Jesse H. Kroll | Lightnews

Jesse Kroll

@jessekroll.bsky.social

680 followers 430 following 150 posts

atmospheric chemist at MIT; also does other stuff sometimes

Videos

Environmental science 45%

Geology 17%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Robert Black

Scoiattolo @scoiattolo.mountainherder.xyz · 17h

Things are grim right now but as a reminder of who we are and why we fight, this is the US Women’s figuring skating champion.

Amber Glenn wearing her gold medal after winning the US National Championship Women’s Singles Competition. She is dressed in a black short sequined gown and proudly holding a progress pride flag behind her. There is a gaggle of photographers in front of her.

Reposted by Noelle E. Selin, Jesse H. Kroll, Simon J. Greenhill , and 7 more Noelle E. Selin, Jesse H. Kroll, Simon J. Greenhill, Michael A. Clemens, Ingo Rohlfing, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Michelle L. Mazurek, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Sylvia Perry, David Darmofal

Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 1d

This is a HUGE win…and one that happened because we ~collectively~ said “NO!”

But AAAS coming in and saying on record to the NYT “Science is doing ok. Things are not bad at all…” is baffling.

If things are hard for you as a scientist, please share in the comments.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...

Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science

www.nytimes.com

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 3d

...Yet more evidence that those who yell the loudest about "merit" have no idea of what "merit" actually is, much less how to measure it

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 3d

Excellent article from @chadtopaz.bsky.social, debunking the newest right-wing proposal to make faculty hiring more "merit-based". Chad (very generously!) accepts their premise that test scores are good metrics for faculty merit…then shows statistically that their proposal simply cannot work.

Chad Topaz Queer DEI Race Traitor @chadtopaz.bsky.social · 3d

A right wing proposal would force public universities to gather/publish standardized test scores (SAT, GRE, etc.) for every faculty applicant across stages of a faculty search, to “restore meritocracy.” 👀 My op-ed today explains one of the many reasons this is nonsense: bad statistics. #AcademicSky

Faculty Merit Act Is Meritless (opinion)

A proposal to mandate publication of SAT and other standardized test scores for all faculty and faculty job applicants is statistically unsound.

www.insidehighered.com

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

Chad Topaz Queer DEI Race Traitor @chadtopaz.bsky.social · 3d

Faculty Merit Act Is Meritless (opinion)

A proposal to mandate publication of SAT and other standardized test scores for all faculty and faculty job applicants is statistically unsound.

www.insidehighered.com

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 4d

this new version of Connections is very confusing

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Axel Bruns, Jesse H. Kroll , and 11 more Stephen M. Walt, Axel Bruns, Jesse H. Kroll, Ken Caldeira, Philip Nel, Inderjeet Parmar, Melanie C. Green, Scott A. Imberman, William A. Allen, Michael H. Whitworth, Samantha Brennan, Dana R. Fisher, Michael Jones‐Correa, David Gamage

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 5d

A reminder - before Trump, MAGA, Musk and Fox rewrote history - that this is what the entire country agreed had happened five years ago today:

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

Grace Lindsay @neurograce.bsky.social · 5d

I'll take it 😎

Funding deal rejects Trump’s push for major science cuts
Congressional appropriators released a “minibus” of three bipartisan spending bills today that would pare back the budgets of some science agencies but largely reject Trump’s request for steep cuts. The minibus consists of the Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy and Water Development, and Interior-Environment bills, which cover a substantial portion of federal research funding for fiscal year 2026.
The package includes:
$24.4 billion for NASA, a 1.6% cut (including $7.25 billion for NASA Science, a 1.1% cut);
$8.75 billion for the National Science Foundation, a 3.4% cut;
$8.4 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, a 1.9% increase;
$6.17 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, roughly flat funding;
$1.42 billion for the U.S. Geological Survey, a 2.0% cut; and
$1.18 billion to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a 2.3% increase

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

cenguild.bsky.social @cenguild.bsky.social · 6d

We are proud to announce the formation of the Chemical & Engineering News Guild. We represent staffers across the editorial and operations teams at C&EN. 1/6

Image with a red, spiked circle and white chemistry flask with a red ampersand in the middle above text that reads, “Chemical & Engineering News is forming a union,” in all caps

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Ryan Enos, Scott A. Imberman , and 1 more Jesse H. Kroll, Ryan Enos, Scott A. Imberman, Manisha Sinha

Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 6d

I extremely hate the policies and personality of Donald Trump to an insane degree but I’d be offended if China sent in team to kill a bunch of our civilians and military personnel and kidnap our leader and his wife and then declare that they now “ran” the United States, this isn’t hard

