sharing datasets, protocols, software. sfdora.org #AIMOS2025 1263
Reposted by Michael Zanis Elisabeth Bik @elisabethbik.bsky.social · 20/11/20251. Madeleen van der Merwe: Statistical Errors in Health Journal Articles. A systematic review. We looked at 53 articles - identified 940 statistical errors #AIMOS2025 153
Reposted by Michael Zanis Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 17/11/2025Cuts to NIH grants have disrupted at least 383 clinical trials, with infectious disease research hit especially hard. A stark example of the real-world repercussions of Trump and co.'s health policy 🧪 my latest:fiercebiotech.comNIH grant cuts have disrupted hundreds of clinical trials, study findsThe second Trump administration has been defined by widespread cuts to federal spending, including at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). | The second Trump administration has been defined by wid... 1289161
![xAI's unpermitted turbine emissions would dwarf federal permit thresholds
Potential annual emissions, in short tons, from 30 unpermitted turbines at xAI's Southaven, MS facility
Chart: Potential emissions at 80% load
Nitrogen oxide: 2,474
Carbon monoxide: 4,065
A vertical dotted line indicates the Federal permit threshold.
Note: Federal permit threshold of 100 short tons/year is based on emissions at 100% capacity. Emissions shown at 80% capacity reflect the lower end of typical operating levels for gas turbines, according to the EPA.
He said the facility would be on par with the top 25 U.S. gas plants for nitrogen oxide emissions, citing EPA data for actual emissions.
[This alt text added by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview AI]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:y24gcrfugd3wnhzvl7or5ft5/bafkreigizldavn2jfo6unoy62jgashkfks2yyxqt7635aref4wqbokasyq)
