Photo by Cade Roberts on Unsplash
There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this: Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrections are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this: The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this: Try.
—Karis Nemik, Andor, Season 1 Episode 12
The US administration is rapidly attacking fundamental rights, including due process and free speech. The recent NSF efforts to rescind funding from projects that study misinformation, claiming "concerns for free speech," don’t square with the administration’s actions like kidnapping Rümeysa Öztürk off the streets and putting her in detention for writing an op-ed. The goals are tyranny, preemptive obedience, and control. And as Karis Nemik notes in his manifesto in Andor (season 1), the need for control is desperate. But we must also remember that it’s tenuous and the resistance will always persevere.
We continue to bare witness as things continue to unravel, so lets get into it.
Take action
Check the new NSF grant cancellation tracker (DOGE is in full force across the agency) to see if your work is being defunded and let your elected representatives know!
If your NSF grant has been terminated, please submit that information here
Check out and share these federal worker legal support resources
More actions on the Action Lab website
weekly wonder
There are ~300,000 moose in Sweden and they are on the move. Check out this livestream of their migration.
Check it out
Stories of scientists who have been terminated from the federal government
The oSTEM Scholarship Program is soliciting applications from members of the LGBTQ+ STEM community
Read What birds can teach us about the “biological truth” of sex by Nicole Baran
Perennial reads
“What it means to tell the truth about America” by Clint Smith in The Atlantic, important read as the administration EOs target museums and libraries to white-wash and purge history.
The rise of unreason, coupled with our growing scientific knowledge and sophistication.
A catalog of cruelties, collusions, corruptions, and crimes, lest we forget the litany of horrors the US administration is spreading across the US and world.
weekly win
Institutions of higher education and faculty within are uniting to defend academic freedom.
All ears
Check out the bio/acc podcast by Harvard sophomore Shriya Prakash Bhat, featuring deeply researched interviews on fascinating topics in biotech and human health.
…by the way
We loved hearing the news of the wandering cat who joined the White House Press Corps (and the photos of journalists holding her released by the AP). Maybe if we all had more animals to snuggle things would be better?
🙃
NIH has been instructed to hold off issuing grants to Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, Brown, and Northwestern…. but can’t tell them?!?!