Kip Ludwig
@wildpiguk.bsky.social
550 followers 84 following 110 posts
Former NIH Program Director for Neuroengineering. Current Co-Director of Wisconsin Institute for Translational Neuroengineering (WITNe). Opinions are official positions of the U.S Government and Lyle Lovett.
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wildpiguk.bsky.social
Let me ruin the suspense for you. This isn't 3-D chess. It's not even Chutes and Ladders. This is dumb monkeys flinging their own feces at those passing by because we were stupid enough to let them.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
neuroamyo.bsky.social
One of the most valuable lessons I've gotten from reviewing grants and papers is deeper empathy for the reviewers. So essential.
odedrechavi.bsky.social
When you’re editing your draft for the 100th time and thinking “What will the reviewers think of my manuscript?”, remember that they’ll be reading it in this position.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
True. And much of that was due to government contracts— not just Bell system funding.
Fundamental / basic science is a public good that markets do not support well. Only the public, through government, has the time horizon needed to make that investment rational.
kevinjkircher.com
Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.
sites.stat.columbia.edu
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
bioniclab.bsky.social
🚨 Patriots, the "Compact for Academic Excellence" claims to fix colleges but stomps on 1st Amendment rights. It threatens YOUR jobs by diverting tax $$ to elites. FIRE calls it "McCarthyism 2.0." Fight for free speech & heartland jobs! #AmericaFirst www.thefire.org/news/fire-st...
FIRE statement on the White House’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education
The Wall Street Journal has reported the White House is asking colleges to sign an agreement to secure preferential treatment for government funding.
www.thefire.org
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
Proud to talk about defending the Constitution in front of the Capitol this week.

We are seeing the greatest assault on our freedoms of our lifetimes. The shredding of the Constitution must stop. The lawlessness must stop.
And Congress can and must stop it.
safa-science.bsky.social
Federal workers are speaking out on how the Trump regime is harming Americans:

"We stand here today at a moment of the greatest assault of our lifetimes on our freedoms. The US Constitution is being shredded... We are here to call on Congress to stand up and stop it."

youtu.be/uw1KwIBgrCw?...
Mark Histed, NIH Scientist *speaking in personal capacity
YouTube video by Civil Servants Coalition
youtu.be
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
bioniclab.bsky.social
🚨 The gov shutdown is costing taxpayers $400M/day, killing jobs, stalling NIH/NSF innovation, & letting China gain on us. 🇺🇸 needs action, not gridlock! 🙏Thank you, federal workers, for your service. Let’s end this now! #MAGA #GovernmentShutdown #AmericanStrength
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
The coordinated Hatch Act violations by the White House confirm the lawlessness of this administration.

They believe they can ignore the law and Constitution with impunity and the lawless Supreme Court will sign off on it.
marisakabas.bsky.social
SCOOP — The White House instructed all federal agency leadership on Tuesday to send out a mandatory message to workers blaming the impending potential government shutdown on House Democrats, The Handbasket was first to learn. Absolutely no modifications to the email were permitted.

My story:
Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov’t shutdown
Workers call the partisan email "a vile slap in the face."
www.thehandbasket.co
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social
Early Aβ-induced changes in the enteric nervous system and gut: structure, function, and motility https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.26.678722v1
wildpiguk.bsky.social
I was running down the road, trying to loosen my load. I’ve got 7 Heat and Mass Transfer problems on my mind. 4
about conduction, 2 about convection, 1 where I just find the time.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
precisionneuro.bsky.social
Can brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) one day record our dreams? How do they move a cursor with thought alone? What does it really take to implant a brain chip?

Watch the latest episode of Wired's Tech Support series on Youtube below to find out!

www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...
Neurosurgeon Answers Brain-Computer Interface Questions | Tech Support | WIRED
YouTube video by WIRED
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
The New York Times piece today about US science is terrible and wrong—in many ways.

I could write a whole article about this, but as one example:

“To close observers, the original crisis began well before any of this…”
No. I’m a close observer of science, and this is incorrect.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
Shutting down the war on cancer.

