Mike the Mad Biologist

Links for you. Science:

First-of-its-kind vaccine protects children from deadly intestinal infections
How Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Vaccine Agenda Risks a Resurgence of Deadly Childhood Plagues
A New Level of Vaccine Purgatory
Cost and benefits of gene amplification-mediated antibiotic resistance
I Wrote Research Funding Announcements for NIH for 22 Years. This Year They’ve Published 14
Scientists turn mosquitoes ‘into a vaccination tool’ to immunise bats against rabies

Other:

Who Will Lead the Dems to the Promised Land of a New Israel Policy?
We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars
Optimism In An Age Of Superstition And Decline
Trump Friend Asked ICE to Detain the Mother of His Child (the worst people)
The Lies We Tell
The Fake Tough Guys of the Trump Administration
The Crisis In High Education
Father of service member killed in Iran war said he never told Pete Hegseth to ‘finish’ the job
Pope Bob
The left grapples with the painful reality of Cesar Chavez’s legacy
Mayoral Candidate Vincent Orange’s Son Arrested, Found With Illegal Handgun and Sword
The Trump administration is about to kill a popular D.C. bike lane
Fox News freaks over Democrats’ ‘revenge agenda’
As streetcar shutdown looms, H Street commuters face the end of the line
Jared Kushner’s Corruption Is a National Security Disaster
Down to the bone
Stylists fear Hollywood stars are blind to how skinny they really are — while health expert warns of ‘malnutrition’ and muscle ‘waste’
How Will 2028 Democrats Handle Israel?
Marc Andreessen is a philosophical zombie
Musk’s Grok Chatbot Made Sexual Images of Minors, Teens Allege in Lawsuit
Afghan who fought with US special forces dies in ICE custody as Trump on track for deadliest year of detention in more than two decades
College Republicans tap MAGA influencer tied to Nick Fuentes for leadership role
Some DHS contractors told White House officials they were asked to pay Corey Lewandowski
Toxic Pollution From Iran War Will Spread and Last for Decades
Half of Americans now say ‘Abolish ICE.’ It’s about time.
The Right to a Bed in Zohran Mamdani’s New York
What Joe Kent and Candace Owens Are Really Up to in Their Critiques of the Iran War
Maine’s latest ballot question puts a target on trans students’ backs
Trump reshapes a key US House race by offering a candidate and her husband roles if they drop out (that this is illegal is not even mentioned in the story)
The $100,000 fee for H-1Bs is causing all sorts of problems. Unlike Big Tech, rural schools and hospitals that rely on immigrant workers can’t absorb the high cost of H-1B visas.

Links for you. Science:

Antibiotic used in COVID patients tied to increased signs of antibiotic resistance
Somebody Finally Stood Up to RFK Jr. A federal judge’s ruling highlights the ways Kennedy’s anti-vax agenda is putting public health at risk.
More than 150,000 uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred early in the pandemic, a study finds (paper here; I have some doubts about the assumptions of the model, but still interesting)
Lineage dynamics of invasive Escherichia coli isolates in the Netherlands from 1975 to 2021: a retrospective longitudinal genomic analysis
Rising Death Rate for Gen X, Elder Millennials Is ‘Genuinely Alarming’
What does the appendix do? Biologists explain the complicated evolution of this inconvenient organ

Other:

Despair
Iran, Slopulism, and the Eternal Innocence of the American People (excellent)
Ol’ Donny Trump Has Really Stepped in It This Time (excellent)
Trump’s War With Iran Is a Product of His Deep Stupidity
F—k Kash Patel and his $tupid shoes
What We Forget About Covid Will Shape the Next Pandemic
Afroman’s Defamation Trial Is Going About As Well For The Deputies As Their Original Raid Did
The fight over transgender rights in America has entered a new phase
The Men Obsessed With ‘High T’: Fueled by the manosphere, men are boosting their testosterone levels through natural and synthetic means, with some competitively swapping test results on a regular basis.
Trump Case for War Undermined by Bombshell as MAGA Breaks
Feds Drop Charges Against Disabled Woman Arrested For Standing Up At State Of The Union
The Algorithm Is Your Asshole Boyfriend
The AI boom is dangerously dependent on helium
Aurora ICE detainees are malnourished and forced to work, advocates report (BuT ThEy’rE NoT CoNcEnTrAtIoN CaMpS)
Straight women are rewriting the rules of heterosexual life
Why Knight Foundation Invested in Bluesky
The Supreme Court Just Heeded One of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Sharpest Dissents
College Republicans Chapter Sues School for Right to Make Nazi Salute
President Trump isn’t making sense
Democratic Turnout Surges in Mississippi’s US Senate Primaries, Nearly Matching GOP Vote Total
The 49MB Web Page
My dogs helped when I was sad
Pentagon plans to keep National Guard in DC into 2029, 2 US officials say (this ends if Republican governors refuse to send troops)
For Gen Z Republican men, sex is solitary. Young conservatives’ anger at women is taking a nihilistic turn
Gamblers trying to win a bet on Polymarket are vowing to kill me if I don’t rewrite an Iran missile story
I’m Sorry to Burst Your Bubble: You Are Being Fooled About AI, and You Will Soon Feel Really Stupid
House Republicans move to kill D.C. traffic cameras — despite some using them back home
FEMA disaster chief claims he is able to teleport: ‘I landed in a ditch by a baptist church’
With sharp attacks and high stakes, the mayoral race kicks into gear
Chicago hires D.C.’s Housing Authority head, surprising leaders in both cities

