Every $1 of research funded by NIH generates $2.56 in economic activity and federal funding to universities has been a key reason why the U.S. has been so successful

In 1862 a US manual for making explosives advised adding urine to a pile of ‘thoroughly rotted manure of the richest kind’ and stirring it each week until it was ripe enough to make gunpowder.

Dawn chorus returns after millions pumped into possum problem; now it's threatened Brush-tailed pests are being killed by the thousand near Christchurch, with spectacular results newsroom.co.nz/2025/05/09/daw…

In a medical milestone, a customized base editor was developed, characterized in human and mouse cells, tested in mice, studied for safety in non-human primates, cleared by U.S. FDA for clinical trial use, manufactured as a complex with an LNP, and dosed into a baby with a severe,

Budget 2025 continues the government's shift of the science sector towards more "growth-promoting investments". sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/05/22/bud…

Predator Free 2050 is being disestablished. They’ve cleared pests from 100,000 hectares and they are working on another 650,000 hectares. They were on track to meet the 2050 goal. Their work led to a 71% increase in native birds in Wellington. rnz.co.nz/national/progr…

Teaching evaluations shook my confidence—until I learned to filter the critiques | Science | AAAS science.org/content/articl…

In Nature Genetics we report that base editing of trinucleotide repeats (TNRs) reduces somatic repeat expansions in Huntington’s disease (HD) and Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA)—in patient-derived cells and in vivo—a collaboration with the Mouro Pinto lab. drive.google.com/file/d/1on7kdy… 1/14

The peer-reviewed version of expansion in situ genome sequencing is now out in Science! The news is bittersweet – when we first revealed this last September, I never guessed it would be my final paper in academia, but a lot has changed. A few parting thoughts:

Super excited that Expansion In Situ Genome Sequencing (ExIGS) is out now in Science Magazine ! Check out the paper to see what can be revealed by sequencing the genome in its native position and high-res imaging its interactions with nearby proteins. science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

“Unacceptable, unbearable and unforgivable," former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told me he thinks Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.

"crossfire." looks like the cop just turns and shoots her

This is the big one: Kennedy is firing the entire #ACIP in a move he says is needed to restore confidence in vaccines. "It scares me to think of what’s ahead,” Mike Osterholm of CIDRAP told me. statnews.com/2025/06/09/rfk…

Read the whole thing, but particularly the last line

Wow! The Regulatory Standards Bill could force taxpayers to compensate polluters, stop any efforts to help nature/climate & cost tens of millions of dollars a year?! Treasury and Ministry officials confirm Seymour's Regulatory Standards Bill is a hot mess. #nzpol

You don’t cut global health funding by 83% and walk away without grave consequences. A new Lancet forecast warns of 14 million deaths by 2030 - including 4.5 million children under age 5.

Happy Publication day! The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney Liam McIlvanney Zaffre Books liveanddeadly.net/2025/07/03/the…

Astronomers Discover Potential Dwarf Planet Lurking Way Beyond Pluto gizmodo.com/astronomers-di…

A little town in Sweden - Tomelilla - is pioneering what it means to put Doughnut Economics into practice. This can be great inspiration for many towns and villages seeking to create a different kind of future... check out this article in today's Guardian theguardian.com/environment/20…

Personally I love it when the government works very hard to keep massive law changes a secret and then retrospectively releases all the information about it at 8.34pm on a Thursday rnz.co.nz/news/political…