Nicholas Bauer PhD
@bioturbonick.net
Computational biology and superresolution microscopy. Tech and politics nerd. Progressive. Somerville, MA
Signal: BioTurboNick.24
Signal: BioTurboNick.24
Pinned
Nicholas Bauer PhD
@bioturbonick.net
· Jan 7
It ends:
"So, unfortunately, the only message that the public will receive from this “peaceful transfer of power” is: We surrender."
"So, unfortunately, the only message that the public will receive from this “peaceful transfer of power” is: We surrender."
We should ask @governorwalz.mn.gov why he's helping Trump.
February 8, 2026 at 4:31 PM
We should ask @governorwalz.mn.gov why he's helping Trump.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
In 2021, I FOIA’d the database of USPS’s New Deal art, and each work’s condition.
In 2022, records came back with a massive spreadsheet & 1,700+ historical photos.
In 2024, I wrote the first draft of this story, at home in bed with Covid.
And now, we can finally bring you the full project.
In 2022, records came back with a massive spreadsheet & 1,700+ historical photos.
In 2024, I wrote the first draft of this story, at home in bed with Covid.
And now, we can finally bring you the full project.
The disappearing art gallery in your post office
The U.S. Postal Service is home to thousands of historic works of art in post offices nationwide. Hundreds have been lost, sold or destroyed.
wapo.st
February 8, 2026 at 2:19 PM
In 2021, I FOIA’d the database of USPS’s New Deal art, and each work’s condition.
In 2022, records came back with a massive spreadsheet & 1,700+ historical photos.
In 2024, I wrote the first draft of this story, at home in bed with Covid.
And now, we can finally bring you the full project.
In 2022, records came back with a massive spreadsheet & 1,700+ historical photos.
In 2024, I wrote the first draft of this story, at home in bed with Covid.
And now, we can finally bring you the full project.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
☄️ Comet C/2026 A1 was discovered last month. If it survives it might become visible in early April, possibly even in daylight.
Professor Jonti Horner writing at The Conversation
theconversation.com/a-new-comet-...
Professor Jonti Horner writing at The Conversation
theconversation.com/a-new-comet-...
A new comet was just discovered. Will it be visible in broad daylight?
Comet MAPS has the potential to be one of the ‘Great Comets’ of this century.
theconversation.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:51 AM
☄️ Comet C/2026 A1 was discovered last month. If it survives it might become visible in early April, possibly even in daylight.
Professor Jonti Horner writing at The Conversation
theconversation.com/a-new-comet-...
Professor Jonti Horner writing at The Conversation
theconversation.com/a-new-comet-...
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Epstein was a weird nerd who built a fantastical demimonde to make people like him and monetized paradise. Sex was only a small part of what he was offering.
Opinion | Now We Know What All Those People Got From Epstein
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Epstein was a weird nerd who built a fantastical demimonde to make people like him and monetized paradise. Sex was only a small part of what he was offering.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
I think we’d be a lot less “mad” if Moyn hadn’t spent years attacking everyone to the left of center — especially “liberals” — who had already figured this shit out.
People are mad at @samuelmoyn.bsky.social but this is a good piece from him and @ryandoerfler.bsky.social on need to accept that SCOTUS has become functionally illegitimate. Key point is legitimacy does require the public to think the court operates in good faith:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced | Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn
We need to remake the US high court so Americans don’t suffer future decades of oligarchy-facilitating rule
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:46 AM
I think we’d be a lot less “mad” if Moyn hadn’t spent years attacking everyone to the left of center — especially “liberals” — who had already figured this shit out.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Your Bluesky experience will be immensely improved simply by browsing Will Stancil’s replies and blocking everybody being a freak. This takes out like 90 percent of the shittiest people on the site and makes everything better.
February 8, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Your Bluesky experience will be immensely improved simply by browsing Will Stancil’s replies and blocking everybody being a freak. This takes out like 90 percent of the shittiest people on the site and makes everything better.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
stuff like this is why i have trouble with the incrementalism and slow-walking from dems. this is happening *right now*
The proposed centers are so large that some could house as many as 8,000 detainees at once, according to a DHS spreadsheet of more than 20 potential locations that was verified by NBC News. The largest federal prison in the U.S., for example, has roughly 4,000 inmates.
ICE plans to build mega warehouses for immigration detention spark growing concern
Sources at two government contractors told NBC News they were worried that new warehouses — and the large numbers of immigrants who would be housed in them — would present safety problems.
www.nbcnews.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:45 AM
stuff like this is why i have trouble with the incrementalism and slow-walking from dems. this is happening *right now*
If you didn't anticipate the Jan 6 insurrection, you should probably be a lot more circumspect about dismissing fears about the midterm elections.
Just saying.
Just saying.
February 8, 2026 at 3:48 AM
If you didn't anticipate the Jan 6 insurrection, you should probably be a lot more circumspect about dismissing fears about the midterm elections.
Just saying.
Just saying.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
February 6, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
what
One horrific game you should definitely not play is ranking them in order of likelihood. Because once you've crossed off Brown and May, the mental images start getting really bad
February 8, 2026 at 12:58 AM
what
One more reason why you need to abolish rather than only hold accountable:
There is simply too much to investigate, too much to punish, that even if you got started, you couldn't make a dent for a long time, and a lot would slip through the cracks.
There is simply too much to investigate, too much to punish, that even if you got started, you couldn't make a dent for a long time, and a lot would slip through the cracks.
And ICE lied and said he intentionally hit his head against a wall. www.huffpost.com/entry/immigr...
