Breah LaSarre
@blasarre.bsky.social
Molecular microbiologist intrigued by all things bacteria.🧫🦠🌱🪲🧬🧪Research Scientist. Current focus: genetics, ecology, and evolution of bacterial plant pathogens. Opinions expressed are solely my own.
ORCID: 0000-0002-2723-8217
ORCID: 0000-0002-2723-8217
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
"A Chinese immigrant was found dead in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, with his hands and feet tied behind him, an attorney has alleged."
www.newsweek.com/ice-detainee...
www.newsweek.com/ice-detainee...
Man detained by ICE found dead, hanging with hands and feet tied—attorney
The Chinese national died in Pennsylvania in August, but his family's requests for answers from DHS have gone unmet.
www.newsweek.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
"A Chinese immigrant was found dead in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, with his hands and feet tied behind him, an attorney has alleged."
www.newsweek.com/ice-detainee...
www.newsweek.com/ice-detainee...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
I recently discovered Conventional Comments (conventionalcomments.org) for providing a pseudo-standard set of labels for feedback and just tried it for an article review and it was really helpful to specify issues vs. thoughts vs. suggestions, etc. Hopefully it's helpful for the authors too!
November 17, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I recently discovered Conventional Comments (conventionalcomments.org) for providing a pseudo-standard set of labels for feedback and just tried it for an article review and it was really helpful to specify issues vs. thoughts vs. suggestions, etc. Hopefully it's helpful for the authors too!
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
People using Chrome may want to know about this.
To disable the new default AI mode. Type chrome://flags in your address bar. Search for AI mode in the search box below and disable the three options displayed.
To disable the new default AI mode. Type chrome://flags in your address bar. Search for AI mode in the search box below and disable the three options displayed.
November 19, 2025 at 7:53 PM
People using Chrome may want to know about this.
To disable the new default AI mode. Type chrome://flags in your address bar. Search for AI mode in the search box below and disable the three options displayed.
To disable the new default AI mode. Type chrome://flags in your address bar. Search for AI mode in the search box below and disable the three options displayed.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
SCOOP — A former staffer for Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Natalie Green, 26, was charged today for falsely reporting she was attacked by 3 men who wrote "TRUMP WHORE" on her stomach bc of her job. It was staged by her + a friend.
Van Drew isn't named in the complaint but I've confirmed w/ his office.
Van Drew isn't named in the complaint but I've confirmed w/ his office.
Employee of a Federal Official Charged with Conspiracy to Falsely Report Violent Attack and Giving False Statements to Law Enforcement
A New Jersey woman was charged with conspiring and falsely reporting to law enforcement that she had been violently assaulted with a firearm due to her employment with a federal official.
www.justice.gov
November 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
SCOOP — A former staffer for Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Natalie Green, 26, was charged today for falsely reporting she was attacked by 3 men who wrote "TRUMP WHORE" on her stomach bc of her job. It was staged by her + a friend.
Van Drew isn't named in the complaint but I've confirmed w/ his office.
Van Drew isn't named in the complaint but I've confirmed w/ his office.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Not only were the chatbots unreliable at correctly identifying retracted papers, they spit out different results when given the same prompts.
AI unreliable in identifying retracted research papers, says study
LLMs don’t reliably identify retracted papers, a new study finds. (Image: DALL-E) Large language models should not be used to weed out retracted literature, a study of 21 chatbots concludes. …
retractionwatch.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Not only were the chatbots unreliable at correctly identifying retracted papers, they spit out different results when given the same prompts.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
I'd really want to know about the guardrails being implemented here, given our recent results in @nature.com showing that people are likely to ask LLMs to help them cheat with taxes, and that LLMs are likely to accept
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
TurboTax is about to be integrated into ChatGPT, where customers will be guided through tasks tied to their tax filings or financial profile by the AI chatbot.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
TurboTax owner Intuit is also paying OpenAI more than $100 million a year to power AI agents.
November 19, 2025 at 11:41 AM
I'd really want to know about the guardrails being implemented here, given our recent results in @nature.com showing that people are likely to ask LLMs to help them cheat with taxes, and that LLMs are likely to accept
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
“Iowa City eliminated bus fares in August 2023 with a goal of lowering emissions… The two-year pilot program proved so popular that the City Council voted this summer to extend it another year, paying for it with a 1% increase in utility taxes and by doubling most public parking rates to $2 from $1”
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:58 PM
“Iowa City eliminated bus fares in August 2023 with a goal of lowering emissions… The two-year pilot program proved so popular that the City Council voted this summer to extend it another year, paying for it with a 1% increase in utility taxes and by doubling most public parking rates to $2 from $1”
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
“foreign states or other grps can easily use [these models]…[to] influence policy decisions, warp electoral strategies, & erode public trust in the democratic institutions that rely on accurate polling.
