Stefany

A photo of Doc Brown from Back to the Future holding jumper cables labelled "Deranged Activist" with a grant of NIH funding curves below it.

My weekly update on NIH funding

This includes awards made through 2/27/26

Warning: This thread contains data compiled by a known deranged_activist™. Do not read while operating heavy machinery.

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Similarly, I now have slides clarifying why the standard regression coefficient interpretation "for a 1 unit change in X, we expect a b unit change in Y" is both technically incorrect *and* the most understandable way to describe the concept.

I teach stats and find that students are *much* more receptive to "straightforward" than "easy". It seems like "easy" implies "you should already know this" while "straightforward" is more like "you can figure it out if you go through the steps". These subtle differences are so important sometimes.

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

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the-unflappablewolf Who would you trust more? total stranger in a star trek shirt? 94.5% total stranger in a star wars shirt? 5.5% 99.421 Stimmen • Verbleibende Zeit: 2 Tage 23 Stunden thebaconsandwichofregret No exaggeration, the vote split on this poll is hysterical.

No but this is entirely correct

Letz go even bigger and better,,, ALL Female US Olympians and Paralympian medalists are invited out to celebrate in Viva Las Vegas for the SHE GOT GAME Weekend ,,,

Hit a guy up and LETZ GOOO

https://x.com/Mike_Pence/status/2024875315068014594?s=20 Mike Pence Y @ Mike_Pence Today's 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court is a Victory for the American People and a Win for the Separation of Powers enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. In Learning Resources, Inc. V. Trump, our Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the Constitution grants Congress - not the President - the power to tax. American families and American businesses pay American tariffs - not foreign countries. With this decision, American families and businesses can breathe a sigh of relief. I'm proud of the work our organization @AmericanFreedom has done on this case through our robust amicus brief program to advance economic freedom and defend the Constitution. With this historic decision, America can now return to the pursuit of Free Trade with Free Nations under the Constitution of the United States! 10:54 AM • Feb 20, 2026 • 2.8M Views

Never in a million years did I expect to agree with Mike Pence

#Pinks

When you say “only the vulnerable” are at risk… you’re saying that vulnerable people are expendable.

When you say “only those with pre existing conditions will die”… you’re saying our lives don’t matter.

You can become one of the “vulnerable” at any time.

Many of us were healthy…until we weren’t.

table 2 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

table 3 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

table 4 from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960

I split AI into 3 non-mutually exclusive types (see Table 1 above): displacement (harmful), enhancement (beneficial), and/or replacement (neutral) of human cognitive labour. More later possibly, but see Tables 2 to 4 (attached or here: arxiv.org/pdf/2507.19960) for the worked through examples. 2/n

Google and Bing auto complete results about how to disable gemini and copilot

solid poasting energy in this slide about how many people don't want AI forced on them

BREAKING: Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been convicted of insurrection for declaring martial law in December 2024, and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Lots of people lost their jobs over this. Students lost badly needed resources. And the people who got f’d over were disproportionately already marginalized, underpaid & trying harder than they should’ve had to just to do their jobs in environments that were uncaring at best if not outright hostile

Few life experiences feel as universal, across generations, as the pains and frustrations of trying to find clothes that fit. In our newest project we dive into the data about women's sizing chaos.

pudding.cool/2026/02/wome...

In the large: Mortality in France, 1816-2016.

A graphic from erdavis.com with the title, "Names most at risk of going extinct in the United States"

By the always excellent Erin Davis, a chart of the first names that have seen the greatest (estimated) drop in living Americans with that name. Much more here, including an interactive to look the trends for any first name: erdavis.com/2026/02/16/i...

“Earth is a pleasure cruise for 1000 people and we're all just the staff.”

Lines of academy cadets, one in command red seated but at attention while in a wheelchair.

I have a friend who said, of Starfleet Academy, that this took them out of it - that seeing a person in a wheelchair in the 32nd century seemed unrealistic, since medicine in Star Trek "should be able to cure whatever was wrong with them."

That's not the case, for any number of possible reasons.

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

Our grad-level "Deep Learning" course (MIT's 6.7960) is now freely available online through OpenCourseWare: ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-79...

Lecture videos, psets, and readings are all provided.

Had a lot of fun teaching this with @sarameghanbeery.bsky.social and @jeremybernste.in!

CNN: "Another photograph - these are notes AG Bondi brought to the hearing today. This shows a list of Rep. Jayapal's search history. Lawmakers are allowed to go to a DOJ facility to search unredacted files. We learned from this photo that the searches are apparently being tracked & read by the DOJ"

Quote: "In recent years, I have grown increasingly concerned that public health has become too siloed, too dogmatic and too uncomfortable communicating uncertainty. I have seen colleagues on all sides digging in, becoming less willing to engage across disagreement or to acknowledge limits and trade-offs. That retreat may feel protective, but it ultimately undermines trust, both within science and with the public we serve."

As someone who has thought a bit (and even done some research) about how to communicate confidence and uncertainty, I believe that this is not the reason why a portion of the public mistrusts science (www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...) The core reason is deliberate and widespread disinformation

Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick

I'm a Gallup pollster. You can contact them at galluppanel@gallupmail.com to let them know what you think of this.

Academics vying for a spot in Epstein‘s world. There are so many. I feel the need to make a thread, so I don’t keep confusing them. 1/

we need mmpbs so badly, but the trade paper/hc collector market is running things especially in genre fiction. readers are ashamed to read in public so they are hoarding 2-6 versions of the same book in different trims to display in their bedrooms.

Trump Administration Slashes STEM Education Research Grants Some experts say the funding cuts are at odds with the administration's AI learning priorities.

By the way, STEM education is literally being slashed and REDIRECTED to AI.

www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

The pronoun labeler, which was by far the most useful labeler on the site, was deleted by its creator. But thanks to @ripperoni.com there’s a new one available. I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to share your pronouns or see someone else’s pronouns at a glance.

bsky.app/profile/pron...

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

National Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells,’ alarming career scientists The National Cancer Institute is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official, alarming career scientists.

A year ago, we were on the cusp of turning many cancers into chronic rather than terminal diseases through immunotherapy and mRNA vaccines. Today, we're working through the curative qualities of a magical horse paste instead.

The closest I've come is spending several hours in Pere Lachaise Cemetery looking for Siméon Denis Poisson's grave because (in 2015 when this happened) Wikipedia said he was buried there.