Links for you. Science:

Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service. The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed.
Child vaccination rate drops sharply in Michigan under RFK Jr’s influence
London, San Francisco and Beijing achieve ‘remarkable reductions’ in air pollution
NASA’s next X-ray mission, AXIS, has been killed
Science has an Epstein problem. Women in paleontology say it’s a symptom of a deeper misogyny
menB outbreak in Kent — initial thoughts
NIH pivots away from agency-directed science. US biomedical funding behemoth says the approach will boost innovation, but some researchers worry that understudied areas of science will suffer.

Other:

Senate Democrats Should Kill the Filibuster
Finally, Democrats—of All Stripes—Are Coming After the Wealthy’s Money
“What if We Didn’t Suck?”
Team USA’s Soulless Militarism Was Their Undoing in the WBC
‘Should my son not run for president?’ GOP senator lashes out over Trump’s learning disabilities crack
Here Comes the Self-Driving Traffic Surge
A Disturbing New Low in the Polymarket Era. Maybe turning war into a casino was a bad idea?
Cesar Chavez, a Civil Rights Icon, Is Accused of Abusing Girls for Years
This Is Your Kid’s Brain on AI Slop
Absurd AI-Powered Lawsuits Are Causing Chaos in Courts, Attorneys Say, “Clogging the System” and Driving Up Costs
US Mint takes down video of meeting criticizing proposed Trump 24K gold coin
Is it rude to throw dog poop bags in someone else’s trash? In a time of zero-sum politics and slashed city budgets, the matter is getting more urgent
Following Trump, Republicans in Congress Propose to Ban Most Voting by Mail. A restrictive voter I.D. bill under consideration in the Senate could severely limit mail-in voting. Conservatives are pressing to end the practice outright, taking aim at an option that is widely used by voters.
Trump’s Warm Body: The SEAL He Picked to Beat Massie
But How Will We Pay For That
House panel gives green light to bill to eliminate DC traffic cameras
Nick Fuentes is just the beginning of the GOP’s Nazi problem
Markwayne’s World: The ‘Cinematic’ And ‘Fantastical’ Life Of Trump’s DHS Pick
Strait of Hormuz standoff puts supply of America’s generic drug prescriptions at risk
The Party of AOC or AIPAC? In Illinois, Neither Bloc Could Dominate
Mamdani Halts NYPD’s Criminal Crackdown on Cyclists, Ending Harsher Treatment of Bicyclists Than Car Drivers
AI is exhausting workers so much, researchers have dubbed the condition ‘AI brain fry’
‘He has to justify what he did’: Black leaders slam JB Pritzker after Illinois primary
Increasing supply decreases prices
Let’s Catch Up On The Hilarious Afroman Defamation Trial
Whopper of the Week: In a Deadly Flu Season, RFK Jr. Discourages Vaccination
N.Y.C. High School Student Freed After 10 Months in ICE Detention
ICE Detains DACA Recipient on His Way to See Baby in NICU
MAGA Demands Unwavering Media Support For Their Shitty, Unpopular War
Maples’ voting address under scrutiny in District 87 special election (found some election fraud!)

Links for you. Science:

Trump Administration Readies Plans to Dismantle Renowned Science Lab
The archaeal roots of eukaryotic life
WHO releases guidance for urgently needed new antibiotics
Florida Is Trying to Ignore Measles Until It Can’t
Surgeon general nominee now says Americans should get vaccinated for measles. Dr. Casey Means told Congress last month she supported the measles vaccine, but she declined to answer whether she would recommend it to Americans.
National Academies of Sciences says no to demands it remove climate info. State attorneys general won’t get climate chapter removed from a legal manual.

