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Today is my dissertation proposal defense. That means I'll give a public lecture about my research in front of my committee.
As some folks may know, I'm doing another round of grad school, mid-career, focused on scientific decision making in the U.S. Congress https://sheril.substack.com/p/a-dissertation-on-democracy #science #politics
In terms of PhD-ing, this is kind of like the pregame. I passed my comprehensive exams last year & will officially defend my dissertation & finish this Fall. So here goes...
A Dissertation on Democracy
Consider this the Cliffs NotesSheril Kirshenbaum (Unelected Representative)
Latest cartoon: Quackery Quotas
The right's cries for "ideological diversity" sound fair to well-meaning people who believe in good-faith debate as a way to arrive at the truth. But truth is not the goal here; the goal is power.
#education #science #college #university #climatechange
Science is for everyone, but not everyone can see themselves there.
That’s one reason I love this beautifully illustrated, FREE to download comic book developed by Flint teachers, artists & plant biologists. Through classroom modules w real plants, high school students learn how traits evolve over time through natural selection w characters who look like more of them. And that matters toward building a more inclusive STEM future. https://hioh.education/monkeyflowers-graphic-novel #science #art
A significant new study, using massive biodiversity datasets, shows that invasions by non-native plants set the stage for later invasions by non-native insects.
"nonnative plant introductions are a major driver of insect invasions, and that insect invasions lag behind plant invasions. In the near future, new insect invasions are estimated to increase by 35% worldwide based on recent nonnative plant introductions."
Happy birthday Rosalind Franklin!
Rosalind Franklin’s research was crucial to discovering DNA’s double helix structure. But she never received proper acknowledgement for her contribution.
James Watson & Francis Crick were awarded the credit & Nobel Prize, but their work was only possible bc they saw her unpublished data & X-ray diffraction images. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/science/rosalind-franklin-dna.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare #science #history #HistoryRemix
Untangling Rosalind Franklin’s Role in DNA Discovery, 70 Years On
Historians have long debated the role that Dr. Franklin played in identifying the double helix. A new opinion essay argues that she was an “equal contributor.”Emily Anthes (The New York Times)
Isn’t it incredible to live on the same planet where this magnificent, ancient shark once grew up to 65 ft (20m)? 🦈
The massive megalodon swam Earth’s ocean for millions of years.
Funny how many folks mistakenly believe humans are some kind of pinnacle of #evolution. We literally just arrived a few hundred thousand years ago. #science #history
IL-6 is such a fascinating cytokine.
Here it is modulating different dendritic cell subsets
@JExpMed
#immunology #DC #cytokine #science
https://rupress.org/jem/article/220/10/e20221757/214227/IL-6-selectively-suppresses-cDC1-specification-via?guestAccessKey=48cccc06-d788-423c-889f-51498d95a918&utm_source=NewJournalContent%27&%27utm_campaign%27=%27JEM%27&%27utm_medium%27=%27Email&nbd=28080031447&nbd_source=campaigner&_ccCt=g843-2ph4e3-co3ru7-cwe4ixj2
IL-6 selectively suppresses cDC1 specification via C/EBPβ
We show that tumor-derived IL-6 blocks the development of type 1 classical dendritic cells through the induction of C/EBPβ in the common dendritic cell progenitKim, Sunkyung (Rockefeller University Press)
The 'There Are Such Things As Cooties' book doesn't appear to be available in UK.
I have a serious need to know as osculation, for me, has always carried great risk, #autoimmunesystem highly compromised.
The first few months of a new romantic relationship is fraught with a horrid cascade of immune response symptoms. And yet, I still do it!!! It's a really difficult one to resist.
#science #biology #immunology #immunesystem
#NASA
#SpaceExploration
#Education
#TheFutureDoesntHaveToBeThisWay
#Science
While we are still trying to find ways to clean up problems like oil spills in the ocean, microorganisms in the seas have their own insights to impart.
Oil rich soil from the Guaymas Basin has provided German scientists understanding of a mechanism by which archaea in the Alkanophaga break down alkane molecules and thus degrade petroleum through oxidation.
