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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 10h

Posted this quickly & without comment before going sailing this morning--very proud of my alma mater today.

Hoping other universities follow their lead.

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 20h

Students, employees, and alumni just received an email from Sally Kornbluth -- MIT says NO to the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

"we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education."

Dear Madam Secretary,

I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.

I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.

As we discussed, the Institute’s mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 17h

Just saw the foiling trimaran seaplane doing tests out on beautiful Narragansett Bay

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 20h

These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they’re right, and we live by them because they support our mission – work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.

The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.

In our view, America’s leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.

As you know, MIT’s record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America’s research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 20h

MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family’s finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.
• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don’t like – and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 20h

Students, employees, and alumni just received an email from Sally Kornbluth -- MIT says NO to the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

"we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education."

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 1d

Guidebook for assessing and improving social equity in marine conservation portals.iucn.org/library/node... 🦑🧪🌍

Guidebook for assessing and improving social equity in marine conservation | IUCN Library System

portals.iucn.org

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

Erik Hoffner @erikhoffner.bsky.social · 1d

SouthCoast Wind received permit approvals from the Bidens to put 141 turbines south of Martha's Vineyard. #RenewableEnergy

Now they're suing the trumps for "bad faith" & pursuing a political agenda to dismantle the offshore wind industry "with no legal basis to stand on" Vineyard Gazette reports:

Offshore Wind Project Calls Out Government's Wind Strategy

SouthCoast Wind, which plans to build 141 turbines off the coast of the Vineyard, is pushing back against what it calls a “bad faith” campaign from the federal government to shut down renewable energy...

vineyardgazette.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 1d

🌊🧪🦑

Mongabay @mongabay.com · 2d

As Germany demilitarized after World War II, it dumped massive amounts of its leftover munitions into the Baltic Sea.

A recent study has found that some of those submerged weapons, which are still releasing toxic compounds, now host more marine organisms than the sediments around them.

Marine life are thriving on Nazi missile debris in the Baltic Sea: Study

As Germany demilitarized after World War II, it dumped massive amounts of its leftover munitions into the Baltic Sea. A recent study has found that some of those submerged weapons, which are still…

news.mongabay.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 1d

There are more photos in the original paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

a, Free-moving polychaetes Macellicephaloides grandicirra (white; reaching 6.5 cm in size) navigate among dense colonies of frenulate siboglinids, with tubes 20–30 cm in length and approximately 1 mm in diameter, at 9,532 m at The Deepest. b, Clusters of frenulate siboglinids extending red haemoglobin-filled tentacles, with small Gastropoda (white spots) on tops of the tubes near the tentacles, at 9,320 m at Wintersweet Valley. c, Tightly packed frenulate siboglinids are home to abundant free-moving polychaetes M. grandicirra (white) at 9,332 m at Cotton Field. d, Dense aggregation of vesicomyid bivalves A. phaseoliformis (reaching 23 cm in size) in the sediment, with approximately 6–8 cm of valves exposed and often hosting Actiniaria, at 5,743 m at Clam Bed. e, Tube-dwelling polychaetes Anobothrus sp. and Actiniaria are dominant at 6,870 m at Aleutian Deepest, with spots of white microbial mats. f, Dense aggregation of vesicomyid bivalves I. fossajaponicum (reaching 3 cm in size) associated with black sediments and accompanied by tube-dwelling polychaetes Anobothrus sp. at 6,928 m at Aleutian Deepest. g, Dark blue muds surrounded by clusters of frenulate siboglinids, mark methane seeps at 6,800 m at Blue Marsh. h, Large patches of white, snow-like microbial mats stretch tens of metres, accompanied by frenulate siboglinid tubeworms at 6,700 m at Icy River. The images were taken by the manned submersible equipped with a high-definition camera system. The name of each cold seep indicated in the lower left corner. The distance between laser beams is 10 cm. An expanded showcase of cold-seep fauna is given in Supplementary Video 1.

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

AliciaDWright @aliciadwright.bsky.social · 2d

🤓🔎🌊🐙😮”This is a world of chemosynthetic life, where hydrogen sulfide-rich and methane-rich fluids found in abundance sustain life rather than photosynthesis from the sun. While it was known from other trenches… it wasn’t clear until this study how widespread such life was in the deep ocean”.

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

A recent @nature.com depicts life in the Kuril–Kamchatka & W Aleutian Trenches, two hadal trenches in the W Pacific that were explored with submersible Fendouzhe.

@sarafnovak.bsky.social
www.discovermagazine.com/using-deep-s...

Using Deep Sea Submersibles, Researchers Have Uncovered an Almost Alien World in the Hadal Trenches

Learn more about the Hadal Trenches and the types of life that thrive in the deep.

www.discovermagazine.com

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

Dr. Katie I. is SPOOPY AF 🎃🕸️ @hellyeahcorks.bsky.social · 2d

Reminder that China has TWO deep-diving research submersibles: Jiaolong (7000 m I think) and Fendouzhe (full ocean depth), both built in the last 20 years. And note how they closely resemble the Mirs.