Other:

The Last Thing Trump Wants to Do Is Save America
Why We Are Failing in the Fight Against Antisemitism
Immigration questions for Markwayne Mullin
Iran’s Hormuz blockade is its most powerful card against Trump and Israel. It won’t back down easily
The IRGC’s way of war
After rookie ICE agent’s paperwork error, man is detained for days
How God Got So Great
A top Trump aide resigned over Iran. Liberals should stay away from him.
The World Baseball Classic, Team USA, and the war problem
On the Wired renaissance: Katie Drummond is leading Wired magazine through its best era.
Sarah Michelle Gellar Breaks Her Silence on What Killed the Buffy Reboot: ‘Nobody Saw This Coming’
Black Women, Allies and Elected Officials Navigate HIV Prevention Landscape
How Eric Trump Became an Ally of One of China’s Biggest Crypto Companies
Chelsea Handler Says RFK Jr. And Cheryl Hines Sold Her ‘The Most Toxic’ Home (lol)
Federal judge in D.C. issues new grand jury policy after failed indictment of Democrats
Wired’s New Editor Doesn’t Care if the Tech Bros Are Mad
Crypto’s True Believers Demand to Be Taken Seriously
Donald Trump’s Fake Makeover: Republicans, in a blind panic about the midterms, are pretending to course correct.
‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog (the article really ignores the role the Republican Party plays in this; the fascist political formation is quite broad–it’s not just Trump)
Making Messes That Other People Are Supposed To Fix
Americans Are Stuck in Dead-End, Exploitative Part-Time Jobs
Judge reinstates 1,000 Voice of America employees, deems wind-down illegal
Chat Is This Good
MAGA Turns on Itself, and It’s Ugly
I Predicted the 2008 Financial Crisis. What Is Coming May Be Worse.
Are They Done With His Bullshit Yet
AI Job Loss Research Ignores How AI Is Utterly Destroying the Internet
My Self-Driving Car Crash
Donald Trump’s Racism Mirrors Jeffrey Epstein’s
The Colorado River’s Problems Are About to Get Deeper
What to know about the resignation of Joe Kent as Trump’s counterterrorism chief
Why Are We Still Doing This?

Links for you. Science:

This Pink Bug Is Not A “Rare Freak Mutant” After All
Scholars Return Fire
Alien Life Might Exist on the Starless Moons of Rogue Planets
‘RAMmageddon’ hits labs: AI-driven memory shortage is impacting science
Arctic’s ‘keystone’ fish faces collapse as melting ice floods ocean with light
Scientists Discover Vast Ancient Trade Network That Rewrites History with Parrot DNA

Other:

In a golden age for many American Jews, my family was uncertain about its identity
Is Trump a World-Historical Figure?
Democratic turnout doubles in Rio Grande Valley where four Hispanic counties previously went for Trump
Anti-Muslim rhetoric rises among Republicans with little pushback from GOP leadership
Trump Appears To Endorse Eugenics In Wild Fox News Clip
How a mathematician is cracking open Mexico’s powerful drug cartels
Sculptor Thaddeus Mosley, who found international fame in his 90s, is dead
As GU Investigates College Republicans’ Post, Community Members Condemn Islamophobia
Former DOGE employees give an inside look at the Elon Musk-led agency
Where the money in D.C.’s mayoral race is coming from
How racist group chats are part of a long history of GOP bigotry
Appointee wants to replace White House columns with the ones Trump prefers
AI Mistake Throws Innocent Grandmother in Jail for Nearly Six Months
The left’s housing civil war is ending
“If AI is writing the work and AI is reading the work, do we even need to be there at all?” Educators reveal a growing crisis on campus and off
Rail Transit Development Hasn’t Kept Up with US Population Growth. Here’s How Policymakers Can Expand Access
When Laws Fail, What Do You Have? The Beekeeper
The Coalition of Nope
Trump says GOP lawmaker would have been ‘dead by June’ in awkward moment
How Jeff Bezos Upended The Washington Post
The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why (the ‘best’ pro-war case, which seems to have a lot of unverified and incorrect assumptions built in; e.g., Iran wasn’t close to having a nuclear weapon)
The Tesla Influencers Leaving the ‘Cult’: The EV manufacturer is supported by a robust online community. But Elon Musk’s politics and overblown hype about Full Self-Driving are turning some loyalists away.
No, America is Not Respected. Thanks to Trump, we’re held in contempt even by our closest allies
Implications
Janeese Lewis George Emerges as the Early Front-Runner for Mayor As Kenyan McDuffie Looks to Pick Up the Pace
The dictionary sues OpenAI
‘It’s Just Crazy’: High Car Payments Make Ownership Feel Impossible
Why Insect Farming Startups Are Going Bankrupt
Republicans fret over RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine policies while MAHA moms stew
Eight big-picture lessons from the DC Streetcar

