Daniel Bolnick

A fine morning to commune with the resident beavers, and a sunrise cuppa

We have had a long string of beautiful sunny dry autumn days here in New England. Nice, but the maitake mushrooms in the woods are all dry and inedible

Another story impossible to imagine in any other administration: the president's son goes hunting with a Russian criminal who is part of Putin's security entourage

Never get tired of puffball fungi.

A 2025 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Omar Yaghi is the son of Palestinian refugees who grew up in Jordan. He just left the US to move to China after raising concerns about rising anti-immigrant sentiment, like the kind shown here. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/china-than...

Corruption.

HHS wants a new Medicare code that pays doctors extra only when they attribute a patient’s symptoms to a vaccine. Vaccine critics say doctors are paid to push vaccines. We aren’t. Under this code, we’d be paid to blame them. My new piece in @cidrap.bsky.social: www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

In his second term, President Trump has taken action to remove protections from marine areas stretching across more than 1 million square miles, threatening iconic seascapes with industrial-scale fishing fleets. https://ampr.gs/4snfRdW

"[Using] randomized experiments... We find that AI use impairs conceptual understanding, code reading, & debugging abilities, w/o delivering significant efficiency gains on average. Participants who fully delegated coding tasks showed some productivity improvements, but at the cost of learning"

He destroyed his country, maybe they want him to destroy the UN as well?

A potential new data center in West Virginia is “almost certain to kill” 1.2 acres of American Chestnuts that have thus far managed to survive the chestnut blight and produce chestnuts, according to the American Chestnut Foundation. wvpublic.org/story/energy...

President Trump temporarily waived clean-air rules for industrial facilities that spew cancer-causing gases. Then his appointees worked to gut the regulations altogether. Our investigative reporter Eric Lipton explains how corporate interests took power inside the EPA. Read more: nyti.ms/4il3336

A national disgrace. "Nearly half.. said they were uninsured, underinsured, or experienced a gap in coverage this year. Half said they delayed or avoided getting medical care because of the cost.." rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/10/23/r...

This is 🎯🧪 From a pancreatic cancer researcher in my circle Lately, we have been seeing so many miracles in cancer treatment. We celebrate. That is because we had a great infrastructure that operated efficiently. I don’t want to live in a time when these wins are far off in the rear view mirror.

The toxicity that @ericlipton.nytimes.com and his colleagues have uncovered is everywhere but if you live in Texas, Louisiana, or Alabama pay special attention

I've been kind of interested in this and whether it changes when you give models references about cost and testing decisions and it seems like it does when I experiment with this.

JUST POSTED: Today at The NYT we are publishing a major investigation into how President Trump used his executive powers to expose millions of Americans to greater cancer risks. A six month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records. Read it www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c...

A fitting metaphor. Reporting via @washingtonpost

Staggering corruption in a criminal regime.

Solid metaphor for the entire administration, honestly

a quarter million trees. each one with its own story. and for what? this is savagery. we are a failed species.

Got an email from the Social Security Administration about signing my kid up for a Trump Account, and I hate the very idea of plastering his name all over things.

I am so excited for this conference. A stellar line-up of incredible researchers across disciplines, a beautiful location, and a great environment for younger scientists. And what a treat that I get to co-organize this with @levine-lab.bsky.social! www.grc.org/molecular-me...

Well said, Theresa. Vance says hosting international scientists is undercutting American researchers. But the opposite is true. Every step of my scientific career, as an American, relied on the support and collaboration of visa holders. Adding reminders about related policies below

This week, NIH advisors rebuked RFK for harming #NIH and US science. Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported it. Then RFK posted calling her sources anonymous or corrupt. I'll say this hoping it does good: I'm an NIH scientist, I'm not anonymous, and RFK Jr is destroying NIH. More in attachment:

The U.S. is the only major economy where planet-warming pollution dramatically increased last year. The United Nations warns the planet is on track for catastrophic warming. n.pr/4zb8sRp

For context that’s almost the whole annual budget of the National Science Foundation

Ukraine was winning the war, so Trump kneecapped Ukraine to help Russia. I wish it weren’t that simple, but it is. Our president is in bed with our enemies.

Meta gave $1M to Trump's inauguration fund — and Mark Zuckerberg himsef has helped bankroll Trump's ballroom. Now Trump's DOJ has halted a years-long criminal investigation into allegedly enabling and profiting from illegal drug sales on its platforms. Funny how that works, huh?

President Trump has pushed to move briefings out of the White House press room. Aides say he wants an indoor swimming pool instead. nyti.ms/4eoW3AV

BREAKING: Major shakeup in NSF leadership. Brian Stone, who has been performing the duties of NSF director since April 2025, is retiring on Dec. 31. Rebecca Keiser, who has been acting chief of staff, is also retiring, Oct. 31. Unclear who will replace Stone, since O'Neill's nom hasn't moved.

The National Science Foundation has no leadership. There has been no agency director for more than a year. There has been no required governing board for 6 months. The National Science Foundation is a lawless, leaderless agency.

Good report on a frustrating situation by @kvasquez.bsky.social cen.acs.org/policy/resea...

Bribery. Buying votes. Disgusting.

While in Iceland this weekend I saw something I’d never seen before: towering walls of white spray pulled from the ocean surface by gale force winds and carried for miles over the land like ghosts. These are called særok in Icelandic.

Imagine if in 1943 FDR had decided that the US would stop helping Britain and instead would side with the Third Reich. That's a bit like what President Trump is now doing by cozying up to Russia as it tries to destroy Ukraine. Utterly shameful. A humiliating moment for the US.

Had a spectacular 3-day visit to Iceland for a wedding party with some friends. We had great sunrises, beautiful hikes, long hot spring soaks, and a crazy strong wind storm... and a perfect time sheltering from the storm with good friends and great food.

Shot: Chaser:

The UN has adopted a political declaration on pandemic preparedness, with 153 countries voting in favor. Only the US, Israel and Argentina opposed it, while New Zealand and Paraguay abstained. 📰➡️ healthpolicy-watch.news/un-adopts-po... @who.int @wto.org @theindpanel.bsky.social

Don’t miss the deadline (Oct 31) if you want to apply for a faculty position in Evolutionary Biology in my department! facultypositions.stanford.edu/jobs/assista...

Meet the researchers leaving the US because of Trump’s funding cuts and politicization of science