Chase Brownstein
@chasedbrownstein.bsky.social
Graduate Student, Yale E&EB
YC '23
Call me the ancient mariner cus I'm about to Bust a Rime
https://chasebrownstein.weebly.com
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hGy-fr8AAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1
he/him
YC '23
Call me the ancient mariner cus I'm about to Bust a Rime
https://chasebrownstein.weebly.com
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hGy-fr8AAAAJ&hl=en&authuser=1
he/him
1/16 🚨🚨 New paper!! I am thrilled to share our study that uses fossils, genomes, and a bit of geology to investigate how many times cavefishes evolved, and how they can help us figure out the ages of caves themselves! Link: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
August 9, 2025 at 12:56 AM
1/16 🚨🚨 New paper!! I am thrilled to share our study that uses fossils, genomes, and a bit of geology to investigate how many times cavefishes evolved, and how they can help us figure out the ages of caves themselves! Link: academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...
Checking genbank for an obscure clade
June 21, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Checking genbank for an obscure clade
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
A large proportion of these canceled awards are focused on broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, which NSF was mandated to do by Congress. At what point does Congress plan to act to restore the balance of power?
NSF just released a public list of terminated awards. It’s linked on the bottom of the FAQ page at: nsf.gov/updates-on-priorities#termination-list
Updates on NSF Priorities
nsf.gov
May 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
A large proportion of these canceled awards are focused on broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM, which NSF was mandated to do by Congress. At what point does Congress plan to act to restore the balance of power?
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Connecticut has long been a cash cow for the federal government. But now the federal administration is threatening to withhold funds we are legally entitled to - in defiance of court orders.
If they do, we should return the favor and stop collecting money for the feds.
If they do, we should return the favor and stop collecting money for the feds.
May 19, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Connecticut has long been a cash cow for the federal government. But now the federal administration is threatening to withhold funds we are legally entitled to - in defiance of court orders.
If they do, we should return the favor and stop collecting money for the feds.
If they do, we should return the favor and stop collecting money for the feds.
Awesome new paper from @prosanta.bsky.social, Melanie Stiassny, et al!
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaf032/8129685?login=true
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaf032/8129685?login=true
Phylogenomic and Population Genomic Analyses of Ultraconserved Elements Reveal Deep Coalescence and Introgression Shaped Diversification Patterns in Lamprologine Cichlids of the Congo River
Abstract. Understanding the drivers of diversification is a central goal in evolutionary biology but can be challenging when lineages radiate quickly and/o
academic.oup.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Awesome new paper from @prosanta.bsky.social, Melanie Stiassny, et al!
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaf032/8129685?login=true
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advance-article/doi/10.1093/sysbio/syaf032/8129685?login=true
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Immigration policy in my two countries, 2025:
🇺🇸No longer give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, only white people who didn’t like that apartheid ended
🇬🇧Stay away all of you squalid strangers
🇺🇸No longer give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, only white people who didn’t like that apartheid ended
🇬🇧Stay away all of you squalid strangers
May 13, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Immigration policy in my two countries, 2025:
🇺🇸No longer give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, only white people who didn’t like that apartheid ended
🇬🇧Stay away all of you squalid strangers
🇺🇸No longer give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, only white people who didn’t like that apartheid ended
🇬🇧Stay away all of you squalid strangers
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Even the Trojans weren't stupid enough to get IN the horse.
May 12, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Even the Trojans weren't stupid enough to get IN the horse.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Diary of Anne Frank, January 13, 1943
These words, though written during one of the darkest chapters in human history, echo eerily in our modern world.
💔A timeless reminder of the consequences of indifference and the necessity of standing up for humanity.
These words, though written during one of the darkest chapters in human history, echo eerily in our modern world.
💔A timeless reminder of the consequences of indifference and the necessity of standing up for humanity.
May 10, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Diary of Anne Frank, January 13, 1943
These words, though written during one of the darkest chapters in human history, echo eerily in our modern world.
💔A timeless reminder of the consequences of indifference and the necessity of standing up for humanity.
These words, though written during one of the darkest chapters in human history, echo eerily in our modern world.
💔A timeless reminder of the consequences of indifference and the necessity of standing up for humanity.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
So weird that they're just letting everything fall into the sea - the NHS, universities, people with disabilities, civil rights. They've locked in their own failure. There absolutely was coming back from 2010, 16, 19. Then they got elected and nailed shut their own coffin from the inside.