#Remediation #Bioremediation #Oil #Petroleum #Archaea #Alkanophaga #Science #Biology #Scicomm
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-023-01400-3
Candidatus Alkanophaga archaea from Guaymas Basin hydrothermal vent sediment oxidize petroleum alkanes - Nature Microbiology
Oil-rich deep-sea sediments are used to culture syntrophic communities of archaea and bacteria that pair petroleum alkane oxidation to sulfide generation.Nature
Dr. Gladys West grew up in 1930s VA. She had limited opportunities as a black girl in the south, but went on to become a mathematician.
In the 1950s, West helped program the Naval Ordnance Research Calculator. Later, she worked on modeling the shape of the Earth & helped develop satellite geodesy models, a foundation of GPS.
West was not formally credited for her work until 2018 when the VA General Assembly honored her contributions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_West #HistoryRemix #history #science
Be ungovernable, like birds who make nests OUT OF ANTI-BIRD SPIKES. A new study describes resourceful Dutch & Belgian corvids besting evil architecture by stealing metal anti-bird strips and using them like thorny twigs, to construct their homes.
Like thorns, the spikes may protect their nests from predators.
Lead author Auke-Florian Hiemstra wrote an epic 🧵 about his research that's worth a read: https://twitter.com/AukeFlorian/status/1678703433900064773
Paper: https://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/organisatie/publicaties/deinsea/deinsea-21/
#science #SciComm #birds #netherlands
Science Debate is now "Science on the Ballot" with @SciPolNetwork
This nonpartisan initiative, which I cofounded in 2007, asks candidates, elected officials, the public & the media to focus on science policy issues prior to Election Day. https://www.scipolnetwork.org/science-on-the-ballot?mibextid=Zxz2cZ #elections #science #politics
U.S. state coalitions are launching on Tuesday, July 18 at 7pm ET & you can join the kickoff event to get involved, learn about the program & work with campaigns. Register at https://ow.ly/Bgz950P20Jp
Great article in Nature on overcoming the sense of failure in research. #science
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02168-6
"Ryan also emphasized how the students’ relationships with failure would evolve over time. “He said that the time it takes for you to recover from a failure will shorten over time, and he couldn’t be more right,” says Abebayehu."
How to train early-career scientists to weather failure
Workshops and training programmes tackle failure and how to recover from it.Udesky, Laurie
Ynes Mexia was born in 1870 & became one of the most successful botanists in the world.
At a time when most people felt women couldn't travel alone, she did - A woman of color in her 50s & 60s. Mexia traveled the Americas for 13 years, collecting >145,000 #plants & discovering >50 new species.
She was a fierce conservationist & early pioneer fighting to preserve the redwood forests of California. She also advocated for Indigenous rights. https://www.nps.gov/people/ynes-mexia.htm #HistoryRemix #science #history
I'm currently taking an evolutionary biology course so expect some fun evolution-themed content here through the summer.
The last time I took this class was in 2001 & it's exciting to recognize how much we've learned over the last 20+ years.
And I'm using your terrific book @Carl_Zimmer! (Should anyone want to check it out, it's a fantastic read https://carlzimmer.com/books/evolution-making-sense-of-life/ #science #books)
Our universe is rippling with waves caused by massive events, such as merging black holes. Up until yesterday, we didn’t have any evidence of long-wavelength, ‘background’ #GravitationalWaves. But now @nanograv has announced a detection! A network of pulsars measured very carefully has revealed a faint hum in spacetime itself. Though luckily you don’t need pulsars to detect these cookies, a mouth works just fine 😉
#astronomy #astroart #scicomm #science
So many good points in this piece by
@PhilippBayer
My highlight in this screenshot (#science delivery & success is a TEAM effort!), but if you're vaguely involved in #academia +/- #bioinformatics, do have a read and think how it all may apply to you. #academicchatter @academicchatter
https://genomic.social/@PhilippBayer/110644840476993836
A new blog-post: the two cultures of bioinformatics, and how academia selects against one https://philippbayer.github.io/blerg/posts/2023_07_02_the_two_cultures/
#Disability #DisabilityPride #DisabilityPrideMonth
#cartoon #cartoons #comic #comics #instacomic #instacartoon
#academia #science #research
#errantscience
🚨BIG SCIENCE NEWS 🚨
And our results (along with our international colleagues) have dropped!