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

A recent @nature.com depicts life in the Kuril–Kamchatka & W Aleutian Trenches, two hadal trenches in the W Pacific that were explored with submersible Fendouzhe.

@sarafnovak.bsky.social
www.discovermagazine.com/using-deep-s...

Using Deep Sea Submersibles, Researchers Have Uncovered an Almost Alien World in the Hadal Trenches

Learn more about the Hadal Trenches and the types of life that thrive in the deep.

www.discovermagazine.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

alternate hypothesis:

a lion king cartoon with hakuna matata written on it

Alt: A cartoon from the movie Lion King with Pumbaa the warthog, Timon the meerkat, and Simba the lion cub singing "Hakuna Matata!"

media.tenor.com

Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

A recent @nature.com depicts life in the Kuril–Kamchatka & W Aleutian Trenches, two hadal trenches in the W Pacific that were explored with submersible Fendouzhe.

@sarafnovak.bsky.social
www.discovermagazine.com/using-deep-s...

Using Deep Sea Submersibles, Researchers Have Uncovered an Almost Alien World in the Hadal Trenches

Learn more about the Hadal Trenches and the types of life that thrive in the deep.

www.discovermagazine.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Or does he have a problem-free philosophy?

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

At what point do the worries begin?

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 2d

🎵 They did the Monster Slash 😭 @ellecordova.bsky.social

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Hadal Snailfishes (Teleostei: Liparidae) Extend Across Multiple Trenches: Molecular Insights and Implications for Taxonomic Nomenclature

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Hadal Snailfishes (Teleostei: Liparidae) Extend Across Multiple Trenches: Molecular Insights and Implications for Taxonomic Nomenclature

Hadal snailfish are not endemic to single deep-sea features, as evidenced by multiple documented range extensions of hadal snailfish species. Our data supports the recommendation that Notoliparis sho...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Deep-Sea Benthic Biodiversity and Climate Change: Indian Ocean Perspective

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Deep-Sea Benthic Biodiversity and Climate Change: Indian Ocean Perspective

The deep sea, encompassing ocean depths below 200 m which covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, represents one of the largest ecosystem in the planet earth. This expansive and largely uncharted environment is home to an extraordinary diversity of life...

link.springer.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Seasonal variability in community structure and metabolism of active deep-sea microorganisms

academic.oup.com/ismej/advanc...

Seasonal variability in community structure and metabolism of active deep-sea microorganisms

Abstract. Learning about the metabolic activities and adaptations of deep-sea microbes is challenging, as sample collection and retrieval often cause RNA d

academic.oup.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Distribution of the Deep-Sea Limpet Genus Pyropelta in the Northwestern Pacific, with the Description of a New Species

brill.com/view/journal...

brill.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Trophic ecology of Ophiuroidea and Asteroidea in the Clarion-Clipperton-Fracture Zone (Central Pacific)

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Trophic ecology of Ophiuroidea and Asteroidea in the Clarion-Clipperton-Fracture Zone (Central Pacific)

Abyssal seascapes represent over 50 % of the Planet's surface, but the life history traits of fauna present in these ecosystems remain poorly understo…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

Confirmation of hard-substrate predictions in the abyssal Vema Fracture Zone

www.frontiersin.org/journals/mar...

Frontiers | Confirmation of hard-substrate predictions in the abyssal Vema Fracture Zone

Hydroacoustic mapping has recently challenged the long-held view of a uniform abyssal seafloor by predicting substantial habitat heterogeneity in this enviro...

www.frontiersin.org

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

The Sequestration Efficiency of the Deep Ocean

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

The Sequestration Efficiency of the Deep Ocean

We introduce an idealized but computationally efficient method to estimate transit-time distributions (TTDs) from climate-model archives In ACCESS-ESM1.5 it takes up to 1300±350 $1300\pm 350$ yea...

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Dr. Katy Croff Bell @katycroffbell.bsky.social · 2d

This week in open-access deep sea research...🌊🧪

For more, subscribe to the @deepstewardship.bsky.social Deep Sea Round Up!

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Reposted by Dr. Katy Croff Bell

Chantzy @chantzy.bsky.social · 2d

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine went to 3 scientists who uncovered how the immune system is kept in check by tiny "security guards" called regulatory T cells 🧬🥹

Here’s an explainer on what they are & how autoimmune disease & cancer can develop when they become dysregulated

tinyurl.com/ur97yya7

Nobel medicine prize: how a hidden army in your body keeps you alive – and could help treat cancer

How this year’s Nobel-winning research could make cancer immunotherapy even smarter.

tinyurl.com

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