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Sam Holtzen, PhD

@samholtzen

postdoc at caltech he/they opinions are my own computers and biosensors πŸ’» https://samholtzen.github.io/ 🏺 sellish.ghost.io

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09.10.2023
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Latest posts by Sam Holtzen, PhD @samholtzen

what's that thing called where you profit on war? some sort of war profiteer?

01.03.2026 21:37 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

NIH is not issuing awards. You may think that it's because they it is coming up with new directions of research...The apposite is true.

Here is a graph showing how many fewer new funding opportunities that NIH has posted over time.

-91%, a trend that started on Jan 2025.

27.02.2026 13:23 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 22 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0
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COVID’s origins: what we do and don’t know Researchers summarize key insights from the world’s first comprehensive investigation into how a pandemic started.

After nearly 3.5 years of deliberations, researchers concluded their independent assessment of the origin of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

go.nature.com/4qUxijx

24.02.2026 12:21 πŸ‘ 49 πŸ” 26 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 9

"These tariffs have been in effect for almost a year. They have upended whole sectors of the U.S. & global economies. The fact that a president can illegally exercise such powers for so long & w/ such great consequences for almost a year means we’re not living in a functional constitutional system."

21.02.2026 00:47 πŸ‘ 623 πŸ” 177 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 3

What GLP1s should teach people is that it was never about willpower and it isn't a moral issue. But people don't want to have that conversation.

17.02.2026 21:48 πŸ‘ 648 πŸ” 81 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 1
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All about "reactionary centrism" Michael Hobbes joins me to diagnose the pundit class's obsession with scolding the left while the right burns down the house.

Today on Volts: I'm joined by the great @michaelhobbes.bsky.social to discuss "reactionary centrism," an intellectual tendency that's come to dominate US public life. You know the type: would never view themselves as conservative, yet finds voluntary pronoun use vastly more aggravating than fascism.

30.01.2026 18:35 πŸ‘ 1232 πŸ” 301 πŸ’¬ 66 πŸ“Œ 103

i've been saying this for years. not enough clump

30.01.2026 14:44 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Kudos to the NYT editor who took β€œAppears to” out of the lead headline (finally)

25.01.2026 15:18 πŸ‘ 9815 πŸ” 1955 πŸ’¬ 187 πŸ“Œ 103
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AfD-Fraktion will Abschiebe-Polizei nach Trumps Vorbild ICE Die AfD-Fraktion im Bayerischen Landtag verschΓ€rft ihren Kurs: Zum Abschluss ihrer Klausurtagung in Oberbayern forderte sie eine Sonderpolizei zur schnelleren Aufgreifung und Abschiebung von ausreisep...

Für die deutsche Perspektive relevant: Es gibt in der AfD mehrere Stimmen, die sich eine ICE-verwandte Truppe in Deutschland wünschen. Also die ICE, die Menschen auf der Straße erschießt, Kinder wegnimmt & Wohnungen ohne Beschluss stürmt. Ein aktuelles Beispiel aus Bayern. www.br.de/nachrichten/...

24.01.2026 17:15 πŸ‘ 105 πŸ” 51 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 5
Spotlight graph of X discourse about the shooting/killing of a man by ICE agents on January 24 in Minneapolis. Graph showing X posts along time (X axis) and cumulative number of X posts shared by that time (Y axis). Post counts are estimated (by Brandwatch) and include both X posts and reposts where the text contained terms indicating the post was about the *shooting AND the video* during the time period. Individual posts are plotted on the graph, sized by the number of reposts that post received (during the time period). Plotted posts are limited to posts that received >1 reposts.

Two posts are highlighted.

One by @gremloe (1/24/2026, 12:31:31 PM EDT): β€œIt appears from zooming in just moments before ICE/CBP shoot yet another US citizen, one agent removes the victims firearm from his waste holster. The victim was UNARMED when he was shot multiple times. This is a state execution. Again.”

A second by @bennyjohnson (1/24/2026, 1:21:28 PM EDT): β€œTim Walz just a few days ago was climbing on the gate of his mansion urging protesters to keep causing β€œtrouble” and fighting ICE. An armed man just attacked agents and got killed. See how that works? Minnesota officials are fueling this.”