Our team (and others) have started to see the strongest evidence as yet of the stochastic gravitational wave background - ripples in space-time cause by ALL the supermassive black holes in the history of the Universe colliding!
We use pulsars to study these riplles and we needed almost 20 years of data to even get the first hints! It's the long game!
I'm a co-author on the Aussie papers (as part of my work) but I also wrote about it here in my latest feature article on #SpaceAustralia
This is why I have been going on about pulsars for a few weeks now - this was coming!
Check it out here: https://www.spaceaustralia.com/feature/australian-scientists-help-uncover-cosmic-gravitational-rumblings
📸 Shanika Galaudage
#Astrodon #Astrophysics #RadioAstronomy #GravitationalWaves #Science #Pulsars
Australian Scientists Help Uncover Cosmic Gravitational Rumblings | Spaceaustralia
Australian astronomers, using CSIRO’s Parkes radio telescope, have today announced the best evidence yet of the stochastic gravitational wave background, opening up a new chapter into gravitational wave astronomy.www.spaceaustralia.com
Born in 1804, Janet Taylor was a brilliant mathematician, astronomer, author & inventor. She wrote books, founded an academy & ran a manufacturing business for nautical instruments - many she designed herself.
Between 1617-1852, 79 patents were awarded for nautical instruments & Taylor was the only woman among them.
Sadly, Taylor died bankrupt in obscurity. Her death certificate only records her occupation as a “Teacher of Navigation.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Taylor #HistoryRemix #history #science
I am literally finishing a dissertation on how scientific information has been valued & prioritized by Congressional staffers from the 20th century through the Biden administration.
So for now I’ll just say, if you’re interested in the relationships between #science policy, #ClimateChange, lobbyists, researchers, media & #scicomm, stay tuned… /2
As a scientist who studies #science policy & risk communication, as a science journalist who has been writing in popular outlets about #ClimateChange & #scicomm for 20 years, & as a former congressional staffer focused on #climate & #energy policy in the early 2000s… This article is frustrating.
“Scientific communication failures linked to faster-rising seas”
Born in the late 1800s, Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser became the first Black woman to earn a PhD in psychology.
Her dissertation on school integration concluded that Black children in integrated schools had a harder time — a controversial finding before Brown v. Board of Ed.
Dr. Prosser also helped several Black students receive funding for college. Tragically, she passed away just one year after earning her PhD at ~38 in a car accident. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/11/prosser #HistoryRemix #women #science
America's first black female psychologist
Despite the odds, Inez Beverly Prosser earned her doctorate in psychology 75 years ago and went on to do historic work, though her life was abruptly cut short.https://www.apa.org
Our sun is big. It’s 864,000 miles or 1,392,000 km in diameter. Or 109x wider than Earth. But it’s also an average sized star.
Some stars are much bigger.
Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion, is a red supergiant star ~700x the size of the sun.
If we replaced our sun with Betelgeuse, it would stretch past Jupiter's orbit. https://universe.nasa.gov/news/237/what-is-betelgeuse-inside-the-strange-volatile-star/ #space #science
What is Betelgeuse? Inside the Strange, Volatile Star
A blazing red supergiant shining brilliantly in the night sky, Betelgeuse is a star that has captured attention for centuries.NASA Universe Exploration
HPC.social is a server for the High Performance Computing community and those in related fields:
For more info see their About page at https://mast.hpc.social/about or contact their admin @admin
#FeaturedServer #HPC #HighPerformanceComputing #Supercomputing #Supercomputers #Computing #Computers #Research #Data #Science #ComputerScience #CompSci #Fediverse
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Born in India in 1962, Dr. Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian woman in #space in 1997.
In 2003, she was on the Columbia, when insulation broke off, depressurizing the shuttle. All 7 crew members died.
7 asteroids + 7 hills on Mars were named after them.
https://www.space.com/17056-kalpana-chawla-biography.html #HistoryRemix #science
“When you look at the stars & the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system." - Chawla, 1997
Kalpana Chawla: Biography & Columbia disaster
Astronaut Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian-born woman in space.Nola Taylor Tillman (Space)