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Lisa Diedrich

Catherine Partsch Conlan @catconlan.net · 7d

oh shit tomorrow is circle back day already

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, David R. Miller

Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 7d

This from @booker.senate.gov

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 7d

Taking a break from Venezuela Doomscrolling to note how fun it is that that DMS, cysteine, and other biomarker organosulfur species can be formed abiotically

( Work by Ellie Browne and coworkers:
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... )

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 7d

On ancient Earth, sulfur biomolecules could have formed without life

Abiotic chemistry in Earth’s atmosphere could have generated biologically important organosulfur molecules as life was beginning. cen.acs.org/physical-che... #chemsky 🧪

On ancient Earth, sulfur biomolecules could have formed without life

Abiotic chemistry in Earth’s atmosphere could have generated biologically important organosulfur molecules as life was beginning

cen.acs.org

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 7d

On ancient Earth, sulfur biomolecules could have formed without life

Abiotic chemistry in Earth’s atmosphere could have generated biologically important organosulfur molecules as life was beginning

cen.acs.org

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, David Johnson, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls , and 1 more Jesse H. Kroll, David Johnson, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Rebecca Zorach

Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 8d

Cancer research costs too much but we have the money to run Venezuela

Reposted by Will Jennings, Jesse H. Kroll, Mark Rice

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 8d

[wakes up] “I’m sorry, what”

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 9d

“A concept known as the Szilard point … describes the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding … GenAI for Africa, a funding call from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, probably crosses that threshold.”

Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 22d

This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding

With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

Tyler, from the Internet @tylerfromtheinternet.com · 10d

If 2025 didn't stop you nothing will

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Alan Richardson

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 10d

these fucking people. they pass laws to make sure every person with a screw loose who wants an Armalite can show up to the day care armed & ready to kill, then complain that the day cares are locked to protect the children inside

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 10d

CNN: “Surely you don’t think a daycare should be unlocked.”

SHIRLEY: “There should be a reception area.”

CNN: “No, every day care is locked.”

SHIRLEY: “Fair point.” 🤔

He shows up to a day care with masked men and wonders why they don’t let him in.

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 11d

bsky.app/profile/root...

The man who is unwilling to wear a flu mask usually is of the kind who expects everybody to listen to him when he speaks

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Fred

TYPE I • NORMAL POSITION @diedfrombeing.labeledrude.online · 11d

i am losing my mind over this listing that staged a condemned philly trap house with AI

trashed living room with stairwell and the ceiling is caving in but there's a pristine white couch and ottomans with blue throw pillows and matching rug

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6327-Wheeler-St-Philadelphia-PA-19142/10403865_zpid/?

dining room of same with the caving in ceiling directly above a dining table and full service for 8

upstairs bedroom with crumbling walls and debris all over the bare subfloor but a pristine while bed and fabric headboard and shelves and art on the walls

another bedroom, water stained ceiling and drywall peeling off but a kids bedroom with again pristine white sheets and art on the walls and toys. apparently they got the electric turned back on too

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 11d

30 years ago today, December 31st 1995, the last ever Calvin & Hobbes comic strip was published. Even now, I still find it so poignant & moving.

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 11d

Truly Universal Outlet

xkcd.com/3186/

Comic. [Diagram of electrical outlet with lines indicating normal shape of holes while shapes have been changed to accommodate more shapes, with parts labeled IEC Types A-O.] [caption] Wiring tip: To make your building friendly to international visitors, cut holes in your outlet plates to make them compatible with all fifteen IEC plug types.

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 13d

Really great piece, covering everything wrong with the far right's push to remake higher education, and more importantly with the media's coverage of those efforts.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13d

New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok!

So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...

The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College

A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost

donmoynihan.substack.com

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13d

The NYT Recruiting Brochure for New College

A failing Ron DeSantis higher ed experiment gets a boost

donmoynihan.substack.com

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 13d

of Unungulate

Jesse Kroll @jessekroll.bsky.social · 13d

or Ungenteel
or Unentangle

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Jesse H. Kroll, Melissa Johnson , and 7 more Brendan Nyhan, Jesse H. Kroll, Melissa Johnson, Michael Kevane, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Nelson Flores, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 14d

This is the logical and inevitable conclusion of the last decade of elite media "free speech" discourse.

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Vincent Noël, Anders Sundnes Løvlie , and 1 more Jesse H. Kroll, Vincent Noël, Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Pádua Fernandes

Wild Geerters @steinkobbe.bsky.social · 15d

Happy 14th anniversary to this youtube video

Youtube video titled "Elon Musk: I'll put a man on mars in 10 years". Dated to 27 Dec 2011

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 15d

Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, son of Italian immigrant Gaetano Crocetti

Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta

Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers

Stephen Miller • @St... • 13m Ø
Watched the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas with my kids.
Imagine watching that and thinking America needed infinity migrants from the third world.

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news