@mpotter27.bsky.social
Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, mathematics, software... CEO and co-founder of VeraChem.
Reposted
BREAKING: President Trump signed an executive order directing states to criminalize and institutionalize people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health disabilities.
July 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
BREAKING: President Trump signed an executive order directing states to criminalize and institutionalize people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental health disabilities.
Reposted
Good grief, the US National Cancer Institute projects it will fund only one in 25 RO1 grant applications in 2026. This is massively defunding cancer research. Despicable vandalism. www.cancer.gov/grants-train...
July 24, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Good grief, the US National Cancer Institute projects it will fund only one in 25 RO1 grant applications in 2026. This is massively defunding cancer research. Despicable vandalism. www.cancer.gov/grants-train...
Reposted
In order to understand and communicate about the implications of this multi-year funding scheme, I put together a simple computer simulation.
1/n
1/n
a cat wearing glasses and a bow tie is sitting on a laptop
ALT: a cat wearing glasses and a bow tie is sitting on a laptop
media.tenor.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM
In order to understand and communicate about the implications of this multi-year funding scheme, I put together a simple computer simulation.
1/n
1/n
Reposted
Good Scientific American story about the letters of dissent from 4 federal science agencies (to date)...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
Federal Science Workers Say Agencies Are ‘Going in the Wrong Direction’
Hundreds of staffers at the National Institutes of Health, Environmental Protection Agency, NASA and the National Science Foundation have signed public letters to leadership opposing the direction in ...
www.scientificamerican.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Good Scientific American story about the letters of dissent from 4 federal science agencies (to date)...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
Reposted
NIH staff are being required to fully fund ~ 50% of their grants. This means that all 4 years of an award will be paid out of this appropriation. This will help them get the appropriated funds spent, but will mean they can only fund (1/2 + 1/4*1/2) = 5/8 has many grants as they would have otherwise.
July 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
NIH staff are being required to fully fund ~ 50% of their grants. This means that all 4 years of an award will be paid out of this appropriation. This will help them get the appropriated funds spent, but will mean they can only fund (1/2 + 1/4*1/2) = 5/8 has many grants as they would have otherwise.
Reposted
“With these considerations, we expect to fund through the 4th percentile.”
There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.
There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.
Funding policy for 2025 from NCI. Was just released: 4 percentile…maybe!
www.cancer.gov/grants-train...
www.cancer.gov/grants-train...
Funding Policy - Research Grants
NCI funding policy for research project grant (RPG) awards reflects the funding goals of the institute, NIH, and HHS.
www.cancer.gov
July 23, 2025 at 10:21 PM
“With these considerations, we expect to fund through the 4th percentile.”
There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.
There it is, in black and white, the destruction of cancer research in the US.
Reposted
"Trumpy closing the USGS BIML native bee lab is a terrible and avoidable loss for all of planet Earth" and "USGS BIML practices are going to make things hard for bee science to fix even if it miraculously comes back" can both be true at once
July 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
"Trumpy closing the USGS BIML native bee lab is a terrible and avoidable loss for all of planet Earth" and "USGS BIML practices are going to make things hard for bee science to fix even if it miraculously comes back" can both be true at once
Reposted
Observations are the load-bearing infrastructure of weather forecasts. Cutting weather balloons and buoys directly degrades critical weather information used across the entire economy.
July 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Observations are the load-bearing infrastructure of weather forecasts. Cutting weather balloons and buoys directly degrades critical weather information used across the entire economy.
Reposted
ICE wants $170 billion.
For reference, the entire Marine Corps budget is just over $53 billion.
For reference, the entire Marine Corps budget is just over $53 billion.
GOP Budget Bill Would Make ICE "Largest Federal Law Enforcement Agency in the History of the Nation"
GOP Budget Bill Would Make ICE “Largest Federal Law Enforcement Agency” in U.S. History
The budget bill just passed by the Senate provides more than $170 billion in new funding for immigration enforcement and detention. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, who worked on an analysis published by the American...
www.democracynow.org
July 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM
ICE wants $170 billion.
For reference, the entire Marine Corps budget is just over $53 billion.
For reference, the entire Marine Corps budget is just over $53 billion.
