Sweta Agrawal

Happy holi!

fly circuit diagram

When a fly lands on your arm, how does your nervous system decide where to swat?

By reconstructing tactile axons in a Drosophila connectome, we found a leg somatotopic map and downstream circuits that sample the map to initiate targeted grooming

Led by Leila Elabbady, PhD

doi.org/10.64898/202...

With this war on Iran costing $1B per day, we are now at 4$B, an amount that would fund 3,200 five year NIH biomedical research grants.

So true. Every mycological society meeting i would go to in Seattle would prove this to be true -- a whole community of people that are interested in/pursue fungal taxonomy FOR FUN. AS A HOBBY.

After 5 years of developing, a new preprint from the lab - introducing our workflow for comparative insect connectomics, aimed at democratizing connectomics. @erc.europa.eu @lundvision.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social Read it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

NYU's Center for Neural Science is seeking a faculty candidate that would be jointly appointed with our Tandon School of Engineering. We are looking for post-doc applicants with neuroengineering or computational backgrounds.

apply.interfolio.com/182074

University of Toronto is hiring:
Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology

#assistantprofessorposition

Amid Trump crackdown on Chinese students, one US university appears to block them altogether Purdue says no ban on Chinese students exists, but reportedly rescinded dozens of offers after warnings from legislators

I don't really know what to say anymore but I know that it will take decades, if ever, for higher ed to recover from the deep, deep cowardice of these institutions.

What NIH Staff Can’t Tell You—And Why That Matters The people who understand most clearly what is being lost at the NIH are also the people least able to say so.

“Taken together, these two policies create a structure in which dissent becomes professionally costly, alignment becomes professionally necessary, and the space for honest scientific judgment quietly contracts.”

open.substack.com/pub/elizabet...

America's Richest People Are Not its Most Generous

Fascinating chart with one outlier: Warren Buffett.

At the low end, giving 0.06% of one's wealth is equivalent to:

Net worth -> Lifetime Giving
50K->$30
100K->$60
500K->$300
$1M->$600

Most folks give far more by % in a *single year*.

www.forbes.com/sites/forbes...

teeny tiny wingless parasitic wasp, probably genus Baeus. It is so round and fat and perfect. Its head is the size of the rest of its body.

just a little baby child (from @mosquitolab.bsky.social's pitfall samples; I can see how this one got sorted into the beetle pile)

In this current era, these programs are disappearing. Do any still exist? Our young people, all of them (brown or not), are missing out in more ways than one 💔

Before then like many mainland US citizens i don't think that I really knew much about PR. I made some great friends, ate PR food (mofangoooooooo), and learned a LOT about the fraught politics and status of PR. It shaped my understanding of diversity and equity and I'm so grateful for the experience

In 2006, as a 19yo, I participated in a summer research experience at Tufts where half the trainees came from Puerto Rico. It was such an eye-opener and a reason why programs like that are so so so important

I keep trying to think of something insightful to say, and anecdote to add, a note of commiseration. But honestly just too tired. Its all so much 💔

She looked *so* relieved.

Sure, ICE breaks laws constantly. Lord knows if they would obey the private property designation of the staff only area of the rec center. But thanks to the training last night, at least we have a plan other than "panic".

❤️

A young Fred Korematsu

A photo of Fred Korematsu in his later years

"It may take time to prove you're right, but you have to stick to it."
- Fred Korematsu

Jailed for refusing to abide by FDR's Exec Order 9066, he took his case against internment all the way to the Supreme Court - and lost. Remember him on Korematsu Day, January 30th. 1/

3-panel comic. (1) [Three small arthropods on ocean floor.] ARTHROPOD 1: Now that we’re multicellular, what are your plans? I’m gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them! ARTHROPOD 2: I’m gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff! ARTHROPOD 3: I’m gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals. (2) [Silence] (3) ARTHROPOD 1: *Dude.* ARTHROPOD 2: Can you *please* just be normal about this? ARTHROPOD 3: *What??!*

Early Arthropods

xkcd.com/3199/

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Wow. This is devastating.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM serves their communities Scientists have traditionally focused on educating the public on science or correcting misinformation. But researchers from marginalized communities often have broader goals in science communication.

As a past participant in Evelyn Valdez Ward’s Reclaiming STEM workshop, I’m delighted to read more from her about how science communicators can build trust with their communities, including those where science is misunderstood, mistrusted, or devalued. theconversation.com/science-is-b...

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

Grant Writing Training Improves Funding Odds for Faculty Early career researchers improved their confidence in writing grants and increased their success in securing funding after an intensive course on the subject.

A tiny bit of news, amid the rise of authoritarianism! A report about our study on grant writing of @ucsandiego.bsky.social by @TheScientist - outcomes for participants in receiving R01 or R01-equivalent awards >NIH national average for first time submitters.

www.the-scientist.com/grant-writin...

My sister-in-law's dad died last week, in hospice in the VA hospital in Minneapolis. I just learned Alex Pretti was part of his care team. They shot Alex less than 1/2 mile from my niece's house while doing the same observation work that my niece is doing. These are real people. Step up folks!

Scientific strides #comedy #standup YouTube video by Jordan Jensen

Postdoc Yannick Günzel, who studies how clonal raider ants interact with their larvae, went to a comedy show in NYC. Now he’s famous… 🤪

youtube.com/shorts/ZETUy...

Apply | leadingedgesymposium Apply. The 2026 Leading Edge cohort application is now open! This cohort is named the Zara Weinberg Cohort, in honor of 2021 Leading Edge Fellow, Zara Weinberg. Applications are due February 2, 2026.

Applications are open for the @leadingedgeprogram.bsky.social program! Link here: www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/

This group is fantastic and I would not be where I am today without their friendship, support, and mentorship. Apply!!

I am aware that some of the old guard in the academic space see my work as frivolous nonsense. Add tonight to the pile of evidence that *it is not*.

F) For the love of all that is good and holy stop wondering if your idea is any good! That way lies madness. Your idea, whatever it is, will live or die by its execution. Commit to your idea. Eat and drink your idea. Play with it, have fun with it.

🤦‍♂️ !

Welcome to the future of healthcare in the US.

Even if you don’t care about the health of strangers think of the economic costs of a measles outbreak in a community!

I was dying of thirst when you gave me water, yet it was not the water alone that saved me. It was the strength of the hands that gave it.