“New presidential administrations have usually gone out of their way to make transitions at the NIH as seamless as possible so as not to disrupt ongoing research…”

Right. That’s not what is happening now. Must-read article.

🧪
Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer
www.nytimes.com
wildpiguk.bsky.social
Really curious how this #ArchManning kid does today. He may have come from nowhere without a lot of attention, but I’ve got a feeling about him.

And as always, screw ‘La’ #OhioState.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
riceneuro.bsky.social
@riceneuro.bsky.social researcher Jacob Robinson @jacobrobinson.bsky.social and his team are developing next-gen wireless miniature bioelectric implants that are opening doors to new treatments for a multitude of chronic conditions. Read more about their recently published work here: bit.ly/45VfTi5
bit.ly
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
bioniclab.bsky.social
🚨🇺🇸 RED ALERT: Chinese gov’s dumping $47B+ into brain-computer interfaces to CRUSH US tech by 2030, while we’re stuck at $0.2B from DARPA/NIH/NSF! They’re stealing OUR jobs & security! DEMAND $20B/yr NOW to back USA Neurotech!
www.wired.com/story/china-...
#AmericaFirst #TechWar #NIH #NSF #DARPA
China Is Building a Brain-Computer Interface Industry
A new policy document outlines China’s plan to create an internationally competitive BCI industry within five years, and proposes developing devices for both health and consumer uses.
www.wired.com
wildpiguk.bsky.social
Micah Parsons for two firsts and Kenny Clark???

To quote Brad Pitt’s character from Inglorious Bastards:

“I'd make that deal. How about you? You make that deal?
- I'd make that deal.
I don't blame you. Damn good deal.”

#gopackers
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
mirandayaver.bsky.social
If RFK Jr. will not resign, he must be impeached and removed, for the sake of the nation's health and safety.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
bioniclab.bsky.social
Patriots! NIH cuts kill cures for cancer, HIV, opioid research, hitting red states like hardest with lost job & lost cures for you kids. Longer, costly waits for care. Rural families pay the price. This ain't America First. it's hurting real Americans! Demand better! #NIHcuts
This is a superb short video on the consequences of the ongoing destruction of American science. Please watch and circulate.
@sebastianseung.bsky.social is fantastic here.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
jcstark.bsky.social
"The ideas and technologies that are being destroyed today, ... some of them irreversibly, those are the cures that would have been present 20 years from now."
"It’s people who will get cancer in 10, 20, or 30 years who will really pay the price for these cuts."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | America First? Not When It Comes to Your Health.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
bioniclab.bsky.social
SCOTUS letting NIH pause $783M in grants screws taxpayers! $1.4B of OUR money already spent is wasted if stopped. Kills 🇺🇸 scientist & supplier jobs, lets China beat us in medical breakthroughs. This isn’t draining the swamp, it’s draining our wallets! #AmericaFirst

www.npr.org/2025/08/21/g...
Supreme Court allows NIH to stop making nearly $800M in research grants for now
But the court, in its emergency docket order, also left in place by a 5-4 order a lower court ruling that threw out NIH memos that enforced the administration's policies.
www.npr.org
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
Playing around with analogies:

LLMs are going to be like microwaves: an initially-amazing technology that becomes pervasive, but ends up mostly being used for a mediocre simalcrum of real cooking, churning out fast easy stuff while highlighting just how important are expert cooks and great meals.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
"The field of AI safety is also closely linked with neuroscience, because understanding how human neural networks create bias can also help us understand how AI networks create bias."
Trump cuts to science research threaten his administration’s own AI action plan
Experts warn of undermining environment that fostered foundations of artificial intelligence as federal agencies hit
www.theguardian.com
wildpiguk.bsky.social
The real irony is, even when viewed in his most favorable light, #musk is at best Thomas Edison in the story of Nikola Tesla.
Reposted by Kip Ludwig
markhisted.org
This is an excellent explainer about the US scientific ecosystem. It covers a lot of points I often hear non-scientists asking about: about talent, the dynamics of the academic research environment, Germany, the USSR, history of NSF, NIH. Worth a read.

1/
Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End
America’s run as the premier techno-superpower may be over.
www.theatlantic.com