Links for you. Science:

How a species evolved fast enough to save itself from extinction
What Earth’s longest-lived animals can teach us about aging better
Judge Strikes Down Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies
His Harvard Lab Was Thriving. Then Came the Cuts.
Fuck the Roman Empire
An Inflection Point

Other:

Using FOIA To Expose Trump’s Biggest Coverup
An Existential Threat to Organized Labor’s Ability to Help People
The Marine Corps probably told Platner what the Totenkopf is
Gov. Jared Polis punts Tina Peters clemency decision until after appeals court weighs in, his office tells lawmakers
While Putin helps Iran kill Americans, Trump shrugs
Bernie Sanders-backed Senate hopeful backtracks on apology for ‘Nazi skull’ tattoo insisting it’s an ’eminently reasonable skull-and-crossbones’
MAHAspital
Doomscrolling is over. Now everyone is “monitoring the situation.”
‘Crappy luxury’: Inside NYC’s brand new apartment buildings that are falling apart
Trump sold young voters on his vision. Many are having buyer’s remorse.
ARE THE ATTACKS ON GRAHAM PLATNER HELPING HIM?
Jewish students shunned by anti-Semitic housemates as 1 in 5 don’t want to flat share
Let Firefly Stay Dead!
A List Of Better Ways To Experience The Frisson Of Transgression Than Becoming A Fascist
“This Ain’t No Game, Bro”: Gen Z Crashes Out Over Trump’s Iran War
People Hate Datacenters, Survey Finds
Did Trump Just Start a Recession? A very candid chat with oil market expert Dan Yergin on the potential unintended consequences of Trump’s war in Iran.
Live Nation Gets To Keep Its Monopoly Thanks To Trump’s Department Of Justice
Is ChatGPT a Dead End? A growing number of the most decorated A.I. researchers have declared that world models, not L.L.M.s, are the key to unlocking tech’s next quantum leap. Investors are betting billions of dollars that they’re right.
Norms
Analyze This: Limbic, a British company backed by Khosla Ventures, is working toward a future where people use A.I. to supplement their shrinks rather than rely on the tech altogether—one of the darker trends of the artificial intelligence era so far.
Even Silicon Valley Says That AI Is a Bubble (the assumption is that stocks will rise again shortly thereafter, and at some point, that might not happen…)
Billionaires are a danger to themselves and (especially) us
Delayed projects, low morale: Boston’s streets department is stalling under Wu, long a transit champion
Rise, Grind, Die
Sure Why Not
Trump Gives Eugenic Vibes Ranting Against ‘Genetics’ of ‘Sick’ Muslim Immigrants
Situational Unawareness
“I am 5 years old. I want go home”: Children’s letters expose nine months of torture at Texas immigrant concentration camp
Why Trump Didn’t Plan for the Strait of Hormuz

Links for you. Science:

The US slashed research for cancer, Alzheimer’s, mental health — and nearly everything else
“Unlike Anything We’ve Ever Seen” – Bizarre New Insect Discovered in South America Stuns Scientists
WHO releases guidance for urgently needed new antibiotics
Capturing dynamic phage–pathogen coevolution by clinical surveillance
Accounting for Defective Viral Genomes in viral consensus genome reconstruction, application to influenza virus
RFK Jr’s pick to review Covid vaccines authored misleading research, experts say

Other:

