Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 3h

💕💕

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 3h

Ridiculous. And lawless. And Vought did it on a Friday night of a holiday weekend.

Sure looks like he wants to scare and punish federal workers but is afraid of the public backlash. Let’s give him a public backlash.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 3h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

2 2

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 3h

💯 Thank you, @ramirez.house.gov for standing up for federal workers, the Constitution, and all Americans.

Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez @ramirez.house.gov · 4h

It is day 10 of the government shutdown, and instead of negotiating with Democrats, Trump is disrespecting federal workers and using them as pawns in his plan to dismantle the services Americans rely on.

Firings of federal workers begin as White House seeks to pressure Democrats in government shutdown

Mass firings of federal workers have begun. That was the announcement Friday from the White House as Republicans worked to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers to end the government shutdown.

apnews.com

1 5 17

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 3h

Full-time rightwing media star Jay Bhattacharya

Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 3h

Every person who defended this guy and his *obvious* disinformation over the past 5 years should watch this interview and know they enabled this.

1 2 5

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 5h

Also, asking for a friend:

When Laura Ingraham, notorious propagandist, says you are right, is this worth bragging about?

😬😬😬

2 6

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 6h

#darkscicomm
#Trump
#JayBhattacharya

Let The Hate Flow Through You Your Hate Has Made You Powerful GIF

Alt: Let The Hate Flow Through You Your Hate Has Made You Powerful GIF

media.tenor.com

1 4

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 6h

The thing we have learned very clearly about Jay Bhattacharya in the last six months is:

He wants to be a podcaster.

He seems to have no interest in running NIH or learning about science. He’s the leader of #darkscicomm

Jonathan Howard @joho.bsky.social · 6h

Bhattacharya is busy tweeting from his personal account about how he was right about lockdowns.

This is where he seems to want to spend his time, rather than doing his day job.

t Jay Bhattacharya reposted
Coronavirus Plushie & @c_plushie
Follow
And this is how it was covered by @IngrahamAngle on this day, 5 Oct, 2020:
Top International Epidemiologists Launch
Petition for Focused Protections and an End to Lockdowns — Signed by Over 1,700 Medical Professionals
Thank you @MartinKulldorff@DrJBhattacharya and@SunetraGupta
• DR SUNETRA GUPTA LOXFORD UNIV EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR
FOX NEWS
EXPERTS: THOSE NOT VULNERABLE SHOULD RESUME LIFE
EXCLUSIVE
ANGLE

1 8 54

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 11h

Here's my take on Vought's mass layoffs announcement talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/new-m...

New Mass Layoffs?

You’ve probably seen that Russ Vought went on Twitter today and said...

talkingpointsmemo.com

16 62 200

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11h

Re-upping this piece on news that Vought is firing federal employees:
*Vought lying that shutdowns compel layoffs, never have before.
*Layoffs are a choice, the shutdown is an excuse.
*Comes on top of existing RIFs, will make restoring govt services harder post-shutdown.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Shutdown hostage taking

Russ Vought's threatens more mass firings; SCOTUS blesses his de facto impoundment

substack.com

17 180 480

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 12h

Russell Vought has announced that "mass firings [RIFs] have begun."

Lawless. The RIFs in the spring were illegal, as Judge Illston outlined. Yes, the conservative SCOTUS supermajority lawlessly signed off. But the Calvinball Court is not doing law.

Congress can stop this. A thread: 1/

'RIFs have begun.' Vought announces start of mass firings during government shutdown

The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.

www.pbs.org

10 130 310

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 13h

Three key points:
1) The admin has been planning mass firings to begin in October since February
2) The work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown, violating the Antideficiency Act, which carries a criminal penalty
3) This harms America, ridding us of talent and expertise

Russ Vought v @russvought
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 15K Views

220 2.2K 5.7K

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 11h

RIF UPDATE:

We @standupforscience.bsky.social are in communication with our network. So far, we have not heard of any actual RIFs, only Russ’ tweet.

To press—we will send a release and facilitate interviews if we do hear abt them taking place.

1 24 74

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Tanya Lewis @tanyalewis.bsky.social · 9d

After yrs of disappointment scientists have made a genuine advance in treating Huntington's. The new gene therapy slowed disease progression by 75%. But it's still experimental and will likely be $$, @parshallison.bsky.social reports for @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/firs...

How Scientists Finally Found a Treatment that Slows Huntington’s Disease

After years of heartbreak, researchers have found an experimental treatment that can slow the progression of Huntington’s disease, according to early results from a small clinical trial

www.scientificamerican.com

3 14 60

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

Another good sign.

Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · 1d

“Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”

The Republican chair of the National Governors Association breaks with Trump.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago

www.nytimes.com

6 52

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, Ingrassia is a terrible person who should be shunned in society.

But the fact Republicans are standing up to Trump on ANYONE is a sign Trump’s grip is weakening.

Fight more! it is working.

1 5 43

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

“Ingrassia’s nomination is already on the rocks after Republican senators raised concerns about his background and amount of experience, as well as possible antisemitism…”

This is a huge deal that Republican Senators are starting to stand up to Trump.

Key Trump nominee accused of sexual harassment

Paul Ingrassia has been investigated for allegedly harassing a lower-ranking colleague, according to administration officials. Fearing retaliation, the woman later withdrew a complaint, and Ingrassia ...

www.politico.com

2 16 52

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

Lawless

Sarah Szalavitz💡 @dearsarah.bsky.social · 1d

Rutgers Professor @mark-bray.bsky.social, who studies & writes about Antifascism,Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

By the time he & his family reached the gate, their tickets were cancelled.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n... flagrantly & appallingly lawless. Hope he & his family are ok.

Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats

www.nytimes.com

2 4 25

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

As this article says clearly, true-biology research (working with animals), is a political wedge issue. Trump and RFK have embraced it because it is politically advantageous to them.

They don’t care about cures, they care about politics.

Animal welfare is now part of RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda

The health secretary has made phasing out animal testing part of his Make America Healthy Again plan.

www.politico.com

6 3 21

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

As this article says clearly, true-biology research (working with animals), is a political wedge issue. Trump and RFK have embraced it because it is politically advantageous to them.

They don’t care about cures, they care about politics.

Animal welfare is now part of RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda

The health secretary has made phasing out animal testing part of his Make America Healthy Again plan.

www.politico.com

6 3 21

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Chemjobber @chemjobber.bsky.social · 1d

I don't have much intelligent things to say about MOFs other than "wow neat!" Also, there is an edible MOF paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

#chemsky ⚗️🧪

Metal–Organic Frameworks from Edible Natural Products

Let them eat MOFs: Take a spoonful of sugar (γ-cyclodextrin to be precise), a pinch of salt (most alkali metal salts will suffice), and a swig of alcohol (Everclear fits the bill), and you have a rob...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

5 3 30

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 1d

Sign of weakness.

But if we want to take advantage of the weakness we must fight.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "We'll be making cuts that will be permanent. And we're only going to cut Democrat programs. I hate to tell you."

8 7 29

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 3d

grateful to hear him say this out loud — too few institutions have this decency and courage

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 3d

"It is going to be disastrous if this continues"

Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research

u.afp.com/SmAy

5 100 530

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 3d

A reminder: 40% of US Nobel prize winners since 2000 have been immigrants.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 3d

Nobel prize in physics awarded to three scientists for work on quantum mechanics

Trio led experiments demonstrating that bizarre properties of quantum world can translate into measurable effects in the everyday The Nobel prize in physics 2025 has been awarded to British, French and American scientists for their work on quantum mechanics. John Clarke, a British physicist based at the University of California at Berkeley, Michel Devoret, a French physicist based at Yale University, and John Martinis, of the University of California Santa Barbara, share the 11m Swedish kronor (about £871,400) prize announced by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

3 27 110

Reposted by Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪

Science and Freedom Alliance - SAFA @safa-science.bsky.social · 2d

Russell Vought is doing a form of Miller’s plan too on the societal front.

Vought clearly believes that if they can distract voters long enough, he can destroy US medical research, universities, and journalism before low-info voters realize what is happening. 1/

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 2d

Stephen Miller believes that if he supercharges the debate over Trump's abuses of power with enough propaganda, he can polarize it and force low-info voters to embrace authoritarianism. Pritzker/Newsom have accepted that this requires an information war in response.

newrepublic.com/article/2014...

1 5 29

Alt NIH Bluesky 🧪 @altnih4science.bsky.social · 2d

Russell Vought seems to be aiming to end all of US science.

Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · 2d

Banning “dangerous gain-of-function” pathogen research is actually just banning pathogen research. TB causes chronic disease, the supposed cornerstone of the MAHA movement. Hard to see ending TB research on treatments as anything but another targeted attack on science in service of destroying it.

Rock Lab @rocklabtb.bsky.social · 2d

Ditto. Thanks for this Sarah. www.statnews.com/2025/10/06/g...

5 33 100