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alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Alfons López Tena
@alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
890 followers 2 following 240 posts
Jurist, writer, and politician
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alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Hong Kong: How the Mecca of Chinese capitalism is attracting top Western scientists, courting international researchers with astronomical salaries and cutting-edge equipment
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
Hong Kong: How the Mecca of Chinese capitalism is attracting top Western scientists
The Beijing-controlled megacity is courting international researchers with astronomical salaries and cutting-edge equipment. After its success story with trade and capital flows, it now wants to do th...
english.elpais.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Censorship and purges in US — A professor who showed a graphic labeling the MAGA slogan as covert white supremacy has been removed from teaching as ordered by a MAGA US senator under a new Indiana law meant to foster “intellectual diversity"
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/u...
Indiana Professor Removed From Class Over White Supremacy Lesson
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 AM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Charting the Decline in International Students to the U.S. — 19% globally, 12% less from China, 44% down from India
www.nytimes.com/video/upshot...
Video: We Charted the Decline in International Students to the U.S.
The Upshot reporter Aatish Bhatia walks through a chart he created showing the decline, by country, of international students arriving to the United States this year.
www.nytimes.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Alfons López Tena
zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Trump's corruption has felt like the dog that didn't bark for a while, politically speaking. But I wonder if looting the Treasury like he's Imelda Marcos could be the thing that finally gets people to pay attention
October 21, 2025 at 7:02 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
White House fails to entice top colleges to sign submission to MAGA policies in exchange of funds. The blackmail has been rejected by MIT, Brown, Pennsylvania, Southern California, Virginia, Dartmouth—Only @utaustin.bsky.social ‬⁩expressed "enthusiasm"
www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
White House hits roadblock in effort to get top colleges to agree to deal
Six of nine universities that were asked to sign an agreement in exchange for funding advantages have rejected the offer, two said they were open to more discussion
www.washingtonpost.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Fossils found in Kenya shed light on the origin of human hands—Remains of ‘Paranthropus boisei’, who inhabited the earth 2.6 to 1.3 million years ago, reveal that they were capable of manipulating objects and food, climbing trees, perhaps making tools
english.elpais.com/science-tech...
Fossils found in Kenya shed light on the origin of human hands
Researchers say the remains of ‘Paranthropus boisei’ reveal that this ancient relative was capable of powerfully manipulating objects and food, climbing trees, and perhaps making tools
english.elpais.com
October 17, 2025 at 5:57 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US government's foolish War on Basic Science — Cutting funding for gravitational wave studies won’t save taxpayers much but will jeopardize future scientific breakthroughs
open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...
The Administration’s Foolish War on Basic Science
Cutting funding for gravitational wave studies won’t save taxpayers much but will jeopardize future scientific breakthroughs
open.substack.com
October 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging — Unlike human cGAS, which inhibits DNA repair by homologous recombination in the nucleus, the naked mole rat enzyme has 4 amino acid changes that enhances DNA repair
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A cGAS-mediated mechanism in naked mole-rats potentiates DNA repair and delays aging
Efficient DNA repair might make possible the longevity of naked mole-rats. However, whether they have distinctive mechanisms to optimize functions of DNA repair suppressors is unclear. We find that na...
www.science.org
October 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
The University of Zurich said that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, known for their work in development economics, will move from the US to Switzerland, amid US government's attacks on universities
www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/a...
Nobel-winning economists Duflo and Banerjee will leave US for Switzerland
The University of Zurich said that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, known for their work in development economics, will move from the US to Switzerland, amid Donald Trump's attacks o...
www.lemonde.fr
October 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
M.I.T. is the first university to reject US government's blackmail to trade "favorable treatment" in exchange to cap international student enrollment, freeze tuition for 5 years, adhere to definitions of gender, prohibit anything to “belittle” conservative ideas
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Censorship and purges at US universities — ⁦‪Rutgers‬⁩ professor @mark-bray.bsky.social moving to Europe after threats from far-right groups accusing him of promoting antifa political violence
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations
Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence
www.theguardian.com
October 7, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Alfons López Tena
mark-bray.bsky.social
I’ve received multiple death threats + doxing (including my home address) directly following harassment from Turning Point USA, Jack Posobiec, Andy NGO, + Fox News which called me an antifa ‘financier.’