This potentially turns a tool for scientific discovery into a vector for information warfare.”🧪
This potentially turns a tool for scientific discovery into a vector for information warfare.”🧪
AI presents a fundamental threat to our ability to use polls to assess public opinion. Bad actors who are able to infiltrate panels can flip close election polls for less than the cost of a Starbucks coffee. Models will also infer and confirm hypotheses in experiments. Current quality checks fail
November 18, 2025 at 11:36 PM
“foreign states or other grps can easily use [these models]…[to] influence policy decisions, warp electoral strategies, & erode public trust in the democratic institutions that rely on accurate polling.
This potentially turns a tool for scientific discovery into a vector for information warfare.”🧪
This potentially turns a tool for scientific discovery into a vector for information warfare.”🧪
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Indiana's Senate voted today to adjourn by a vote of 29 to 19, with 19 Republicans joining the chamber's 10 Democrats to defy the governor's wish that the state re-gerrymander asap.
indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/18/r...
indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/18/r...
Redistricting rift growing among Indiana Republicans • Indiana Capital Chronicle
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday made his most overt political threat to recalcitrant Republican state senators over congressional redistricting by saying he could look for ways to “compel” them to ...
indianacapitalchronicle.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Indiana's Senate voted today to adjourn by a vote of 29 to 19, with 19 Republicans joining the chamber's 10 Democrats to defy the governor's wish that the state re-gerrymander asap.
indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/18/r...
indianacapitalchronicle.com/2025/11/18/r...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Update to the resolution before Asheville city council to ban ICE/CBP from using city owned property
Resolution barring ICE/CBP using city property will not proceed this meeting, after more conservative council members refused to advance it and council member Kim Roney folded rather than face an ounce of conflict. #avlgov
Council member Kim Roney, who proposed — with array of community groups — the resolution barring ICE/CBP from using city property, immediately folds, thanking other council members for considering it but not pressing for it to be on agenda or voted on anytime soon. #avlgov
November 19, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Update to the resolution before Asheville city council to ban ICE/CBP from using city owned property
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Texas A&M Board of Regents bans professors from mentioning "whooping cough."
#Satire
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/11/t...
#Satire
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/11/t...
Whooping cough cases in Texas reach an 11-year high
The state has recorded more than 3,500 cases of whooping cough so far this year, 10 times the number in 2023.
www.texastribune.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Texas A&M Board of Regents bans professors from mentioning "whooping cough."
#Satire
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/11/t...
#Satire
www.texastribune.org/2025/11/11/t...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
"Things happen" sometimes, like when you walk into an embassy to apply for your marriage license while your bride-to-be waits outside, but then you get bonesawed to pieces for having exercised freedom of speech as an US-based journalist and have to be carried out in a series of suitcases.
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 11:18 PM
"Things happen" sometimes, like when you walk into an embassy to apply for your marriage license while your bride-to-be waits outside, but then you get bonesawed to pieces for having exercised freedom of speech as an US-based journalist and have to be carried out in a series of suitcases.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Let me tell you about the other Epstein files the Trump administration is STILL HIDING — records that aren’t affected by the bill Congress passed today.
November 18, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Let me tell you about the other Epstein files the Trump administration is STILL HIDING — records that aren’t affected by the bill Congress passed today.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
If you want to know why a federal court struck down Texas' new congressional map, read this. It is an amazing example of Trump's DOJ utter incompetence. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Trump DOJ’s ‘Ham-Fisted’ Letter Key to Ruling Blocking Texas Gerrymander
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
If you want to know why a federal court struck down Texas' new congressional map, read this. It is an amazing example of Trump's DOJ utter incompetence. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
gggenomes: A Grammar of Graphics for Comparative Genomics thackl.github.io/gggenomes/ #Rstats
A Grammar of Graphics for Comparative Genomics
An extension of ggplot2 for creating complex genomic maps. It builds on the power of ggplot2 and tidyverse adding new ggplot2-style geoms & positions and dplyr-style verbs to manipulate the…
thackl.github.io
November 18, 2025 at 7:02 PM
gggenomes: A Grammar of Graphics for Comparative Genomics thackl.github.io/gggenomes/ #Rstats
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
The founder of a Chicago-based cryptocurrency company has been indicted on federal money laundering charges, accusing him of laundering at least $10 million in wire fraud and drug crime proceeds, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
Chicago crypto firm, founder indicted in $10 million money laundering case
chicago.suntimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:16 PM
The founder of a Chicago-based cryptocurrency company has been indicted on federal money laundering charges, accusing him of laundering at least $10 million in wire fraud and drug crime proceeds, according to a recently unsealed indictment.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
You might not have caught what just happened on the Senate floor, but the Senate just “deemed as passed” the Epstein resolution.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
November 18, 2025 at 10:47 PM
You might not have caught what just happened on the Senate floor, but the Senate just “deemed as passed” the Epstein resolution.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
That means as soon as it arrives from the House, it automatically passes the Senate (with no amendments) and heads to the President’s desk.
