Brendan Maher
LightNews LightNews
banner
bmaher.bsky.social
Brendan Maher
@bmaher.bsky.social
4.7K followers 340 following 150 posts
News featured editor at Nature. bmaher.01 on signal.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Brendan Maher
dangaristo.bsky.social
After a bruising 42-day shutdown, the government has finally reopened. We took a look at what's next for federal science—how quickly things will get back up to speed and whether there will be long-term consequences.

With Jeff Tollefson and @alexwitze.bsky.social:
The US government shutdown is over: what’s next for scientists
Government researchers are heading back to work, but questions about the size of research-budget cuts will extend into next year.
www.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:40 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
Great reporting, as always, from my colleague @marilenharo.bsky.social
nature.com Nature @nature.com · 2d
Promising results from a new malaria drug offer hope against emerging drug resistance in Africa. In a clinical trial, ganaplacide–lumefantrine (GanLum) cured 97.4% of participants, outperforming an existing treatment, which cured 94%.

go.nature.com/3WTGxnx
First new type of malaria treatment in decades shows promise against drug resistance
If approved, GanLum could be available within a year and a half, according to maker.
go.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:48 AM
bmaher.bsky.social
Did the FDA make the right decision yesterday on menopausal hormone therapy? Scientists aren't so sure. @lynnepeeps.bsky.social writes for @nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Is HRT in menopause healthy? US label change triggers debate
The US FDA is removing serious health warnings from hormone replacement therapies. Scientists worry that more work is needed to get the message right.
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nature.com
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy is trying to maintain public health awareness during the Trump administration

go.nature.com/3JvIm7f
Vaccine advice: how a US centre is filling growing gaps in public-health information
Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm talks about efforts by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy to inform vaccine recommendations and maintain public-health awareness during the Trump administration.
go.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nature.com
Mere months after its long-awaited debut, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is beginning to deliver on its promise to rewrite cosmic history

go.nature.com/3JJK6tp
Surprise ‘tail’ found on an iconic galaxy may rewrite its history
First image from Vera C. Rubin telescope reveals a previously unnoticed feature of galaxy M61 that may explain its mysterious properties.
go.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nature.com
"We can’t wait for the day when the CDC is back in full glory."

go.nature.com/4qPD1Iu
Vaccine advice: how a US centre is filling growing gaps in public-health information
Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm talks about efforts by the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy to inform vaccine recommendations and maintain public-health awareness during the Trump administration.
go.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Bluetorial-Jim Watson

I met Jim Watson a few times but did not know him well. However, I was greatly influenced by his book “The Double Helix”. He was a complicated human being with some very, very bad features, but some good contributions.

What follows is my personal perspective.

1/41
a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
ALT: a cartoon says hey everybody an old man 's talking while bart simpson looks on
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
A solemn and stormy Edmund Fitzgerald day to all who celebrate: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP0k...
Billy Strings “Wreck of the Edmund’s Fitzgerald” 4/19/25 #billystrings #cary #agirlandherphone
YouTube video by Beth Boylan
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
peterdaszak.bsky.social
I’m waiting for NIAID Directorship to open up again then I’ll send in my CV…
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
jeremymberg.bsky.social
8 high level positions at NIH posted including 6 institute director positions (NIMH, NIGMS, NICHD, NIDCR, NHGRI, NLM).

Only open for 2 weeks (applications due November 21).

Application materials include a) CV b) vision statement c) a photocopy of doctoral degree.

hr.nih.gov/careers/open...
hr.nih.gov
November 7, 2025 at 10:20 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
Jim Watson – who became notorious for his history of racist and sexist comments – has died at 97 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
DNA pioneer James Watson has died ― colleagues wrestle with his legacy
The co-discoverer of the structure of DNA helped to strengthen a US research institute and wrote a classic textbook, but also earned a reputation for racist and sexist comments.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:28 AM
bmaher.bsky.social
International students in the US haven't declined (yet). Interesting analysis by @dangaristo.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
International PhD student numbers in US hold steady — for now
Trend flies in face of Trump-administration policies, but could yet see a rapid decrease, especially in science fields.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
'Mind captions' sound pretty cool. This work covered by my colleague promises to create text descriptions of the things you see by decoding your brain activity while viewing them. In testing it also worked when people recalled watching videos.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Mind-captioning’ AI decodes brain activity to turn thoughts into text
A non-invasive imaging technique can translate scenes in your head into sentences. It could help to reveal how the brain interprets the world.
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nature.com
A high-quality image data set shows that tech companies can obtain informed consent and avoid data bias without breaking the bank

go.nature.com/4oSvBT0
Images for AI use can be sourced responsibly
A high-quality image data set shows that tech companies can obtain informed consent and avoid data bias without breaking the bank.
go.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nature.com
Scientists long thought the plant cell wall to be dead, but it's an active, even chatty participant in cellular growth, reproduction and responses to infection

