Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
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samantha-lux.bsky.social
Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
@samantha-lux.bsky.social
35 followers 45 following 1 posts
they/them | PhD Student @ Rutgers SSW | MSW 24’ @ NYU Silver | BASc @ McMaster University | #firstgen | 🇨🇦
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Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
astrojaz.bsky.social
the universe wishes you a very happy pride month 🏳️‍🌈🌌
This image of the Ring Nebula, taken by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, appears as a distorted doughnut. The nebula’s inner cavity hosts shades of blue and green, while the detailed ring transitions through shades of orange in the inner regions and pink in the outer region. The ring’s inner region has distinct filament elements. Stars litter the scene, with a particularly prominent star with 8 long spikes in the top right corner. Colorful clouds of gas and dust crowd the image. Deep red and orange clouds surround the image's edges, with some violet in the upper left portion. Near the left middle, a region of teal and yellow shines. A star cluster is shown inside a large nebula of many-coloured gas and dust. The material forms dark ridges and peaks of gas and dust surrounding the cluster, lit on the inner side, while layers of diffuse, translucent clouds blanket over them. Around and within the gas, a huge number of distant galaxies can be seen, some quite large, as well as a few stars nearer to us which are very large and bright. A colorful, glowing nebula that reaches beyond the top and bottom of the image. This translucent cloud of gas holds wispy and thin filaments with hard edges in some places, and puffy and opaque in others. Blue, red, and yellow colors mix together, showing light emitted by different types of atoms in the hot gas. Scattered across the colorful nebula are bright and point-like foreground and background stars. The background is black.
June 1, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
nature.com
The US National Institutes of Health has terminated nearly 800 research projects at a breakneck pace, wiping out significant chunks of funding to entire scientific fields

Read the full story: https://go.nature.com/42wYrix
A graphic showing that 50.6% of research projects with "LGBT" search terms have been cancelled. 45.8% of grants with "transgender" in the search terms have been cancelled. 45.5% of research grants with "vaccine hesitancy" have been cancelled. 3.4% grants with "HIV" or "AIDS" have been cancelled.
April 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
neillewisjr.bsky.social
I hope other university alliances start pooling resources and engaging in the kinds of collective action Rutgers is proposing here for the Big Ten.

senate.rutgers.edu/report/resol...
Whereas, the Big Ten Academic Alliance represents not only athletic competition but also a longstanding tradition of academic collaboration, research excellence, and commitment to democratic values and shared governance; Whereas, the Big Ten Academic Alliance includes 18 universities with thousands of instructors serving over 600,000 students; Whereas, the preservation of one institution’s integrity is the concern of all, and an infringement against one member university of the Big Ten shall be considered an infringement against all; Be it resolved that, the Rutgers University Senate urges the President of Rutgers University to formally propose and help establish a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MADC) among all members of the Big Ten Academic Alliance; Be it further resolved that, under this compact, all participating institutions shall commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund. This fund shall be used to provide immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement; Be it further resolved that, participating institutions shall make available, at the request of the institution under direct political infringement, the services of their legal counsel, governance experts, and public affairs offices to coordinate a unified and vigorous response, including but not limited to: Legal representation and countersuit actions; strategic public communication; amicus briefs and expert testimony; legislative advocacy and coalition-building; related topical research as needed.
April 7, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
aclu.org
If you're protesting this weekend, know your rights when interacting with law enforcement, including immigration agents.
Black graphic with text: "Know Your Protest Rights. You don't need a permit to protest in response to breaking news and you don't need a permit to march in the streets or along sidewalks, as long as you're not obstructing traffic or access to buildings.When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police.If you believe your rights have been violated, when you can, write down everything you remember, get contact information for witnesses, and take photographs of any injuries.If you get stopped by the police, ask if you're free to go. If they say yes, calmly walk away.If you get arrested, you have a right to ask why. Otherwise, say you wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer immediately. Don't sign, say or agree to anything without a lawyer present.If you get stopped by a member of the military or any law enforcement office at a protest, you have the right to remain silent or to tell them that you'll only answer questions in the presence of an attorney-no matter your citizenship or immigration status.”Know Your Rights. White ACLU logo. Dark blue background with text: "Know Your Rights When Interacting With Immigration Agents. If you’re in a public space, you can ask if you're free to leave. If so, you can calmly walk away.You have the right to remain silent, even if you’re arrested. You do not have to discuss your immigration status with anyone. If you’re arrested, you can say that you wish to remain silent until speaking with a lawyer.You have the right to refuse consent to a search.If you have valid immigration documents, you’re required to show them. Never provide fake documents.You have the right to record your interaction with immigration agents as long as you do not interfere.If you’re at home, you do not have to open the door. ICE agents may not enter unless they have a warrant signed by a judge (have them slip it under the door). If they force their way in, do not resist, but you can remain silent."Know Your Rights. White ACLU logo.
April 4, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
joshuasweitz.bsky.social
Visualizing the Impacts of Federal Cuts to Medical Research & Why It Matters

New #substack on collaborative effort with @asinclair.bsky.social and our #SCIMaP team

Website: scienceimpacts.org

Read more here:
open.substack.com/pub/joshuasw...
Visualizing the Impacts of Federal Cuts to Medical Research & Why It Matters
Why it matters how we communicate and visualize the impacts of proposed and ongoing cuts to science and medical research nationwide.
open.substack.com
April 4, 2025 at 3:15 AM
samantha-lux.bsky.social
This is absolutely disgusting
nature.com Nature @nature.com · Apr 3
The White House sometimes directs the NIH to study certain broad topics, such as cancer or women’s health, but the latest directive’s specificity, inflammatory language and focus on a hyper-polarizing topic are unprecedented, NIH employees say.

https://go.nature.com/43xPnfj
Exclusive: Trump White House directs NIH to study ‘regret’ after transgender people transition
After cancelling nearly all NIH projects studying transgender health, Trump’s team instructs the US biomedical agency to study negative consequences of transitioning.
go.nature.com
April 4, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Reposted by Samantha "Sam" Luxmikanthan
aclu.org
BREAKING: We're suing the National Institutes of Health over their politically-motivated purge of research grants.

This is an unlawful attack on scientific progress that puts lives at risk.
April 2, 2025 at 8:03 PM