The Republican Party’s Nazi Problem Is Getting Worse. It Should Care
Brian Schatz’s Signals of Comfort With Big Money. The Hawaii senator and heir apparent to Chuck Schumer attacked a bipartisan housing bill without trying to fix it, merely to show support for private equity.
Utah measles outbreak speeds up but there are few changes to daily life. Health officials in the outbreak’s epicenter are relying on social media and talk radio to reach residents. Many aren’t listening.
Elizabeth Warren’s Amazingly Progressive Housing Bill
BuzzFeed Nearing Bankruptcy After Disastrous Turn Toward AI
Trump Surprised To Find He’s At War in Iran. Once his not-even-half-baked plan failed to materialize in Iran, it’s clear that there’s no Plan B.
How the money spent on Trump’s Iran war could have helped Americans
The Trump Administration Floats a New Way to Humiliate the Legal Profession
The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet
Change in Data Sources Led to Lower Inflation Reading
A Federal Judge Just Called Out the DOJ for Politically Motivated Prosecutions
MAGA infighting erupts after Laura Loomer apologizes for ‘racist’ remarks
Is Trump Building ‘Concentration Camps’? These Experts Have No Doubts
How Epstein lured girls to his Zorro Ranch and kept authorities away. At least 10 women and girls say they were groomed at what was once Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in New Mexico.
They came to build China’s EV future. Investigators found conditions akin to ‘slavery.’
Using Bigotry to Hide an Authoritarian, Christian Nationalist Agenda
After a brief scare, National Zoo’s rare baby elephant to make her debut
Jamie Raskin Just Told John Roberts: “The Emperor Has No Clothes”
Black history was made on this golf course. Some fear Trump will erase it.
Should Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Run for President in 2028?
The enduring truth of Tupac’s ‘money for wars, but can’t feed the poor’
It’s become too easy to use your data against you
One-third of Americans skip meals or other needs to afford health care
Secretary Of Defense Hegseth Promises Iranians ‘No Quarter’ – A War Crime
Facing deficit, D.C. to wait-list families seeking child care subsidies
People are spending hundreds of dollars at IV drip bars in Boston. Are they worth the hype?
If Iran Becomes ‘Israel’s War,’ American Jews May Pay the Price
Just six days of war in Iran cost us $11.3 billion. ‘What the [expletive] is wrong with us?’
Trump’s Pick To Represent Him In Florida Statehouse Doesn’t Even Live In The District
Vindicated At Last In My Years-Long Loathing Of Grammarly
MGB researchers create AI models to detect domestic abuse in patients (paper here)

Links for you. Science:

Scientists, it’s time to pay your taxes. This arrangement—where a small number of dedicated scientist activists fight for the whole of the ecosystem—isn’t sustainable.
These ants navigate with a newly discovered ‘Moon compass’
A recipient-based anti-conjugation factor triggers an abortive mechanism by targeting the Type IV secretion system
Colorado River may deliver just a third of normal water supplies this spring, projections show
The Shingles Virus May Be Aging You More Quickly
Scientific sleuths come in from the cold

Other:

AI “journalists” prove that media bosses don’t give a shit
Shot by Border Patrol, Then Called a “Domestic Terrorist”
A Knock on the Window and a Glimpse of America’s Surveillance Future
I Went to Florida to See the 31-Year-Old Candidate Thrilling Gen Z. We’re in Trouble.
The Secret Police Playbook: How DHS reflects historical lessons from dictatorships
Is a random human peer better than a highly supportive chatbot in reducing loneliness over time?
Small Models, Gently Loved: An AI Speculative Fiction
LA’s Tesla Diner is so dead, even the protesters gave up. Just eight months in, not even the tech bros are eating there
The mysterious case of the DHS white supremacist memelord. Or: why some MAGA group chats leak, and others don’t.
The most divorced men in history. The resentment of women that undergirds so much recklessness.
Trump’s Inexcusable Unpreparedness for the Iranian Oil Crisis
As Trump’s bizarre claims about spiking oil prices trigger backlash and officials reportedly start panicking about them, an international relations expert explains what this fiasco reveals about his deeper failings.
What We Talk About When We Talk About AI (Part one)
The National Security Case for Renewable Energy
What We Talk About When We Talk About AI (Part Two)
Husband of Nashville Reporter Gauges the Hole Created When ICE Detained his Wife
What We Talk About When We Talk About AI (Part Three)
Insurrectionist Brunch: Trumpists plotted to deploy military on U.S. soil. Before the 2024 election, a cadre of MAGA loyalists met over brunch to plot ways for Trump to use the military domestically.
What We Talk About When We Talk About AI (Part Four)
Tomorrow’s AI models are learning from today’s polluted research
That Which Cannot Sustain…
The worst cabinet in American history. And it’s not even close.
Welcome to the Derp State
Mamdani Wants New York Estate Tax Threshold Cut 90% to $750,000
AI Didn’t Break the Senior Engineer Pipeline. It Showed That One Never Existed.
DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery
The Washington Post Is Using Reader Data to Set Subscription Prices. How Does That Work?
Why I’m Suing Grammarly
2023: Buzzfeed Pivots To AI. 2026: Buzzfeed Is In Big Trouble.
Islamophobic Think Tank Helped Write Indictment Against ICE Protesters