May 10, 2025 at 9:20 PM
So weird that they're just letting everything fall into the sea - the NHS, universities, people with disabilities, civil rights. They've locked in their own failure. There absolutely was coming back from 2010, 16, 19. Then they got elected and nailed shut their own coffin from the inside.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
I am outraged by the unjust arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this afternoon outside of Delaney Hall in Newark.
I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.
I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.
May 9, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I am outraged by the unjust arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this afternoon outside of Delaney Hall in Newark.
I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.
I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
85% of political scientists say antisemitism not a major problem in their campus - in line with the results of our MESB survey - and over 90% see pressure on universities over it as a threat to democracy
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/antisemitism...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/antisemitism...
Antisemitism crisis on campus? 85% of political scientists say no.
Plus, a rich new weekly roundup of scholarship on the Middle East.
As regular readers know, Shibley Telhami and I have for several years been tracking the views of Middle East academic experts about ...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io
May 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
85% of political scientists say antisemitism not a major problem in their campus - in line with the results of our MESB survey - and over 90% see pressure on universities over it as a threat to democracy
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/antisemitism...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/antisemitism...
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
These #fish paintings were created for a research paper led by @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social and published this week in Science Advances. It's always a pleasure painting fish for Chase and his co-authors!
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Phylogenomics establishes an Early Miocene reconstruction of reef vertebrate diversity
Phylogenomics reveals a younger-than-expected age of reef fish diversification.
www.science.org
May 9, 2025 at 8:14 AM
These #fish paintings were created for a research paper led by @chasedbrownstein.bsky.social and published this week in Science Advances. It's always a pleasure painting fish for Chase and his co-authors!
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
This is how I feel, too. I think a large part of how we got here is that test-based K-12 education is so deeply flawed. There is almost no reading or writing compared to when I was in school. Then, when students hit college they've never practiced those skills, so of course turn to LLM's.
This is just so incredibly sad to me.
It's not just that people think they are clever for hacking their way through school without work.
It's that they don't WANT to learn new things. They don't WANT to improve skills. They don't WANT EDUCATION. nymag.com/intelligence...
It's not just that people think they are clever for hacking their way through school without work.
It's that they don't WANT to learn new things. They don't WANT to improve skills. They don't WANT EDUCATION. nymag.com/intelligence...
Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College
ChatGPT has unraveled the entire academic project.
nymag.com
May 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
This is how I feel, too. I think a large part of how we got here is that test-based K-12 education is so deeply flawed. There is almost no reading or writing compared to when I was in school. Then, when students hit college they've never practiced those skills, so of course turn to LLM's.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
RESULT: Voters in Mansfield, Texas, have ousted three conservative members of their local school board tonight.
This is a school board that has been at the frontlines of book-banning in Texas, as you can see here: fortworthreport.org/2025/03/19/m...
This is a school board that has been at the frontlines of book-banning in Texas, as you can see here: fortworthreport.org/2025/03/19/m...
May 4, 2025 at 4:09 AM
RESULT: Voters in Mansfield, Texas, have ousted three conservative members of their local school board tonight.
This is a school board that has been at the frontlines of book-banning in Texas, as you can see here: fortworthreport.org/2025/03/19/m...
This is a school board that has been at the frontlines of book-banning in Texas, as you can see here: fortworthreport.org/2025/03/19/m...
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Coelacanths illuminate deep-time evolution of cranial musculature in jawed vertebrates.
By Aléssio Datovo & G. David Johnson Sci. Adv. 2025
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
By Aléssio Datovo & G. David Johnson Sci. Adv. 2025
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Coelacanths illuminate deep-time evolution of cranial musculature in jawed vertebrates
Revised coelacanth cranial muscle anatomy reveals previously unknown evolutionary innovations and redefines gnathostome muscle evolution.
www.science.org
May 3, 2025 at 4:45 AM
Coelacanths illuminate deep-time evolution of cranial musculature in jawed vertebrates.
By Aléssio Datovo & G. David Johnson Sci. Adv. 2025
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
By Aléssio Datovo & G. David Johnson Sci. Adv. 2025
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
This is a good time to talk about what an absolute beast the measles virus is.
Remember the R0 score during the pandemic and how we tried to push it below 1 in order to curb the spread? Measle’s R0 goes up to 18. You can catch measles by stepping into an empty elevator.
