link roundup

I know, I know, I’m two weeks behind on my post on undocumented people in the US. It turns out starting a new job¹ and also moving countries (again) and also moving house (again) is a lot; who knew?

• I don’t really know how to talk about the pause in foreign aid, still; people will die. People will die, and soon; the waiver process doesn’t appear to be working very well and I don’t know, I think it’s bad to let kids die when a few dollars can save them.

• Two of my friends have excellent essays out in Asimov:

  • Larissa Schiavo on indoor air quality and how the past was not better, but the future can be

  • Jasmin Kaur on the quest for a universal flu vaccine

• Delays of >30 days in funding make scientists 40% more likely to leave the US. (This paper is by Friends of The Blog - or at least, friends of the blog writer - Bitsy Perlman and Wei Yang Tham.)

• The NIH used to fund mostly basic research. Now it funds mostly applied research. (When it funds things…)

• Extending the school day in Mexico led to more divorces - because women got jobs and were financially able to leave.

• Media reports on “office-involved shootings” are more likely to use passive voice and other obfuscatory language than other reports of shootings. Yes, we all knew this, but it’s good to have the data.

• Also not surprising but good to document: the longer it takes a patient to get a mental health appointment, the more likely they are to die in the next year.

• The FDA has authorized a new non-opioid painkiller. More data needed, but this seems good; pain really is both difficult to treat and difficult to live with.

• People are willing to take a 25% pay cut for a fully remote role.

• A US court has ruled that elephants can’t sue to leave a zoo.

1. Blog post on this eventually forthcoming.