1. There has been a major effort by that old combination – big business and the far right – to diss foods derived from plants. The meat lobby invests big time in misinformation. And the far right hates “soyboys”, while associating itself with red meat-eating. It's a match made in hell. 🧵

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/o...

This is grim because there's nowhere to go.

The US spends more on research and development than any other country in the world (by far), and we have more PI-level positions than anywhere else (by far).

Feels like we're doing something really wrong if we need a World Water Day but here we are.

Here’s a reminder that 2.2 billion people have no access to safe water and half the world doesn’t have basic sanitation but yet rich countries flush their toilets with clean drinking water.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

People might think that whatever destruction is done to science in the US, we can undo in 4 years with a Democratic president and Congress.

The problem is that many areas require specialized knowledge and skills built up over years, and once that's lost, it's hard to get back.

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people:
18f.org

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.

18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.

We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org

The DOGE body count continues.

The U.S. has two tsunami warning centers, both operated by NOAA. Employees were terminated from these centers today. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center covers Hawaiʻi, and now it is less safe to be near the beach.

www.tsunami.gov

Breaking: FDA's March meeting to select flu shot strains for 2025-2026 season has been canceled per email sent to committee members, a VRBPAC member told me. drug companies need about 6 months leeway to make shots in time for fall vax campaigns. #healthpolicy

Call to Action: The Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent federal agency that safeguards federal employees in employment disputes, has paused the terminations of six probationary federal workers across various executive branch agencies and departments for 45 days.

This is happening. Make it big.
Stand up for Science marches in Washington and nationwide on March 7th.

Some local information here: standupforscience2025.org/local-event-...

Federal workers serve the American people—not an unelected billionaire on a power trip.

Musk’s 48-hour stunt is a sham, meant to gut public services & hand power to corporations. Workers won’t waste time on his chaos. Do not respond unless directed. #SaveOurServices

Federal workers are unionizing and coming together to protect one another. They are sharing resources and it's a beautiful thing to see.

www.theverge.com/news/617014/...

Another dataset I like is from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, which has maps of the US that show we fixed the acid rain problem by implementing stricter emission controls on power plants.

nadp.slh.wisc.edu/maps-data/nt...

not looking at something doesn't make it go away.

that's object permanence.

something children typically develop by the age of two.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Climate change is real. There are only three options:
1. Reduce climate-damaging pollution
2. Adapt to unavoidable climate impacts
3. Suffer.

By denying and misrepresenting the science and by cutting science and disaster funds, Trump and the Republicans have chosen the third option.

You won't encounter a less-political and more publicly beneficial organization than NOAA. It's filled with scientists, technicians, and analysts who entered their fields because they love what they do. The competence-to-fat ratio is probably higher at NOAA than anywhere. Destroying it is abhorrent.