That vaccine was a godsend.
Remember the R0 score during the pandemic and how we tried to push it below 1 in order to curb the spread? Measle’s R0 goes up to 18. You can catch measles by stepping into an empty elevator.
That vaccine was a godsend.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will direct federal health agencies to explore potential new treatments for measles as the U.S. faces its largest outbreak in 25 years. Experts fear the decision could have grave consequences, as studies show the existing vaccine is 97% effective in preventing infection.
RFK Jr. Orders Search for New Measles Treatments Instead of Urging Vaccination
Decades of research have turned up no miracle treatment for measles, but studies show the M.M.R. shot is 97 percent effective in preventing the disease.
www.nytimes.com
May 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
This is a good time to talk about what an absolute beast the measles virus is.
Remember the R0 score during the pandemic and how we tried to push it below 1 in order to curb the spread? Measle’s R0 goes up to 18. You can catch measles by stepping into an empty elevator.
That vaccine was a godsend.
Remember the R0 score during the pandemic and how we tried to push it below 1 in order to curb the spread? Measle’s R0 goes up to 18. You can catch measles by stepping into an empty elevator.
That vaccine was a godsend.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Just to be clear, this is a violation of the fundamental ethical principle in clinical trial design called "equipoise."
Equipoise means that no-one is exposed to excess risk just to test the therapy. That's specifically *why* vaccine trials don't use placebo arms.
Ethical violation as POLICY.
Equipoise means that no-one is exposed to excess risk just to test the therapy. That's specifically *why* vaccine trials don't use placebo arms.
Ethical violation as POLICY.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr will require all new vaccines to undergo placebo testing, WaPo reports
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr intends to shift the way vaccines are tested, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a spokesperson from the HHS.
www.reuters.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Just to be clear, this is a violation of the fundamental ethical principle in clinical trial design called "equipoise."
Equipoise means that no-one is exposed to excess risk just to test the therapy. That's specifically *why* vaccine trials don't use placebo arms.
Ethical violation as POLICY.
Equipoise means that no-one is exposed to excess risk just to test the therapy. That's specifically *why* vaccine trials don't use placebo arms.
Ethical violation as POLICY.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Freezing *ALL* science funding?
What a way to make a country great.
This seems a precursor to something bigger. Total elimination of the NSF and public funding of science? Like with international aid (USAID)?
🚨Speak up, we can't allow this to happen.
What a way to make a country great.
This seems a precursor to something bigger. Total elimination of the NSF and public funding of science? Like with international aid (USAID)?
🚨Speak up, we can't allow this to happen.
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...
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Freezing *ALL* science funding?
What a way to make a country great.
This seems a precursor to something bigger. Total elimination of the NSF and public funding of science? Like with international aid (USAID)?
🚨Speak up, we can't allow this to happen.
What a way to make a country great.
This seems a precursor to something bigger. Total elimination of the NSF and public funding of science? Like with international aid (USAID)?
🚨Speak up, we can't allow this to happen.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
i will say again that given the trajectory of the white house so far, strident opposition a la 2017 would have absolutely been the most prudent and effective decision and the absence of that opposition in the first two months made things demonstrably worse.
May 1, 2025 at 12:08 PM
i will say again that given the trajectory of the white house so far, strident opposition a la 2017 would have absolutely been the most prudent and effective decision and the absence of that opposition in the first two months made things demonstrably worse.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Something uplifting: yes, I had an NSF grant cancelled yesterday, but I spent today at (via zoom) a @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop where a dozen brilliant colleagues discussed how biological systems acquire, process, store, and transmit information in order to deal with environmental uncertainty.
Meeting Synopsis
Recent years have seen significant theoretical and methodological advances in understanding how environmental information is encoded within genetic, sensory, and immune systems. However, much of this ...
www.santafe.edu
April 30, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Something uplifting: yes, I had an NSF grant cancelled yesterday, but I spent today at (via zoom) a @sfiscience.bsky.social workshop where a dozen brilliant colleagues discussed how biological systems acquire, process, store, and transmit information in order to deal with environmental uncertainty.
Reposted by Chase Brownstein
Not just an inverse correlation, a direct inverse correlation!
RFK Jr: "We found that there's a direct inverse correlation between fluoride exposure and low IQ in children. So the more you get, the stupider you are."
April 30, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Not just an inverse correlation, a direct inverse correlation!