Spotlight graph of X discourse about the shooting/killing of a man by ICE agents on January 24 in Minneapolis. Graph showing X posts along time (X axis) and cumulative number of X posts shared by that time (Y axis). Post counts are estimated (by Brandwatch) and include both X posts and reposts where the text contained terms indicating the post was about the *shooting AND the video* during the time period. Individual posts are plotted on the graph, sized by the number of reposts that post received (during the time period). Plotted posts are limited to posts that received >1 reposts. Two posts are highlighted. One by @gremloe (1/24/2026, 12:31:31 PM EDT): β€œIt appears from zooming in just moments before ICE/CBP shoot yet another US citizen, one agent removes the victims firearm from his waste holster. The victim was UNARMED when he was shot multiple times. This is a state execution. Again.” A second by @bennyjohnson (1/24/2026, 1:21:28 PM EDT): β€œTim Walz just a few days ago was climbing on the gate of his mansion urging protesters to keep causing β€œtrouble” and fighting ICE. An armed man just attacked agents and got killed. See how that works? Minnesota officials are fueling this.”

If you're interested in seeing how framing contests are taking shape after the ICE killing of another person in Minneapolis, here's a window into the conversation on X this morning.
Link to interactive graph: faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...
* I put this together quickly. Sorry for any errors

24.01.2026 20:56 πŸ‘ 448 πŸ” 165 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 11

the titanic, a ship that famously returned to port

23.01.2026 03:05 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | I’ve Covered Police Abuse for 20 Years. What ICE Is Doing Is Different.

"This is no longer a conversation about law enforcement or immigration policy. This is about authoritarianism."

21.01.2026 13:44 πŸ‘ 855 πŸ” 189 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 11

The President telling a prime time network news host effectively "I got you this job" is not something you see every day.

14.01.2026 01:32 πŸ‘ 1628 πŸ” 341 πŸ’¬ 25 πŸ“Œ 14
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High-voltage anode-free sodium–sulfur batteries - Nature A new architecture based on high-valence sulfur/sulfur tetrachloride cathode chemistry is described for manufacturing high-voltage anode-free sodium–sulfur batteries, demonstrating promise for applications in grid energy storage and wearable electronics.

Nature research paper: High-voltage anode-free sodium–sulfur batteries

go.nature.com/4qEcxsz

09.01.2026 14:06 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A python import line reading "import napari as np"

A python import line reading "import napari as np"

Wake up babe new deranged import just dropped

06.01.2026 13:58 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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We Are the Bad Guys The swaggering threat to global stability is us.

β€œWhat do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”

05.01.2026 16:26 πŸ‘ 9379 πŸ” 2443 πŸ’¬ 300 πŸ“Œ 116

When the LAPD arrests a dude at a gas station they don’t take over the gas station and use it to gas up all the cop cars tho

04.01.2026 18:45 πŸ‘ 6493 πŸ” 1295 πŸ’¬ 345 πŸ“Œ 49

i find this so fascinating because, for the most part, we don't discuss Trump! we discuss how and why his policies and decisions are bad in the hopes of combating them. they think people documenting the flatly illegal activities of trump are running some sort of gossip column!!! unserious

31.12.2025 15:17 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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im deutschland frohe weihnachten

25.12.2025 17:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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25.12.2025 17:22 πŸ‘ 5512 πŸ” 946 πŸ’¬ 15 πŸ“Œ 13
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Extremely funny to call the pope β€œholier-than-thou”

25.12.2025 04:05 πŸ‘ 29381 πŸ” 4804 πŸ’¬ 965 πŸ“Œ 379

This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.

24.12.2025 05:00 πŸ‘ 7433 πŸ” 1845 πŸ’¬ 115 πŸ“Œ 94
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husband had a piano recital today :)

08.12.2025 04:25 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

"you're a bioengineer? are you working on Covid-20?" πŸ˜’

01.12.2025 14:28 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Rare SCOTUS W

10.11.2025 21:45 πŸ‘ 197 πŸ” 23 πŸ’¬ 16 πŸ“Œ 8
ERIC ADAMS IS AN ICONIC GUEST | ZIWE INTERVIEW
ERIC ADAMS IS AN ICONIC GUEST | ZIWE INTERVIEW YouTube video by Ziwe

@notalawyer.bsky.social HAVE YOU SEEN IT youtu.be/-9CmFvGEXXk?...

08.11.2025 02:09 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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05.11.2025 02:41 πŸ‘ 86716 πŸ” 18272 πŸ’¬ 3164 πŸ“Œ 2370

[Exit Clown.]

05.11.2025 02:15 πŸ‘ 9063 πŸ” 2206 πŸ’¬ 50 πŸ“Œ 50

i think it's the latin gerund ending that translates as "must be ___" which is WILD

22.10.2025 15:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0