Reposted
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
June 28, 2025 at 10:07 PM
If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.
Reposted
Duke appears to have lost NIH grants because they used the prefix "trans" in reference to disease transmission, transgenic genetic material, translational studies, or signal transduction www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...
June 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Duke appears to have lost NIH grants because they used the prefix "trans" in reference to disease transmission, transgenic genetic material, translational studies, or signal transduction www.dukechronicle.com/article/2025...
Reposted
The #SCIMaP team announces a major update: an analysis of the economic impacts of the White House's NIH FY26 budget.
Bottom-line, we estimate $46B in total economic loss, 202K lost jobs, and impacts in communities nationwide.
Interactive map and shareable report:
scienceimpacts.org/fy26
a 🧵
Bottom-line, we estimate $46B in total economic loss, 202K lost jobs, and impacts in communities nationwide.
Interactive map and shareable report:
scienceimpacts.org/fy26
a 🧵
June 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The #SCIMaP team announces a major update: an analysis of the economic impacts of the White House's NIH FY26 budget.
Bottom-line, we estimate $46B in total economic loss, 202K lost jobs, and impacts in communities nationwide.
Interactive map and shareable report:
scienceimpacts.org/fy26
a 🧵
Bottom-line, we estimate $46B in total economic loss, 202K lost jobs, and impacts in communities nationwide.
Interactive map and shareable report:
scienceimpacts.org/fy26
a 🧵
Reposted
BREAKING: We're filing a new class-action lawsuit to challenge President Trump's lawsuit restricting birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment is clear: Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen, whether the president likes it or not.
The 14th Amendment is clear: Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen, whether the president likes it or not.
June 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
BREAKING: We're filing a new class-action lawsuit to challenge President Trump's lawsuit restricting birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment is clear: Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen, whether the president likes it or not.
The 14th Amendment is clear: Every child born on U.S. soil is a citizen, whether the president likes it or not.
Reposted
this court says that allowing EPA to regulate carbon emissions is a "major question" that demands congressional debate. but allowing the president to, with a flick of the wrist, end a straightforward constitutional right is something that must be allowed to stand?
June 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
this court says that allowing EPA to regulate carbon emissions is a "major question" that demands congressional debate. but allowing the president to, with a flick of the wrist, end a straightforward constitutional right is something that must be allowed to stand?
Reposted
A DoD weather satellite program will stop distributing data products by June 30, per an announcement this week. The program collects vital information used in hurricane forecasts, and meteorologists are alarmed -- one told me his "gut reaction was disbelief." My story: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump terminates satellite data considered crucial to storm forecasting
Meteorologists called the end of the DOD program "insanity" and "alarmingly bad news" as the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ramps up.
www.eenews.net
June 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
A DoD weather satellite program will stop distributing data products by June 30, per an announcement this week. The program collects vital information used in hurricane forecasts, and meteorologists are alarmed -- one told me his "gut reaction was disbelief." My story: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Reposted
PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science
These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults
www.scientificamerican.com
June 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
PLEASE SHARE 🧪‼️
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr.
Scientific American has published a guide to the EVIDENCE-BASED vaccine recommendations in place BEFORE ACIP members were removed by the administration.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Reposted
Can’t believe we’re closing the lab that could prevent an agriculture apocalypse. wapo.st/3T61km6
Bees are collapsing in the U.S. A key to their secrets might vanish.
The top federal lab on native bees is set to close under President Trump’s budget.
wapo.st
June 23, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Can’t believe we’re closing the lab that could prevent an agriculture apocalypse. wapo.st/3T61km6
Reposted
I don't like linking wapo these days but the story of how this guy is probably going to die because the idiots have cut the staff at NIH and his CAR-T is locked up in a freezer somewhere is beyond the pale.
Powerful story from Carolyn Johnson at the Washington Post...
wapo.st/44ntbo4
[Should be a gift link; let me know if there are problems]
wapo.st/44ntbo4
[Should be a gift link; let me know if there are problems]
His custom cancer therapy is in an NIH freezer. He may not get it in time.
