Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · 13h

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about #bat turbinals, in our most recent paper – check it out!
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Functional microanatomy of nasal turbinals in bats

Iodine-enhanced micro-CT (diceCT) scanning allows visualization of whole bat heads (a, showing Anoura geoffroyi) as well as internal structures such as nasal turbinals, including their mucosal coveri...

anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology @alfpaleo.bsky.social · Apr 12

The #DireWolf is the talk of the town right now! But what exactly were these Ice Age predators? Alf Museum curator and dire wolf researcher explains! #FossilFriday

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · Apr 8

Inside me there are two wolves. One of them has a 15 genome edits the other 20 genome edits. Neither of them is a dire wolf.

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 14

🚨This week, many Columbia scientists lost grants that funded over half their annual income. Others will no longer be able to do research that helps treat thousands of sick patients across the US.

"It hurts," they told me.

My story for @nature.com 🧪

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts

The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Lauren Buckley @lbuckley.bsky.social · Mar 6

Devastating to hear from disappointed undergrads about all the summer programs being cut. NSF, NIH, and the complete cancelation of Mosaics in Science national park internship program focused on broadening participation. NSF REUs were crucial to my start in science www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates

Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

www.science.org

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Feb 23

It’s a bat 😉

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Feb 22

Maybe we should all complain that the signs are still unclear just to see how much farther they would go with this absolute nonsense. I can’t tell if that’s a woman with short hair wearing pants, for example 😉

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Feb 20

Remarkable thread offering guidance to current and prospective NSF grantees about how to navigate the times ahead — from an NSF program officer who was fired in yesterday's DOGE purge (!)

Jeremy Koster @jeremykoster.bsky.social · Feb 19

Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Seth Campbell @alpinesciences.bsky.social · Feb 19

Please repost this government led survey to get this into every fired government employees hands! 🧪 democrats-science.house.gov/sciencefirings

Were you fired by President Trump? | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

democrats-science.house.gov

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Ken Armstrong @bykenarmstrong.bsky.social · Feb 18

The National Science Foundation fired 168 workers today.

The NSF was established by Congress to promote science, advance public health and contribute to the national defense.
@bloomberg.com
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

National Science Foundation Fires 168 Workers on Trump’s Order

The National Science Foundation fired 168 workers to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order, the latest in a series of layoffs throughout the US government as the Trump administration se...

www.bloomberg.com

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · Feb 14

Heartbreaking news… Tonight, many of our friends were let go, and tomorrow, even more will follow. Word is that all probationary employees at NPS will be let go. 😭

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Krutika Kuppalli, MD FIDSA @krutikakuppalli.bsky.social · Feb 8

NIH doesn’t just support infectious disease research—it drives breakthroughs in cancer, childhood diseases, heart disease, diabetes & more.

Thanks to NIH, we have:
💉 Cancer immunotherapy
❤️ Cholesterol-lowering statins
🩸 Insulin for diabetes

Investing in NIH = investing in life-saving discoveries.

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Feb 6

Thank you!

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Feb 3

Welcome, Dr. Jones, to the University of Washington as our 34rd President.

Robert J. Jones named 34th president of the University of Washington

The University of Washington Board of Regents on Monday announced that Robert J. Jones, who is currently concluding a nine-year tenure as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has...

www.washington.edu

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · Feb 3

New, NSF-supported research: Emergent network properties link phenotypic modules to ecomorphological divergence in carnivoran mammals doi.org/10.1016/j.is...

Also, check out the beautiful original artwork made by one of the co-authors for this study:

A grayscale illustration of a hyena skull on turquoise background, overlaid by letters and a network of circles that represent the complex interconnections of skull bones produced by macroevolutionary change.

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Arinjay Banerjee @banerjeelab.ca · Jan 29

🚨 FINALLY OUT IN @Nature.

A tour de force effort. 🦇 10 new bat genomes, excess of immune gene adaptations, species specific adaptations in ISG15, and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of bat ISG15. @hillermich.bsky.social @batresearch.bsky.social #LZCI #Bat1K

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bat genomes illuminate adaptations to viral tolerance and disease resistance - Nature

A systematic analysis of 115 mammalian genomes, including 10 new bat genomes, reveals prevalent positive selection in immune genes in bats and shows key adaptations in the antiviral gene ISG15 that ai...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

SICB journals @sicbjournals.bsky.social · Jan 24

IOB now in issue !

