New preprint, on 'sequence filtering'.
Led by @CianaDeveau, Z Zhou.
We see this as a key step forw on how cortex works.

All cortical areas have dense exc-exc recurrent connectivity.
What do these connections do, esp in sensory ctx?

Our data say: they do dynamics/time.
1/4

My children are doing Italian-soccer levels of diving when they merely pass each other in the hallway. Complete with moans and grabbing at their own body parts as if grievously injured.

Is this normal?

It looks a lot like this

I had a conversation at NIH just now:
“What are you up to today?”

“Oh, you know…just defending the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”

… same as every day

It now seems clear the US public in 2024 did not know what Trump actually stood for. They found out. And hate Trumpism.

A major challenge over the next two years will be to keep the toxic Trump agenda front and center.

Congress can and should use its oversight power as a bully pulpit to keep reminding the public of the stakes between now and 2029.

We’ve got a lot of science and democracy to save and to rebuild. Let’s go.

It is good for #NIH to hire new faculty! I look forward to having many new amazing colleagues.

But every scientist the world over knows hiring decisions are best made by a scientific community. Not by political appointees. Together we will ensure that.

discovery.nih.gov

More from me on this later, but please feel
free to reach out about questions on the NIH environment.

/end

In later posts I’ll share info about my experience with the rigorous evaluation of scientists that the intramural program does. Not far off the HHMI system.
It works hard to ensure govt quality and efficiency.

<mic drop in Mark Jacob style>

Not watching this one, and working with the lab on our science instead.

Freedom!

This week two law professors published an article, "Quasi-Judicial: a History and Tradition."

I wrote about why this bears on science and future cures.

Worth a read if you're interested in the future of NIH and US science.

markhisted.substack.com/p/nih-and-quas…

This sounds nerdy but it matters in real life!

"I have an Article II, where I can do wherever I want" - Trump. Nice poster here.

I'm in Boston for a conference on "Presidentialism and the Escalation of Executive Power"
(on personal time and in my personal capacity, not representing NIH.)

The future of separation of powers, and of admin law—how the fed govt works—are critical for the future of US science.

Lots of interesting commentary here just in the first hr. A few highlights that jumped out. These are mostly bookmarks for me to think about later...

- Ash Ahmed: Roberts' decisions on pres power use different legal arguments: incremental, as part of a longtime agenda (like Slaughter building on Myers); some use orig meaning, political theory, normative judgements. Roberts grew up in a time before today's 'originalism'...