Hacker News Reader

pmagson US Science Agency NIH Says It Will Cut Funding to Researchers Who Protest Israel

The policy in question is awful, but NIH grants are awarded to institutions NOT individuals, so the "discriminatory prohibited boycott" clause likely does not apply to individual investigators.

Of course, the current administration has shown quite a disregard for the rule of law to date, so I wouldn't put it past them to change the rule or apply the rule inappropriately to punish individuals who are critical of policy.

pmagson US to phase out many synthetic food dyes, Kennedy and FDA head say

Or no real knowledge of medicine, and bans something like vaccines. That hypothetical would be scary!

pmagson Ancient DNA poses puzzle of why Phoenicians spread culture but not their genes

The article discussed in the commentary:

Ringbauer, H., Salman-Minkov, A., Regev, D. et al. Punic people were genetically diverse with almost no Levantine ancestors. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08913-3

pmagson What to Read to Wrap Your Head Around the Climate Crisis

Earthday related recommendations.

pmagson Table: NSF Grant Terminations in 2025

Some synthesis and broader context here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/science/trump-national-sc...

pmagson European Neolithic farmers interbred their pigs with wild boar

This is a nice commentary on a paper that examines the process of pig domestication during the early neolithic period, as human populations in Europe shifted from hunter-gatherer focused societies to farming.

The paper referenced:

    J.A.M. Erven, V. Mattiangeli, M. Dreshaj, V.E. Mullin, C. Rossi, K.G. Daly, I. Jackson, M. Parker Pearson, D.G. Bradley, L.A.F. Frantz, O. Madsen, D. Raemaekers, & C. Çakirlar,

Archaeogenomic insights into commensalism and regional variation in pig management in Neolithic northwest Europe, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (12) e2410235122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410235122 (2025).

pmagson Invasion of the 'Journal Snatchers'

Full title-- Invasion of the ‘journal snatchers’: the firms that buy science publications and turn them rogue

pmagson A Call for Constructive Engagement

This is a joint statement from 187 university presidents / leaders in education from across the country.

More analysis here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/us/politics/university-le...

pmagson Deepseek Unmasked [pdf]

Here's the full membership of the committee:

https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/members

pmagson The Government's Chemical Disaster Tracking Tool Just Went Dark

This is especially interesting in light of the following:

• Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths -- https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-cuts-firefighter-de...

> National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, will also halt a first-of-its-kind study of the causes of thousands of firefighters’ cancer cases.

pmagson NASA's Next Major Space Telescope Is Ready to Launch. Trump Wants to Kill It

Here's a related prior discussion of proposed cuts at NASA:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43653605

The proposed cuts, if enacted, will devestate scientific research at NASA (50% cut to science programs).

pmagson One Bag: The Art and Science of Packing Light

Not at all -- there's no need to pack every single item into a bundle.

For me at least, the "bundle" is basically all the clothing that will be used at my destination.

Like any other packing situation, you'd keep a jacket, sweater, headphones, etc. outside of the bundle for easy access en route.

pmagson US FDA suspends milk quality tests

Suspending milk quality testing at this time is particularly shocking given the H5N1 outbreak in dairy herds:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/a...

• Choose "Total Outbreak" in the site above to see the full breakdown across states

The USDA's own website has the following headline text:

"Testing for HPAI H5N1 is crucial to achieve disease freedom from this virus in U.S. dairy cattle. USDA works closely with Federal, State, and industry partners to ensure our testing activities are comprehensive. "

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/a...

I guess the USDA and FDA are failing to communicate with each other.

pmagson One Bag: The Art and Science of Packing Light

But that's the beauty of the "bundle method" -- no wrinkles!

pmagson Anti-Vaxxers Are Grifting Off the Measles Outbreak and Claim Bioweapon Caused It

Particularly interesting since we have evidence of one of the grifters (Ben Edwards) exposing kids to it directly due to continuing to work when he had an obvious infection himself:

https://apnews.com/article/texas-measles-outbreak-rfk-jr-ben...

pmagson [dead]

Here are some other facets of the new glorious new MAGA/MAHA "vision" at NIH:

• NIH bans all future grants to universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts -- https://www.statnews.com/2025/04/21/trump-nih-grants-draft-r...

• NIH freezes funds to Harvard and four other universities, but can't tell them -- https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-freezes-funds-ha...

pmagson Nature analysis signals the beginnings of a US science brain drain

Here are several related articles on US based scientists looking elsewhere:

https://www.reuters.com/world/scientists-us-harried-by-trump...

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/more-americans-are-eye...

pmagson US FDA suspends milk quality tests

This goes along with plans to end other routine food safety inspections:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-food-safety-inspections-pla...

pmagson One Bag: The Art and Science of Packing Light

One Bag is one of the remnants of the "old web" that continues to be updated and relevant.

Having run across it ~20 years ago, I still use their recommended "bundle wrapping" (https://www.onebag.com/pack.html) technique when I need to pack efficiently.

pmagson The Rise of Luxury Doomsday Prepping