The Carnivoran #Adaptive Landscape Reveals Trade-offs among Functional Traits in the Skull, Appendicular, and Axial #Skeleton

Chris J Law, L J Hlusko, Z J Tseng

doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

#science #fossils #analysis #carnivores #ecology #topology #locomotor #mammalian

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Hope Jahren @realhopejahren.bsky.social · Jan 23

One of the most important things you can do today is your science. Knowing calculus/physics/genetics/chemistry etc. makes you rare and the world will need you to rebuild tomorrow. Practice your skills and pass them on. Keep the flame alive.
💚🌱🧪

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Kip Ludwig @wildpiguk.bsky.social · Jan 23

The NIH Is literally prohibited by law from commenting on the new NIH restrictions. The NIH can't fight this fight for you. Scientists who want to help people, this has to be your fight.

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · Jan 23

Here is a draft you can use to reach out to your Elected Reps about the devastating impact on NIH:
find them here: www.bioniclab.org/news/nihexec...

B.I.O.N.I.C. Lab - NIHExecutiveOrder2025

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative (use both home and work

www.bioniclab.org

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jan 21

Morning session, Coal Oil Point.

(If anyone knows who was out there on the morning of Saturday 18th, it would be cool to get it to them.)

Two surfers wait on a near-flat ocean, illuminated by sunbeams through a hole in the clouds.

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Jan 17

New paper! A long-ignored type of cartilage cells characterized by large lipid vacuoles is found in several mammalian structures (including #bat 🦇 ears) and may impart them with functional biomechanical properties:

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Superstable lipid vacuoles endow cartilage with its shape and biomechanics

Conventionally, the size, shape, and biomechanics of cartilages are determined by their voluminous extracellular matrix. By contrast, we found that multiple murine cartilages consist of lipid-filled c...

www.science.org

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Jan 17

New 🌱🦇 paper!!👇

Dávalos Lab @labdavalos.bsky.social · Jan 17

led by #loloyohe we use #GJAM to show bat🦇traits influence interactions with pepper plants in a megadiverse system (La Selva, 🇨🇷); while bats partition resources by body size and the largest ones avoid fruits the smallest ones eat 👉🏼 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Frugivore Traits Predict Plant–Frugivore Interactions Using Generalized Joint Attribute Modeling

A Carollia perspicillata bat feeding on a fruit of Piper hispidum. Photo by Marco A. R. Mello (https://marcomellolab.wordpress.com), used with permission.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · Jan 15

🚨😷🧪 NEW: A growing body of evidence shows that pandemics, biodiversity loss, and climate change are part of a broader polycrisis - but there are no simple solutions. A sweeping overview of "Pathogens and planetary change" for the first issue of @natrevbiodiv.bsky.social, out now 🔓 rdcu.be/d6lHl

Top panels: graphs showing increases in spillover events, extinction rates, and temperature anomalies over the last few centuries. Bottom panel: a map of 10 pandemics since the year 1900. Four were linked to agriculture, two to wildlife use, and one to climate change.

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Reposted by Prof. Sharlene Santana

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · Jan 13

I guess I hadn't posted this yet and didn't even know it had come out-- I was interviewed for (and co-wrote w/Daniel Rabosky) a Trends in Ecology & Evolution "TrendsTalk" article on "Disability in ecology and evolution" -- www.cell.com/trends/ecolo... #DisabledInSTEM #academicchatter #academia

Disability in ecology and evolution

In this TrendsTalk series ‘Disability in ecology and evolution’ in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, we will be hearing from people about their experiences being disabled or having a chronic condition an...

www.cell.com

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Prof. Sharlene Santana @sesantana.bsky.social · Jan 10

This 👇

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jan 10

1. From morning EST to evening PST, I receive an email roughly once every three minutes. Overnight the pace slows, but not all that much. If I did nothing but read email and reply 12 hours a day I could probably keep up.

A once-wonderful productivity technology is killing any hope of productivity.

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