The purge of probationary federal workers included skilled lab personnel who would have finalized a customized cell immunotherapy for cancer patients.
wapo.st
June 18, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I don't like linking wapo these days but the story of how this guy is probably going to die because the idiots have cut the staff at NIH and his CAR-T is locked up in a freezer somewhere is beyond the pale.
Reposted
Hard to know what to say about all these policy flip-flops, except: as demoralizing as they are for those of us trying to keep scientists informed, they must be 10x worse for NIH staff trying to roll them out and 100x worse for PIs trying to figure out if they can make payroll.
Grants at Columbia unfrozen at 9:30 this morning...
Refrozen at 2:30 this afternoon with instructions to undo all of the releases done earlier.
It like the 7th graders in detention broke into the Principal's Office...
Refrozen at 2:30 this afternoon with instructions to undo all of the releases done earlier.
It like the 7th graders in detention broke into the Principal's Office...
🚨 After more than three months, Columbia University is no longer frozen out of NIH funds, per source.
Terminated grants will not (yet) be reinstated, but money should begin flowing otherwise, I'm told.
Terminated grants will not (yet) be reinstated, but money should begin flowing otherwise, I'm told.
June 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Hard to know what to say about all these policy flip-flops, except: as demoralizing as they are for those of us trying to keep scientists informed, they must be 10x worse for NIH staff trying to roll them out and 100x worse for PIs trying to figure out if they can make payroll.
Reposted
Want to set up your own photo-stacking imaging system for under $3000? This post which outlines all the off-the-shelf items I used this year along with some recommendations for how to use it. Planning to talk about this at @entcollnet.bsky.social this November, too! www.insectid.org/post/focus-s...
Focus-stacking photography: Building your own system
Ten years ago, Alex Wild published a guide on Scientific American on how to make your own focus-stacking system for under $6000. I can't seem to find that post any more, just some secondary posts with...
www.insectid.org
June 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Want to set up your own photo-stacking imaging system for under $3000? This post which outlines all the off-the-shelf items I used this year along with some recommendations for how to use it. Planning to talk about this at @entcollnet.bsky.social this November, too! www.insectid.org/post/focus-s...
Reposted
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎
🧪🌎
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
June 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎
🧪🌎
Reposted
"If someone had said, “Who cares how desert lizard venom works? Let’s not fund that research,” we never would have discovered semaglutide, a key component of drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic, which have helped millions of Americans lose weight."
Curiosity-driven research is amazing.
Curiosity-driven research is amazing.
My latest for American Scientist Magazine helps give scientists the tools to fight back against politicized charges that our research is silly or pointless- tools that will work whether you’re asked “why are we funding this” from your asshole uncle at Thanksgiving or an asshole US Senator.
🧪🌎
🧪🌎
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
June 18, 2025 at 4:17 PM
"If someone had said, “Who cares how desert lizard venom works? Let’s not fund that research,” we never would have discovered semaglutide, a key component of drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic, which have helped millions of Americans lose weight."
Curiosity-driven research is amazing.
Curiosity-driven research is amazing.
Reposted
This is incredibly harmful BUT I want to make sure people understand that the Trevor Project’s own hotline will still exist & anyone (including queer youth) can still call 988, they just won’t be able to be connected to TP via 988. It’s hateful & cruel but there are still resources.
Breaking: The Trevor Project received a stop-work order last night on its contract with the national 988 suicide prevention hotline. The Trump administration is eliminating the option for LGBTQ callers to the hotline to press 3 and connect with someone who specializes in LGBTQ mental health.
June 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
This is incredibly harmful BUT I want to make sure people understand that the Trevor Project’s own hotline will still exist & anyone (including queer youth) can still call 988, they just won’t be able to be connected to TP via 988. It’s hateful & cruel but there are still resources.
Reposted
Last February, I led a proposal submission that encompassed six months, hundreds of hours, four institutions, a massive team, and and 256 pages. NSF just informed us that the entire Biology Integration Institute program was archived and our proposal would not even be reviewed.
With a form email.
With a form email.
June 16, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Last February, I led a proposal submission that encompassed six months, hundreds of hours, four institutions, a massive team, and and 256 pages. NSF just informed us that the entire Biology Integration Institute program was archived and our proposal would not even be reviewed.
With a form email.
With a form email.