I have been forced to move my classes online.

If journalists want to talk, DM me or reply here.
October 4, 2025 at 11:29 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
19% fewer international students traveled to US, the steepest decline since the pandemic. Nearly one in three U.S. international students are Indian. Their number started to decline last year. But this August, it dropped by an additional 44%
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August
The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.
www.nytimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US government to mint $1 coins as legal tender in praise of #USdictatorInTheMaking with his face and words on both faces, allegedly in celebration of US 250th anniversary. That was declared illegal in a 1866 law, which enshrined an unbroken tradition
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/b...
Treasury Plans to Mint $1 Commemorative Trump Coin
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 11:55 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
What it takes for a working-class kid to get a college education— Sense of hopelessness is a primary driver of partisan hatred and inequality. For the past 40 years, US dropped higher education as a public good and privatized: $1.7 trillion in student debt
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
Opinion | What It Takes for a Working-Class Kid to Get a College Education
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 5:27 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US government blackmails universities to get research funds, urging them to pledge support for Trump’s policies: to cap enrollment of international students, commit to strict definitions of gender, prohibit anything that would “belittle conservative ideas"
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...
Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:45 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US government tackles science
September 29, 2025 at 7:10 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Trump, Hitler comparisons, and Francisco Franco — The “Is Trump the next Hitler?” debate misses his sinister parallels to another 20th-century European tyrant: Generalissimo Franco, the blood-soaked Spain's dictator for 40 years
slate.com/news-and-pol...
You’re Comparing Trump to the Wrong Fascist Dictator
The “Is Trump Hitler?” debate misses his sinister parallels to another 20th-century European tyrant.
slate.com
September 27, 2025 at 7:39 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Give in or fight back? US universities are torn on how to respond to US government — The University of California, one of the government's biggest targets so far, is in an uproar over how to respond to the attacks. So is the rest of higher education
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/27/u...
Give In or Fight Back? Colleges Are Torn on How to Respond to Trump.
www.nytimes.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
#USdictatorInTheMaking sends troops to Portland, Oregon, and to immigration detention facilities around the country, authorizing “Full Force, if necessary” and escalating a campaign to use the U.S. military against Americans
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump authorizes troops for Portland, escalating use of military inside U.S.
The president authorized the use of “Full force, if necessary,” in a campaign to use the U.S. military against Americans that has little modern precedent.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US has become a country where the president can order the indefinite imprisonment or the unilateral killing of people merely because he has deemed them to be criminals
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...
Opinion | No President Should Have This Kind of Power
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:51 AM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Judith Butler is being targeted by US government after the University of California, Berkeley, gave them a list of 160 names of faculty, staff, students, in a inquiry into “alleged antisemitic incidents," including one of the most famous Jewish intellectuals
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Judith Butler is being targeted by the US government. We must stand up | Joel Swanson
What is happening to Judith Butler – a Jewish intellectual – in the name of fighting ‘antisemitism’ is outrageous
www.theguardian.com
September 22, 2025 at 9:31 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
For only the 2nd time in 2025, Democrats have actual leverage to block Trump and his party. This time, they plan to use it: government shutdown starting Oct. 1, a tricky path that will require discipline and focus if it is to prevail in winning concessions
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | Why Democrats are holding firm on conditions ahead of shutdown
Democrats are using their limited leverage ahead of a potential government shutdown, hoping to convince Americans that GOP spending priorities are the real danger.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:48 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
US government cancels the annual Household Food Security reports, which were introduced in the 1990s to help state and federal officials decide on food assistance programs. The latest report found some 18 million US households were food insecure in 2023
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Trump ends annual report on U.S. hunger amid rising food insecurity
The Trump administration is ending a decades-long report on U.S. hunger, calling it “politicized.” Last year, the USDA report warned of rising food insecurity.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 21, 2025 at 10:22 PM
alfonslopeztena.bsky.social
Censorship in US—Environmental Protection Agency has ordered scientists in at least one of its research offices to immediately pause almost all research, stop publishing their studies. The decision to reevaluate all studies was made by MAGA political appointees
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
EPA tells some scientists to stop publishing studies, employees say
Staff from the EPA’s Office of Water were summoned to a town hall meeting this week and told to pause the publication of most research, pending a review.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM