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Annika Barber

@annikabarber

Drosophila enthusiast. Assistant Professor of Mol Bio and Biochem at Rutgers U. Runner. Uses brain to think about brains. All around curious person.

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11.08.2023
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Latest posts by Annika Barber @annikabarber

I watched this late (just last week) and visibly grimaced when you said this. Too sadly prescient.

06.03.2026 20:42 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

5/ Right now, they are arguing in court that they have replaced the old, unlawful process.

But my colleagues inside say this is false.

NIH isn't actually following the new processes they laid out.

06.03.2026 14:35 πŸ‘ 54 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

I beg everyone, lab members and students alike, to at least put a date and their initials in all file names!

05.03.2026 19:54 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Planned retreat from coastal areas is totally reasonable, otherwise all of us will be bearing the insurance costs for the (mostly wealthy) people building on ocean view properties as sea levels rise. I live in a 110 year old NJ home. We should be building homes that will still stand in another 110.

04.03.2026 18:09 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I have to do Career Day at my kids' school, what's a good way to teach them about science? I was thinking of giving them a fun activity and then making them fill out a lot of paperwork before abruptly canceling it

04.03.2026 16:08 πŸ‘ 352 πŸ” 43 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 0

Olympic Drosophilist, y’all!!! πŸͺ° I’m suddenly interested in skiing!

04.03.2026 11:51 πŸ‘ 50 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The hallmark of a good intro!

03.03.2026 00:15 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The journal we submit to will need to pry each citation from my clenched fists. I love them all. Individually and specifically.

03.03.2026 00:15 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

The problem with being such an avid reader since my #papersofnote days is that I cannot have a reasonable number of citations. I want to take you on a grand tour of the literature! This manuscript draft is 7.25 single spaced pages. 84 references. #academicsky

02.03.2026 23:55 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Every dollar spent by NIH generates $2.46 in new economic activity across the nation 

Source: https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-state/

Every dollar spent by NIH generates $2.46 in new economic activity across the nation Source: https://www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-state/

Cost of fighter jets, ranging from $63M to $177M each

Cost of fighter jets, ranging from $63M to $177M each

πŸ‘©πŸ»β€πŸ”¬ vs ✈️ spending:
-NIH $ supports 2-4X economic ROI in Every Single State and turned 37.8B into 92B economic activity nationwide in 2024
-The US also paid Boeing 3.4T for new aircraft; Army had 17 deadly crashes in 2024
-We can support ~94 five-yr research programs for the cost of 1 (ONE) fighter jet

11.02.2025 05:22 πŸ‘ 23 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
Grumpy claymation penguin sits on a chair with text saying β€œwell now I am not doing it”

Grumpy claymation penguin sits on a chair with text saying β€œwell now I am not doing it”

If you email me at 5:36 pm on a Friday to ask for something and then send a β€œgentle reminder” at 8:29 am on Monday, it makes me contrary.

02.03.2026 15:31 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953

01.03.2026 19:01 πŸ‘ 21311 πŸ” 7222 πŸ’¬ 429 πŸ“Œ 270
Preview
White House stalls release of approved US science budgets The US Congress rejected sweeping cuts to science agencies. But the NIH, the NSF and NASA have had their spending slowed.

Congress rejected massive cuts to US science budgets for 2026, but much of the money still isn’t flowing to researchers.

The culprit? The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is quietly slow-walking the release of funds. πŸ§΅πŸ‘‡

27.02.2026 16:06 πŸ‘ 1052 πŸ” 711 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 75

My brain first read this as β€œenormous amounts of ham” and i was thinking it might not be so bad. πŸ™ƒ

25.02.2026 19:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Goose, a small dog, stand on the Rutgers campus near the medical library, trying to follow every student he sees

Goose, a small dog, stand on the Rutgers campus near the medical library, trying to follow every student he sees

If the Fly Club speaker invites Goose to her seminar, he gets to go, right? #sciencewithgoose #meiosis #chromosomesegregation

25.02.2026 18:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Mine in this week’s @newyorker.com

23.02.2026 15:05 πŸ‘ 313 πŸ” 99 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 8
Unrepentant small grey dog on a fleece electric blanket. Annika sits coldly at the other end of the couch with a regular blanket.

Unrepentant small grey dog on a fleece electric blanket. Annika sits coldly at the other end of the couch with a regular blanket.

Was all excited to WFH under the heated blanket. But *somebody* has claimed it for himself! He’ll share the couch, but he needs the whole blanket for his nest.

24.02.2026 19:53 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They probably already put foster kids in juvenile facilities in your state. They do in PA. They do in NJ. My kids have been housed that way. #fostercare

24.02.2026 03:00 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Einstein - AI Homework Agent Einstein logs into Canvas and does your homework automatically. He has his own computer β€” he can watch lectures, read essays, write papers, and participate in discussions.

The push to make everything on Canvas accessible to screen readers also makes everything machine readable. Enabling this monstrosity. Which is why I put so little on Canvas anymore.

companion.ai/einstein

24.02.2026 02:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A theory I have is that the bay leaves in my parents’ spice cabinet had been there since the early 90s and taste more like dust than bay. Got myself some up to date bay leaves in my late twenties and suddenly a taste was present!

24.02.2026 01:26 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I had the same thought. πŸ’€

24.02.2026 01:22 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Even if you don't follow sliding sports, you won't regret following Ken! His knowledge and enthusiasm makes somewhat niche sports seem really interesting even to the uninitiated. Also he has a cute dog and I am here for the dogs of Bluesky (and cats)

23.02.2026 23:49 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't know about and don't follow sliding sports, except fun olympic clips. But I love people nerding out about their special interests! And you do such a good job of it!

23.02.2026 23:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Why do I have to pretend that I'm going to print something in order to save it as a PDF. Why do I have to engage in a little ruse.

23.02.2026 21:43 πŸ‘ 19286 πŸ” 2923 πŸ’¬ 344 πŸ“Œ 1
Beige stucco house mounded in snow. Christmas wreaths still up even tho it’s February.

Beige stucco house mounded in snow. Christmas wreaths still up even tho it’s February.

Damp, sweaty Annika in front of same house, front walk and steps  cleared.

Damp, sweaty Annika in front of same house, front walk and steps cleared.

Small dog in a car rut in the snow. He is squinting peevishly. You can see lil paw prints.

Small dog in a car rut in the snow. He is squinting peevishly. You can see lil paw prints.

Luckily for me, I really like shoveling. Did our sidewalks and our elderly neighbor’s while my husband dug out the cars and our other neighbor who is on-call for the water works. Goose is less enchanted.

23.02.2026 15:08 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Amusement park for flies

23.02.2026 14:54 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Strong dislike for this view that bland, formulaic scientific writing is desirable. I mean, we have to read this stuff, give us some flow

23.02.2026 08:45 πŸ‘ 79 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
Photo collage of Annika kissing smol dog’s cheek and then him licking her back.

Photo collage of Annika kissing smol dog’s cheek and then him licking her back.

If I must miss a much anticipated trip, at least I have a kissy Goose at home.

23.02.2026 00:30 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Reminder: the entire NSF budget is 9B and NIH like 47B. And they have 500B that they don’t know how to spend.

21.02.2026 16:37 πŸ‘ 93 πŸ” 56 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

And it isn’t even due to weather! The first flight has no plane at the gate because of β€œtraffic at the departing airport.”

22.02.2026 15:41 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0