Wow.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
OK, #bioinformatics folk. We have some (many many) reads from a metagenome. They have been binned into a bacterial genome. They have no matches to any known genome in any database. They code for "bacterial" genes. What are good triple-checks to do to argue that they are not, in fact, euk sequence?
November 18, 2025 at 5:29 PM
OK, #bioinformatics folk. We have some (many many) reads from a metagenome. They have been binned into a bacterial genome. They have no matches to any known genome in any database. They code for "bacterial" genes. What are good triple-checks to do to argue that they are not, in fact, euk sequence?
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
Github co-pilot, integrated into VS Code, has completely changed the way I code. It's making me vastly more productive.
But I don't want AI to be so useful! There are many ethical concerns and it's completely undermining my skillset, built up over decades.
So I think there's a lot of denial.
But I don't want AI to be so useful! There are many ethical concerns and it's completely undermining my skillset, built up over decades.
So I think there's a lot of denial.
November 18, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Github co-pilot, integrated into VS Code, has completely changed the way I code. It's making me vastly more productive.
But I don't want AI to be so useful! There are many ethical concerns and it's completely undermining my skillset, built up over decades.
So I think there's a lot of denial.
But I don't want AI to be so useful! There are many ethical concerns and it's completely undermining my skillset, built up over decades.
So I think there's a lot of denial.
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
November 17, 2025 at 10:11 PM
BBC News: "the government believe refugees are deliberately bringing their children to avoid deportation"
As opposed to doing what with their children??
As opposed to doing what with their children??
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
For months, the Social Security Administration was quietly sharing sensitive data about immigrants with DHS. Now it’s official. www.wired.com/story/social...
Social Security Data Is Openly Being Shared With DHS to Target Immigrants
For months, the Social Security Administration was quietly sharing sensitive data about immigrants with DHS. Now it’s official.
www.wired.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:02 AM
For months, the Social Security Administration was quietly sharing sensitive data about immigrants with DHS. Now it’s official. www.wired.com/story/social...
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
My colleague @avnimalh0tra.bsky.social is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate rhizosphere processes influencing methane (CH₄) dynamics in northern peatlands! Super cool opening -- please circulate careers.pnnl.gov/jobs/11061?l...
Post Doctorate Research Associate - Peatland Rhizosphere and Trace Gas Processes in Richland, Washington | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PNNL is hiring a Post Doctorate Research Associate - Peatland Rhizosphere and Trace Gas Processes in Richland, Washington. Review all of the job details and apply today!
careers.pnnl.gov
November 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
My colleague @avnimalh0tra.bsky.social is hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate to investigate rhizosphere processes influencing methane (CH₄) dynamics in northern peatlands! Super cool opening -- please circulate careers.pnnl.gov/jobs/11061?l...
“Truth is becoming something we feel rather than something we can prove.”
“Coherence isn’t a marker of accuracy, it’s a marker of ease. And too often, the easier it is to process, the more likely we are to believe it.”
“Coherence isn’t a marker of accuracy, it’s a marker of ease. And too often, the easier it is to process, the more likely we are to believe it.”
The Coherence Trap: How AI Is Teaching Us to Feel Truth
We’re entering an age where truth no longer needs to be proven, it just needs to feel right.
www.psychologytoday.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:20 PM
“Truth is becoming something we feel rather than something we can prove.”
“Coherence isn’t a marker of accuracy, it’s a marker of ease. And too often, the easier it is to process, the more likely we are to believe it.”
“Coherence isn’t a marker of accuracy, it’s a marker of ease. And too often, the easier it is to process, the more likely we are to believe it.”
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
"Agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, ERO, and CBP intend to implement a comprehensive plan to target Spanish-speaking churches across the country during the upcoming holiday season between Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and Christmas, Dec. 25."
Exclusive: Trump DHS Plans Immigration Raids on Churches Over Holidays
The Trump Dept. of Homeland Security is briefing federal agencies on plans for immigration enforcement operations inside churches over holidays.
thisweekinworcester.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:12 AM
"Agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, ERO, and CBP intend to implement a comprehensive plan to target Spanish-speaking churches across the country during the upcoming holiday season between Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, and Christmas, Dec. 25."
Reposted by Breah LaSarre
JUST IN: A federal judge has thrown out DOJ’s lawsuit to compel NY to aid in immigration arrests at state courthouses.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 18, 2025 at 1:33 AM
JUST IN: A federal judge has thrown out DOJ’s lawsuit to compel NY to aid in immigration arrests at state courthouses.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...