go.nature.com/4oK8xWu
Plants have a secret language that scientists are only now starting to decipher
Nature - Signals from the plant cell wall help to orchestrate growth, reproduction and immune function. Can harnessing this molecular cross talk help in creating better crops?
go.nature.com
November 2, 2025 at 10:52 AM
bmaher.bsky.social
These walls CAN talk! Turns out the plant cell wall isn't just a boring cubicle for hard working chloroplasts and stuff. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Plants have a secret language that scientists are only now starting to decipher
Signals from the plant cell wall help to orchestrate growth, reproduction and immune function. Can harnessing this molecular cross talk help in creating better crops?
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:18 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
What movies to physicists go absolutely gaga over? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
The sci-fi films that physicists love to watch — from Interstellar to Spider-Man
Nature surveyed scientists about their favourite cinematic moments to celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
whysharksmatter.bsky.social
ICYMI: My longest article ever for Scuba Diving Magazine answers one of the most frequent career advice quesions I receive... and the answer probably isn't what you think!

Give it a read and share

www.scubadiving.com/best-schools... 🦑🧪
What Are the Best Schools to Study Marine Biology?
In this edition of “Ask a Marine Biologist,” Dr. David Shiffman gives aspiring marine scientists things to consider when looking for in a college or university.
www.scubadiving.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
nemalki.bsky.social
Project Gutenberg is one of those places that exemplifies what the internet was initially all about: studying, preserving, and celebrating the arts, especially the written word, and Greg Newby was a huge part of that.

Thank you, Greg, and rest well.
archive.org Internet Archive @archive.org · 23d
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Greg Newby, who led Project Gutenberg ( @gutenberg.org ) with passion and purpose. Greg’s belief in free and open access to knowledge continues to inspire us and so many others working to preserve our shared culture online. gutenberg.org/about/newby....
Greg Newby
October 23, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
lizziegibney.bsky.social
Another day, another claim of quantum advantage -- this time, with hints of (someday) doing something useful 🧪⚛️

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Google claims ‘quantum advantage’ again — but researchers are sceptical
The firm says it has solved a problem on a quantum processor faster than a classical computer, and is optimistic about future scientific applications.
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:06 AM
bmaher.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Scientists lose jobs and grants as US government shutdown takes a toll
Hundreds of people at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have received layoff notices, and work at many federal laboratories has been suspended.
www.nature.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:12 PM
bmaher.bsky.social
De las Casas was required reading in the fairly conservative catholic university I attended. And I can’t thank them enough for it.
pedsortho.bsky.social George Gantsoudes @pedsortho.bsky.social · Oct 13
Please remember that the disgust people have over Christopher Columbus is not based on some modern, 21st century “woke” ideology, but rather on contemporaneous accounts of atrocities that make many modern genocides appear quaint in comparison.

Below, are the accounts of Bartlomé de las Casas.
But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus, desperate to pay back dividends to those who had in-vested, had to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut off and bled to death. The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled, were hunted down with dogs, and were killed. After each six or eight months' work in the mines, which was the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting, up to a third of the men died. While the men were sent many miles away to the mines, the wives remained to work the soil, forced into the excruciating job of digging and making thousands of hills for cassava plants. Thus husbands and wives were together only once every eight or ten months and when they met they were so exhausted and depressed on both sides... they ceased to pro-create. As for the newly born, they died early because their mothers, overworked and fam-ished, had no milk to nurse them, and for this reason, while I was in Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned their babies from sheer desper-ation.... In this way, husbands died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from lack of milk ... and in a short time this land which was so great, so powerful and fer-tile... was depopulated... My eyes have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble as I write....
October 14, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
kendrawrites.com
For some context the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report in addition to being just a good read, to quote wikipedia, "is the main vehicle for publishing public health information and recommendations that have been received by the CDC from state health departments. "
sherylnyt.bsky.social Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · Oct 11
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
October 11, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
virginiagewin.bsky.social
Journalist here

I’m interested in talking to a federal agency scientist who was fired, then rehired. I can keep you anonymous. I’m on Signal ginnyg.04

Reposts are appreciated!
October 11, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Brendan Maher
altcdc.altgov.info
CDC RIFs that we're hearing about:
OPHDST -Office of Public Health Data & Tech

Goals
✅improve access to & use of public health data (Wish Fake-CIP used them-they’d finally understand vaccine data)
✅Improve EFFICIENCY of data & tech systems ➡️
help states, etc. make informed public health decisions
About OPHDST
OPHDST works to improve the availability and use of public health data.
www.cdc.gov
October 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM