The Assault on Science & Public Health

by

27 April 2025

Artist: Henry Aloma, Cuba

Hello again, science fans. Glad to have you along with us today.

Hola tu ka’atéen, aficionados ti’ le ciencia. ki’imak in wóol in yantal ta wéetel bejla’e’.
[Yucatec Maya]

The Trump Administration shut down over 1,400 scientific medical research projects and public health programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. They are listed here. The Administration has ordered mass layoffs of NOAA scientists. They are closing 164 offices of the Department of the Interior. They announced that 50% to 75% of EPA scientists “will not be retained.”

A Department of Justice attorney accused several scientific journals of bias:

  • “It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates…”
  • “Do you accept articles or essays from competing viewpoints?”

“Science” is not determined by “debates.” Scientific journals by their very nature are not partisan nor are they politically biased. Furthermore, “competing viewpoints” in the world of science are code words for creationism, anti-vaxx, and other non-scientific stances.

The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 called for ”the inclusion of women and minorities in clinical trials…” In the last few weeks, the documents providing guidance in following that policy have vanished from the websites of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. ¿Is the Trump Administration OK with medical research conducted solely on cisgender white adult males as was frequently the case 30 years ago?

On Friday, the Trump Administration launched an investigation into foreign funds received by UC Berkeley. Also on Friday the New York Times published an op-ed titled, “Trump vs. Science.”

Presidents of over 500 colleges and universities have signed a letter that states in part, “[W]e speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.” This was in response to the Trump Administration’s:

  • Freezing $2.8 billion of multiyear funding for Harvard University when the University President declined to accept federal audits of Harvard’s programs, screening of international students for their beliefs, and other demands. [See initial letter from the Trump Administration]
  • Freezing $400 million of funding for Columbia University for “continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
  • Freezing $1 billion of funding for Cornell University “in connection with several ongoing, credible, and concerning Title VI investigations.” The Trump Administration has not yet revealed what investigations they are referring to.
  • Freezing $790 million of funding for Northwestern University for antisemitism and racial bias.
  • Revoking $175 million of funding for the University of Pennsylvania for allowing a trans woman swimmer to compete three years ago (as was mandated by the NCAA).
  • Revoking $800 million of funding for Johns Hopkins University because the funds were channeled through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
  • Revoking $214 million of funding for Princeton University because their climate researchers promoted “exaggerated and implausible climate threats.”

Of course it reeks of authoritarianism for an Executive Branch to decide what is “exaggerated and implausible” in the sciences.

Courtesy Randall Munroe, xkcd

Let us all concisely and frequently communicate our support for science, public health, and human rights with our elected representatives.

ARCHAEOLOGY

60,000-year-old Neanderthal flute

Ok. But can this create musical notes? ¿And if so, what sort of musical scale does it use? This 16-second video answers those questions using a replica of the flute.

Fossil Denisovan Jawbone

Another Denisovan (Homo denisova) fossil has been identified – this time from Taiwan. Slowly, slowly we are learning more about this other species of human that shared the planet with us and Neanderthals. [In case you ever wondered where the name “Denisovan” came from: A religious hermit lived in a cave in Siberia in the 18th century. A 50,000 year old human finger bone was found in that cave in 2008 but its DNA matched neither modern humans nor Neanderthals. The new species was named after Denis the hermit.]

RAFFLE

We are offering a 49x67cm, 1,000 piece “Tree of Life” jigsaw puzzle. Just send an email before noon Friday to david.almandsmith [at] gmail.com with your guess of an integer between 0 and 1,000.

BIOLOGY / ETHOLOGY

Mouse brain neurons

A tiny portion of a mouse brain [ 1.3 × 0.87 × 0.82mm] amounting to about 1/500 of its total brain, was analysed in a monumental study lasting 9 years. In this tiny mass they mapped all 5.4 kilometers of 84,000 neurons connected by half a billion synapses! The above image of the tiny brain mass only hints at the complexity that was found.

Marmoset

Generally, a human individual knows their name as does each person in their social group. Recently we’ve discovered the same is true for elephants, dolphins, and some parrots – but no evidence had been found for primates other than ourselves – until now. Marmosets vocally identify each other with ‘names.’

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK – My Picks

ENVIRONMENT

Many of the little things we buy are mounted on cardboard and covered in cellophane – transparent sheets made from plant cellulose. Although cellophane cannot be recycled, it readily biodegrades. ¿Why don’t we make single-use items like cups and water bottles out of cellophane? Answer: There was no process to create cellophane thicker than 0.05mm – until now. Researchers in Japan developed a process to make cellophane sheets twenty times thicker that can be molded into cups and containers. It’s strong, holds boiling water, and biodegrades in the ocean in less than a year. ¿Will this new super-cellophane compete with plastics derived from fossil fuels? Dunno. Hope so. Depends on how expensive it will be to ramp up production.

Back in the 60’s some sewage treatment plants began to produce thoroughly safe drinking water from waste water. Today there are thousands of sewage treatment facilities around the world supplying drinking water to their communities. Bad news: in the United States, much of the drinking water reclaimed from waste water contains high levels of PFAS – “forever chemicals” linked to cancer and other diseases. Ouch!

¿Supply renewable power to cities by railroad? That’s the plan. The U.S. is critically short of high-voltage electric transmission lines, and expanding the current grid requires – in many cases – haggling over rights-of-way for the towers and lines. Another problem with renewable energy is that wind and sunlight don’t always coincide timewise with needs for electric power. Proposed solution: (1) Power up train-car-loads of batteries when and where renewable energy is available and (2) transport the fully-charged battery-cars to cities needing the power via railway. It may be a temporary solution, but the investors in the “SunTrain” company hope it will be lucrative.

MEDICINE / HEALTH

As a nation, 92% of us have been vaccinated against measles. Unfortunately, it is calculated that herd immunity requires over 95% of us to be vaccinated. Worse, confidence in the safety of the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine has fallen. Twenty-two percent of parents are not confident that the MMR vaccine is safe. Among Republican-leaning parents, 31% are not confident in the vaccine’s safety.

¿For better health, should we replace butter, margarine, cream, and mayonnaise with olive oil products? The answer is we would likely be healthier making those replacements with any vegetable oil. Studies have not shown olive oil to be superior healthwise compared to other plant oils like corn, canola, safflower or soybean.

Three States – Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama – have outlawed the sale of lab-grown meats, in spite of that fact there are no lab-grown meats available for sale.

FUN (?) NERDY VIDEOS

Lunar Lava Tubes – NASA – 1.5 mins

Slime Mold Smarts – NOVA – 2 mins

Microplastics and Health – New York Times – Nina Agrawal – 2.5 mins

Tattoos and Health – Cup o’ Joe – Joe Schwarcz – 4 mins

Hubble’s 35th Birthday – NASA Goddard – 5 mins

The WEIRDEST Octopus – Bizarre Beasts – Sarah Suta – 8 mins

Rooftop Solar: Best Way Forward – Just Have a Think – David Borlace – 8 mins

Naked Singularities – Dr. Becky – Becky Smethurst – 12 mins

In Defense of Science – Cool Worlds – David Kipping – 13 mins

¿Will That Space Rock Kill Us? – PBS SpaceTime – Matt O’Dowd – 16 mins

Time Travel Is Possible, But… – Sabine Hossenfelder – 17 mins

Math, Conservation Laws, & Relativity – Veritaseum – Derek Muller – 26 mins

Ancient Roman Lead and Theoretical Physics – SciShow – Hank Green – 31 mins

Protactinium – Tales from the Periodic Table – Ron Hipschman – 35 mins

Science Under Siege – Skeptical Inquirer Presents – Michael Mann – 48+ mins

Apes, Men, & Morons: Scopes Centennial – BAS SkepTalk – Paul Lombardo – 49+ mins

Secrets of the Forest – PBS NOVA – 54 mins

The UFO Movie They Don’t Want You to See – Brian Dunning – 91 mins [Editor: The “WOW! signal” referenced in the video now has a likely natural explanation.]

Have a fun, active, and loving week,
Dave Almandsmith, Bay Area Skeptics

“We can no longer let the people in power decide what is politically possible. We can no longer let the people in power decide what hope is. Hope is not passive. Hope is not blah, blah, blah. Hope is telling the truth. Hope is taking action. And hope always comes from the people.”
Greta Thunberg (2003 – ) autistic Swedish environmental activist

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