Immigrant Whose Skull Was Broken In Eight Places During ICE Arrest Says Beating Was Unprovoked
“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” the Mexican immigrant recounted this week to The Associated Press.
www.huffpost.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:58 AM
One more reason why you need to abolish rather than only hold accountable:
There is simply too much to investigate, too much to punish, that even if you got started, you couldn't make a dent for a long time, and a lot would slip through the cracks.
There is simply too much to investigate, too much to punish, that even if you got started, you couldn't make a dent for a long time, and a lot would slip through the cracks.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
And ICE lied and said he intentionally hit his head against a wall. www.huffpost.com/entry/immigr...
Immigrant Whose Skull Was Broken In Eight Places During ICE Arrest Says Beating Was Unprovoked
“They started beating me right away when they arrested me,” the Mexican immigrant recounted this week to The Associated Press.
www.huffpost.com
February 8, 2026 at 12:21 AM
And ICE lied and said he intentionally hit his head against a wall. www.huffpost.com/entry/immigr...
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
WaPo's editorial board pines for a world that no longer exists: one in which liberals can be cowed out of responding to GOP tactics by accusations of "hypocrisy."
That time is over. No more unilateral disarmament.
That time is over. No more unilateral disarmament.
When Republicans do it / When Democrats do it
February 8, 2026 at 12:01 AM
WaPo's editorial board pines for a world that no longer exists: one in which liberals can be cowed out of responding to GOP tactics by accusations of "hypocrisy."
That time is over. No more unilateral disarmament.
That time is over. No more unilateral disarmament.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
I can't believe this is a real NYT headline. In addition to being the tech-bougie capital, SF has to have the most natural beauty of any major American city, right? The giant mountains and the lush forests and the drastic cliffs that overlook the Pacific.
February 7, 2026 at 11:46 PM
I can't believe this is a real NYT headline. In addition to being the tech-bougie capital, SF has to have the most natural beauty of any major American city, right? The giant mountains and the lush forests and the drastic cliffs that overlook the Pacific.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
The Guardian - NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to President Trump. A whistleblower says DNI Tulsi Gabbard blocked sharing of the report and took it to the White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 11:31 PM
The Guardian - NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to President Trump. A whistleblower says DNI Tulsi Gabbard blocked sharing of the report and took it to the White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
At this point, if Jeff Bezos has ever hired you for any kind of job, that's just got to be a dagger to your sense of self-worth.
"Am I a fuckup too? Am I ... Will Lewis bad? The guy who killed Tumblr bad?"
"Am I a fuckup too? Am I ... Will Lewis bad? The guy who killed Tumblr bad?"
Will Lewis is resigning as WaPo CEO, former Tumblr CEO Jeff D’Onofrio is the paper’s new acting CEO and publisher, per memos to staff
February 7, 2026 at 11:28 PM
At this point, if Jeff Bezos has ever hired you for any kind of job, that's just got to be a dagger to your sense of self-worth.
"Am I a fuckup too? Am I ... Will Lewis bad? The guy who killed Tumblr bad?"
"Am I a fuckup too? Am I ... Will Lewis bad? The guy who killed Tumblr bad?"
Goal 1 of taxes: revenue
Even if 1 was maximized (doubtful, no one ever really says "I have enough"), 100 more behind them would love to take that next dollar instead, which leads to another goal of taxes: disincentivizing hoarding.
Even if 1 was maximized (doubtful, no one ever really says "I have enough"), 100 more behind them would love to take that next dollar instead, which leads to another goal of taxes: disincentivizing hoarding.
February 7, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Goal 1 of taxes: revenue
Even if 1 was maximized (doubtful, no one ever really says "I have enough"), 100 more behind them would love to take that next dollar instead, which leads to another goal of taxes: disincentivizing hoarding.
Even if 1 was maximized (doubtful, no one ever really says "I have enough"), 100 more behind them would love to take that next dollar instead, which leads to another goal of taxes: disincentivizing hoarding.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
1,000 reskeets and it's totally made up, that's a photo from Los Angeles, stop sharing this disinfo-spreader
February 7, 2026 at 9:41 PM
1,000 reskeets and it's totally made up, that's a photo from Los Angeles, stop sharing this disinfo-spreader
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Spoke with a PI whose postdoc is trapped abroad because of social media vetting. It appears the postdoc missed disclosing one account and it's unclear if they can come back… ever.
This is the country we live in now.
This is the country we live in now.
February 7, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Spoke with a PI whose postdoc is trapped abroad because of social media vetting. It appears the postdoc missed disclosing one account and it's unclear if they can come back… ever.
This is the country we live in now.
This is the country we live in now.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined a more gratuitous sign that AI is a bubble than “chance the rapper, sponsored by coreweave.” It’s beautiful. It’ll be in a movie someday
February 7, 2026 at 6:33 AM
In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined a more gratuitous sign that AI is a bubble than “chance the rapper, sponsored by coreweave.” It’s beautiful. It’ll be in a movie someday
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
Aubrey Plaza
Who do you want to guest host a potential revival of The Muppet Show?
Here’s Who We Want to Guest Host ‘The Muppet Show’ If It’s Revived
February 7, 2026 at 3:35 AM
Aubrey Plaza
I'm not saying it has to be a Muppet Show again. But there has been a Muppet Show-shaped hole in popular culture that demands to be filled.
February 7, 2026 at 3:19 AM
I'm not saying it has to be a Muppet Show again. But there has been a Muppet Show-shaped hole in popular culture that demands to be filled.
Reposted by Nicholas Bauer PhD
No real difference now between Nazis and Republicans. Gearing up industrial scale atrocities.
BREAKING: A 5th Circuit panel has backed ICE's mass detention policy, a decision that clears the way for the administration to lock up people who are in immigration proceedings
It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
February 7, 2026 at 3:00 AM
No real difference now between Nazis and Republicans. Gearing up industrial scale atrocities.